A few years ago I preached in a small community that had several churches. Occasionally I would walk down the street to have lunch at a restaurant that was operated by a family that attended one of the other churches in town.

One day as I was finishing a meal at this restaurant, I looked at my bill and noticed that the lady taking care of my order had written “Br. Tom” at the top of the bill. I was quite pleased to think that even members of the other churches thought of me as “Brother Tom”. I was becoming well known in the area. I was not merely the pastor of one congregation– I was a pastor for the whole town!

I came back down to earth very quickly when I realized that “Br. Tom” was an abbreviation for breaded tomatoes!

“Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.”—James 4:10.