Pastor With A Passion
It�s amazing some of the things you learn having lunch with a pastor. We were at a church doing a program on a Sunday morning. After the services we were invited to have lunch with the pastor at his home next door to the church. I will always remember this church because it was the only church we have been to that didn�t have a sign out front or the name of the church on the building. The address said we were at the right place but there wasn�t any other indication that we were at the right location.
As we had lunch together, pastor told me a story about this group of believers. He had only been at this church a few months. When he got there the sign was laying on the ground in front of the church. The story goes that there had been a congregational meeting on a Sunday night a few weeks before he arrived. The meeting must have gone well because a fight broke out and the police were called. Somewhere along the line, some of the ââ?¬Å?saintsââ?¬Â went out and tore down the sign. It appears that by the time the police got there, a regular brawl had broken out. Iââ?¬â?¢m sure you can imagine what the headlines read like on Mondayââ?¬â?¢s paper.
When pastor arrived he quickly removed the sign that had been left right where it fell that fateful night. He said he wasnââ?¬â?¢t in any hurry to get the sign back up. At that point it was probably best that it not be a constant reminder to the community that ââ?¬Å?this is a body of believers that canââ?¬â?¢t get along with one another.ââ?¬Â In fact, Iââ?¬â?¢m not sure there is a sign there to this day.
Then he shared something else with me that proved this man had some real wisdom. He told me that he had joined a menââ?¬â?¢s basketball team. Not because he liked to play basketball but because we wanted to meet some unsaved men. He hadnââ?¬â?¢t even told these guys that he was a pastor. If he would have, they would have asked what church he was pastor of and he knew if he told them, they would know it as the ââ?¬Å?fighting churchââ?¬Â. He was playing ball and building friendships. He knew that eventually the time would come when we would be able to share Christ with them. If any of his new friends ever became a part of his church or not wasnââ?¬â?¢t important. What he believed to be important was his relationship with them and their relationship with Christ. This pastor had a passion for souls. If you want to win souls you canââ?¬â?¢t keep yourself with the saints. You need to get out there and build relationships with some lost people.