A Parking Space for Jesus

This is a silly photo of me in the historic district of Savannah, GA. I'm standing next to one of the many old, big church facilities in the city.

I asked my daughter, Caroline, to take this picture because of the ridiculous sign above my head. If you have ever visited Savannah, you know that finding a parking spot in the historic district can be very difficult. Apparently this church thinks their "senior pastor" is too important to have to search for a spot and then walk like everyone else. He gets a reserved spot right next to the church entrance.

If this church had its theology right, they would realize that they actually have reserved a spot for Jesus Himself. I'd like to think that this means that they are just really looking forward to the second coming. Unfortunately, they probably just don't understand who the "senior pastor" actually is.

When we look in the bible, we won't find the term "senior pastor" anywhere. However, when we look to the book of I Peter, we find the corresponding term "chief shepherd." The interesting thing about this is that the term "chief shepherd" is not used about any person other than the Lord Jesus Christ. I Peter 5:4 says, "And when the chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory." This obviously refers to Jesus. I encourage you to click here to read the verse in context.

The bible does refer to some leaders within the church as elders/overseers/pastors. However, none of these are ever referred to as a "chief shepherd." Why is this? The reason is simple. The chief shepherd is the one who rules and governs. He is in charge. Human pastors are not given these duties.

Since the church belongs to Christ, He is the one and only chief shepherd. Jesus is the only senior pastor of the church.

It looks like Christ has a parking space the next time He comes to Savannah.