Not Our Guy

Last Sunday, Ray, our senior pastor at Bayside Church, told us that the leadership team had been in a pastoral search for several years. Not to replace any of our pastors, but because the church had grown so much that an additional pastor was called for.

They really liked Andrew McCourt, of Northern Ireland, who happened to be our visiting minister on Sunday. We laughed and learned from his Valentine's Day message: "Love Wisdom: Lessons from an Irishman."

But after careful consideration, Andrew had declined their offer. So they continued their search. And fell in love with a guy from the Midwest. The entire leadership team agreed that he was their guy, and the guy agreed.

On the day that they were scheduled to have a conference call to hash out the details of his transition into our church, however, our senior pastor woke up with the sensation that this was the wrong guy. That Andrew was our guy.

And then the phone ring. It was the guy from the Midwest. Ray wasn't sure what to do or say. He wanted to follow God, who he felt had been the one telling him that this wasn't the guy, but he just didn't know where to begin.

The other guy beat him to it. "I'm sorry," he said. "I'm not sure why, but I can't come. I don't think I'm your guy."

So Ray called the rest of the leadership team in for a meeting. They were bummed that the guy from the Midwest couldn't come. He had seemed like the perfect fit. But even though they really liked the guy, they, too, had been feeling like maybe God had something different planned for Bayside.

Our pastor called Andrew and told him that he still felt like God was calling Andrew to Bayside. Andrew admitted that he hadn't been able to shake Bayside from his thoughts. And not long after that conversation, all parties agreed that Andrew would be our new pastor!

All of this happened on the tail of Randy and my Valentine's Day adventure. And the timing helped me see the similarities in our experiences.

While Randy and I didn't intentionally choose the wrong course, we still ended up on the wrong path. And while our leadership team did not intentionally plan to bring on the wrong pastor, that is the path they found themselves on.

When Randy and I realized we were on the wrong route, we immediately pulled out our maps and followed the signs to get us back on track. And as soon as our leadership team discovered they had the wrong guy, they immediately heeded God's voice and the direction he was leading them in.

We won't always make the right choices. (Though we shouldn't intentionally make the wrong ones!) But serving God isn't about being perfect. It's about keeping our hearts and minds open so that when we do get off course, God can help us get back on track.