We have been blessed to see a lot of great things on the deputation trail. For this post, I am recalling one of my favorite things.

My family and I arrived at the church on Saturday evening for our scheduled Sunday morning service. Pastor and his wife invited us to dinner for that night. We met them at a local restaurant. We were sitting with Pastor and His wife, giving each other the “cliff notes” of our life stories. In the midst of the dinner, our waitress came up, and Pastor began to talk to her. Our waitress was going through a rough time. I don’t remember all of the details she shared with us, she was a single mom, not making a lot of money, her boyfriend may have been having troubles. I cannot remember it all, but I do remember her telling us that she was going through a really rough time. What happened next was something that I call a part of “my favorite things” of deputation. Pastor empathized with her. He told her all that he used to be and how things changed when he heard the Gospel, believed on Jesus, and was saved. He never judged her, he was not harsh with her. She was not saved, she shared some hard things to share, and he answered with love and compassion. Pastor invited her to church. By the end of it all, she was crying, she knew she had just been loved on by this man. She did not believe on Jesus that night, but she did walk away having been loved.

Almost a year had gone by and I was in the area again and stopped by to say hello to the Pastor. Sitting in his office, I recalled the above story to him and told him how much it meant to me. He didn’t remember it. His answer was, “Lost people act like lost people. We shouldn’t expect lost people to act like saved people. When I was lost, I was a fiend.” Pastor showed great love and compassion with this woman because she was lost, and he remembered who he was before He believed on Jesus.

I have seen a lot of great things on deputation. I have been very blessed on deputation. Watching this Pastor’s compassion on a lost, hurting woman is one of my favorite things I have seen on deputation. We are challenged to show love and compassion to those who are without, remembering what we were before we believed on Jesus.