The Bossman

A main character in the life of Agent B that I've yet to introduce is The Bossman. By all accounts, he is the "pastor" of the izzy group, thus I am his "associate pastor". These are titles we don't use often. And I rarely, if ever, use mine. Well, I use it to visit guys at the local jail. Man, it's amazing. Tell jail keepers that you're a pastor and they roll out the red carpet and toss you the keys. There's hardly a background check that I can remember. And when I go in, they just open the two security doors, lead me to a room with the guy I'm visiting, and leave us alone for as long as we want. I'm extremely thankful for our local jail's respect for the pastorate and/or Christians. But someone could lie and say they're the pastor of The Church of the Affectionate Holy Moly, then use it as a ruse to smuggle in weapons and drugs real easy.

So anyway, The Bossman is technically my boss and pastor, but he's really a friend on a similar journey as me. He has only been in ministry to the poor for 10 years, but his previous career facinates me and is the majority of the inspiration for my 'Agent B' persona.

The Bossman spent over 20 years as a US Federal Agent with the OSI - Office of Special Investigations. The OSI is like the FBI on the military level, if I understand correctly. They mostly investigate crimes involving military personel, but often assist local law enforcement if neccessary. So basically, a guy who spends two decades carrying a badge and a .45, investigating dead bodies, working secret service for US government oficials (including Ronald Reagan and Dan Quayle), going undercover for weeks to do a drug raid, busting in doors and kicking ass is now a compassionate minister to poor people.

Being a Fed honed The Bossman's skills as a 'behavioral scientist'. He can spend 2 minutes talking with anyone and can have them "figured out" like if they're hiding agendas, etc. And most people let their guard down around him because he portrays himself in public to be some old dirt farming hick. He doesn't abuse the poor with this tactic but I've watched him in action when meeting with local business men who had agendas with our ministry.

What's funny is that one of his last assignments was posing as a drug buyer here in the mother city. He use to bust up the dope sellers. Now he ministers to those same dope sellers. His background helps him (and me) know where to look for 'the least of these', how to identify with their needs, speak their lingo, etc. It's also funny to see the dynamic of character The Bossman contains. I've seen this once hard-hearted agent cry about the poor on many occasions. Yet one night at the shelter during the old izzy days I watched him instantly snap into agent mode when one of the homeless guys was getting too rough and unreasonable. I'm convinced "agenting" is a good background for ministers to the poor. It's not neccessary but it can't hurt.

Today, like many days, The Bossman and I went to some remote secret location within the mother city to smoke a cheap cigar and discuss things of the CEO. He's not perfect. Nobody is. He confesses his sins to me often. But he's a good boss.