Have you ever seen a woman so beautiful that it seems like every guy on the planet ought to be pursuing her? I’m talking about genuine beauty, not that crazy lust that fills the eyes of so many men. See, lust is based on a desire to receive some sort of pleasure. It is self-based; but a pursuit of true beauty is evidence of a longing to be complete.

Well the bar tender was such a woman, beautiful in every way and sober, she thought clearly and listened to the stories of all her customers offering advice and comfort to those who needed it. There were two guys at the end of the bar who noticed her beauty. One was tall and dressed nicely and the other was shorter with messy hair. They ordered and she served them their drinks.

The preferences of the two men were different from the start, but they were both mesmerized by the woman: not because she was promiscuous, for she was quite the opposite, but because she seemed to truly love her customers. They called her over and she came and the two men began competing to see who might gain more of her attention.

She listened as they told her who they were. The tall one started first, and perhaps prematurely, “Can I ask if you belong to someone?”

The woman replied, “My father. Why do you ask?”

“Well, I was wondering if you’d like to go out with me sometime?”

“Surely not to the bar,” she laughed, “And why would you want me to go out with you?”

“You have everything I need and I have what you want.”

The woman smiled again, “What is it you think I want?”

The tall man looked at his empty cup, “I have looks, money, influence, and I can sing!”

While everyone else in the bar noticed only the tall man, the bartender replied, “All those things are nice, but there is one thing you lack.”

“What’s that?” the man asked, “I have everything.”

She rested her hand on his, “One thing you lack is humility, and I like to be right because I am a woman after all.”

“And what about you?” she turned voluntarily to the shorter man that no one noticed.

“All I know is that I give people what they need. My friend here only has money because he is good a pleasing people, he only has looks because he has money, he only has influence because of his height and he can only sing because he is able to pay somebody to teach him. He always steals the attention from smaller guys like me.”

The woman shook her head, “That’s not what I asked. I wanted to know about you.”

After a few seconds of silence, the woman spoke up again, “One thing you lack is that you are bitter, and that bitterness is causing you to dwell on what you see as the successful traits of others and it holds you back.”

She backed up and filled another glass for them, “I want you both to know that I am not available to be had. I only want to serve all of my customers equally and I am only pleased when you let me fill you. Your size, power and influence does not matter. The only thing that matters to me is that you come to me and bring others to me also.”

The two men looked at each other, feeling like every other man that got let down in a similar environment. Would they continue to compete, would they leave, or would they resolve to live simply to please the woman; the one who was truly beautiful?

“… I will build My church…” – Jesus (Matthew 16:18 HCSB)