Titles

So I had an interesting experience this morning, I thought I’d share it and some thoughts from it. This morning I got a phone call from a lady in my church.  She was apologizing for something that I didn’t really mind at all. Yesterday morning a in the hallway she looked at me with a big smile and said “Hey Big D!” I smiled and said hi and went on. After that point something bothered her… she felt she had offended me.

What bothered her? She didn’t call me Pastor. I assured her that it was no big deal and that I appreciated her heart in the matter. I hate that something so silly had bothered her so much but I understood it.

For me it really wasn’t a big deal. I’ve never really thought much about titles. Truth be told, it is still strange for me to hear people refer to me as Pastor Dallas. This is in part due to my training with my mentor. The idea of titles was just never a big thing. If you had a relationship with someone and they allowed you into their lives that’s all that mattered.  If there’s a job that needs to be done and you were able to do it, then you took care of it, no matter what your title was or is. That’s how I was taught.

That said I do understand that titles are important. They have a place and reason in our society. I know for starters they signify authority. If I walk up to three guys looking for help with a broken leg and one says “Hi, I’m Professor John,” another says “Hi, I’m Officer Jack,” and the third says, “Hi, I’m Dr. Jeremy,” I’m going to end up asking the doctor for help.  Why? I’m going to talk to him because his title tells me he is an authority in medical matters.

There have been many times where I’ve walked into a situation and I’ve had to be “Pastor Dallas.” People needed me to be more than just the laid back geeky guy that I am. They needed to be a minister of the Gospel. They needed me to be someone to bring the presence of God and show them the heart of the Father.

Let’s not forget that we should respect people’s authority. No matter what the position or our opinions about that position. You may not like a pastor, teacher, doctor, mayor, or president; but the fact of the matter is the title they have carries authority. So our honoring of their title is honoring of the authority they carry. Yes even if carry it poorly.

I had talked about this on my Periscope earlier today. One person brought up an interesting point. While I personally don’t care about titles; there are those who purposefully don’t use a person’s title out of blatant disrespect.  In other words, if they don’t like that person for whatever reason, instead of referring to that person as Doctor, Pastor, Professor, President; they simply call them by their name or sometimes… some kind of inappropriate, and colorful, name.  Don’t’ get me wrong, I understand it’s hard to be honoring to people we don’t care for, but how can we create a culture of honor if we don’t do it ourselves?

Another interesting thought is that some people get way too wrapped up in their title. They almost let it go to their head and hold it over others. They are so wrapped up in their title that they lose their actual identity. We are all fellow members of the human race; as such we should respect each other. Yes your title brings authority, but it doesn’t mean you should look down on people. Your title is a gift and if you don’t respect that title then how can you expect others?

I guess in the end our use of titles and our respect of them boils down to the heart behind the situation. If your use or no use of a title is done out of a good heart, then fantastic! Honor comes from that heart. At the same time dishonor comes from a broken heart. If we do not honor the titles people carry then we do harm that person, their title, and our society.

So what are your thoughts about titles? Do you carry title? Does it bother you when people don’t refer to you by that title? Do you have a hard time using people’s titles? Comment and let me know!