"Our people need a God-besotted man. Even if they criticize the fact that you are not available at the dinner on Saturday night because you must be with God, they need at least one man in their life who is radically and totally focused on God and the pursuit of the knowledge of God, and the ministry of the word of God.
How many people in your churches do you know that are laboring to know God, who are striving earnestly in study and prayer to enlarge their vision of God. Precious few.…")*
1 Timothy 6:11 KJV
But thou, O man of God ….
Over the years, as my relationship to the Lord has (I trust) grown, that which I would like to be known by has changed. Yea, even the concept of being known has changed for me because today I have no real desire to be known at all, but rather be completely unknown in Christ.
Early on I preferred the title, Pastor
I remember struggling in my early pastorate attempting to get people to call me by this name. While it is still the most common name my congregation address me by, I seldom introduce myself with that moniker any more.
Pastor is a title of office. I am convinced that the members of a church ought to respect this office. I just do not believe I must be identified with the title so much any more. I do, after all, still have the office.
My tastes fairly rapidly added to that title that of Preacher
This is can be considered a term of affection. When a church member calls me preacher they generally do so because I have progressed in their mind from one holding the official roll over them to one that has the emotional ministry to them.
The term preacher might also mark a degree of achievement in the ministry. If a pastor has developed skills in the pulpit so that his preaching is easier to listen to, e might be called preacher. If he has attained some level of skill in expositing the Bible and it is recognized by a congregation, the term preacher might be a reflection of that skill.
The term, Reverend, has never been a coveted title to me
However, under certain circumstances I have come to appreciate that title and even an occasional "Padre." I served as volunteer chaplain for the Astoria Police Department for several years. In that position, various officers referred to me addressed me as "Rev" or "Padre." I accepted those designations as gestures of warmth and was pleased to be addressed by them in those terms.
Pacific Coast Baptist Bible College and then Heartland Baptist Bible College
But I do have a goal to pursue yet, not for a name, but for a quality. I long to be a man of God. Not merely a man of the book, or a man of the church. I recognize that I must be each of those to be a man of God. But I want to be a man of God. I want to be one who is wholly and completely devoted to God. I want to come to the place where my congregation recognizes me, not only as faithful to my responsibilities as a pastor, and not merely as skillful in my duties as a preacher; I want my congregation to see in me a man "who is radically and totally focused on God and the pursuit of the knowledge of God."
*Excerpted from The Pastor as Theologian, by John Piper
How many people in your churches do you know that are laboring to know God, who are striving earnestly in study and prayer to enlarge their vision of God. Precious few.…")*
1 Timothy 6:11 KJV
But thou, O man of God ….
Over the years, as my relationship to the Lord has (I trust) grown, that which I would like to be known by has changed. Yea, even the concept of being known has changed for me because today I have no real desire to be known at all, but rather be completely unknown in Christ.
Early on I preferred the title, Pastor
I remember struggling in my early pastorate attempting to get people to call me by this name. While it is still the most common name my congregation address me by, I seldom introduce myself with that moniker any more.
Pastor is a title of office. I am convinced that the members of a church ought to respect this office. I just do not believe I must be identified with the title so much any more. I do, after all, still have the office.
My tastes fairly rapidly added to that title that of Preacher
This is can be considered a term of affection. When a church member calls me preacher they generally do so because I have progressed in their mind from one holding the official roll over them to one that has the emotional ministry to them.
The term preacher might also mark a degree of achievement in the ministry. If a pastor has developed skills in the pulpit so that his preaching is easier to listen to, e might be called preacher. If he has attained some level of skill in expositing the Bible and it is recognized by a congregation, the term preacher might be a reflection of that skill.
The term, Reverend, has never been a coveted title to me
However, under certain circumstances I have come to appreciate that title and even an occasional "Padre." I served as volunteer chaplain for the Astoria Police Department for several years. In that position, various officers referred to me addressed me as "Rev" or "Padre." I accepted those designations as gestures of warmth and was pleased to be addressed by them in those terms.
At one time I thought I liked to be addressed as Doctor.
When serving at
While I have earned degrees, they are not accredited by the world's standards and mean very little other than that I did benefit from those studies necessary to attain said degrees.
I am no longer interested in titles.
Mom and Dad named me Marvin. I am happy with that. I don't even really have to have the Christian "Brother" before it. But I do have a goal to pursue yet, not for a name, but for a quality. I long to be a man of God. Not merely a man of the book, or a man of the church. I recognize that I must be each of those to be a man of God. But I want to be a man of God. I want to be one who is wholly and completely devoted to God. I want to come to the place where my congregation recognizes me, not only as faithful to my responsibilities as a pastor, and not merely as skillful in my duties as a preacher; I want my congregation to see in me a man "who is radically and totally focused on God and the pursuit of the knowledge of God."
Marvin McKenzie
In the fields*Excerpted from The Pastor as Theologian, by John Piper
