The Secret to Success

“I am going to count down from 10 and give you an opportunity to come to the altar and respond to this appeal. And more importantly, I am giving you an opportunity to do more than forgive your enemies. I am giving you an opportunity to get your life back. By setting your enemies free, you unconsciously free yourself.” I am sure no one sitting beside me could see the all out brawl, the internal war that was happening inside of me. On one hand, I wanted to put it past me so I could move on with the rest of my life, but on the other hand, I didn’t want to just let her off the hook that easy. She put me through too much pain for me to just forgive her and move on. But I kept thinking to myself, “Here is your opportunity, your chance to get that monkey off your back. All you have to do is go up there and get it off your chest.” Just as I was about to stand up and do it, I heard a voice say, “Think about it, she hasn’t forgiven you for what you’ve done. She never even accepted responsibility for her actions. Don’t humiliate yourself.” All of a sudden, I jumped on my feet, and started walking past the individuals sitting next to me in the pews. Once I made it to the aisle, I looked at the pastor and his eyes met mine. The eye contact only lasted a split second, but it felt like hours. I turned toward the exit and ran out of the front door and on to Puritan Avenue. Bent over and clutching my knees, gasping for air with sweat dripping from every pore, I began to relive the entire event over in my head as if it were happening for the first time. I grew ten feet because of that one sermon.

In the right environment, you should get the sense that you are being celebrated and not tolerated.

If you ask me what grabbed my attention the first time I walked through the doors of Detroit Center, I would have to say it was the way the people embraced me. And I knew it was genuine because I came to church in street clothes (at the time I didn’t have the money to buy church clothes). But apparently it didn’t matter; they were more concerned with making me feel welcomed than they were with the kind of clothes I was wearing. And even though I was impressed with the initial warm greeting, I was about to fall for the ying yang. I was only there because Bob invited me. I knew Bob was down for me like four flat tires, but there was no way in the world anyone could get me to believe that the people in that church could show me the same type of love Bob showed me. And if you asked me six months after I entered the church what made me stay—with tears running down my face, I would have to tell you—it was the love. Although I didn’t have any intentions of joining Bob’s church or anyone’s church, I continued to attend because I understood that it would be stupid to leave a place that showed me as much love as the people at that church showed me. After the first month of attending church Sister Burse told me it was my turn to teach the youth bible class. I didn’t even own a bible and she put me in the rotation. It didn’t matter that I was homeless and potentially on the verge of being a high school dropout; she believed in me. The church’s philosophy was, you are only a guest once, the next time you walk through those doors we are putting you to work. And boy did they put me to work. After my first major assignment, Sister Burse pulled me aside and encouraged me. She said she noticed I had leadership potential and I should continue teaching; I guess that’s why she gave me several opportunities after that day. More importantly, she took an interest in me and took the time out of her schedule to train me. Looking back on those days I can truly say that she helped me hone my speaking and leadership skills and taught me how to operate in what she called a spirit of excellence.

What was even deeper and even more impressive was the fact that The Center Church didn’t just embrace me behind closed doors, they invited me to go on the church retreat and they even covered all my expenses. Their acts of kindness sent a huge message. I felt like I was a part of the family, like I belonged. It was like being on the sitcom Cheers listening to the theme song.

“Making your way in the world today

takes everything you’ve got.

Taking a break from all your worries

sure would help a lot.

Wouldn’t you like to get away?

Sometimes you want to go