Why does Everyone Call me Sir?

I was walking to work this morning when a gentleman from my church pulled up to ask me if I wanted a ride. I politely said "no thank you," and he said "Alright sir, have a good day," and I almost missed a step. I should have been calling this man 'sir' because he was my elder, not the other way around. Then I got to thinking; lots of people have called me sir, and it was becoming a little unnerving. My friends did back in dorm, but we often made a game of using unnecessary formality because it was 'classy.' I referred to my friend Josh as 'Dr. Knowles' and my other friend Kevin as 'Dr. Reid' and we always referred to the other as 'sir,' as if we were long time academic colleagues (probably inspired by a common love of C.S.Lewis). Some of my friends continued this past that year but I never thought much of it. But when people I don't know begin to call me 'sir' I can't think of it in the same way. I don't mind the formality I'm just unsure why people seem to think it necessary. It normally isn't an issue at all, but when my professors, my boss, my pastor, the registrar, dean, and president of the school I work for call me 'sir' almost unconsciously it becomes unnerving.

I don't think I radiate a presence that inspires that sort of respect or formality. I'm tall, maybe even good looking, but an often unshaven beard, a frustratingly unruly head of hair, and outdated glasses should reduce me to 'average Joe' status I would think. Is it the way I hold myself? Is it because I try to be polite and formal myself; looking people in the eye, listening, and respecting them in my speech and actions? If so, then my goodness, there is definitely something to be said for how one holds himself.

The problem is that I don't see myself as worthy of that level of respect, not from my elders, and certainly not from those who hold authority over me. Without a relationship that gives the formal 'sir' a context I'm not sure how to interpret it. Among peers it has been a classy display of friendship and comradery which I will share with them gratefully. I don't have a context for when someone I do not have a friendship with calls me 'sir' or when that person happens to be the people who I work for. Then I begin to wonder... was friendship and comradery all that my friends were trying to communicate... and I suddenly become a little frightened.

Who do people see me as; really? Who am I; really...

The Challenge of Writing about God

The challenge that any theology constantly runs into is how to communicate about God. He's kind of a large topic and human words are always ultimately inadequate for the task. I have been wracking my brain the past week trying to make a final draft of a video to introduce God the Father, and I find it quite difficult. I find it difficult because it is too easy to simply boil speech about God down to abstractions. Saying, God is loving, God is eternal, God is omnipotent, God is this, God is that, might be speaking 'accurately' but it becomes very cold and disconnected from who God actually is and what God actually does.

Throughout history God has made himself known to us by his actions and it is only in recounting these actions that we reason out what 'attributes' God must have and so we put names on Him, categorizing Him to fit into our modes of thinking. The human mind needs categories to understand what something is but often times these attributes and categories replace our speech of who God has revealed himself to be. I want to avoid this. I want to talk about what God has done, but I only have two minutes of video and recounting the entire history of Scripture (or of the universe) takes a little longer than that.

Then, of course, there's also the mode of speech to consider. Do I want to speak historically, philosophically, or relationally? Well, historically is long and boring, philosophically is abstract and often hard to understand, but relationally... I think this is how God has always communicated with us so I will speak relationally about God. What does it mean to speak relationally? It means going out to meet the other person and converse like friends, speaking almost casually, in a way that you know the other person will understand and not getting bogged down with absolute precision (historical or abstract).

But of course, I must be precise too! I must be 100% accurate in my speech about God even if it is speaking relationally. It is too easy to create a false metaphor or analogy. It is too easy to misconstrue the nature of God with idle speech. The key is being precise and speaking relationally.

I need to stay away from thick words that the average person wouldn't understand (like Transubstantiation for instance) as well as phrases that a non-Christian would be confused by (like 'being washed in the blood'). I need to somehow introduce my God, explain who He is, what He is like, in two minutes without falling back on just naming off his attributes. This is a worthy challenge if ever there was one.