Call No Man Father

Chapter 4, Part 2, The Art of Unlearning

This is the second half of chapter four from the book-in-progress, the Art of Unlearning, where we discussed “pomp and circumstance.” I’d encourage you to read that post before this one to get more biblical context.

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Call No Man Father

If there’s one thing the church doesn’t do well, it’s humility. At various times in church history, Christian leadership defined “pomp and circumstance.” The awe-inspiring cathedrals, ostentatious costumes, and elaborate rituals with utensils that sometimes cost more than many people’s houses screamed hubris.

But humility isn’t just about display; it’s also about posture and position. I was invited to attend an ordination meeting at a large church, and one of the prospective pastors had been assigned to do a paper on church government. He kept saying, “the Bible’s view of leadership is this,” or “the Bible presents government like that,” until I raised my hand and asked, “Where in the Bible do you see a senior pastor?”

Many of the young men went “ooooohhhhhh….” and the presenter was stumped.  My question irritated one of the leaders in the room who said, “Give him the right answer Gary”—which was fair. You can’t just throw out a bomb like that and leave it. Let me stress that I think some form of a senior pastor is still probably the best model for a local church. I can’t think of a better one, but I also can’t, in good conscience, call it the “biblical” model because there really isn’t a senior pastor mentioned in the New Testament, and in fact Jesus seems to warn against a senior pastor’s worst tendencies when he says, “But you are not to be called ‘Rabbi,’ for you have one Teacher, and you are all brothers. And do not call anyone on earth ‘father,’ for you have one Father, and he is in heaven. Nor are you to be called instructors, for you have one Instructor, the Messiah” (Matthew 23:8-10).

Paul passionately warns the Corinthians away from putting too much emphasis on any one human leader: “So then, no more boasting about human leaders! All things are yours, whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future—all are yours, and you are of Christ, and Christ is of God” (1 Corinthians 3:21-23).

I don’t believe these teachings forbid the appointment of a senior pastor (or a bishop in a denomination), but they certainly qualify it, saying none of us should assume an overly high or exalted view of ourselves. Paul does say elders (plural) are worthy of double honor, but then he proceeds to give directions as to how the church should respond when an elder sins.[1] So there is no absolute religious human authority that can’t be called into account by others. We must not exalt ourselves over other believers, regardless of our role in the church. We are brothers and sisters more than we are hierarchical members of a royal family with each person listed by what they are in the line of succession.

The Message translates the Matthew passage this way: “Don’t let people do that to you, put you on a pedestal like that. You all have a single Teacher, and you are all classmates. Don’t set people up as experts over your life, letting them tell you what to do. Save that authority for God; let him tell you what to do. No one else should carry the title of ‘Father’; you have only one Father, and he’s in heaven. And don’t let people maneuver you into taking charge of them. There is only one life-Leader for you and them—Christ.”