Act the Part

Years ago, when I considered making the shift in my broadcasting career from the programming side to the sales side, I went to a former GM...who had actually fired me...to ask his advice. Dougie was a veteran Chicago media seller who was delighted to speak with me. "Jimmy," which he always called me, "First time I've ever seen you in a suit." (Disk jockeys don't own suits!) "Great. Always dress like you don't need the sale." Dougie's point was to act the part. Act and behave like a top seller even if you aren't one yet. He was right.
Maybe I pushed it a little too far, because some clients thought I was arrogant, but most felt at ease working with someone they perceived to know what they were doing.

I thought of Dougie while reading Mark's Gospel today. "I tell you everything you ask and pray for, believe that you already have it and it will be yours."(Mk.11:24) What great Lenten direction! Act like you are already healed. Praying for patience? Act patiently. Don't hold back, act as if you are filled with the Father's grace, and you will be. Act like you don't need the sale. I think "act" is such an important word here. In my life, the Lord has given me the grace to deal with some very serious issues of sinfulness. The conversion does not just happen. God not only moves toward us, we move toward him as well. We act as if we are already in his love. When we do, we come to know that his love is present in us and is continuing to grow in us. But we have to act...act like we don't need the sale.