Wednesday, November 28, 2012

I've got a calling...I don't need a title.


Please read this carefully.

I want to say this as kindly and gently a way as possible. 

Also, I'm saying this about ME, not anyone else...this is a personal request from me, not a commentary on any person or organization.

I've known, and walked in, my calling and gifting as a pastor for over 25 years. Whether I was shepherding in the capacity of a church staff member...or as a friend, co-worker or simply a passer-by in everyday life. My calling is who I am, not what I do. It's my life, not a position.

My calling is to pastor. To teach, to be a visionary, and to lead people to seek Christ. That's what my calling has always been…it's what I've done. Position or no position. This calling to lead at Lifepoint is just a natural progression, but it doesn't make me any better than anyone else and it CERTAINLY doesn't make me any closer to God! (The curtain in the temple was torn in two for YOU just like it was for me!

So, please, don't hold me in any higher esteem than any other Christ follower. Please don't put any titles on me. My name is Paul Ollie Horne, Sr. I prefer Ollie, by the way. (Interestingly, "Paul" means humble…"Ollie" means peace. I think my name speaks all the title I need.)

"They love to sit at the head table at church dinners, basking in the most prominent positions, preening in the radiance of public flattery, receiving honorary degrees, and getting called 'Doctor' and 'Reverend.' "Don't let people do that to you, put you on a pedestal like that. You all have a single Teacher, and you are all classmates. Don't set people up as experts over your life, letting them tell you what to do. Save that authority for God; let him tell you what to do. No one else should carry the title of 'Father'; you have only one Father, and he's in heaven. And don't let people maneuver you into taking charge of them. There is only one Life-Leader for you and them—Christ. (Matthew 23:6-10 MSG)