I am a Professional Selling major at Baylor. Through our classwork, we learn skills like prospecting for customers and creating value propositions. Ultimately, we are taught how to navigate a complex and constantly changing business environment.

The goal of the ProSales program is not too different from what Christians learn from the Bible.

Through the Bible, we learn how to prospect for customers, create value propositions and are ultimately taught how to navigate a complex and constantly changing business environment, in this case, Earth.

When we learn to prospect for "customers" we are finding people with whom we can share God's word. Be it acting in a godly way at work, asking your next door neighbor to come to church with you, or becoming a missionary like my roommate and his family, who have traveled to Namibia and Djibouti to share the Word with those who have never even heard the name Jesus Christ. All of us are called to share the Word of God, and the Bible is very clear about this. Mark 16:15 says; "And He said to them, 'Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.'"

When we learn to create value propositions, we are helping people understand what a relationship with God brings to their life. Christianity is unique among religions in the world. It is the religion with the most followers; more than 2 billion adherents. However, Christianity's success on Earth alone is not evidence of its truth. What is evidence, is the fact that we as Christians are able to have a personal relationship with the Father of the Universe, and the Father of the Universe loves and cares deeply about each and every one of us. As my youth pastor would say, "that's pretty darn cool."

Finally, we are taught how to navigate a complex and constantly changing business environment. I realize just how lucky I have been to attend Baylor. You know you're in the right place when the first question people ask you is "what church do you go to?" Unfortunately, I didn't have this same luxury growing up in Colorado, my home state. When I asked my friends at the lunch table if they believed in God, I received 1 yes and 6 nos. Their reasons for not believing in God included; Science (yes, that's it, just science) and I don't believe in fairy tales. That is some pretty harsh and cynical stuff coming from 16 and 17-year-olds. When I contrast this with my roommate and some of his struggles throughout the last 12 years of his life in Djibouti and Namibia, such as teaching people who can't read about Jesus, it becomes apparent that we as Christians have multiple challenges facing us. One is not greater or more important than the other, and all are deserving of our attention. If kids are turning away from God and towards nihilism and atheism, this is a huge problem.

Sometimes, it might feel like we as Christians are trying to sell a used car to someone who doesn't want it. We read a few Bible verses and ask, "would you like to come to church with me?" But there is so much more to our God-given mission than that. I think it is critical we realize exactly what problems we are facing, and how to solve them. It is extremely important that Christians are familiar with the Bible and can speak intelligently about it. However, it is also important (especially for young Christians) to know and understand the history of Christianity, in addition to having a firm grounding in other subjects. Quoting Bible verses won't help you when you're talking to someone who doesn't acknowledge the Bible to be legitimate in the first place. Yet at the same time, our knowledge of the Bible is that much more relevant to ensuring we stay on the correct path ourselves, even when others don't. God has called all of us to spread His word, and whether it's a 16-year-old atheist at a lunch table, or an 85-year-old Namibian elder, we need to represent God always, even if it is uncomfortable or challenging to do so.