How Titles Can Hurt The Church

When speaking about the Pharisees, Jesus gave this observation:

"They love the place of honor at banquets and the chief seats in the synagogues, and respectful greetings in the market places, and being called Rabbi by men. "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” (Matt. 23:6-11).

As a pastor, one of the challenges for me is to get ordinary Christians to not be afraid to step up to the plate when it comes to serving the Lord. Now most do not see a problem with setting up tables and chairs, doing hospitality, church cleaning, etc.

But when it comes to serving in front of others – such as praying, preaching or teaching, leading a small group, dancing, singing, etc., some feel those types of ministry is only for the professional. I believe people come away with such thoughts for three reasons:

First, we often only have nothing but the best on stage. Only the finest and most talented perform. Naturally, the average person sees this and concludes: “I could never be that good.” As a result, a person resigns him or herself to doing things that are far lesser than their potential.

Second, we often only have the professional people pastoring a church. The pastor is seminary trained or at least has a bible college education. Therefore, some conclude that if they don't have such things as well, they cannot serve as a shepherd themselves in any capacity.

Third, we rely far too much on titles before our name. Have you ever referred to Paul as “The Apostle Paul?” I have many times. But did you know that the bible does not refer to Paul in such language? In the New Testament, servants of God are NOT referred to by a title before their name, rather by a description of their giftings or functions.

For example, Paul never refers to himself as the 'Apostle Paul', it is always something like:

• Paul, a bond-servant of Jesus Christ (Rom.1:1)
• Paul, called as an apostle (I Cor.1:1)
• Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus (II Cor.1:1)
• Paul, an apostle (not sent from men...) (Gal.1:1)

So you see, his title came AFTER his name, not before. You can look up the rest of Paul's epistles for yourself. In every case he describes his calling, gifting, function within the Body of Christ--AFTER his name, not as a title proclaiming his accomplishments or importance.

You see, in Christ's Kingdom we are all on the same level as brothers and sisters in Christ. We are all "bond-servants" (Phil. 1:1) of Jesus Christ. The only thing that differentiates us is our gifting, or function within the Body of Christ.

If this is the biblical pattern, why do we continue to practice the use of honoring one another with titles such as Dr. So-And-So, or Rev. So-And-So? Why do we refer to servants as "Pastor John" or Pastor Rich as if to suggest some level of importance?

I like when I hear Christians refer to other Christians as “brother or “sister” so-and-so. We need to try to be very careful to not give the impression that some of us are somehow more important, or "more called" than others. We don't want to do anything that would give an impression that some are more qualified or more important to deal with matters than others. As a result, our poorer, uneducated brethren are often used of God to accomplish extraordinary things as they are encouraged to use their spiritual gifting, rather than something they have been made to feel inferior about through no fault of their own.

I find this to be especially true serving out in Waianae. The harvest field where I pastor is ripe with talented and gifted people. But most of them do not have titles. They may get the impression that unless they are given a title, they cannot serve the Lord with the same authority as one who has a title. We tend to hurt and stifle so many potential servants when we do such things.

Now it may seem like I am making far too big of a deal over this. But it's true. I have witnessed countless times how people won't step up to the plate unless they are given a title. And let me ask you this: How serious would you listen to someone who was preaching the word to you but did not have the title “pastor?”

Galatians 3:28 speaks of, "There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.(emphasis added)" James 2 speaks about not holding an attitude of personal favoritism towards those more fortunate than the poor by making "distinctions among yourselves." Are not titles a distinction among us?

All of us have heard introductions of fellow believers beginning something like..."Today we have with us one of the most influential and respected pastors in America. His church has grown from 0 to 50,000 in just five years...certainly one of the most humble men on the planet...and one of the most insightful visionaries in the North American church today, it is a great honor for me to present to you Dr. _____ (applause).”

Why can't we simply introduce each other as, "John Jones, a dear brother serving our Lord in Honolulu, Kailua or California...?" Am I against successful ministry, or education and learning? No way. I, myself am a seminary graduate. I highly encourage everyone I work with to get as much training, education, learning as they possibly can throughout their lifetime and within their means to do so. I rejoice in the victories and successes of those I co-labor with.

The problem comes that education, titles, ordination, recognition, and degrees have a way of separating us from one another – especially the people we are called to serve. We unintentionally create religious castes amongst ourselves. We invite the pastors to come to certain meetings, to sit on stage, or the "professionals" to a prayer breakfast. We single out "leaders" for certain events, and so forth. All of this has a subtle way of silently killing off the "priesthood of all believers."

Those without the public recognition of their "importance" begin to feel and act like second-class Kingdom citizens. They begin to expect professionals with the titles to do the work of the Kingdom. Since they are just "ordinary" Christians, the attitude quickly becomes one of mediocrity and complacency, and business as usual. I am not "called," so therefore it is not my responsibility.

But how much of the ministry actually gets done with only the professionals in charge and doing it? And how is it that 2000 years after Christ gave us the Great Commission, we are no closer to fulfilling the task! Imagine what would happen if every single Christian really understood themselves as a "CHOSEN RACE, A royal PRIESTHOOD, A HOLY NATION, A PEOPLE FOR God's OWN POSSESSION..." (1 Pet. 2:9). The Great Commission is not just for the Drs. the Revs. the Pastors, the professionals, but for ALL OF US! I guarantee, more would get done for the Lord and the kingdom of God would advance in far more ways than we expect.

Leaders need to be respected not based on their title, but on their example. Paul told Timothy to not let anyone look down upon your youth. Instead, show them your title and degrees. Is that what Paul said? No. He said, “Be an example in your speech, conduct, love, faith, and purity” (1 Tim. 4:12). Therein lies real proven authority.