I’m Not That Guy

I was writing a blog post in regards to a viewing of Fight Club and what that revealed about me. And truly, I will post that soon. But events have occurred which must be transcribed. And so, here we go:

I believe it was the second week I was in Temple that I met Trey (ah, the joy of coming up with names to protect the innocent; soon I am going to have to make a cheat sheet for myself). He works at a nearby eatery that has free wi-fi and is a regular haunt for ministers. Comfortable chairs, nice atmosphere, good snacks, and no one will bother you; perfect for someone needing to prepare a lesson or a sermon. Hank and I went there so he could study and I could use the internets unhindered (well, not counting X3Watch, which I highly recommend; free internet accountability software is ftw). As we were browsing online, Trey and his boss were trying to move something rather heavy. Hank and I helped and Trey found this to be very admirable. He sees a lot of ministers at work and few of them would have offered to help as Hank had. It made a pretty big impression on him. So when I came by myself the next week, we talked a bit and became friends. This is in itself strange but I will come back to that.

As it happened, Trey was in the midst of getting an outreach program for veterans underway. Yeah, isn't that suspicious timing. So we go grab some lunch a few days later and then go to a research meeting for his project. The meeting goes well, extremely well in truth and I even had some useful contributions. Go figure. He then snags my resume because he has a lot of contacts in the area and he might be able to find me something. And he does at that, a very nice gig for UMHB, for which I was and am very appreciative. But I thought about it and prayed about it and full time work would not allow me the flexibility to minister that I have with my current part-time job. So I thanked him for his help but hadn't talked to him in a couple weeks.

This week, I heard that his job had closed its doors. So I called him to see if he wanted to have lunch this week, which we did today. And I find out that there is a dispute with the owners over some supposed debt but also that someone wanted to turn the place into a hookah bar. At this I was intrigued because Hank and Halley have been talking about opening a hookah bar since I got here. The thing is that the place is designed to be a ministry as well as a business and so the owners want the place to have a certain feel. So I got to talk to Trey about the gospel and the implications, a little bit about missional living and Christianity versus religion, and about hookah and how there is no place to do anything legal in the Temple area after 11 pm. And it was a good conversation. Trey told me about how he had been burned by Christians (for which I apologized) but how guys like me give him hope (for which I thanked him). And I got to invite him to my Monday Night Bible Study, which I have been toying around with for awhile and this was just the kick I needed. He's even coming to church on Sunday, which will hopefully go well.

All of that is to say this: I am not that guy. I don't say this to be humble or to dismiss my gifts. I'm saying this because I have lived with me. When I say I am anti-social it is because I am, or at least I was. When I say that now to people who have only known me for a couple months, they look at me like I am speaking Swahili. Now, apparently, I am making friends with strangers, sharing the gospel, trying things I used to shun, meeting people that before I would have said I have nothing in common with. This is my life now and I have no idea where it is headed. But thank You, Jesus, that I get to live it for Your glory.