I told the Lord that I was not interested in becoming a pastor. I’d had a dream in which God called me to be a pastor, but I tried to ignore that and focus on other things. A few weeks later, a minister at my church in Chicago preached a sermon about the call of God. I squirmed in my seat. I had not talked with him about this topic at all. After the service, he made a beeline toward me. He asked me what the sermon meant for me. I was stunned that the Lord was able to use him in such a way to get my attention.

Nathan was David’s pastor. Nathan knew David pretty well. He knew his secrets. He knew his personality. He knew that accusing or coaxing David would not work. But he knew that David would listen to a story. Stories bypass our defense mechanisms to deflect and defeat rational arguments. David listened to Nathan’s power-play story and saw the villain for what he was.

Then Nathan called him out as the villain, saying, “You are the man!” And suddenly David had to face the truth about himself and what he had done to Bathsheba and Uriah. What’s more, the child born to Bathsheba would die, and calamity would come to David’s household. These consequences happened to David because he had treated God with contempt.