A few weeks ago our family traveled to Minnesota for a family reunion. We found Air Tran offered the best price for a no-frills, just-get-me-there flight.
Considering what we’d paid, as I boarded the plane I was checking to see if the plane had both wings! And once we were in flight, I was even more surprised to see the flight attendants coming down the aisle with drinks and a snack… for free!
The snack came in a little blue foil bag marked, How to eat Gourmet Pretzels on a low-fare airline. I was intrigued. I’d never had gourmet pretzels before. (Interestingly enough, they tasted just like the non-gourmet ones I’m used to from WalMart.)
On the back of the blue foil bag there were these Eating Instructions:
1. Think about our wonderful low fares at airtran.com as you open packet.
2. Place a pretzel in mouth. With each crunch, be reminded of our low fares.
3. As you swallow, remember again just how low the fares are.
4. Repeat until pretzel packet is empty.
5. Keep empty packet to remind yourself to book at airtran.com, where you’ll always find our lowest fares.
Their marketing genius made me smile. And I thought, Now that’s evangelism if I ever saw it! They’re so completely unashamed of their low-fare flights they just can’t stop telling you about it.
It reminded me of the man Jesus healed in Mark 5:1-20. He was a total basket-case of a guy whose life was in absolute shambles. After the Lord healed him and gave him his life back, he was desperate to come with Jesus. But the Lord’s reply was, “Go home to your people and report to them what great things the Lord has done for you, and how He had mercy on you.”
And without any more evangelism instruction than that “he went away and began to proclaim in the Ten-Cities Region everything that Jesus had done for him; and everyone was amazed.” Later we learn that because he had told his story to so many people, a great number of them turned to Jesus.
Our theme for 2010 is about being stretcher-bearers — bringing people to Jesus for the ultimate healing. Little blue foil bags… shameless exuberance about what the Lord has done for us… it’s all about getting the message to people so they can get to Jesus, isn’t it!
Who will you tell this week?
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