Don't call me Teacher: Part 1

“But do not be called Rabbi; for One is your Teacher, and you are all brothers. Do not call anyone on earth your father; for One is your Father, He who is in heaven. Do not be called leaders; for One is your Leader, that is, Christ. But the greatest among you shall be your servant. Whoever exalts himself shall be humbled; and whoever humbles himself shall be exalted.” (Matthew 23:8-12)

I believe that the Christian church at large has mostly ignored this verse. Growing up, the only time I heard this verse quoted was when someone was questioning why the Catholic Church uses the title of “father” for their priests. While it is true that the Catholic Church has some explaining to do in regards to their use of the term “father”, the protestant church is not completely innocent with regards to this verse either. While we may not use the term “father” we have our own set of terms that, if Jesus were here, He would have included them in this verse. We use such terms as “Pastor”, “Teacher”, “Leader”, and “Elder” when referring to others within the church. In reality, there is little difference between the titles we use when referring to our “leaders” as when the Catholic Church calls their priests “father”. Whether protestant or Catholic, we all have to deal with this scripture and what it has to say about how we refer to others within the Body of Christ.

I believe that in this verse, Jesus was declaring the end to the Clergy/Laity religious system. Under the old covenant, there was a clear distinction between priest and layman. The priests were those who were anointed by God to approach God and to intercede before God on behalf of the people. The laypeople were not permitted to approach God on their own; the priests were their intermediaries in their worship of God. Even in the offering of their sacrifices, they had to first present them to the priests who would then present them to God on their behalf.

It has always been God’s heart to have a one-on-one relationship with all His people. However, because of sin, our spirits are dead to God and our natural response to God’s presence is fear. This was evident when God appeared to the people of Israel to establish His covenant with them. “All the people perceived the thunder and the lightning flashes and the sound of the trumpet and the mountain smoking; and when the people saw it, they trembled and stood at a distance. [Then they said to Moses] ‘Go near and hear all that the Lord our God says; then speak to us all that the Lord our God speaks to you, and we will hear and do it.’” (Exodus 20:18, Deuteronomy 5:27) The people were afraid to hear from God so they asked Moses to be their intermediary. With the giving of the law and the establishing of the tribe of Levi as priests, the system of clergy and laity was born, yet its days were numbered. Just as the glory that shown from Moses’ face was fading, so the system of religion established under the Old Covenant was also temporary and passing away from the start. It was set in place until a time of reformation, a time when Jesus would come to establish a new covenant, a covenant where everyone could approach God on their own, and a covenant where everyone was a priest and where everyone was anointed to minister.

Consider what Peter had to say about us as children of God. “You also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.” (1 Peter 2:5, 9) It is not only some who are a royal priesthood; we are all part of that priesthood. It is not only some who offer up spiritual scarifies; we are all free to offer up our own sacrifices to God. It is not only some who are holy while the others are common; we are all holy to God. We are all priests, we are all saints, we are all holy to God.

In the coming posts we will look at why we should not call others “father”, “teacher’, and “leader” as well as the problems that arise when we let others call us by these names.

David Robison