An Advertising Nightmare

The following is a true story:
A few months before I moved here, I worked for a roofing company. My job was to drive around a neighborhood, and go up to the houses with bad roofs. I would ring the doorbell and try to talk the homeowner into getting an estimate on how much it would take to fix his/her roof.

One day I was in my supervisor's (Rick's) truck with my co-worker and we were taking turns going up to houses. We were idling down some street when a half-acre forest (with a decrepit roof protruding from the foliage) comes into view. Though it was my turn I did not give the property a second thought. (If a homeowner doesn't care about his home, why would he buy a new roof to put on his jungle?)

To my dismay Rick begins to slow to a stop in front of the amazon. I asked if they had a machete but apparently that's not standard equipment for the advertising business.

As I approach the property a thin, beaten path comes into view. Careful, to avoid snakes and leeches I inch down this beaten path. As I near the house a green, screened in porch comes into view. It was not painted green, but green from fungus growth. A few feet later I saw a person's figure, watching a 6" TV. I approach the door and begin to give my sales pitch. Though he shot me down I asked if I could leave him some info. The figure stood up from the stool and began to open the screen door.

Slowly, this man come into view and I became petrified. He was a tall, lanky, pale, caucasian, male. He seemed as though he had not shaved for weeks and the only thing clothing him was the blanket that (Thank GOD!) he held, with one hand on his crotch.
"Thank ya kindlay," he said with a thick southern drawl.
I felt like I was in the movie Diliverance! Suddenly I heard banjos all around!
Rest assured that I darted out of there before he noticed I was a colored rican boy.

Sometimes when Christians evangelise, it seems like we are salesmen for an idea or belief. We give our sales pitch and we don't stick around to find out why they don't care about what we have to offer. We don't even take the time to listen to what they have to say because we are planning our comeback response. If it doesn't seem like we are manipulating the conversation as planned we run like the wind.

But it is not our job to manipulate anyone into accepting Christ. Our job is to live and explain to people what Christianity is really about: love. We need to love the Lord our God with all that we are and love our neighbor as ourselves. And how can we love our neighbors if we don't bother to listen to them with sincerity and planning to manipulate them. Most people in the U.S. have witnessed, the church's actions, at least a little, and many have been abused by distortions in Christianity. How else did "Jesus Christ" become one of the most popular profanities, alongside of excriment and fornication? We just need to show people what Christianity is really about.