Pastor Clark Cothern tells this story to illustrate how God speaks to us through his Word:

A self-appointed New Age guru glided into our church wearing an outfit that rivaled Merlin the Magician's best duds. It was 10:55 a.m. and I was changing for a baptism, when a couple of deacons popped their heads in and said, "Pastor, I think we have a situation."

After explaining who had just entered the sanctuary, they asked, "What do you want us to do?" Underneath their question was this subtext, "Do you want us to throw him out?"

Perfect love casts out fear. That was my first thought.

"Well," I said while buttoning my robe, "we should demonstrate that we love him and that he's welcome here." The second thought that came to mind: For this reason I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.

"Tell you what," I said, grabbing a towel. "If he's here seeking truth, let's let him listen. God's Word will be proclaimed, and God's truth will be revealed. If he's here to make trouble, we'll know it soon enough. If that's the case, I'll warn him once not to disrupt the service, and I'll politely ask him to stay afterward so we can get to know him better. If he persists in making trouble, then we'll follow through on our promise to politely remove him. And if that happens, one of you should call the police—just in case."

The moment I stepped into the baptistery, I looked out and saw that man and began a silent prayer for him to know that he was loved. God's perfect love was casting out fear—in the messenger.

I found out after the service that one of our elderly members, a gentle fellow named Elmer, had seen the Merlin look-alike walking in and had whispered to his wife, "Oh, good! It looks like we're going to have a skit today." He and all the others in the church had smiled graciously and warmly welcomed our guest, Merlin costume and all. That morning our congregation loved that uniquely clad man. He stayed. He listened. He didn't cause trouble. He heard the gospel. And he even stayed after to discuss the gospel with several of us for nearly an hour.

Those thoughts that rushed into the brain back in the changing room? That was God talking.

Condensed from our sister publication Leadership journal, © 2008 Christianity Today International. For more articles like this, visit Leadershipjournal.net.