Self-Identifier

Lately in my study I have been struck by the pen names and self-identifiers used by writers of scripture.  The most remarkable so far has been Solomon, but I will  leave that one alone for this post.  Today I want to concentrate on the most prolific writer of the New Testament— Paul the Apostle.  On at least three occasions he identified himself in letter as “a servant of Jesus Christ”.  In Romans 1.1 he further said— “Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle…”  He identified himself as a servant of Jesus, and called to be an apostle.  What a stark difference in today’s church leaders.  Today we have men identifying themselves as “Doctor, Pastor, Emeritus, etc” and called to “preach”.  It’s all very confusing and self-aggrandizing to me.  What did Paul identify himself as?  A servant of Jesus.  What was He called to do?  Be an apostle.  The calling wasn’t his choice, it was a calling; but the identifying was a choice he made.  Earlier he wrote to the church at Philippi and said in chapter 1 verse 1— “Paul and Timotheus, the servants of Jesus Christ, to all the saints in Christ Jesus which are at Philippi, with the bishops and deacons:”  Here he wraps Timothy up into his identification, which is natural since he taught him to be a servant by example.  Also, we see he includes some titles here, namely “bishops and deacons”.  These are also callings of need expressed by those local churches, just as Paul was an “apostle”.  This further explains the importance of choice.  The choice was made by someone else what title you hold, but your self-identification should always be “a servant of Jesus”.  In his letter to another disciple, Titus, Paul said in chapter 1 verse 1— “Paul, a servant of God, and an apostle of Jesus Christ, according to the faith of God’s elect, and the acknowledging of the truth which is after godliness;” showing his conditional calling of apostleship (job) was “according to the faith of God’s elect, and the acknowledging of the truth which is after godliness;”.   What impresses me the most about not only this entry, but all of them, is it’s immediacy.  Just as with James in 1.1, Peter in 2 Peter 1.1, Jude in 1.1, and John in Revelation 1.1— all of them were the first verse in each letter.  Right out of the gate— here I am, and I am a servant of Jesus.  Isn’t that what we should all be saying?  Isn’t that the identifier we should all be starting our conversations with?  Let me be clear, I do not have a problem with someone calling me pastor, or brother, or some other title, but the one I self-identify with should always be a servant of Jesus Christ.

Let’s say I meet a man this Sunday who is new to our assembly.  First, I do not identify myself like an old-west sheriff with a hardy—”Im the pastor around here.” Instead, I don’t offer any titles or positions to him.  As a matter of fact, I never do.  Some guests have come to me after worship time and said something to the effect “I didn’t know you were the Pastor until I saw you on stage.”  Exactly!  As far as they are concerned I am a servant of Jesus like everyone else in the room.  If asked, or it is brought up, what should I do?  The traditional tendency is to establish rule, order (and for that matter) pecking order.  I refuse.  I should say, I am a servant of Jesus.  By the way, if we want them to follow God and surrender to a life of discipleship within our assembly, shouldn’t we want them to self-identify as a servant of Jesus also?  In this way we can provide more leadership by example.

A believer who is a disciple should primarily self-identify as servant of Jesus Christ.