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It's a Jungle Out There

Jungle Warfare: A Basic Field Manual for Christians in Sales by Christopher Cunningham





Cunningham’s new book about Christians in sales takes a different starting point than most business books. His granddad left a basic field manual for warfare after his death dated in 1941. This field manual left a huge imprint upon Chris’s life and he sets up his book in a similar fashion to the field manual, using the object of sales as his study. The unique thing about the book is that it is set up as a 22 day devotional almost. You have a verse of Scripture, a battle plan, prayer, written thoughts and prayers as a way to prepare oneself for not only sales but also life. I am not a salesperson but I can resonate with the need for a challenging plan at work to both serve God and my employer. What I found to be the most helpful in this book was not the writing sections or the references but the printed prayers by the author. Sometimes vulnerability in our prayer life is just the thing that we need before God and it was evident in the prayers on these pages. In talking about worry Cunningham says, “In fact, sometimes I have worried myself to the point of distraction or poor performance. It is hard for me to trust You for all my needs” (24). This kind of prayer gets to the heart of our struggle with trust and worry. We often fail to trust God because we don’t think he will provide or because we want control of our lives.

The only real drawbacks I had with the book are that the military metaphors can seem a bit overused. Not all of life is summed in the lingo of warfare language. And yet, even when I was a bit frustrated with this consistent theme, I could understand how sales could be related to the subject of warfare. Secondly, I felt like some of the topics were too concise to cover the issues including the Christian’s battle with sin. Overall, I think the book could be used by salespeople with a eye towards a more biblical view of business and life.

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