Titles of respectability are consistently used when addressing people in positions of authority or power. Jesus addresses this problem in a couple of different ways that I will show you.

In Matthew 22:16 there is a man that approaches Jesus and says, “And they sent out unto him their disciples with the Herodians, saying, Master, we know that thou art true, and teachest the way of God in truth, neither carest thou for any man: for thou regardest not the person of men.”

We see that Jesus does not care if people have worldly power or authority; he regards all men the same. After all, he is the creator; there is no reason for him to submit to anyone. But Jesus also teaches that we as lowly gentiles should not be addressed with fancy titles or titles of respectability.

”But be not ye called Rabbi: for one is your Master, even Christ; and all ye are brethren. And call no man your father upon the earth: for one is your Father, which is in heaven. Neither be ye called masters: for one is your Master, even Christ.” (Matthew 23:8-10)

Rabbi just met teacher and master and was used as a way of submitting to others in service. In Jesus time, there was already a distortion of religious leaders being addressed with titles that were never used even in the Torah or the Old Testament. The way this came about is interesting.

Just before Jesus’s time, around the years 150-140 B.C. (before Christ), there were many teachers in the Old Testament law, but one individual was reverenced more than most and was known by all Jewish people. His name was Hillil, He was a prominent teacher of the Old Testament, and he would teach people to obey the Torah and practice the spiritual qualities that go with it, like mercy, righteousness, love, and all the good things the Old Testament taught.

He started a large school where hundreds of converts learned the ways of God and even accepted gentiles, contrary to what many Jewish teachers believed to be despicable and forbidden. It’s recorded in a Jewish book called the Talmud that he converted at least a thousand well-known students of what the Old Testament taught and that these students were well trained themselves.

He brought up the next generation of believers who would later accept what Christ said himself and even had Paul learn under one of his original students named Gamaliel. Gamaliel was the grandson of Hillel the Elder, one of the most influential Jewish teachers before the destruction of the Second Temple.

[Interesting Fact] In Acts 5:34–39, Gamaliel advised the Sanhedrin not to immediately kill the apostles, arguing that if their movement was from God, it could not be stopped.

One of Hillil’s top students, named Shammai, was a very keen learner and, in time, had disputes with his teacher on matters like who to accept into the Jewish religion, how strict the Sabbath rules should be, how to treat gentiles, and conversion and how the law should be interpreted.

Eventually there was a big split between the teacher and the top student convincing a large body of followers of Hillil to follow Shammai. Hillel’s group is later recorded for being loving, caring, merciful, and accepting of gentiles, while Shammai’s group became strict with rules and traditions like the Sabbath custom, not accepting gentiles, etc. Later, Shammai’s group more or less reinforces the stubbornness the leaders in the Old Testament dealt with when it came to people who said they obeyed the God of the Old Testament, but in actions their heart being far from him.

Traditions were heavily focused on in Shammai´s group and the Pharisees existing were a bi-product of Shammai´s school. All of this ties into titles. Originally the most common title used all throughout the Israelite’s history (even in Hillil´s school) when teaching was “scribe.” It was only used as describing a position in which there were teachers of the old law, nothing more. Then shortly after Shammai´s shcool appears we have other titles introduced like “Pharisees”, “Master”, and “Rabbi.”

Because of Shammai´s heavy focus on superiority of the Jewish people, those titles turned into respectable titles and became a prideful thing and later a problem Jesus addressed. Notice when Jesus tells his followers not to be called those titles he doesn´t say that it was an old testament law like other laws he actually fulfilled, he just says not to be addressed with those titles indicating that it was entirely a made up tradition.

Jesus even goes so far as to say don´t even call any man on earth “Father,” for we only have one father who is in heaven. (Matthew 23:9) This command from Jesus is for our attachment with our biological father, when we stop addressing our parents as “mom” and “dad” we grow a greater appreciation for God as the rightful ruler and not our parents wishes or demands.

There are other titles that should not be considered optional because essentially they all are purposefully designed to create disobedience to all that Jesus said.

The Title “father” can be “dad” or “papa.” A very common title in the U.S is “sir” which comes from the root word “sire”, which means “father.” The word “Pope” literally means “the father.” Even other respectable titles like, “your honor,” “captain” or “officer” just create more titles that foster respect for people in power.

In the religious world titles like “holy father,” “elder,” “pastor” or any other title should not be used when addressing people. There is nothing wrong with describing someone who has that position, but actually calling them those titles creates disobedience to Jesus. It fosters superiority and respect of positions, something Jesus could care less about.

People often underestimate what titles, positions, and symbols of authority can do to the way others perceive someone. A person with a respected title or position can influence people to trust and obey them, sometimes even when their own conscience begins to question what is happening.

A famous example of this is the Milgram experiment, conducted by Stanley Milgram in 1961. In this experiment, ordinary citizens were invited to participate in what they believed was a study about learning and memory. When they arrived, they were placed in a room with an experimenter who appeared to be a legitimate scientific authority, wearing a lab coat and representing an established institution.

The participants were instructed to press a button that they believed would deliver electric shocks to another person whenever that person answered a question incorrectly. The person on the other side of the wall was actually an actor, and no real shocks were being delivered, but the participants did not know this. As the experiment continued, they heard the person cry out in pain, protest, and eventually plead for the experiment to stop.

Many participants became visibly distressed. They questioned what they were doing, showed signs of discomfort, and struggled with the decision. However, when the experimenter calmly reassured them that the procedure was necessary and encouraged them to continue, many obeyed. In the original experiment, about 65% of participants continued all the way to the highest level of supposed shock.

The experiment revealed something important about human behavior: people can be strongly influenced by perceived authority. A title, uniform, position, or reputation can cause someone to place trust in another person’s judgment, sometimes leading them to continue actions they would normally question.

The lesson is not that people always obey authority blindly, but that authority carries significant psychological weight. Without careful examination, people may allow a person’s position or title to influence their decisions more than their own reasoning, conscience, or moral judgment.

This is exactly the sort of thing Jesus addressed with titles of respect. Especially in the religious world and churches, people will obey anything their pastor says, never questioning if we need to obey Jesus and take him seriously. People blindly follow their government and go out and kill in Christ’s name even though Jesus told us to love our enemies many times in the gospels. It is common knowledge that in Catholic history, like the “Great Inquisition,” the followers were instructed to kill people who practiced other religions or who were falsely accused of being a witch and were literally burned alive.

If anything, the Catholic Church is the perfect example of people only following leaders because of titles, power, and wealth. James comments on this sort of reasoning as well.

”But if ye have respect to persons, ye commit sin, and are convinced of the law as transgressors.” (James 2:9)

Even in the Old Testament, in the book of Job, it’s recorded that one of Job’s friends understood that titles of respect were something that were frowned upon in God’s eyes and that respect given to someone just because of a certain position, was wrong too.

”Let me not, I pray you, accept any man’s person, neither let me give flattering titles unto man. For I know not to give flattering titles; in so doing, my maker would soon take me away. (Job 32:21-22)

To finish this spiritual application about titles, we need to take Jesus seriously about titles and not use them to address people. As it disobeys Jesus and creates blind spots in ourselves and others. We need only to address our Lord with proper titles like “Father” as he rightfully deserves it. I hope you learned something today. Peace be with you.