The Closer
When timeshares became a thing a few decades ago it was common to receive an invitation through the mail to come to a presentation in exchange for a gift. Karen and I went to a few presentations and managed to score some nice gifts. The presentations were done extremely well but Karen and I promised each other we would not take the bait. Then it happened. We received an invitation to go to a timeshare presentation for a very nice gift. This particular presentation began with a 30 minute tour of their facilities. Our tour guide looked like a picture of health. He was in his late 30’s and apparently living the dream as a result of being a timeshare owner. After the tour we were escorted into a large room with a beautiful view of the timeshare golf course below. After exchanging some pleasantries our new friend asked us a question that we found very intriguing. He said, “If you could vacation anywhere, where would you go?”
Karen and I mentioned a few dream destinations and he wrote them down on a piece of paper. We finally decided Italy was our first choice. Then he said those magic words, “What if we paid for you to go to Italy?” We were caught off guard by those words. He continued. Steve and Karen, we would like to send you to Italy and we are going to pay for it. All we had to do was buy a timeshare and the dream of going to Italy would be ours. I said "Can you give us a few minutes to talk about this?" Our heads were spinning, how could we pass up such a great opportunity? When our friend came back we explained to him that although we loved the idea of going to Italy we simply could not afford to buy a timeshare. He said he understood but would we be willing to talk to a friend who might be able to help us? That’s when we were introduced to "the Closer". The closer was a middle aged man with a beautiful smile, a smooth voice, and a toupee that needed some love. His relaxing manner was disarming. We made our case as to why we couldn’t afford to buy a timeshare and he made the case for why we needed to buy a timeshare. Before we knew it we were signing documents to buy a timeshare and get our free trip to Italy. It took a couple of years but we made that trip to Italy and it was far from free. After our trip to Italy we used our timeshare a couple of times before receiving an invitation from our timeshare friends to come in for a review and of course receive a nice gift for our time. The person who did our review told us they had a special offer for us. If we upgraded our timeshare we would receive a one time offer that would guarantee us bigger and better facilities than we currently had in our contract. We were hedging when suddenly "the closer" appeared. He used his magical charm on us and we caved. Those upgrades ended up costing us more than we anticipated. Then we fell on hard times. Once again we received an invitation to review our contract. This time we came in with the intention of selling our timeshare or if need be giving it back to them. Before I could state our case we were offered another deal to upgrade.
I explained to the woman we were talking to that we could not afford to upgrade and that in fact we needed to find a way to get out of our contract. As you might have guessed, they brought in the closer. This time his charm didn’t work. When he asked us if we had any other credit cards I realized the closer was not our friend. At this point I said we do not want this timeshare anymore, it’s costing us too much money. And that’s when his demeanor changed. The smile was gone. He said, actually it doesn’t work that way. You signed a legal contract and you have to pay the full amount of the timeshare. I was incensed. I thought to myself, how did we allow this to happen. How could we have been so blind? The closer never had our best interest in mind. He was only interested in our money. Unfortunately we had to hire an attorney to get us out of our contract and clear up our credit.
Does the closer sound familiar to you? Maybe someone in your life who doesn’t have your best interest in mind. Someone who makes big promises but ultimately doesn’t deliver?
On a spiritual level Satan is like the closer. He charms us, lies to us, and ultimately does not have our best interest in mind. Like the closer he is charming. He never talks about the cost but only the pleasure that will be ours if we will pay a little more. In John 10:10 Jesus says, “The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life. So who are you going to believe? Jesus or the closer?
I pray you are having a blessed summer!
Steve