Empath's Talk With Pastor Nevin

"Empath's Talk With Pastor Nevin" is a mini-story that is part of the EMPATH: The Luckiest Smurf story series.

The Story
It is the day that Empath and the Smurfs in the village witnessed the reopening of Tapper's Tavern under the new management of Tapper's daughters, which made the Smurfs in the village cheer as Empath was glad to see the torch being passed to a new generation. It was then that Empath met with Tapper and noticed something different about him besides the ginger-haired beard he now wore that made him look like his father Seamus.

"What's with the black robe that you're now wearing, Tapper?" Empath asked. "Have you been smurfed unto another calling besides bartending?"

"My bartending days are now officially over, my good Empath," Tapper said. "The Almighty has called me unto being a pastor for the village on Smurfette Island, and since that time I've been devoting myself to studying the Bible and praying for my Smurf brothers and sisters that they will come to know Him as their Lord and Savior."

"So this smurf should call you Pastor Tapper now?" Empath asked.

"You can still call me Tapper if you wish, but the official one that I smurf by is Pastor Nevin," Tapper said. "It is a variant of my birth name Naomhan, and it's much easier to pronounce, even though it's my dear darling wife who still calls me by Naomhan."

"This smurf is surprised to hear that, even though this smurf should expect something like this was going to happen to you someday, Tapper," Empath said. "Do you have a place in Smurfette Village where you smurf your sermons and all?"

"Actually I do, Empath, and it was built with the help of my friends Handy and Gadget and their children," Tapper said. "It isn't quite as fanciful as the churches that I have smurfed in the human world, but I do feel the Lord's Spirit in the place nonetheless. Sometimes I would just smurf in there alone during my private prayer times because it's the only place in the village where it's so quiet and peaceful."

"So how many Smurfs are you seeing coming to your services and wishing to be saved?" Empath asked.

"I get about 20 or so Smurfs who attend my weekly services on a regular basis, Empath, but only a few of them are even asking about how they can be saved," Tapper said. "I feel like I'm sowing seeds with no certainty of what kind of ground the seeds will be smurfing on."

"You knew that preaching about the need for salvation was going to be difficult, even before you became Pastor Nevin," Empath said. "Why should this be any different than what you smurfed before now?"

"I feel a very heavy burden that smurfs upon my shoulders to see my Smurf brothers and sisters receiving salvation more than I smurfed before, Empath," Tapper said. "It's as if I owe them and the Almighty a debt that must be repaid, and my payment plan is to live a life that the Lord has smurfed upon me to live and to love on my brothers and sisters with a love that will not judge them for the kind of lives they have smurfed."

"You sound as if you would be willing to carry the cross all the way to Calvary if that means that the Smurfs will be saved by the Almighty, Tapper," Empath said.

"Aye, I feel that is part and parcel for being a pastor, my friend," Tapper said. "The Almighty calls those who desire to come to Him to pick up their cross and follow Him. Granted I cannot save any of my fellow Smurfs from their sins, but if I have to smurf my life for them to receive eternal life as the Almighty's Son has smurfed His life for mine, then I would willingly smurf everything that I have for that purpose."

"This smurf can only wonder what your Papa Smurf Seamus might think if he were to see you in a role that he would never think of you to undersmurf in your adult years," Empath said.

"I could only wish the same thing for myself, Empath," Tapper said. "But as the Almighty's Son has said, 'If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes into Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.'"

Empath laughed slightly. "Well, you may not be a bartender anymore, Tapper, but you sure found yourself smurfing another kind of beverage to the thirsty."

"It's the Spirit, Empath, and if you find yourself in need of that kind of refreshment when the wells of the world have smurfed dry, come by my house sometime and smurf it a try," Tapper said.