The Pastor's Unplanned Opportunities
By Marshall Shelley
January 1, 2004
Some "pastorable moments" are planned. Others show up unannounced. All are use-'em-or-lose-'em situations, precious opportunities of unusual openness in a person's life to hear from God. Or they're occasions when someone can benefit from a Christian truly living like a Christian. I asked long-time pastor Warren Wiersbe what situations he's seen that provide windows of ministry opportunity. He listed several: "life crises, promotions, anniversaries, mild disagreements, reading the identical book or magazine article, an 'accidental meeting' at a coffee place or the doctor's office, or a current news story people are talking about." Recently Eric Reed and I met Phil Busbee, pastor of First Baptist Church of San Francisco, who learned that a gay and lesbian community center was being opened right across the street from his church. He realized it was a pastorable moment. When he met the director of the center, Phil introduced himself and said, "We're going to be neighbors, and I hope we can be good neighbors, even though the goals of your center may differ from the goals of our church. Our church exists primarily to introduce people to Jesus Christ and to help them follow him in faithfulness and holiness. We also exist to live out God's love in this neighborhood and to contribute to the community." Recognizing that parking is always a problem for organizations in urban areas, Phil then made an offer. "I understand you have a ground breaking ceremony coming up. As your neighbor, we want to make available to you our parking spaces for your event. We think God has placed us on this corner to serve this neighborhood. And if there are other ways we can serve you, please contact me." The director gratefully accepted the offer. Phil concluded ...
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