Tag: Pastor

Digging in Deeper: Hebrews 13:7, 17

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“Remember your leaders who have spoken God’s word to you. As you carefully observe the outcome of their lives, imitate their faith. . . .Obey your leaders and submit to them, since they keep watch over your souls as those who will give an account, so that they can do this with joy and not with grief, for that would be unprofitable for you.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

There are several passages like this scattered across the New Testament. Given the position in which I serve, I pretty unfailingly feel really uncomfortable talking about them with other people. As someone who Paul would have (hopefully) identified as one of these leaders, it feels terribly awkward to me to imagine myself standing in front of my congregation and telling them, “you should submit to and obey me.” And yet, passages like these are nonetheless in here, and we have to deal with them. Let’s talk about what this means both for church members and also for church leaders as there’s a little something for everyone here.

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Digging in Deeper: Hebrews 5:1-4

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“For every high priest taken from among men is appointed in matters pertaining to God for the people, to offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins. He is able to deal gently with those who are ignorant and are going astray, since he is also clothed with weakness. Because of this, he must make an offering for his own sins as well as for the people. No one takes this honor on himself; instead, a person is called by God, just as Aaron was.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

Being a pastor can be confusing. It’s not necessarily confusing for me. I know who I am and what I’m doing (well, at least the first one most of the time). It’s confusing for everyone else. For instance, what should I be called? In my particular faith tradition, there are several options. Which one gets used depends on the circumstances and who’s talking to me. I have at various times been called “pastor,” “preacher,” “reverend,” and even “father” or “priest” by someone who was raised Catholic and really didn’t have a frame of reference beyond that (although, admittedly, my favorite has been a man who unfailingly calls me “Rabbi”). Which is right and what do they mean? What got me thinking about all of this is a description of the high priest here at the opening of Hebrews 5. Let’s talk about it.

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