Stopped in to have my oil changed the other day. Jiffy Lube. Love that place. They’re fast, professional, and even hold the waiting room door for you. And – for your waiting pleasure – they even have a Keurig coffee maker!

Awesome!

However, a little of the awesomeness wore off when the fellow behind the counter tried to “upsell” me a synthetic oil change which – of course – is far more expensive than just a regular old oil change. He asked how often I have the oil changed. I told him 7,500 miles (like everyone else I’ve learned that the 3,500 mile interval pushed by the oil-change companies is a complete fabrication). Then he explained that my car manufacturer recommends oil changes every 7500 miles ONLY if you use the synthetic stuff. So did I want to go the synthetic route?

“No thanks,” I said, and that settled it. They completed the regular oil change, replaced my well-worn wiper blades, vacuumed the car, cleaned the windows, and sent me on my way. Nice job, Jiffy Lube!

But that thing about the synthetic oil change stuck with me. Sure enough, when I later checked the owner’s manual the manufacturer-recommended oil change intervals are every 7500 miles with REGULAR 5w20 oil. Just like I thought.

I’m sure the fellow behind the counter just didn’t know the specs of my particular make of car so I’m not criticizing him.

But it got me thinking about “upselling” – the fine art of getting people to buy what they don’t really need – like protection plans for electronic devices, or $40 HDMI cables when the $9.99 variety will work just fine, or a smartphone that’s smarter than you are – or whatever. You know how it goes.

But probably the biggest example of “upselling” is what goes on in religion.

What do you really need to be acceptable to God?

A creed? A theology? An acceptance of a certain set of rules?

Must you belong to a particular church? Need you own a certain Bible? Should you hold a particular political viewpoint, accept/reject science, refrain from smoking, dancing, drinking and hanging out with people of different faiths?

For Christians, what exactly do you need to be a follower of Christ?

In a world where faith is so often “upsold” and people buy into a whole lot of needless synthetic religion maybe it’d be good to remember what Jesus said about what you need to be a follower of Christ.

“Follow me.”