Who THAT Guy Might Actually Be

We all have a THAT guy in our world.

The one I know is super loud and obnoxious…

All. The. Time.

THAT guy.

He stresses me out. He’s too much for me. He makes me want to hide.

Your THAT guy is probably different than mine.

Stop and think about them for a moment…

As you picture him/her, are you feeling annoyed?

Recently, my wife caught me rolling my eyes and saying judgy things about THAT guy.

Correcting me, she said, “I like to think of him as our future Apostle Paul.”

At first, I’m laughing on the inside—thinking, “Ha! That guy??!?!”

But then I realized something…

The Apostle Paul was THAT guy.

My next thought? *Sigh* My wife is right again.

If you check out the story in Acts chapter 9, you’ll see Paul is a loud and obnoxious type-A bully.

He wreaks havoc everywhere he goes. He stresses people out. He makes them want to hide.

His business is persecuting the church—and business is good.

Among Christians, he was definitely known as THAT guy.

Paul had a “hide yo’ kids, hide yo’ wife” bad reputation.

But one day, THAT guy met Jesus.

He had a “knocked-off-his-donkey” experience. He became a Christian. He changed.

And the church had a decision to make—do we include him or keep our distance?

Do we let THAT guy in our circle or do we keep him out?

I’m glad they redrew the lines of their circle to include the Apostle Paul—with his shady past and terrible reputation.

What’s the point?

You never know who THAT guy might actually be.

My wife is right.

Our THAT guy could be our next Apostle Paul.

I guess it’s time for me to stop with the eye-rolling and work on seeing the potential.

Question: Do you have a “from THAT guy to the Apostle Paul story of transformation?” Please share it!