Never would I ever have suspected it.

But as it turns out, Jesus and my former sales manager, Mike B., have shared virtually identical life wisdom with me. 

Allow me to elucidate. Long, long ago, in a land far, far away (well, in Kansas City, actually), I worked in sales. In fact, one of my favorite lines after entering seminary was that I really wasn’t changing careers, just changing product lines. Bah dum, TSSSSS!

While still toiling away as a salesperson, however, I had a manager/trainer named Mike. Mike was an old school salesman who trained under Zig Ziglar himself. (Google that name if you don’t know it already). Mike had an answer for EVERY possible objection a potential customer might raise. In fact, for one of our training exercises, we used to pair up and try to stump the other person with an objection that simply could not be overcome. 

Mike’s favorite line for overcoming the, “Well, I like it, but your product is just too expensive” objection was, “Listen, my friend… if it’s good, it ain’t cheap. And if it’s cheap, it ain’t good.” (with apologies to all grammarians in the crowd).

Know what? I think Jesus would agree with Mike.

In the gospels, we regularly hear Jesus reminding his disciples about the high cost of discipleship. In Mark 8:34-35, for example, we hear him offer them this cold dose of reality; “He called the crowd with his disciples and said to them, ‘If any wish to come after me, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.  For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it.’”

Similar sentiments can be found at Matthew 10:38-39, and Luke 9:23-24. During Jesus’ famous Farewell Discourse in John 15, he sums it up eloquently by saying, “No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” (John 15:13, NRSVU). 

In other words, if it’s good, it ain’t cheap. And if it’s cheap, it ain’t good.

But here is the thing; I am embarrassed to admit how often in life I find myself trying to abide by exactly the OPPOSITE philosophy. Too regularly I find myself wanting things to be simultaneously GOOD and CHEAP. Whether it is the next pair of shoes I buy, or the snowblower, or the house, or the life lesson. I want it… I want it to be high quality… and I don’t want to pay a lot for it. 

And yet, looking back on my considerable number of birthdays, I see that Jesus and Mike B. are both telling me the truth. Every iota of wisdom I might have absorbed over the years has come at a price. The wisdom of learning to lean on God and God alone for support and sustenance came only after I experienced the collapse of every other support pillar. The wisdom of seeing relationships with family and friends as something more precious than gold came only after experiencing the death of a loved one or witnessing the painful fracture of a long-standing friendship. 

And yes, that electric snowblower I got such a good deal on really doesn’t cut it when the snow is more than two inches deep. 

That might explain so much of the allure of all forms of social media today. They give us the chance to experience a FACSIMILE of a relationship without necessarily investing in the MAINTENANCE of that relationship. 

But there is really no getting around it: if you want to play, you have to pay…

… whether it’s in life, or in snowblowers.

Abundant blessings;