“Just ‘Richard’ is fine…”

Of course, we'll love him in the end...

I have at least a couple of wilfully nurtured prejudices. One of them is against the person who whispered into St Harry of Redknapp’s ear that signing William Gallas would be a great PR move. Another is against anyone who perpetuates the title ‘Father’ for a minister within the church. It sends shivers down my spine – not just when an 80 year-old man uses it to address me!

Such bias/preference, joyfully, marks me out quite neatly as an evangelical in certain gatherings – nearly as well as wearing blue clerical shirts or, heaven forbid, non-clerical shirts whilst on duty.

My soul justification for this discriminatory attitude is Matthew 23:9. ‘Haven’t you read your Bible?’ I think to myself of those who persist in this habit/practice. ‘It’s clear enough – just stop saying it!’

But tonight’s bout of insomnia has resulted in me pondering on this passage. I doubt very much that Jesus had 21st century catholic ecclesiological etiquette as his primary focus when he uttered these words. Mind you, I imagine that, as a Deity, not only can He multi-task but multi-intend (or whatever), so maybe it’s a perfectly valid spot of proof-texting in which we more reformed brethren enjoy indulging.

Yet, the question remains, are we meant to do a bit more with this quoted utterance of our Lord and Saviour than joyfully beat those with whom we disagree around the head?

Humility.

I have it by the spadeful. Bucketful. Make that ‘shedful’. I wouldn’t want to undersell myself.

Maybe the words themselves aren’t the problem. Maybe it’s the heart-attitude. Yes, you know – that thing the Holy Spirit is always trying to fine-tune but we so often manage to tinker with and make it worse.

Maybe Jesus was warning us against thinking too highly of ourselves, illustrated by seeking after status, respect and/or titles. Any title could do it; Pastor, Apostle, Officer, your Honour, your Majesty, Reverend… Or even those untitled positions we seek out, like ‘one who quotes the Bible well at people he disagrees with’ or ‘highly amusing yet deeply reflective blogger’. Or, ‘Christian leader who knows to avoid being called ‘Father”.

Is that a plank I see in close-up?

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