B E H I N D / T H E / B A R

You could look inside every church and cathedral in this whole wide world, and I can guarantee that you will never find my dad standing behind even one of their pulpits.  My mom has said that my dad “could talk the bark off a tree,” but put him in front of a crowd of people, even a small one and he’ll lock down, and hardly saying a word.  Dad has never been one to be in the public eye, up in front.  But he is, in his own right, a minister.

Dad retired a few years ago from a manufacturing plant where he worked for over thirty years.  Still, retirement didn’t mean slow down and take it easy for my dad.  He had to stay busy, so he got a job as a courier for a local car dealership.  One of his responsibilities in this job is transporting customers from the dealership to their job or some other appointment.  For the few minutes that a customer is in the car with my dad, they actually step into Dad’s church and while he may never quote a scripture or pray a prayer with them, He shine’s Jesus.

How do I know this?  Well I got a letter in the mail this past week from a lady that my dad had shuttled from one place to the other and this is what the letter said:

Hi Pastor Greer,

Your dad shuttled us to the mall sometime this year and was a dear.  He gave me your card so I thought I’d take a moment to say how Jesus made Himself known to us through your dear ole dad!  We never know when our Lord Jesus will want to use us to show His love.  We only just need to be available to Him to use us for His glory and purpose.

Dad doesn’t even know I got this letter.  Well he probably does now.  Dad, if you’re reading this, I want to publicly say thanks for being an example.  An example that you don’t have to stand behind a pulpit to preach.  You don’t have to have a title in front of your name to minister to someone else.  In the words of the lady who sent me that note, you just have to be available, and you were.  If I know you, you would say that you didn’t do anything special that day, you were just being you.  That further proves my point.

I’m proud of my dad.  I may have never heard him preach a sermon, but its obvious that he’s living a life that preaches the love of Jesus loud and clear.

May you do the same.