First, this post is more to pastors than lay people—but I think lay folks will find a principle within worth wrestling with.
Here it is, pastors…
The evangelical church in America and it’s leaders usually experience one extreme or the other when it comes to ‘honor.’ Either they receive roughly the same treatment as Rodney Dangerfield (“I get no respect!”), or they are treated like the Pope. So I thought I’d weigh in on the topic of honor in the ministry as well as challenge pastors to answer the following question truthfully,
Where do you land on restoring honor to God?
Not to the church you lead (though that’s important), not to the position of “pastor” (though that too is important), and not to your own name (honestly, not as important as we like to think). I said, Where do you land on restoring honor to God? Is that important to you? What’s the honest truth?
No, not the pat answer, “Oh, of course the highest honor is reserved for Jesus and Jesus alone.” I’m talking about the real answer—the one lived out in your daily walk, your weekend sermons, and the hills you die on.
Let me explain.
One of our values at Southbrook Church is reverence. Honor is another one—but I don’t really see these as two entirely separate values. Actually, they are sister values—they either go hand and hand, or you’re just paying lip service to the values. Or worse, the honor you want is not for the Lord but for yourself.
Here’s how you know which camp you’re in.
- Do you worry more about someone bad mouthing you, or God?
- Do you worry more about someone tarnishing the name of your church or the name of Christ?
- Do you cringe if someone doesn’t use some prefix before your name like, The Rightly Reverend, Pastor, or Doctor so and so but not even bat an eye when someone takes the Lord’s name in vain?
- Do you take the Lord’s name in vain?
I could go on, but you probably see the pattern already. Pastors, If the honor we crave so much is more for ourselves than even God—we are in the wrong camp. God doesn’t share His glory with anyone or anything—ever.
Period.
So why is honor one of the values @ Southbrook?
Because God is worthy of honor. And so are those who do His work—I Timothy 5:17 tells us, “ 17 The elders who direct the affairs of the church well are worthy of double honor, especially those whose work is preaching and teaching.”—but in that order—not the other way around.
And here’s reason 1,000,000,000 why God is so good! If we honor Him first—He tends to allow honor to come to us as well.
Second.