Jesus is not impressed by religious titles

Our Lord Jesus, although serving by all titles, did not attach much importance to being called by certain titles.

The church people of his day, or the Pharisees as they were known, were baffled by this man. He didn’t join his group. He did not indulge his man-made ideas that they called God’s commandments. He was not ordained to the ministry, and yet he amazed people with the wisdom of his words and the demonstration of God’s power in the miracles he performed. They couldn’t put it in a box. A box that would fit his understanding of how he should be a “church person.” Furthermore, he ate with sinners and was a friend to sinners.

What confused them even more was the fact that they believed that God would not do anything great without at least confirming it with them. And here was this man. god never said to them that He is sending this Man, Jesus of Nazareth. We see in his questioning of the blind man who received his sight in John 9, how confused they were and how this confusion engendered anger. Add to that the fact that “the whole world was after Him” ​​and you have the perfect mix of insecurity, jealousy, and hate. Here is a small excerpt from his interrogation as recorded in John 9:

Then they asked him: “What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?” He replied, “I already told you and you didn’t listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you also want to become his disciples?” So they insulted him and said, “You are a disciple of this man! We are disciples of Moses! We know that God spoke to Moses, but as for this man, we don’t even know where he came from.” The man replied, “That’s extraordinary! You don’t know where he came from, but he opened my eyes.” (vv. 26-30).

Yes, indeed it was remarkable. Jesus was performing all these miracles, clearly illustrating that God is with Him, and yet the people in the church were unaware of this! It seems that God did not wait for his next board meeting to get permission to send the Messiah.

Another incident where their confusion is portrayed is when they went to Jesus to ask for his credentials. They wanted to see his ordination papers. He didn’t pay much attention to that and instead he answered them with a question. He told them that if they could answer his question, he would tell them who sent it. It turned out that they couldn’t answer his question and therefore he didn’t answer theirs.

In Matthew 23 our Lord instructs His disciples not to be called by any title by anyone. That they were obedient to that command is reflected in the epistles. Nowhere will you find that they were called Apostle Paul, or Pastor Timothy, or Elder this and that other. They always referred to each other by their first names. Even less, they referred to themselves by a title.

There is no denying that the church today has become attached to titles. But what is a title? Is it a status symbol? Does it make you a more spiritual person than other believers because you wear some title like a badge? A title is not really even a title, but a responsibility. As an apostle of Christ, Paul had to suffer. It was not a status symbol. It was a calling, or a “sending” as is the case with an apostle. It was not a comfortable job behind the CEO’s desk. He summarizes what he had to endure for Christ our Lord’s sake in response to the false apostles who sought to gather followers after them, instead of Christ:

“Are they servants of Christ? (I am crazy to talk like that.) I am more so. I have worked much harder, been in prison more often, been flogged more severely, and been exposed to death over and over again. Five times I received from the Jews forty lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea. I have been constantly in danger from bandits, in danger from my own brethren, in danger from Gentiles, in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea, and in danger from false brothers, and many times I have gone without sleep, I have known hunger and thirst and many times I have gone without eating; I have gone cold and naked”. 2 Corinthians 11:23-27

Yes, Paul placed great importance on his ministry, but not because it increased its importance among believers. Quite the contrary: It was the enormous responsibility for him, as he adds to the previous list: “On top of everything else, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches.” (v.28).

From what I have gathered from the Scriptures, titles were not status symbols attached to names. On top of all that, the Lord says that he calls us by name, not by title. Also our Lord says in John 10, He calls His own sheep by His name.

We show our respect for our leaders more with our actions than with a title we give them. And often, the false brothers used a title as a smokescreen to hide their ungodly practices. “Just do what he says…or just believe what he says, after all, he is the apostle, the pastor, etc.”

So, in following Jesus’ instructions in Matthew 23, we are not to call anyone by titles (in a spiritual sense), much less allow others to call us by titles. After all, only He is worthy of all the Titles. We receive our salvation by grace through faith. He won our salvation by absolute obedience to the Father, obedience to the point of death—yes, even shameful death on a Cross. There is a wide distinction here. Us He received salvation freely even if we do not deserve it. Hears livestock our salvation through perfect obedience to God, our Father.

In response to this, our Father says of Him:

“That is why God exalted him to the highest and gave him a Name that is above all names, so that in the Name of Jesus every knee should bow in heaven, on earth, and in the underworld, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Mr. , to the glory of God the Father” (Philippians 2:9-11).