Just Call Me Curt

Why I prefer not to be called "Pastor Curt"

Photo by Caroline Hernandez on Unsplash

In the two churches I’ve served vocationally as a pastor, there’s been some surprise when people learn I prefer they not call me “Pastor” or “Pastor Curt.” For some people this either isn’t new or it’s no big deal. But for others—who are accustomed to using this kind of title to refer to their pastor—it’s a little odd for them to call a pastor by just their first name. Why do some pastors prefer not to use titles as part of their name? It’s not because we’re so incredibly humble!

The terminology we use affects how we and others understand the church. And misperceptions that aren’t corrected, but instead become a common (mis)understanding of the church, can eventually change the DNA of the church, or at least cause conflict if we seek to clarify the issue too late. Now, I understand this isn’t some heretical teaching that will draw us away from the truths of the gospel. But I think it’s still a significant issue, and one that can affect the tone of church life and ministry. So let me share five reasons why I prefer not to be addressed as “Pastor.”

It’s not biblical

Jesus once told his disciples, “You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and you are right, because that’s what I am [John 13:13].” But in Matthew 23:8-10, he instructed us regarding what we should, and should not, call each other:

Don’t let anyone call you “Rabbi,” for you have only one teacher,
and all of you are equal as brothers and sisters.
And don’t address anyone here on earth as “Father,”
for only God in heaven is your spiritual Father.
And don’t let anyone call you “Teacher,”
for you have only one teacher, the Messiah.

We could plug “Pastor” into this, and the same principle would apply because it’s the Lord who is our Shepherd/Pastor (1 Peter 5:4). This doesn’t mean we don’t have people in the church who teach or lead. Other Scriptures make it clear we do. But we’re not to refer to these people by honorific titles such as Rabbi or Teacher. In the same way, we have people in our congregation who pastor, or shepherd, others. But we shouldn’t refer to them by a title.

It’s interesting that Peter and Paul are frequently identified as apostles of Jesus Christ, but they’re never once in Scripture addressed or referred to by that title. No one seems to have called them “Apostle” or “Apostle Paul” in the way we sometimes use “Pastor” or “Pastor John.” They just called them Paul and Peter. This seems like a good example for us.

It perpetuates a different class of Christians

One of the principles boldly proclaimed during the Reformation was the “priesthood of all believers.” The idea (a very biblical one) is that—as the New Testament church—we no longer have a separate priestly caste. We don’t have to go through any other person to come to Christ; we can go to him directly. All believers are called saints (those who are dedicated to God). We are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation (1 Peter 2:9). Unfortunately, many of the reformed churches carried over an exalted status for the pastor and essentially made him a Protestant priest. Only the pastor was to baptize, serve communion, officiate weddings, etc.

We still often make the same distinction today. Only pastors are referred to by their title. We have Sunday school teachers, but we don’t call them “Teacher Sue.” We have small group leaders, but we don’t call them “Leader John.” It’s rare to hear someone called “Deacon” or “Elder” in place of their name. We reserve this honor only for pastors. Why?

We speak of pastors being “in the ministry,” when each member of the body is called by God to share in ministry (which just means “service”). By giving a title of honor to only one part of the body, we falsely distinguish that part from the rest. There is nothing scriptural about distinguishing Christians as “clergy” or “laity,” as if we have first-class and second-class followers of Christ. The only one who should be distinguished from the body, and honored above the body, is the head of the body―Jesus Christ.

It isn’t really accurate

As I mentioned before, Jesus is the Pastor of the church. He does call others to share in this ministry of shepherding the church (for instance in Acts 20:28), but this is supposed to include more people than just one leader in each congregation. The biblical pattern is of a team of pastors shepherding the whole church, with no designated senior or lead pastor. (We’ll look more closely at this next week.) For a great many churches, it’s not accurate anyway to refer to only one person as “Pastor” (as in “I’d like you to meet our Pastor”), because they’re not the only pastor in the church. And we usually don’t call everyone else who shepherds others in the church “Pastor,” even when they officially serve in a pastoral role. How many of you call the youth pastor in your church “Pastor”?

Some of you may be thinking, “Yes, but you work full-time as a pastor. I call the pastor ‘Pastor’ because that’s what they are. That’s their job title.” But is this something we do for anyone else in the body? I’ve been a part of churches with college professors as members of the church. I don’t recall anyone calling them “Professor.” If someone in law enforcement was part of our church, would you call them “Officer” (or “Agent”)? Years ago, a friend of mine was a pastor in Fresno. A man in their church fell into the habit of greeting him with “Hello, Pastor Keith.” So he started reciprocating, “Good morning, Banker Bob.” It didn’t take long for the man to understand it’s really kind of silly to call someone by their vocational title, especially in the church. (A ministry leader in our prior church kept slipping back into greeting me as “Pastor,” so I would respond in kind with, “Hello, Ministry Leader.” It seemed to help!)

It makes it harder to interact with people in the community

You can ask any pastor and they’ll tell you identifying yourself as a pastor often causes people to act artificially around you. The person sitting next to you on the plane starts explaining they ordinarily never drink three scotches. People begin internally editing everything they say to me so they won’t shock the “man of God.” Of course, pastors shouldn’t hide what they do, but most of us try hard to develop a natural rapport with people in the community. I work to get to the point where they’ll interact with me as a real person instead of some religious icon.

A few years ago (when I was in Puerto Rico), I was standing in the post office talking with someone, developing this kind of rapport, when someone from our church came in and greeted me enthusiastically: “Hello, Pastor!” I could feel the tone of our interaction change immediately as the person I was talking to slipped back into be-careful-this-guy’s-a-pastor mode. Religious titles unnecessarily build walls between pastors and other people. It’s hard enough for us to rub shoulders with non-Christians. So, help us out a little!

It doesn’t fit with the church as a family

The family of believers has only one Father―and it’s not the pastor! The pastors of a church are not to be parents to the church; they’re more like spiritually older siblings. What do you call your older brothers or sisters? Do you have some exalted title you bestow on them? Or do you simply call them by their names? Maybe a “bro” or “sis” now and then. So, if it’s too awkward to call me simply by my name, I guess an acceptable, familial substitute would be “Hey, bro!”

After reading this, if you still insist on having some official title to call me, then I actually prefer “Your Magnificentness.” Oh, and don’t forget to kiss the ring.

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Related post:

Why We Don’t Have a Senior (or Lead) Pastor

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