We just had a call. On the caller ID, it simply said “Congressman Tim.†The caller ID had chopped off his last name. I chuckled right away. It reminded me of a Monty Python skit where a enchanter casting fire from his fingertips is asked his name. He says, “Some call me…Tim.†His name just could not live up to his powerful essence.
You know, you never hear a congressman call themselves just by their first name. They would not be taken serious in Washington. And we do not call them by their first name either. Even though most polls show that no one thinks very highly of congressman or women right now, we do respect the office they hold enough to address them by their full name or their title and last name.
Early in my ministry I was reminded of this truth by a member who asked why in the Prayer of the Church I prayed for our President George or District President Keith. She said she was always taught that those placed in authority over us by God should be called by their title and last name. The real answer to her question? Why had I done it? I wish I had a more profound answer but the truth was that I did it because it is what the prayer I was using suggested. I have since changed my practice both in deference to this woman and also because I recognized the wisdom of her statement.
The truth is that most people who are given authority to do things we consider important we still address by their title and last name even in this age of informality. Officer Jones (Police). Dr. Stevenson (Doctors). Admiral Miller (Military Brass), Mrs. Hulder (Teachers). The list could go on.
The same used to be true of pastors. As one given authority to preach the Word and administer the Sacraments, pastors were almost always addressed by that title and their last name. Some even were called Reverend to make the honor of such an address explicit.
I want to be clear. This is not by itself the matter of greatest important in the Kingdom today. I am not going to immediately cast dispersion on one who calls himself Pastor Tim. But as with all adiaphora ((Things neither prescribed nor forbidden in the Bible)), its appropriateness must be judged by its effect on how people think about the things that are important.
And I would contend that in many pastors opting to use their first name only in an effort to be more relatable (not an intrinsically bad goal) we have often unintentionally taught our people to forget both the authority bestowed upon pastors for our good and the importance of the things they are tasked with doing.
We would not feel right with Doctor Tim doing our surgery or Officer Tim coming to our rescue. Perhaps if we pondered more how critical the things we do with our pastor are, we would be less comfortable calling our pastor Tim. Maybe we would afford the honor of title and last name even if he does not desire it.
Finally lest anyone be confused, I must make one more thing explicit. This is not about our pastors themselves being so awesome as to deserve this honor. I know that such a claim would be ridiculous at least in my case. It is about the office itself, the vocation, the position. Pastors deserve this honor not because of any in and of themselves, but because of what God works in and through them.
The reason for using first names in our corporate prayer that when the Church prays for Christians, she normally does so using their Christian (baptismal) names. Family names are not important because only one family name truly matters; i.e., “Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.” Therefore, if someone claims to be Christian, be he George, Barack, or William, we pray using that name.
As for pastors, I’m not so dogmatic as you. If someone is incapable of respecting the office unless the full formality of the last name is invoked, then I think we should insist upon its usage. However, in a world where the majority of clergy are called “Father Firstname,” I have no problem if someone wants to call me Pastor Walter or Father Walter.
Walter-
I have heard that reason for using the first name in the corporate prayers. But truly the idea of a first name being a “Christian” name is very foreign to most. Long gone are the days when the name would be announced on the day of baptism. So while there may be reasons why that practice was first used (whenever that was), I still go with offering respect by using title and last name, which at least some people understand in our culture. If you catechize the people about being “named” at the time of baptism, I can see following that practice. But then you should also rename adults being baptized. Lastly, some in authority have no Christian name, since they are not baptized into Christ.
As far as being called Father, that would be another post. Thanks for reading and commenting.
Phil 🙂