He had prepared himself for a career in marketing and sales. With an M.B.A. from a major university, he set out to implement the schemes and techniques he had learned on how to get rich and make a name for himself.

Everyone said he was a "natural salesman." With the charisma of his personality he could gain people's confidence, pitch his product and come on hard with the "closing." He had a natural knack for employing just the right coercive persuasion without being thought of as a high-pressure salesman. He seldom lost a sale.

His product? Well, it was somewhat difficult to define. He had been variously identified as an insurance salesman selling eternal fire insurance. Another explained that he was a real-estate agent selling heavenly real estate. On another occasion he was introduced as a broker selling commodities and futures. Many considered him to be selling memberships for the community social club.    Did it matter? He was a "natural salesman" with something to sell, making a living off of "sales." That is just part of the supply and demand of the capitalistic system, isn't it?

   But the question must be asked, "Is God for sale?"

   Religion is often viewed today as the big-business which offers the God-product. It allegedly comes in many brands and is operative by many different techniques.

   Religious hucksters are hawking their wares, making outlandish claims for the supernatural qualities of their product. Promoters pack in the crowds (and their money) as they sell their latest program and their particular ideological belief-system. Packaged salvation will be dispensed for a price.

   Why did the Apostle Paul say, "we are not like many, peddling the word of God" (II Corinthians 2:17)? Christianity has nothing to do with something to sell, rather SomeOne to give - the grace of God made available in His Son, Jesus Christ.