What's In A Title?

 “Don’t you understand either?” he asked. “Can’t you see that the food you put into your body cannot defile you? Food doesn’t go into your heart,

 but only passes through the stomach and then goes into the sewer.” 

(By saying this, he declared that every 

kind of food is acceptable in God’s eyes.) And then he added, “It is what comes from inside that defiles you.  
For from within, out of a person’s heart, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, wickedness, 
deceit, lustful desires, envy, slander, arrogance, and foolishness.  
All these vile things come from within; they are what defile you.”
~Matthew 7:18-23

People love to be treated special, don't we?  We LOVE it when we are given deference; when doors not normally open for others are opened for us.  I remember when I was interviewing for a position with an organization where many of its members had political clout, and the first question asked me was "And just who do you know?"  I eventually got the job even though I didn't know anyone with the right clout, and then I got to deal with a whole new pool of "Don't You Know Who I Am?" clods.

One of my seminary professors had a wall full of degrees (5 Doctorates earned...not honorary and 7 Masters Degrees), so you can imagine the intimidation of having to meet with him as a lowly seminary student hoping to achieve my first Master's Degree.  I was nervous and called him Doctor and Reverend and Bishop... He looked at me sternly and said, "Stop! You are trying to impress me and you are failing, so STOP!"  I asked him sheepishly what I should call him.  Imagine my surprise and relief when he smiled and said, "Call me George.  It's the name on my birth certificate."

Think about this, how many times do we encounter people who insist on being called by their titles instead of their names, as if titles make them better than human.  That same professor reminded our class that "All the degrees and titles in God's universe will not save you from being human! Learn to be humble; to get into the dirt and wipe the filth from those you have been called to minister to; listen to the soul in agony of loss pouring out their hurt to you.  Never lose who God birthed you to be in the forest of titles and degrees!  Matter of fact, I have never found in Scripture where Jesus had a degree yet we seek to example this carpenter from Nazareth."

Arrogance gives Christians a very bad name!  Let's learn to humility and genuine caring.