Soul For Sale

In 2006, Hemant Mehta listed his soul for sale on eBay. He was an atheist who didn’t believe he had a soul. In exchange for the sale, he offered to go to 50 services of whichever religion the purchaser wanted. To make sure a millionaire didn’t purchase it, he said all the money would go to an atheistic cause. Jim Henderson, a pastor in Seattle was interested and won the auction. His idea was to send him to different churches, take notes on his observations and feelings and then write up an article on each one on how he felt that church either pushed him closer or further away from Christ. A publisher saw the articles and expanded it by flying him to churches all over the US. After visiting all the churches, Hemant remained an atheist, but is open to their being a god with scientific proof.

When I first heard Jim Henderson tell this story and how he wrote a book called “Jim and Casper Go To Church”, I was intrigued. As I heard the story, I thought, “There definitely is a lot we can learn from an outsider about how we reach them.” Another part of me thought, “That’s interesting, but is it right? How can you buy someone’s soul?” I read Psalm 49:7-9 that says, “Not one could give God the ransom price for the soul of another, let alone for himself. A soul’s redemption is too costly and precious for anyone to pay with earthly wealth. The price to pay is never enough to purchase eternal life for even one, to keep them out of hell” (TPT). Even though a pastor paid over $600 to Hemant, and the guy went to many churches, he remains lost.

Then I started thinking about how many people don’t list their soul on eBay, but it’s still “for sale”. In our search for significance and worth, we sell our soul looking for meaning. We try to earn our salvation rather than except the free gift that was too costly and precious for anyone but the Son of God to pay for. We’re living for “likes” and followers because we haven’t fully trusted in the worth God has assigned to us. We desire man’s approval rather than God’s, yet God has deemed you valuable enough to sacrifice everything to have a relationship with you. Your life has meaning and purpose, and anything short of giving it to God fully will result in an empty feeling of, “There has to be something more,” no matter how much success, followers or worth you get from others.

No one, but Jesus, could give a ransom for your soul. No one but Jesus can help you fill that void that you’re missing. There is something in each one of that is searching for our true identity. My pastor calls it a holy homesickness. Your soul wants to find the rest that only being at home can give. We sell our soul to things in exchange to satisfy that feeling, but it will never go away until you give your life wholly to the only one who could ever pay the price for your soul. Finding religion isn’t enough. Christianity is about a relationship between your soul and God and finding the rest that it’s looking for. The freedom isn’t found in the rituals or do’s and don’t’s. It’s only found in accepting that Jesus paid it all for you and in surrendering your will for His plan for you. Your soul has been purchased already and paid for, but you must accept it and trust in what He has done.

Photo by 🇨🇭 Claudio Schwarz | @purzlbaum on Unsplash