I pick up homeless guys for church every Sunday. It is usually a different group each week, all with varying degrees of sobriety any given Sunday.
But they are trying, I'll give them that.
And they all try to persuade others to come.
My homeless guys are better than most of my church members at bringing guests.
But last Sunday, something happened that seemed like an insult, but was probably the biggest compliment ever.
One of the guys started telling me about another homeless guy I'd never met.
"I keep telling him he needs to meet you but he just runs off," Brian told me.
Brian is prone to exaggeration so I figured he was being dramatic.
Then I got a little offended.
What have I done that's so bad this guy doesn't want to meet me.
Several others piped up.
"I know him too."
"I tried to get him to come to church too."
"I gave him your card," Pete said.
Pete's always been pretty on-the-level with me so I was curious how this exchange went.
After all, I'd never even HEARD of the guy they were discussing, much less met him.
"What did he say?" I held my breath. (Sometimes I forget this isn't about me. This was one of those times.)
"He dropped that card like it was on fire and took off running as fast as he could."
"That's what he did with ME," Brian exclaimed.
I was silently stewing. How dare he act like there's something wrong with me?
Then it hit me. Rather, the Lord served a gentle wake-up call.
This wasn't about me at all.
This is a spiritual battle.
And a guy I've never met is terrified of me.
Not only does the Lord know my name but Satan does too.
And he ran scared.
I think that's about the best compliment I've ever gotten!
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