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My pastoral ministry began as a youth pastor in a Baptist church in July 1989. At that
time I was called “Pastor Callum”.

Over the next few months, following an intensive process of assessment by the Baptist denomination in England, the Lord called me to be the solo pastor at a neighbouring Baptist church. This was when leaders from the Baptist denomination and the local church I was about to serve formally recognized God’s call over my life. So, at a service of ordination on January 26th, 1991, I was ordained to Baptist ministry - exactly 34 years ago last Sunday. Not only was I “Pastor Callum”, I became the Reverend Callum Jones. As you might imagine, remembering that occasion has been important for me in the last few days.

At my ordination service, the pastor of the Baptist church where I had been a youth pastor was the main speaker. His text for the sermon was Leviticus 10:6. This begins:

“Then Moses said to Aaron and his sons Eleazar and Ithamar, 'Do not let your hair become unkempt…’”

Yes, I had more hair 34 years ago and, believe it or not, it needed a lot of combing to
keep it in order. Now you know why my friend used Leviticus 10:6 for his sermon.

Leviticus says priests must not let their hair become unkempt – in other words, they must keep their hair tidy. My friend then highlighted Exodus 29:6. This verse says priests must wear a turban. Here’s the point: because the priest wore a turban, who would know if the priest’s hair was tidy or not? Only God and the priest. It was a matter of the priest’s integrity before God.

Followers of Jesus are called to integrity. Fundamentally, integrity is demonstrated by the honesty and humility we show before God, whether it is seen by others or not. How we live “in private” matters just as much as how we live “in public”. As Paul said in 2 Corinthians 1:12, “Our conscience testifies that we have conducted ourselves in the world, and especially in our relations with you, with integrity and godly sincerity. We have done so, relying not on worldly wisdom but on God’s grace.” As Jesus said in Matthew 5:8, “Blessed are the pure in heart.”

A service of ordination 34 years ago continues to remind me of the importance of living for Jesus with integrity. This is true for all of us: whether we are called to pastoral ministry or not, integrity matters.

Let’s be people of integrity; let’s be pure in heart.

Grace and peace

Pastor Callum

 

視頻大意翻譯 (video Chinese translation):

大家好，

1989 年 7 月，我在一所浸信會教會開始了我的牧師生涯，擔任青年牧師，當時我被稱為
「卡勒姆牧師」。在接下來的幾個月裡，經過英國浸信會教派的密集評估，主呼召我成為
鄰近浸信會教會的獨任牧師。就在那時，浸信會教派和我即將服務的當地教會的領導人正
式認可了神對我一生的呼召。因此，在 1991 年 1 月 26 日的按立儀式上，我被按立成為
浸信會事工。那是 34 年前的上週日。我不僅是“卡勒姆牧師”，而且還成為了尊敬的卡勒
姆瓊斯牧師。

我有按立儀式的影片和打印的儀式安排。我還有一張我和妻子那天拍的照片。正如你可能
想像的那樣，在過去的幾天裡，記住那個時刻對我來說很重要。

為什麼要在這裡告訴你這些？

請記住，我說過我是作為浸信會教會的青年牧師開始我的牧師事工的。在我的任命儀式上
，浸信會教會的牧師是主要演講者。他的講道文本是利未記 10:6。是這樣開始：

“摩西對亞倫和他兒子以利亞撒、以他瑪說：「不可蓬頭散髮，……”

是的，34 年前我的頭髮比較多，不管你信不信，我需要經常梳理頭髮才能保持整齊。現
在你知道為什麼我的朋友在他的講道中使用利未記 10:6 了。

但他有一個嚴肅的觀點——非常嚴肅的觀點。利未記說祭司不能讓頭髮蓬亂——換句話說
，他們必須保持頭髮整潔。然後我的朋友強調了出埃及記 29:6。這節經文說祭司必須戴
頭巾。重點是：因為神父戴著頭巾，誰知道神父的頭髮是否整齊？只有上帝和牧師知道。
這是祭司在神面前的正直問題。

耶穌的所有追隨者都被要求保持正直。從根本上來說，正直是透過我們在上帝面前所表現
出的誠實和謙卑來體現的，無論別人是否看見。我們「私下」的生活方式與「公共場合」
的生活方式一樣重要。正如保羅在哥林多後書 1 章 12 節所說：「我們所誇的，是自己的
良心見證我們憑著神的聖潔和誠實在世為人，不靠人的聰明，乃靠神的恩惠，向你們更是
這樣。。正如耶穌在馬太福音 5 章 8 節所說：“清心的人有福了。”

34 年前的一次按立儀式不斷提醒我，正直地為耶穌而活的重要性。但這對我們所有人來
說都是如此——無論我們是否被呼召從事教牧事工，誠信都很重要。

做一個誠信的人；讓我們心靈純潔。

讓我們禱告。