I'm not an old man (yet), I plan on living to a ripe old age as the Bible calls it (Genesis 25:8 & Job 5:26), but I have lived a few years on this planet (49) and in that time have learned a thing or two. I may not be as wise as Solomon, but I do have some wisdom that I have learned; some the hard way and others easier. One thing I have always told myself is that when I see something that is out of whack, I will speak up and address it, and today I feel the need to do just that.
There is something that has crept into my church in the past couple of years, something that while not really a bad thing such as flagrant sin or hypocrisy, it is something which left unspoken will cause us as a family a problem if it is not nipped in the bud. And it is a simple thing from a more simple time, and it is called respect and honor.
I remember as a boy that whenever my parent's friends came to visit, my brothers and I would refer to them as mister and misses so and so, never by their first names. Oh there were a few of them who would say, call me by my first name, mister so and so is my father, but we were never allowed to call them by their first names until much, much later in life (I was up in my twenties before I ever referred to my dad's friends by their first name and even then it seemed weird to me).
There is a respect and honor due to people older than ourselves, but not just that, there should be respect and honor given to those who are leading us at Word of Life as well. I have noticed the lack of the use of the term "Pastor" lately, and it is something that bothers me. Now please understand me, I don't refer to Pastor Chad Stewart as Pastor because he has me asked to, in fact if he had said to me, "David I need you to call me Pastor when you address me." there is something that would rise up inside me and say, "Don't tell me!" (And yes, this is an area of weakness in me that I am working on).
I don't like it when men of God tell others what they are to call them. I feel that it is something that must come from a person's heart. You see, when I call anyone Pastor, it is something that I do out of respect to the office that they hold, not because they have told me to do so. For me it is an honor that I give freely to the person in that position. It's like love, no one can make you love them. You love a person because you have made a choice to do so, and it is the same way when honoring a man or woman of God. When you refer to any of those on staff as Pastor, you are honoring the office which they hold.
The Bible says that the only place where Jesus could do very little work was in His own home town. And like that, at Word of Life, if we are not careful we can become so familiar with the staff that we inadvertently begin not honoring and respecting the office of the Pastor which God has given to us. That office and those in it will just become Chad, Jesse, etc. And in doing so we will miss out on a lot of what God has for us as a church.
I know that when Pastor David (our founding Pastor) was with us, had he said something controversial from the pulpit, he would not have been booed, yet Pastor Jesse was just a week ago. Some people would say that it is because he is younger, that they cannot receive from his ministry, but I would ask why is that? Why is God unable to get through to you from this tattooed youth minister? If your television cannot receive the signal from the local television station, it's not the television station's fault, it's your tv's. Just like that, if you are unable to receive from a man of God because of his age, then perhaps there is something wrong with your receiver? Just a thought.
I have no problem following a younger man, if God has placed that man into the position to lead the church, and I know that God has placed the men and women on our church staff there to lead us. We need to honor and respect them and the offices that they hold regardless of their ages or the way they look or act, because it is the right thing to do, not because they have told us to do so. And I don't always call Chad Pastor. If we are out at the movies together or doing something in a social setting he is my friend and I call him by his name. However when I am talking to him while he is in the office of Pastor I call him Pastor, and I place our friendship to the side. It's all about knowing when the relationship is a friendship and when it is the Pastor/Congregant dynamic.
So please hear my heart in this today, let's respect the office of the Pastor and give the honor due to those on staff by referring to them as Pastor, not because I've told you to, but because from your heart you want to. And as we do that, I believe we will see more and more in the realm of the supernatural take place. So there's that, strength and honor for the Kingdom and the King.
