Curtis A. Bronzan

I clicked onto the Fuller website tonight for I don’t know what. I guess I have a tendency to surf aimlessly at times. But this time it paid off!

I came across this article (from which I also stole the above image) about Dr. John Goldingay, who is continuing the “For Everyone” series started by N.T. Wright, which are short, accessible commentaries on the Scriptures. I – and others I get to work with – utilize Mark for Everyone for our current study at the community I serve, and are always astounded how simple, and yet, profound he can make passages.

Wright covered the Christian Scriptures, the locus of his scholarship, while Goldingay will be writing similar commentaries for the Hebrew Scriptures. Two paperback volumes examining Genesis have already been released.

It’s a joy for me to see him pictured in the t-shirt he was wearing during my first class of my seminary education. Like other professors I’ve had, he exudes the doctrine of the priesthood of all believers, that all are equal. And he treats his students as such.

And he loves rock and roll. In fact, his musical tastes are rather brilliant. When I joined other students at his house to watch and discuss a film (back in 2003), we talked about a recent Nada Surf show he’d seen a few nights prior!

So, if you’re ever in the market for any books on the Hebrew Scriptures, look for the ones written by John Goldingay. He doesn’t require any for his classes – only the Bible!

For the church newsletter:

On March 21^st, at 11:12pm – a mere five hours after the conclusion of my ordination service – I updated my Facebook status. It read, “Curtis A. Bronzan is not now, nor will he ever be, a reverend. ‘Curtis’ is just fine.” Amidst the myriad responses was a friend from my seminary days who wrote, “hmm…not just a river in Egypt?”

In one sense, I suppose, he’s right. I now am a Reverend. Which is fantastic. Serving the Church of Jesus Christ is all I’ve ever dreamt of doing with my life. But, in another sense – as many of you know – I bristle at the thought of being “Pastor.” Notice Jesus’ strong words for the religious leaders of His day:

The religion scholars and Pharisees are competent teachers in God’s Law. You won’t go wrong in following their teachings on Moses. But be careful about following them. They talk a good line, but they don’t live it. They don’t take it into their hearts and live it out in their behavior. It’s all spit-and-polish veneer.

Instead of giving you God’s Law as food and drink by which you can banquet on God, they package it in bundles of rules, loading you down like pack animals. They seem to take pleasure in watching you stagger under these loads, and wouldn’t think of lifting a finger to help. Their lives are perpetual fashion shows, embroidered prayer shawls one day and flowery prayers the next. 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 23.2-10, The Message)

In “Jesus’ day” – as we might say in Sunday School – the religious folks put themselves up on pedestals because of their knowledge, prestige, and power – and they didn’t live how they taught others to live. I fear that things haven’t changed all that much in 2000 years. And as I recognize the sinfulness of my own heart, I fear that being called Reverend might just go to my head and keep me from trying to, as Paul says, “work out my salvation with fear and trembling.” (Philippians 2.12) Don’t get me wrong, I am grateful to have received a profoundly transformative education and am honored to serve at Good Shepherd, amongst some of the most wonderful people God ever created. But I never want my office to become who I am. Instead, I want to follow the one true “Life-Leader” for you and me – Christ.

That brings me to a second reason I’m uncomfortable with my new title: in short, where’s yours!? The Christian Scriptures repeatedly affirm that the Church of Jesus is a Body where everyone has a part, and I fear that seeing pastors “up there on a pedestal” negatively influences the inherent worth of the other parts of the Body. One of the foundational doctrines of our faith is the priesthood of all believers, which reminds us that each and every one of us is a priest in Jesus’ Church. In sports terminology, everyone gets to play! Or, better yet, in the Apostle Paul’s words,

Now the body is not made up of one part but of many. If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? But in fact God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. If they were all one part, where would the body be?” (1^st Corinthians 12.14-19)

In short, if I’m “Reverend Curtis,” then among us are also “Teacher Joanne” and “Pray-er Michelle” and “Administrator Jack.” Yes, administration is a spiritual gift! (see 1^st Corinthians 12.27-31)

Another Facebook response that night asserted that my wife’s grandmother would be proud. It went on to explain “She thinks it’s ‘irreverent’ to call any person, but Christ, Reverend.” In short, I’m with her. But, I suppose you can call me anything you like – as long as it’s not late for dinner. But know this: if you call me “Reverend” or “Pastor,” be prepared for me to grimace – and then call you by your spiritual gift as well.