Titles

Titles

I am not a big fan of titles. I recognize their importance, but I also understand their abuse. When a person is addressed as Reverend, Doctor, Judge or Professor it is a recognition of a particular profession that is attained after significant education. Unfortunately, it doesn’t always indicate the character or the maturity of the person.

I clearly remember the conversation my father had with me the day of my ordination as a Catholic priest. He ushered me into his study and explained to me that I now have a title with the education to back it up. What I didn’t yet have was the life experience to go with it. He went on to explain that when he finished medical school and was bestowed the title “doctor” he had all the medical knowledge but little human experience in healing. A sobering word of advice on the cusp of my upcoming ministry

After almost fifty years of ministry I have not forgotten those words of wisdom from my father. Countless times I found myself giving the textbook answer to a complex spiritual or emotional problem. People will listen to the counsel coming from a titled person, but they instinctively know when they are words that have been tested by life experience.

Looking back, I see that I was ill prepared to carry the title of priest or reverend. Maybe that is why I had such difficulty with the label knowing that I was wrestling with the same life issues as those who I was charged to shepherd. The pedestal was so precarious that it didn’t take much time “in the trenches” for me to wobble and fall. What I had acquired in seminary education I was way short in life skills.

It is only by the grace of God that I still wear the title of pastor. Life experience continues to teach me that a title does not the man make. I am thankful for my academic education. It has served me well along life’s path. But I am more thankful for the wise words of a seasoned doctor who was my father.