In this video, I'm going to start with what I consider to be the easiest and most objective of all the commands of Jesus.
Something that is relatively easy to do and relatively easy to measure,
that is you can easily see whether or not someone is doing it.
I've often said, quite cynically, that if Jesus told us to part our hair on the left, the church would start teaching people to part their hair on the right.
This command of Jesus is one that clearly emphasizes what I have claimed.
There's almost universal disobedience to this fairly simple command of Jesus.
And often the churches are the worst offenders.
Jesus said in Matthew Chapter 23 verses 8 - 10, "Do not let yourself be called 'Rabbi'."
"Call no man on earth 'Father'."
And "do not let yourself be called 'Master'."
Bear in mind that the same words are interpreted differently in different languages.
The Bible itself often used "Master" and "Rabbi" interchangeably, and it says that they mean the same thing.
The same would be true of the more modern spelling for "Master",
which is "Mr." for men and "Mrs." or "Mistress" for women. But we also use quite different terms which mean the same.
For example, "Dr." from the word "doctrine" means "Teacher". And "Dad", "Daddy", "Pappa", "Pope", "Padre", even "Sir" all mean "Father".
"Sir" by the way comes from the verb "sire",
which means to father.
It helps with any teaching to understand the purpose for the teaching, and the same is true here.
There are some teachings we may need to obey blindly out of respect for the person who is teaching us.
But even then it should gradually become clear why the teaching was made in the first place.
Understanding the reason behind the rule is important in terms of getting the spirit of what is being taught.
Jesus seems to have been dealing with two things with His command about not using titles.
One is our pride and how special we feel when these titles are applied to us.
The other is our fear about what others might say or do if we stop using those titles for them.
With regard to pride, there are other terms which Jesus did not specifically list which are even more egotistical,
like "Reverend", "Holy", or combinations like "Most Reverend Holy Father".
Obviously when you have the spirit of what Jesus is saying, you understand how these terms are wrong, too.
It's appalling that people would go that far in contradicting what Jesus said... almost like thumbing our collective nose in the face of God.
Jesus tells us to strongly refuse to let people use such titles for us.
Our willingness, or unwillingness, to obey that simple little command speaks volumes about our true attitude toward God and Jesus.
With regard to fear I have often maintained that if there were not powerful objections to us dropping such titles,
that it might be a reasonable argument in favor of disregarding the rule altogether,
possibly on the assumption that maybe someone slipped those instructions into the original text of the Bible, or that Jesus said it,
but He never meant for us to take the command seriously.
Let's say that it is just a silly little comment He was making and that it really doesn't make much difference one way or the other.
Well, you only need to stop referring to people as "Sir",
"Doctor", or even "Dad", and start calling them by their first names to see how much controversy it can stir up.
The ones who are most universally offended by us dropping such titles are those whom we call "Dad" or "Mom" if we extend the command to include both genders.
Jesus was most pointed with the injunction against the title "Father", stating that we should not use it for any man on Earth.
That's pretty much all inclusive.
It must include our natural fathers. Just notice though that one can be a father without using a title to flaunt it,
just as one can be a teacher or a doctor without a need to use such titles.
My human father is my father, and my doctor is my doctor.
But I don't use those titles when addressing them. My communication with them is more or less as brothers or sisters,
as we are all children of God.
It helps to get that clear so that we see how the title itself is what Jesus is talking about,
not the role of a genuine doctor, teacher or parent.
One can show respect for their parents without using the title that Jesus forbids us to use.
He does not teach disrespect.
He just teaches that our ultimate respect must be for our heavenly Father who happens to ask us not to use those titles for anyone else, including our parents.
Easy enough.
So why don't we do it?
What Jesus seems to be dealing with is the powerful influence our parents have over our spiritual development.
In another place, He said that we need to hate our parents by comparison to our devotion to Him.
It's a shocking word to use, but you may be surprised at how many parents will use exactly that same word,
insisting that you are hating them if you refer to them by their first names instead of saying "Mom" and "Dad".
If you think that calling my mother "Alice" means I hate her, then so be it.
But I'm not going to disrespect my heavenly Father, or my big brother Jesus by disobeying them.
During childhood I see nothing wrong with children calling their parents "Mom" and "Dad" or "Mommy" and "Daddy". But when we grow up,
God wants us to put that relationship into the right perspective.
Until that emotional umbilical cord can be dealt with,
God is not going to occupy first place in your life.
You may choose to obey Him in some things, but it will only be those things which your parents approve of.
Recognizing that at some stage you have become an adult,
and are answerable first and foremost to your heavenly Father is a significant milestone in spiritual development both for you,
and for your parents.
But it's one that a surprisingly high percentage of professing Christians never reach,
so they stay spiritually stunted because of it, living in quiet fear of their parents for their whole life.
Jesus was regularly called "Rabbi" or "Master", but on one occasion He even rebuked someone for calling him "Good Master".
Obviously even He, the infallible Son of God, did not see such a title as one of respect,
so much as he saw it as an attempt at flattery.
He was even clearer about people calling him "Lord" when He said, "Why do you call me Lord,
but you still refuse to obey the things I teach?"
It is our actions that count most in defining what our relationship is with Jesus.
You can flatter Him all you like,
but if your behavior does not show respect for what He has told you to do, then your flattery just sickens Him.
Our continued use of terms like "Mr", "Sir", and "Dr."
certainly do seem to cancel out all the "Lord, Lords" that we express every Sunday in our songs of worship.
Jesus obviously is not our Lord if we cannot even obey this tiniest of all His commands.
Look at the titles that some of the most prominent Christian leaders use today.
We talk about "Dr." Billy Graham,
"Pope" Francis,
"Mother" Teresa,
"Father" O'Reilly,
"Lord" Runcie,
"Reverend" Rick Warren.
And we refer to almost any male adult as "Sir", that is "Sire", or "Mr.", that is "Master".
Why? Why do we do that in the face of what Jesus said?
Why does this happen in supposedly Christian countries, and in supposedly Christian churches?
Surely this is a great source of personal satisfaction for the devil.
Through it the whole world can see that he is the one who controls the church world,
that he can get almost every last one of us to use the exact terms that Jesus said for us not to use.
I said at the start of this series that I would show that the churches - all of them - are not following the teachings of Jesus.
I also said that you would not be able to refute what I've said,
if I could just get you to listen to some of the teachings of Jesus...
teachings which have lain hidden for centuries.
I've barely started and already you must know that far more than ninety percent of professing Christians -
very likely including you yourself - still use the same titles that Jesus commanded His followers not to use.
We have no shame about referring to a minister or priest as "Dr. So-and-So", or "Father-So-and-So",
even if we're not Catholics or Anglicans ourselves.
What is worse is that people with whom I've shared this truth over the years still walk away and continue the practice.
Whereas they may have been able to plead ignorance before hearing what Jesus actually taught, after having the evidence shoved in their faces,
they still rebelliously and openly declare that they're not going to change.
By their actions,
they're saying that they don't give a flip about what Jesus said. Do you see that? And do you think God is impressed with such an attitude?
Bear in mind that this is the easiest command of Jesus.
I'm now going to move on to some of the harder ones.
But if you're not willing to start practicing this one,
I cannot see any reason for you to click on the next chapter in this sermon,
except maybe to see if you can find some way to refute it as well.
On the other hand if you are someone who is prepared to actually make a change in this instance, then please do read on,
assured, however, that what you're going to read will be many times harder than what I've shared so far.
Are you with me? Can you handle more? I hope so.
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