The Genius of Apple

Imagine a business that hires employees who...

--give you the impression that they really, really enjoy what they do;

--are wildly passionate about the product(s) they sell;

--really love talking to people about the product(s);

--believe in the product(s) so much that they own it/them themselves;

--can talk knowledgeably about the product(s) and not fudge their way thru their interaction with a customer; 

--have enough experience with the product(s) that they are able offer practical help to the customer; and 

--instill enough confidence in the customer because of the expertise they possess that a sale is basically inevitable.

Today a long-time Mac lover commented that Mac employees are sort of "evangelistic" in their approach to selling their products. What a concept! I said. I totally agree with my friend's observation.

All I can say is, Apple gets it... they do all of the things listed above and they do it remarkably well. The stores are totally cool to shop at. The employees are very enjoyable to interact with. They are extremely helpful. They love what they are selling and believe in it wholeheartedly. They make people want to buy because of their passion and expertise. They are really, really good at what they do. And, maybe best of all, they don't make non-techy people like me feel like a doofus because we ask questions that a lot of 8-year-olds would know these days.

What if we as Jesus people could say the same thing? What if our churches were as attractive as an Apple store? What if we knew the Bible more? What if we were so helpful that people couldn't help but come to us for help? What if we believed so much in our faith that we were radically sold out for it? What if we didn't make people feel like knuckleheads or less than acceptable or foolish because they don't know all the lingo and buzzwords and don't really care to?

What if?

Apple has a remarkable product. We have one too. (Pardon the very lame comparison... Jesus is obviously not a product, but you know what I mean) Apple has phenomenal reps. So does Jesus, but we can always do better.

Just some thoughts...