Who Do You Sound Like?

When I was in college and happened to be home for the weekend, I would sometimes answer the phone when it rang. This was, of course, back in the day when most folks had a "home phone" or a "family phone" rather than the individual communicators we carry around today. (The phone I remember at home looked just like the picture above, but I digress...) The point is this: you were never quite sure who you would get when you called someone's home. Whoever was close would probably answer the phone. So, sometimes the phone would ring when I was home, and if I was close I would answer it. Inevitably, because I was supposedly away at college, the person on the other line would call me by my Dad's name. "No," I would say, "this is Dennis." (See how confusing those days were?) "Oh," the caller would respond, "you sound just like your father."

I've been told that a lot. And it doesn't bother me. As Wayne Watson once poetically put it, "I could do a whole lot worse than turning into Dad."

But when I really want to be told that is when I'm speaking from the pulpit, interpreting the Scriptures, teaching the faith to young and old and everyone in between. The highest compliment you can pay a pastor is not, "Good sermon." (I have a suspicion people say that sometimes out of habit rather than evaluation of the message.) It's not even, "You did a good job today." (As opposed to...?) The highest and best thing a pastor longs to hear is this: "You sound just like your Father." Your Heavenly Father. The one who made you and called you and sustains you. You sound just like your Father.

And, for what it's worth, that's what we should all aspire toward, not just pastors. We want to sound, look, act and be just like our Father.