Skip to main content

You Are All Brothers And Sisters



MATTHEW 23:8-11  "Don't let anyone call you 'Rabbi,' for you have only one teacher, and all of you are equal as brothers and sisters. 9 And don't address anyone here on earth as 'Father,' for only God in heaven is your spiritual Father. 10 And don't let anyone call you 'Teacher,' for you have only one teacher, the Messiah. 11 The greatest among you must be a servant.

These verses can seem perplexing. Yet they contain some important truths. The first is that in the Kingdom of God we are all siblings -- all on the same level. (Jesus did not specifically address gender in this passage, but it fits in perfectly. Any attempt to classify women as inferior or second-class in any way goes against the spirit of what Jesus said in this passage. And Galatians 3:28 certainly backs up this idea.)

 Jesus is not telling us it is wrong to acknowledge we have an earthly parent called a father. For the Bible tells us to honor our father and mother. He must be referring to the custom of calling someone "Father" as a term of great respect. For example, there are people who are called "the father of modern medicine" or "the father of jazz music." The word "father" used in this way means someone who was the originator, the one who started it all -- the leader of a movement. Although it is not wrong to honor someone because of their achievements, we should not consider humans the originators of everything. And we are not to set some people up on a pedestal and follow them instead of God.

It is not wrong to honor people, but it is wrong to honor people above God. No one should be allowed to take the place of honor and respect that belongs to God alone. He is the One who originated all things. He is the One who deserves our utmost honor, respect, and obedience. God is our Leader! And instead of operating like the world and setting up a hierarchy we are to operate as co-equals. (This is not to say there should not be positions of authority and leadership. But all should remember that being in those positions is a matter of responsibility, not a matter of being better than others.)

All human beings are on the same level. God loves us all. One person is not more important or valuable than any other person. The human tendency is to try and distinguish ourselves from others. We try to elevate ourselves so others will look up to us and make us feel good about ourselves. Jesus is telling us we must not operate this way. We should not need a title to make us feel valuable when God has already established our value by the price He paid to redeem us.

Being a child of God is the highest position imaginable. No human title can begin to compare with that. All special titles and human recognition are ultimately worthless anyway. They may have some value here on earth. But only God, the ultimate Judge, truly matters. What others think of us matters little. Human organizations always exalt some people while minimizing others. "These are the important people. These other people are not very important." But God's people are not supposed to operate this way.

Finally, Jesus tells a great truth -- which many have not yet understood. The greatest person is the one who serves others the most. This is not just a short-term idea, valid only in this life on earth. This is the way it will be in God's Kingdom for eternity. Those who serve others the most are the greatest. In the Kingdom of God status is not measured by a title or an office or a following (how may fans or friends you may have). Instead greatness is determined solely by how much you help others.

God helps everyone all the time. That makes Him the greatest. The more we help others, the greater it makes us. So don't worry about a title or an office -- just help people.

Heavenly Father God, help me to remember that Your family is not a hierarchy.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The God to Whom We Pray

Nehemiah 1:1-11 Nehemiah demonstrates power in prayer. As a servant to King Artaxerxes of Persia, he had no right to request leave to rebuild Jerusalem’s walls, much less to requisition materials and protection. Yet knowing the nature of the God he served, Nehemiah did not hesitate to act boldly and ask the king for what was needed.  His prayer began, “I beseech You, O lord God of heaven” (Neh. 1:5). Lord, when it appears in all capital letters, denotes the word Jehovah (a form of Yahweh, the Hebrew name for God). It means “God who is eternal in His being”—conveying that everything everywhere is in His presence. So, when God makes a promise, He knows how He will keep it. That is why Nehemiah called Him “the awesome God who preserves the covenant.” He knew God was committed to bringing repentant Israelites back to their homeland to dwell in His presence (Neh. 1:9). Another Hebrew name used to refer to God, Elohim, is translated “He who is absolutely sovereign.” If He...
Post a Comment
Read more

Hold Fast What Is Good

1 THESSALONIANS 5:21  Prove all things; hold fast that which is good.  Sometimes things that should be obvious to us are not. Like, if what you are doing is not working out, it would be wise to consider a change. Too many people are not receiving the blessings God's Word promises, things the Bible says God desires us to have. But instead of considering changing things in their life, too often people fall into the temptation of blaming God and thinking He is holding out on them.  But that is never true! There is never any fault or problem with God. PSALM 84:11 KJV 11 For the LORD God is a sun and shield: the LORD will give grace and glory: no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly.  If you are acting on the Word and planting good seeds, don't let the devil discourage you and cause you to give up too soon. But if the course of your life is going the wrong direction, and it is not getting better over time, then it would be wise to consi...
Post a Comment
Read more

You Have The Victory!

 Romans 8:37 Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.  If God’s Word says that we are more than conquerors through Christ, then we are. We are not going to become, we already are. We may be experiencing some failures or setbacks in life right now, but only good will come out of our situations because God says that “in all these things we are more than conquerors”. We have the victory! You see, God has placed us in Christ, whom He has exalted to the highest place in the universe. We are not trying to get to victory ground. We are already on victory ground. We don’t confess God’s Word to get victory. We confess His Word because we already have the victory. We don’t fight for victory. We fight from victory.  The devil will try to steal our victory. He will come against us with lies and fears, and cause us to be conscious of our failures, weaknesses and symptoms in areas such as our health. But we are not trying to be healed...
Post a Comment
Read more