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Wednesday, 9th of March 2022
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Call no man Father, Teacher or Leader – Why? +Children First – God’s Counterintuitive instructions from God and hidden reasons that needs to be obeyed – no questions asked!
Subtitle – Perfect Words, Works and Wonders – Call no man Father, Teacher or Leader, and Make Children priority as God’s Counterintuitive Instruction Plus Hidden Reasons why you should obey them – Part 2 + Praying for the People of the Continent of Oceania – A call to Righteousness and Justice
Hello friends, welcome to the second part of our counterintuitive instructions from God and why you should obey them. Today’s main title is, “Call no man Father, Teacher or Leader – Why? +Children First – God’s Counterintuitive instructions from God and hidden reasons that needs to be obeyed – no questions asked!”
In our initial post on God’s instructions, we defined counterintuitive instructions as instructions that does not make common sense to humans. Another definition says, “something that goes against what you believe would be logical, or something that goes against common sense. When treating someone badly makes him like you more instead of less, this is an example of something that is counterintuitive. Contrary to intuition or common sense or contrary to what one would intuitively expect.
In the earlier post which you would find via this link – https://www.otakada.org/perfect-stories-what-do-you-do-differently-with-five-5-years-to-live-get-5-instructions-from-god-that-does-not-make-sense-with-hidden-benefits-prayer-for-oceania/
we looked at five (5) counterintuitive instructions and hidden reasons why you should obey them as follows: 1) Love your enemies, bless those who persecute you, do not curse them, and give to them in GOOD words and in GOOD deeds; 2) The GREATEST or LEADER should be the SERVANT – Want to be first? be the last of all and servant of all; 3) The way to live in God is to die first; 4) Forgive 490 times a day if they apologize and, 5) Give, and you receive, good measure, pressed down.. running over.. shall men give unto your bosom
Before we go into the next 2 instructions, we would like to introduce the prayer theme for the continent of Oceania today and our last post.
The title to our last post is, “Perfect Temptation, Trials and Testing – What are the differences? How do we handle them? and True Stories of temptations, trials and testing as perfect ingredients to outstanding testimonies”, find link here. https://www.otakada.org/perfect-temptation-trials-and-testings/
Prayer for the People and Continent of Oceania – A Call to Righteousness and Justice
The scriptures for mediation today are as following:
Psalm 89:14-18
Amplified Bible, Classic Edition
14 Righteousness and justice are the foundation of Your throne; mercy and loving-kindness and truth go before Your face.
15 Blessed (happy, fortunate, to be envied) are the people who know the joyful sound [who understand and appreciate the spiritual blessings symbolized by the feasts]; they walk, O Lord, in the light and favor of Your countenance!
16 In Your name they rejoice all the day, and in Your righteousness, they are exalted.
17 For You are the glory of their strength [their proud adornment], and by Your favor our horn is exalted and we walk with uplifted faces!
18 For our shield belongs to the Lord, and our king to the Holy One of Israel.
Psalm 19:12-14
Amplified Bible, Classic Edition
12 Who can discern his lapses and errors? Clear me from hidden [and unconscious] faults.
13 Keep back Your servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me! Then shall I be blameless, and I shall be innocent and clear of great transgression.
14 Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, my [firm, impenetrable] Rock and my Redeemer.
Psalm 7:7-9
Amplified Bible, Classic Edition
7 Let the assembly of the peoples be gathered about You, and return on high over them.
8 The Lord judges the people; judge me, O Lord, and do me justice according to my righteousness [my rightness, justice, and right standing with You] and according to the integrity that is in me.
9 Oh, let the wickedness of the wicked come to an end, but establish the [uncompromisingly] righteous [those upright and in harmony with You]; for You, Who try the hearts and emotions and thinking powers, are a righteous God.
Psalm 139:23-24
Amplified Bible, Classic Edition
23 Search me [thoroughly], O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts!
24 And see if there is any wicked or hurtful way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.
Prayer:
Father, You are a God of order, principles and fairness!
Your word says righteousness and justice are the foundation upon which your throne is built. Judge us, and do justice for us according to our righteousness in Christ Jesus, search our hearts thoroughly dear Holy Spirit and know the hidden thoughts in our hearts! Try us and know our thoughts! And see if there is any wicked or hurtful way in us and lead us in the way that leads to everlasting life. Not just for me but for the people of the continent of Oceania and we ask that let the wickedness of the wicked come to an end as we take our stand in righteousness and fairness in Jesus name, Amen.
Let’s dive into the two (2) counterintuitive instructions from our heavenly Father that simply does not make sense to our finite minds and hidden reasons why we should obey them – no questions asked.
1) Children should be our role model in the kingdom of God as they are on God’s priority list – The kingdom belongs to people like them and they are the greatest in the kingdom!
It is shocking that what God prioritizes, we relegate to the sideline. Visit any church setting and you will find out that children are usually at the backside or in a different building from where the main show is taking place. When children give advice, people hardly listen to them because they are underrated in terms of mental capacity, yet God says their angels are always in His presence, looking upon His face and whoever welcomes them welcomes Him and if wrong is done to them or if they are misled to do the wrong thing, a stiff penalty awaits the culprit. What then can we learn from Children that makes them so special before God for our application and why is God singling them out as our role model?
Let’s look at the book of life:
Matthew 19:14
Amplified Bible, Classic Edition
14 But He said, Leave the children alone! Allow the little ones to come to Me, and do not forbid or restrain or hinder them, for of such [as these] is the kingdom of heaven composed.
and
Matthew 18:1-14
Amplified Bible, Classic Edition
18 At that time the disciples came up and asked Jesus, Who then is [really] the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?
2 And He called a little child to Himself and put him in the midst of them,
3 And said, Truly I say to you, unless you repent (change, turnabout) and become like little children [trusting, lowly, loving, forgiving], you can never enter the kingdom of heaven [at all].
4 Whoever will humble himself therefore and become like this little child [trusting, lowly, loving, forgiving] is greatest in the kingdom of heaven.
5 And whoever receives and accepts and welcomes one little child like this for My sake and in My name receives and accepts and welcomes Me.
6 But whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in and acknowledge and cleave to Me to stumble and sin [that is, who entices him or hinders him in right conduct or thought], it would be better (more expedient and profitable or advantageous) for him to have a great millstone fastened around his neck and to be sunk in the depth of the sea.
7 Woe to the world for such temptations to sin and influences to do wrong! It is necessary that temptations come, but woe to the person on whose account or by whom the temptation comes!
8 And if your hand or your foot causes you to stumble and sin, cut it off and throw it away from you; it is better (more profitable and wholesome) for you to enter life maimed or lame than to have two hands or two feet and be thrown into everlasting fire.
9 And if your eye causes you to stumble and sin, pluck it out and throw it away from you; it is better (more profitable and wholesome) for you to enter life with only one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into the hell (Gehenna) of fire.
10 Beware that you do not despise or feel scornful toward or think little of one of these little ones, for I tell you that in heaven their angels always are in the presence of and look upon the face of My Father Who is in heaven.
11 For the Son of man came to save [from the penalty of eternal death] that which was lost.
12 What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray and gets lost, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountain and go in search of the one that is lost?
13 And if it should be that he finds it, truly I say to you, he rejoices more over it than over the ninety-nine that did not get lost.
14 Just so it is not the will of My Father Who is in heaven that one of these little ones should be lost and perish.
Hidden Reason
First off, they are innocent, second of all, they are unassuming, they are forgiving and trusting implicitly! The biggest reason is that they are trusting! They have faith like no other. God is always asking that we should trust and obey Him with no hidden agenda or backup plan. Would we today become like little children? Let us begin to look at them differently and place the appropriate kingdom value on them and God will begin to use them mightily in our world. Something to consider is this – Why does the enemy tend to target children as well? Does he know something we don’t?
2) Call no man Father on earth for you have one Father and He is in heaven – Call no man teacher for you have one Teacher; Call no man leader for you have one leader, Christ and you are all brothers
We look around our world today and even in our churches and we see men and women, young and old, looking for father figure, Teachers and leaders. If this is a void in society, why then is God saying we should call no man Father on earth? Or call no man a teacher or leader? Second question is, what of our earthly father or our spiritual fathers? Or our spiritual teachers and leaders? How then do we call them scripturally speaking? Is there anything like it in the kingdom or this is another tradition of men playing out in our gatherings?
Let’s explore the scripture to see where He gave this instruction and then we will give hidden reason why God gave this instruction:
Matthew 23:8-11
Amplified Bible, Classic Edition
8 But you are not to be called rabbi (teacher), for you have one Teacher and you are all brothers.
9 And do not call anyone [in the church] on earth father, for you have one Father, Who is in heaven.
10 And you must not be called masters (leaders), for you have one Master (Leader), the Christ.
11 He who is greatest among you shall be your servant.
Hidden Reason(s)
I will explore this reason by giving the reasons given by the Catholic church and also the protestant church to proceed as instructed by Jesus and I will draw some inputs and conclusions:
Catholic Church Response:
In fact, to forbid it would rob the address “Father” of its meaning when applied to God, for there would no longer be any earthly counterpart for the analogy of divine Fatherhood. The concept of God’s role as Father would be meaningless if we obliterated the concept of earthly fatherhood.
But in the Bible the concept of fatherhood is not restricted to just our earthly fathers and God. It is used to refer to people other than biological or legal fathers, and is used as a sign of respect to those with whom we have a special relationship.
For example, Joseph tells his brothers of a special fatherly relationship God had given him with the king of Egypt: “So it was not you who sent me here, but God; and he has made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house and ruler over all the land of Egypt” (Gen. 45:8).
Job indicates he played a fatherly role with the less fortunate: “I was a father to the poor, and I searched out the cause of him whom I did not know” (Job 29:16). And God himself declares that he will give a fatherly role to Eliakim, the steward of the house of David: “In that day I will call my servant Eliakim, the son of Hilkiah . . . and I will clothe him with [a] robe, and will bind [a] girdle on him, and will commit . . . authority to his hand; and he shall be a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and to the house of Judah” (Isa. 22:20–21).
This type of fatherhood applies not only to those who are wise counselors (like Joseph) or benefactors (like Job) or both (like Eliakim); it also applies to those who have a fatherly spiritual relationship with one. For example, Elisha cries, “My father, my father!” to Elijah as the latter is carried up to heaven in a whirlwind (2 Kgs. 2:12). Later, Elisha himself is called a father by the king of Israel (2 Kgs. 6:21).
A Change with the New Testament?
Some Protestants argue that this usage changed with the New Testament—that while it may have been permissible to call certain men “father” in the Old Testament, since the time of Christ, it’s no longer allowed. This argument fails for several reasons.
First, as we’ve seen, the imperative “call no man father” does not apply to one’s biological father. It also doesn’t exclude calling one’s ancestors “father,” as is shown in Acts 7:2, where Stephen refers to “our father Abraham,” or in Romans 9:10, where Paul speaks of “our father Isaac.”
Second, there are numerous examples in the New Testament of the term “father” being used as a form of address and reference, even for men who are not biologically related to the speaker. There are, in fact, so many uses of “father” in the New Testament, that the objection to Catholics calling priests “father” must be wrong, as we shall see.
Third, a careful examination of the context of Matthew 23 shows that Jesus didn’t intend for his words here to be understood literally. The whole passage reads, “But you are not to be called ‘rabbi,’ for you have one teacher, and you are all brethren. And call no man your father on earth, for you have one Father, who is in heaven. Neither be called ‘masters,’ for you have one master, the Christ” (Matt. 23:8–10).
The first problem is that although Jesus seems to prohibit the use of the term “teacher,” in Matthew 28:19–20, Christ himself appointed certain men to be teachers in his Church: “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations . . . teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.” Paul speaks of his commission as a teacher: “For this I was appointed a preacher and apostle . . . a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth” (1 Tim. 2:7); “For this gospel I was appointed a preacher and apostle and teacher” (2 Tim. 1:11). He also reminds us that the Church has an office of teacher: “God has appointed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers” (1 Cor. 12:28); and “his gifts were that some should be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers” (Eph. 4:11). There is no doubt that Paul was not violating Christ’s teaching in Matthew 23 by referring so often to others as “teachers.”
Fundamentalists themselves slip up on this point by calling all sorts of people “doctor”; for example, professors and scientists who have Ph.D. degrees (i.e., doctorates). What they fail to realize is that “doctor” is simply the Latin word for “teacher.” Even “Mister” and “Mistress” (“Mrs.”) are forms of the word “master,” also mentioned by Jesus. So if his words in Matthew 23 were meant to be taken literally, Fundamentalists would be just as guilty for using the word “teacher” and “doctor” and “mister” as Catholics for saying “father.” But clearly, that would be a misunderstanding of Christ’s words.
So What Did Jesus Mean?
Jesus criticized Jewish leaders who love “the place of honor at feasts and the best seats in the synagogues, and salutations in the market places, and being called ‘rabbi’ by men” (Matt. 23:6–7). He was using hyperbole (exaggeration) to show the scribes and Pharisees how sinful and proud they were for not looking humbly to God as the source of all authority and fatherhood and teaching, and instead setting themselves up as the ultimate authorities, father figures, and teachers.
Christ used hyperbole often, for example when he declared, “If your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and throw it away; it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell” (Matt. 5:29, cf. 18:9; Mark 9:47). Christ certainly did not intend this to be applied literally, for otherwise all Christians would be blind amputees! (cf. 1 John 1:8; 1 Tim. 1:15).
Jesus is not forbidding us to call men “fathers” who actually are such—either literally or spiritually. He is warning people against inaccurately attributing fatherhood—or a particular kind or degree of fatherhood—to those who do not have it.
As the apostolic example shows, some individuals genuinely do have a spiritual fatherhood, meaning that they can be referred to as spiritual fathers. What must not be done is to confuse their form of spiritual paternity with that of God. Ultimately, God is our supreme protector, provider, and instructor. Correspondingly, it is wrong to view any individual other than God as having these roles.
Throughout the world, some people have been tempted to look upon religious leaders who are mere mortals as if they were an individual’s supreme source of spiritual instruction, nourishment, and protection. The tendency to turn mere men into “gurus” is worldwide.
This was also a temptation in the Jewish world of Jesus’ day, when famous rabbinical leaders, especially those who founded important schools, such as Hillel and Shammai, were highly exalted by their disciples. It is this elevation of an individual man—the formation of a “cult of personality” around him—of which Jesus is speaking when he warns against attributing to someone an undue role as master, father, or teacher.
He is not forbidding the perfunctory use of honorifics nor forbidding us to recognize that the person does have a role as a spiritual father and teacher. The example of his own apostles shows us that.
The Apostles Show the Way
The New Testament is filled with examples of and references to spiritual father-son and father-child relationships. It is worth quoting some of them here.
Paul regularly referred to Timothy as his child: “Therefore I sent to you Timothy, my beloved and faithful child in the Lord, to remind you of my ways in Christ” (1 Cor. 4:17); “To Timothy, my true child in the faith: grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord” (1 Tim. 1:2); “To Timothy, my beloved child: Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord” (2 Tim. 1:2).
He also referred to Timothy as his son: “This charge I commit to you, Timothy, my son, in accordance with the prophetic utterances which pointed to you, that inspired by them you may wage the good warfare” (1 Tim 1:18); “You then, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus” (2 Tim. 2:1); “But Timothy’s worth you know, how as a son with a father he has served with me in the gospel” (Phil. 2:22).
Paul also referred to other of his converts in this way: “To Titus, my true child in a common faith: grace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Savior” (Titus 1:4); “I appeal to you for my child, Onesimus, whose father I have become in my imprisonment” (Philem. 10). None of these men were Paul’s literal sons. Rather, Paul is emphasizing his spiritual fatherhood with them.
Spiritual Fatherhood
Perhaps the most pointed New Testament reference to the theology of the spiritual fatherhood of priests is Paul’s statement, “I do not write this to make you ashamed, but to admonish you as my beloved children. For though you have countless guides in Christ, you do not have many fathers. For I became your father in Christ Jesus through the gospel” (1 Cor. 4:14–15).
Peter followed the same custom, referring to Mark as his son: “She who is at Babylon, who is likewise chosen, sends you greetings; and so does my son Mark” (1 Pet. 5:13). The apostles sometimes referred to entire churches under their care as their children. Paul writes, “Here for the third time I am ready to come to you. And I will not be a burden, for I seek not what is yours but you; for children ought not to lay up for their parents, but parents for their children” (2 Cor. 12:14); and, “My little children, with whom I am again in travail until Christ be formed in you!” (Gal. 4:19).
John said, “My little children, I am writing this to you so that you may not sin; but if any one does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous” (1 John 2:1); “No greater joy can I have than this, to hear that my children follow the truth” (3 John 4). In fact, John also addresses men in his congregations as “fathers” (1 John 2:13–14).
By referring to these people as their spiritual sons and spiritual children, Peter, Paul, and John imply their own roles as spiritual fathers. Since the Bible frequently speaks of this spiritual fatherhood, we Catholics acknowledge it and follow the custom of the apostles by calling priests “father.” Failure to acknowledge this is a failure to recognize and honor a great gift God has bestowed on the Church: the spiritual fatherhood of the priesthood.
Protestant Response:
Jesus has paused from exposing and condemning the Pharisees and scribes to command His disciples to do one thing differently in the future. He has said that these official “teachers” of Israel love the title of “rabbi.” It means they have achieved a level of status in Judaism that comes with power over others. It feeds exactly what drives them: their own thirst for recognition and honor. In contrast, Jesus has told the disciples not to call anyone “rabbi.” For one thing, they have only one teacher: Jesus Himself. For another, they are all brothers. He does not want them taking positions of status and authority above each other.
In addition, Christ tells His disciples not to address anyone as “father” on earth. This is because they have a Father in heaven, meaning God, Jesus’ own Father. Jesus does not mean no one may refer to a parent as “father.” He is specifically addressing the practice of referring to religious leaders and mentors as “father” in any formal or official sense. What’s forbidden is an attempt to give one of Jesus’ followers a spiritual status above that of others.
It’s suggested that great teachers or rabbis of the past, along with the patriarchs of Israel, were sometimes called “the fathers” during Jesus’ era. Jesus wants that name—and more importantly, that reverent attitude—to be reserved for God alone.
This does not forbid anyone from occupying positions of authority in the church. In fact, Jesus has given and will continue to give great authority to His disciples, who will become known as the apostles. The danger being condemned is in using titles as the Pharisees used them: to draw praise and honor to themselves and to buttress their own authority. Jesus emphasized to His disciples repeatedly that, in His kingdom, leadership always takes the form of servanthood (John 13:12–16; Matthew 23:11).
My response at Gods Eagle Ministries:
I start with the scripture to buttress the point about the impact of attributing honor due God as Father, The Lord Jesus Christ as Lord or Master and the Holy Spirit as teacher to mere man.
When we go contrary to divine mandate, it has the tendency to create division in the body of Christ as believers will stick to one earthly spiritual Father as the source of all teaching, and leadership to the detriment of other teachers or leaders in the body of Christ thereby severing the links that connects one body of believers to the others so that we can be equipped till we all come to the unity of faith, read this
Ephesians 4:11-13
Amplified Bible, Classic Edition
11 And His gifts were [varied; He Himself appointed and gave men to us] some to be apostles (special messengers), some prophets (inspired preachers and expounders), some evangelists (preachers of the Gospel, traveling missionaries), some pastors (shepherds of His flock) and teachers.
12 His intention was the perfecting and the full equipping of the saints (His consecrated people), [that they should do] the work of ministering toward building up Christ’s body (the church),
13 [That it might develop] until we all attain oneness in the faith and in the comprehension of the ]full and accurate] knowledge of the Son of God, that [we might arrive] at really mature manhood (the completeness of personality which is nothing less than the standard height of Christ’s own perfection), the measure of the stature of the fullness of the Christ and the completeness found in Him.
There is so much division and disunity in the body of Christ today because brethren who have functional leadership role now have kept the body of believers under their armpit, preventing them from engaging with other believers for selfish ends. Let us see how Paul ran into problem concerning church unity with respect to having spiritual fathers all over the place like we have today and read how He addressed the error:
1 Corinthians 1:10-18
Amplified Bible, Classic Edition
10 But I urge and entreat you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you be in perfect harmony and full agreement in what you say, and that there be no dissensions or factions or divisions among you, but that you be perfectly united in your common understanding and in your opinions and judgments.
11 For it has been made clear to me, my brethren, by those of Chloe’s household, that there are contentions and wrangling and factions among you.
12 What I mean is this, that each one of you [either] says, I belong to Paul, or I belong to Apollos, or I belong to Cephas (Peter), or I belong to Christ.
13 Is Christ (the Messiah) divided into parts? Was Paul crucified on behalf of you? Or were you baptized into the name of Paul?
14 I thank God that I did not baptize any of you except Crispus and Gaius,
15 Lest anyone should say that I baptized in my own name.
16 [Yes] I did baptize the household of Stephanas also. More than these, I do not remember that I baptized anyone.
17 For Christ (the Messiah) sent me out not to baptize but [to evangelize by] preaching the glad tidings (the Gospel), and that not with verbal eloquence, lest the cross of Christ should be deprived of force and emptied of its power and rendered vain (fruitless, void of value, and of no effect).
18 For the story and message of the cross is sheer absurdity and folly to those who are perishing and on their way to perdition, but to us who are being saved it is the [manifestation of] the power of God.
My encouragement to our five-fold ministry folk is that they should point people to the Father and not to themselves, to the Son and the Holy Spirit when leading and teaching is required.
They should act as guides towards the Father, coming alongside them until they find pasture for themselves and can develop to the point where they can stand on their own and lead others to Christ.
We should desist from attributing to man the glory due God henceforth. So many in the body of Christ have made their pastors God in their hearts – some sort of idols for worship. They do nothing except the talk to the pastor. That is called spoon-feeding Christianity. That is not discipleship. We should stop this unscriptural attitude of blocking members from developing by listening to messages from other gifts in the body of Christ for they belong to Christ. I have seen some devilish attitude of some pastors cursing members who leave their church. Where did we get this Jezebel spirit from? It is not of God but of the devil and his dark kingdom!
If you have other views, we look forward to hearing from you concerning your contribution too!
That brings us to the end of today’s title, “Perfect Words, Works and Wonders – Call no man Father, Or Teacher or Leader, and Make Children priority as God’s Counterintuitive Instruction Plus Hidden Reasons why you should obey them – Part 2 + Praying for the People of the Continent of Oceania – A call to Righteousness and Justice”
Note: If you have been blessed by today’s content, share wide to others who are struggling to obey Gods counterintuitive instructions for their lives
Shalom!
Ambassador Oreojo Monday Ogbe
Gods Eagle Ministries
Https://www.otakada.org
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