Audio Recording
Whenever
a church comes into a new relationship with a new minister the question of what
that new minister would like to be called always comes up and we are fooling
ourselves if we do not appreciate it as a sensitive topic. Speaking for the larger church most ministers
these days do not want to be addressed by anything other than their name. We don’t want a title because that makes us
appear “entitled” or rather sets us apart from the rest of God’s people as if
we are more holy, more special, or somehow closer to God. It is a rule of thumb that if a minister demands a title then you’re
probably dealing with more ego than you want.
It is especially strange for us when you consider that most ministers in
Mainline churches today are among the youngest people in the church. I should be called “Sonny Boy”, not Reverend
or Doctor. We feel the same about
wearing collars and robes. The only
reason I wear a collar on Sunday and other occasions is that I was raised to
respect my elders and I know the elder church likes to see a collar. I only wear the robe for high holy days. I take Jesus as my lead there. We don’t know exactly what he wore, but we
can be reasonably sure that he did not dress like a Scribe, or a Pharisee, or a
Priest. The ministerial garb and titles,
in my not so humble opinion, crosses the line into the realm of religion and
superstition that Jesus confronted vehemently.
But back
to the topic at hand, people did call Jesus “Rabbi” which meant “Teacher” or
“Rabboni” which was a term of endearment for a teacher. This fact would seem to indicate that some
titular designation is in order. This is
particularly so if there are young children in the church for many parents will
want their children to respect the minister and will ask what title they should
use and we have to respect that request.
Personally, I prefer simply to be called by my name, Randy…although,
there is an unfortunate connotation there – the randy minister. Down in West Virginia most people just called
me “the preacher”. Where kids are
involved “Preacher Randy” is fine. That
said, you may call me want you want, but please don’t call me Pastor or Pastor
Randy. I’ll explain.
Back
when I was working on that Doctor of Ministry degree one day in class we were
discussing the role of the “pastor” in the early church. It seems that the early church liked to think
of Jesus as being “the Pastor.” Pastor,
if you’re wondering, is just an alternate word for Shepherd. Jesus called himself the Good Shepherd and indicated
that all the other shepherds or leaders in the church were secondary to
him. It was the role of the pastor
(actually overseer or elder are the New Testament terms) in the early church to
point to the True Pastor, Jesus, and not to be “The Pastor.” The pastor of the congregation was simply to feed
the flock meaning teach them.
I think
the Old Order Mennonites and the Amish are good examples of this. They will pick a preaching “elder” by lot from
among the “elders” of the community to shoulder the burden of the preaching
responsibility for the community and this on top of fulltime farming work. They believe that the whole congregation
embodies Jesus, “the Pastor”, and they in the way they care for each other carry
out Jesus’ ministry and this is especially true for the governing elders as a
whole. The preaching pastor just feeds
the flock for a set amount of time so that no one person becomes forever
identified with that role. In my deep
down heart of hearts, I can’t help but feel that the way they do it is the way it
ought to be: Jesus ministry embodied by the whole community yet especially
among the ruling elders of whom one of them takes the preaching/teaching office
for a short period of time.
Now let
me back up again to my discomfort with the title “Pastor”. One of my classmates in the discussion that
day shared that his wife was studying to become a counsellor and as part of her
training she had to take a class in pastoral care. She came home from that particular class one
day livid. He inquired. She responded, “You guys just think you’re
God.” Now, having attended a few of
these pastoral care classes myself, I knew exactly what she meant. I remember one of my pastoral care professors
saying to us “like it or not people will associate your presence with God’s
presence particularly when they are in some sort of crisis like being in the
hospital. Be aware of that.”
Honestly,
sometimes ministers are too aware of this and we let it go to our heads. We start to believe that Jesus cannot do his
work without us. Instead of pointing you
folks to the One True Pastor, we usurp his place and in his place then has
arisen the myth that a church isn’t a real church without a collar-wearing
professional minister or as of late an articulate rockstar wearing a headset and
blue jeans. The result of this is that at
one extreme we wind up with a congregation that is what could be called “a cult
of personality” where instead of being a living extension of the person of
Jesus Christ it just simply becomes the extension of the personality of its
minister; a minister who is very good at eliciting, indeed manipulating,
certain “religious affections” or experiences out of people. When that minister leaves, the crowds that
followed move on to the next best thing at the church across town. Those who stay crucify whoever comes next. At the other extreme of this usurpation of
Jesus rightful place as our One True Pastor is that congregations demand we do
it. After all, you’re paying us for
something, right? No matter the extreme,
when Jesus’ ministry gets usurped by ministers the fatal result is that his
ministry withers away from its rightful place of being embodied in and by the
people of God through the work of the Holy Spirit.
So, what
then is it that a minister is supposed to do if not everything? Notable in the Presbyterian Church is our
requirement for seminary-trained ministers. We have an educated clergy because we believe
that it is the responsibility of the seminary-trained minister to preserve and pass
on to the whole church first and foremost the Gospel of Jesus Christ, proper
worship particularly in the celebration of the Lord’s Supper and Baptism,
proper interpretation of the Bible, the theology and tradition of the church,
and “soul care”. Ministers are teaching
elders meant to equip a church for ministry and to prevent the church from
withering in superstition. The only
thing specific that the Presbyterian Church in Canada has to say about the work
of the minister is that we are in congregations as the extension of Presbytery
as the moderator (not CEO) of the Session and that we are responsible for the
content and conduct of worship. This
means then that everything else that congregations have come expect from their
paid minister—the sole responsibility for pastoral care, Lee Iacocca-like leadership,
and expertise on everything from Leviticus to toilet replacement realizing that
toilet replace is more important—all that is actually the responsibility of the
Session of which the minister is only Moderator and teacher.
If we
want a job specific title to tag onto a Presbyterian Church in Canada minister
it would be either Moderator or simply Teacher, but definitely not Pastor. “The
Lord is my Shepherd”, wrote King David.
Another way of saying that is “The Lord is my Pastor.” Jesus provides for your every need. He gives you rest. He protects and comforts you when you walk in
the valley of the shadow of death. He
sets a table before you—he blesses you with a feast—in the face of your
enemies. He has made it so that you—each
of you—do dwell in God’s house all the days of your lives. Indeed, he is always with you.
Jesus
said, “I am the Good Shepherd. The Good
Shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.”
Jesus is the one who loves us so much that he gave his life for us. He lived in our place the faithful and
obedient life that we cannot possibly live.
He suffered death to free us from death.
God raised him from the dead so that all Creation will be made new. Jesus prays for us continually. His whole life is for us. I’m just one of the hired hands. I’m likely to flee when the wolf comes. Jesus defeated the wolf. Try as I may it is humanly impossible for me
to truly and sincerely care for anybody but myself. We’re all like that. But Jesus, he cares for you and you
only. When you are ill. He’s with you, in you, praying for your
health and restoring it to you. When you
are sad and defeated he is there comforting you. When you are excelling he is there proud of
you, cheering you on. When you slip and
falter, he is your faithfulness and your forgiveness. Jesus is your Pastor. I hope you will accept Him, talk to him,
listen to him, heed him. And remember,
you each have a share in his ministry to share with each other. Elders, you especially remember that. Amen.
