When I was a young child pastors were always referred to by their title then last name - thus for me it was Pastor Lokken. This was the way everyone referred to the minister, it was a sign of respect and honor. By the time I was a teenager I was calling our new pastor P.B. (short for Pastor Berg). This nickname was not seen as disrespectful, but rather a term of endearment, and this was only possible because attitudes towards clergy were changing. No longer were pastors considered people who were above their congregations, a superior persons spiritually and intellectually, rather clergy were beginning to be seen as average (dare I say "normal") people. A pastor was now regarded as someone who had an important vocation, but no more important than other vocations (bringing Luther's teaching on The Priesthood of All Believers more to the fore).
There are times when I wonder what it would have been like to have served the church in the era of Herr Pastor, I'm not sure I would have liked it. I'm not sure I would have entered seminary if I sensed that somehow I would end up being treated differently (and expected to act differently) than everyone else. To live with the pressure of being the person on the pedestal would have been too much for me. I sometimes think that level of respect would be nice, especially in contrast to the lack of respect or sense of disregard that seems to be prevalent today (here I'm referring to society in general, not behaviour within the church). As I consider this further however, I would rather take being regarded the same as others over the social straitjacket of being placed on a pedestal.
The way things are now I feel I can have real conversations with people (most of the time), and people don't feel like they need to change their behaviour around me (though that impulse still shows up from time to time). The other benefit to the current lowering of the pastoral pedestal is that it allows for the conceiving of partnership in ministry between the clergy and lay people - a partnership that allows all participants to feel they can contribute an equal and valid part. While it remains true that within a congregation a pastor may be the most trained theologically person (and theological reflection being their contribution to the whole) this does not mean that the pastor is expected to know everything (and do everything). In the past I think that too much was left up to the clergy and ministry was too often placed solely into the hands of the professionals.
Contrast this with the picture of Jesus' chosen leaders, they were anything but professional religious leaders. They were anything but perfect. They were average humans given an extraordinary calling. Their calling did not change their ordinariness, they still remained imperfect humans stumbling along on this mission, yet God worked through such folks, and I believe that God continues to work through the ordinary humans who are called into ministry.
I know all too well that just because I am a pastor I am not better than others - I make mistakes, I get tired, I don't have all the answers. For the most part people today understand this and yet occasionally the pedestal comes out again (though it is not as high as in earlier years, maybe it's more like a footstool now). I suppose there is a natural impulse to want to see leaders as somehow better versions of ourselves. We want to be assured that the one pointing the direction sees more than we do, knows more than we know, is stronger than we feel, is a head above all others. It would be easy to follow such a leader, but there is a danger in this impulse, and the danger is that we can end up shifting our trust and faith from Jesus to one of Jesus' followers. It is important that if anyone is put on a pedestal that it be Jesus. And actually (in a manner of speaking) this has already happened. As John wrote in his Gospel Jesus was lifted up for all to see (see John 3:14 and 12:32-33) however it was no pedestal, rather it was a cross.
The call to follow Jesus is a call to pick up our cross (not our pedestal) and follow him. This requires an attitude of humility, and being on a pedestal can erode any sense of humbleness quickly. So while I sometimes think things would be easier if people gave me respect simply for the office I fill, I would rather things function as they do now - allowing pastors and lay people to walk together this journey of faith, picking each other up when we stumble, and always looking ahead to where our leader and Lord has led the way. At the foot of his cross we are all on level ground.
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