You meet Christ in an elevator. What is your elevator pitch?
You died and are escorted to an elevator. The doors open and there is Christ. You walk in. Will He press the up or down button? What is your elevator pitch*?
This scenario has many intriguing outcomes, depending upon your beliefs. If you believe He is Lord and have surrendered your life to Him, there is no need for an elevator speech—you are accepted into His kingdom for eternity. “Lord, finally” should be sufficient; it’s the greeting from one friend to another, someone of long acquaintance.
Or, you have missed the whole point of His ministry by spending your entire life trying to earn His love and the salvation He promises. “Oops! My bad” might be appropriate.
And if He is no part of your life then you might stammer, being virtually speechless. What can you say when the reality of what you have ignored, denied, or resisted your entire life is before you? “Not my fault?”
Wait. There is another option. “Take me into Your kingdom. My life is a mess, but somehow, someway, I believe you are Lord.”
These are all fun, humorous scenarios until the leaden weight of reality strikes; whether it is in an elevator or somewhere else, judgement will happen. The idea of an elevator speech, therefore, is not so far-fetched if we think outward to eternity. Like life, things change; we grow, we hurt, we rebound. All of life is in flux and our elevator speech reflects this. Until. Until we have a vision of the end game and focus on what is most important. To me, it is my relationship to my Redeemer; never good enough, always missing the target, failing often—yet rebounding because there is someone to catch me. This is radical love—underserved but always present.
So, walking into the elevator, what would you say?
*Elevator Pitch: The elevator pitch, so named for the average time of a quick elevator ride, is a 30- to 60-second summary of yourself or an idea. You can imagine the scene: An employee pitches a new project to an executive on the first floor then steps into an elevator. And, by the time the elevator has reached the top floor, the executive is interested and convinced of the project’s merit.
