My Favorite Question

A while back a pastor was sitting in his office during the week. A young man from his congregation walks in and knocks on the door. He asked the pastor “Pastor, is there anything I can do to help? I got saved a while little while ago and I feel like I should be doing something.” The pastor just looks at him with a smile and gestures for the young man to look out the window, so he did. He saw that the church lawn was not as kept as it should be and told the pastor “Oh I got this handled.” The young man ran out into the yard and began mowing.

After the young man had finished mowing he walked into the pastor’s office again. Trying to catch his breath and wiping sweat from his brow, the young man asked again “Pastor, is there anything I can do to help?” The pastor looked at the man and gestured to the window again. The young man looked out and this time saw there was some trash in the parking lot. He sprung up and went back out to work.

After a few hours of this young man scouring the yard and property to make sure there was no trash outside, the young man walked back into the pastor’s office and asked “Pastor, I have mowed the lawn and picked up the trash outside. Is there anything else I can do to help?” The pastor, puzzled, looked outside and was shocked. The pastor thanked the young man for doing all those chores and then gestured the young man to the window. They both gazed outside the church window and the pastor said “You have done a wonderful job making the church look great but I think you missed what I was gesturing to. Look across the street. You see that man sitting there on that porch? He has been sitting there all day. Why don’t you go and see what he needs? Maybe go and share the gospel with him.”

My favorite question I have been asked has simply been “What can I do to help?” In my short time in ministry, I have come to realize that help comes from the weirdest places. The people who you would think might have better things to do, or those who don’t seem interested in anything ministry tend to be the ones to step up when no one else will. It amazes me how willing people are to serve. Yet, much like the young man in the story people miss out on what is the most helpful thing they can do for their pastor.

Compared to world there are not that many pastors. If we add in evangelists and missionaries the number gets bigger but is still small compared to the world. The goal being that all come to know Jesus, it would take many lifetimes for them to reach every single person. So, when you ask “What can I do to help?” remember that what we really could use help on is telling others about Christ. Telling them that if they believe on the Jesus Christ and accept Him as their personal savior that they can go to heaven one day. It is as simple as that and yet the one thing that people make the most excuses for.

In all honesty, if you want to help go and talk to the gentleman on the porch or the lady you see out walking every morning. You never know, you may see a life change for the better.