I had a lot to be grateful for this past Sunday: a raucous choir, a Bruce Springsteen special selection, a message I enjoyed delivering, good crowds, and an overwhelming response to the Radical Impact Project with our partners the Scouts and our friends at Loaves and Fishes.
But none of those ultimately represent the best ministry that took place on our campus on Sunday.
Instead, that label goes to something that I had nothing to do with.
I heard — third hand? — that a guest attending one of the services turned to someone near him and said, “I think I’m an alcoholic.”
The person on the receiving end of that confession then took upon himself the delicate task of locating someone in the church he knows is in recovery from alcoholism, telling that person about the situation, and linking the two people (confessing guy and recovery guy) up to meet.
And the Good Shepherd friend did all of that. On a Sunday morning. To help someone he had just met. By knowing the story of someone else in our church.
I only found out about it as I was headed to my car. A staffer told me: “Oh, two guys are in the Prayer Room talking and praying about alcoholism right now.” And then the staffer told me the story.
And even more than 1,000+ grocery bags to feed the hungry, that was the best ministry on Sunday morning.
And I had nothing to do with it.