And do not call anyone on earth ‘father,’ for you have one Father, and he is in heaven. – Matthew 23:9

Today’s Scripture Reading (October 4, 2014): Matthew 23

I recently read an article about the areas (in the United States) that have the rudest drivers. As a Canadian, a country that is known for our ability to annoy the rest of the world by being overly polite, the article was a bit of a stretch for me – especially the idea that there are places in the world that take great pride in being rude – places that would argue that to not respect the other is seen as a positive character trait. (And for the inquiring minds that simply need to know or for those planning a road trip in the near future the top five states that major in general rudeness are Idaho, District of Columbia [technically not a state but …], New York [probably shouldn’t be a surprise], Wyoming [that one did surprise me], and Massachusetts.)  

But maybe rude people inhabiting these states are at least partially right. Okay, I am not ready to argue that being rude as a simple rule of life is a good thing – after all, I am still an annoying Canadian. And I do think that a lack of respect and understanding is a major cause of most of the conflicts in this world, including the religious wars that seem to plague the planet. But depending on how and why the respect is given, respect can be as much of a problem as general rudeness.

Jesus instructs his followers to call no one father. Just as a note for all of us dads, this instruction was never intended for us. But it does connect back to Jesus comment with regard to the Pharisees. Jesus makes it clear that his problem with the Pharisees was not necessarily what they taught. The problem of the Pharisees was that they did not seem to feel the need to live up to their own teaching. And in this aspect, they were not any better than anyone else. They struggled with the idea of holy living as much as anyone else. And yet they demanded that their disciples treat them with resect – calling them rabbi, or even father.

So Jesus warned his disciples that these teachers just didn’t deserve the honorific. The Pharisees were simply fellow travellers on the road of life. There teachings were fine, in fact, Jesus instructs his followers to listen carefully to the teaching of the Pharisees, but they needed to be very careful that they didn’t place them on a spiritual pedestal. There is only one father, only one who is deserving of this kind of respect from us – and he is our father in heaven.

Any honorific which places the teacher on a different spiritual plain is dangerous – and according to Jesus, forbidden. In modern times it would seem that this titles might include father, but would also include titles like doctor, reverend and even brother if these titles are intended to show spiritual superiority. The reality that we can never lose sight of is that we are all travelers on the same road, struggling with the same sins and the same situations. We are all equal as we chase after our heavenly Father. And the presence we need in our lives is not the presence of our earthly fathers, but the presence of our heavenly one.   

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Luke 20