The Question that Stunned Me: An Unexpected Revelation at a Neighborhood Church
Start the conversation on LinkedIn: Have you ever had a chance meeting that led you to question your path or purpose?
“Are you a pastor?” he asked me.
It was Easter Sunday. I was attending my son’s family’s neighborhood Anglican Church. After the service, as we were exiting, this young pastor stood at the door greeting his congregation.
I intended to thank him for his sermon, introduce myself, and bless him and his young family. He had no plan for me. He never met me. He was wishing all his congregants a “Happy Easter.”
When I reached the front of the line, our eyes met. I shook his hand. And the first thing said between us was his question to me. “Are you a pastor?”
The question stunned me.
But his tone caused me to be stunned more than the question itself. It was like he saw something in me that God allowed him to see. Did he have some supernatural insight? It was so odd to be asked this question at a chance meeting.
“No. I am not a pastor.” I answered quickly.
“Why did you ask me that?”
“You carry yourself like a pastor,” he answered.
“Maybe I’m a marketplace pastor.”
Then he changed the subject by pointing to my son and asking, “Are you David’s father?”
We talked briefly. I ended our conversation by holding his hand and saying, “You have a beautiful young family. May God bless and protect you and your ministry.”
As David and I walked across the street from the church, I asked David, “Did you hear what he asked me?”
“Yes,” he said.
I told David, but really to myself, “I wonder what he saw?”
And this question is still with me. As you have learned from this brief story, I continue to try to answer this young pastor’s question. He saw something in me. And I don’t believe he saw this on his own.
What is there about me that I don’t see?
I have taken this to the Lord in prayer. This pastor’s question has opened up a dialogue with God about me that I never had before. It is leading me somewhere. I’m not sure where. But there is where I am headed.
Maybe my quick answer of “Maybe I’m a marketplace minister” is what God wanted me to realize—still praying!