Do Church Members Really Worship Their Leaders Instead Of God?
JESUS CHRIST said in Matthew 23:8-9,“but be not ye called Rabbi; for one is your Master, even Christ; and all ye are brethren. And call no man your father upon the earth; for one is your Father, which is in heaven.” Going by this, the question then is: where do church members get titles such as Papa, Your Holiness, Daddy, General Overseer, Your Grace, Your Eminence, Prelate, Primate and others, which they use to address the leaders as a mark of respect. Could church leaders who accept this mode of address by their members not accepting being idolised? Those who spoke to CHRIS IREKAMBA, OMIKO AWA and ISAAC TAIWO, see nothing wrong in that, while others perceive it differently.
‘It Is Not Idolatry For People To Be Addressed With Their Titles In The Churches’
(Dare Ajiboye, General Secretary/CEO, The Bible Society of Nigeria)
I DO not think it is idolatry for people to be addressed in their titles in churches or to be given one. Titles are meant to designate people and people that have them are addressed by them. Different denominations in Nigeria have different titles for their leaders, some are addressed as Pastor, General Superintendent, General Overseer, and what have you. I think, it is a way of letting people know that this person is ‘in charge’ of this place and I would not condemn the usage. However, I want to point out that titles will not take us anywhere. When we address God, we don’t say ‘Mr. God’, we call Him ‘God’ and don’t give Him unnecessary titles. I don’t think there is anything bad to be addressed by titles. My name is Dare Ajiboye; I don’t need any title and would not condemn those who want them or use them, as far as they know they are not competing with God and that they have those names for the purpose of recognition. The Bible has not said this is the name you must call your pastor, but there are titles such as Bishop, Elder, Deacon, Deaconess in the Bible. This tells you that if those names are there, God may not be against their usage so far, all the glory go to God and not to any leader. We should let people know that it is God that is actually the controller of any denomination or the churches in Nigeria and not man. He has just put us there as caretakers and when we realise this, I think things will be better than they are now. I don’t see it as idolatry, but people should not over do it. I can recall some years back, while I was introducing somebody as Bishop when I joined BSN, the person became angry, collected the microphone from me, and said, ‘point of correction, I am not just a Bishop, but Bishop Dr.’ What I am saying in essence is that, title does not matter to me, but I would not discourage those who want to have them or are already using them.
‘Your Holiness, His Eminence Is Like Idolisation, Not Same As Papa Or Daddy
(PASTOR ABRAHAM OLUKUNLE AKINOSUN, President, Christ Apostolic Church, Worldwide)
General Overseer, District Overseer, Zonal Overseer are biblical, but the title ‘Your Holiness…’ is like taking the position of God. It means taking the position that rightly belongs to God for oneself. Members call us ‘Papa or Daddy,’ though Jesus Christ instructed His disciples not to call any one father; what He is saying in that portion is that, they should not rest on anybody or make him their Creator, because there is only one Father in heaven, who cares for the needs of His children. Calling someone ‘Papa or Daddy’ is not the same as ‘Your Holiness or Your Eminence,’ I see that as a position that belongs to God. Referring to someone as ‘His Holiness, His Eminence and so on is like idolising him. But to bear Daddy or Papa, I don’t think it connotes or tallies with what Jesus is saying. You are not idolising him.
‘These Titles Are Given To Church Leaders For Administrative Conveniences’
(HIS GRACE, MOST REV. EMMANUEL JOSIAH UDOFIA, Primate, African Church and President, Christian Council of Nigeria)
THE reason for addressing some men of God with such titles is for administrative conveniences. I am addressed as such and it is not idolisation or misapplication of Bible doctrine.
‘Jesus Warned His Disciples Not To Crave For Any Titles’
(RT. REV. MICHAEL OLUSINA FAPE, Anglican Bishop of Remo, Ogun State)
THE use of titles in the leadership of the Church is a later development in the Church. It is clear from the Bible that none of the foundation apostles arrogated any celebrated titles to themselves. For instance, Paul in writing to his various congregations in the early Church simply introduced himself as ‘Paul, a Servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an Apostle.’ Paul’s use of both ‘Servant’ and ‘Apostle’ shows his relationship to the Lord Jesus Christ, who appeared to him on the road to Damascus with a definite message to go and preach. Thus, he was a ‘Sent One,’ a title derived from the Greek word, ‘apostolos.’
From Matthew 23:8-12, it is very clear that Jesus warned his disciples not to crave for any titles, “But you are not to be called ‘Rabbi,’ for you have only one Master 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 ‘teacher,’ for you have one Teacher, the Christ. The greatest among you will be your servant. For whoever exalts, himself, will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.”
From pages of the Bible, there are several places where the early Christians used common and functional words rather than titles to describe themselves. Such words include, ‘brother, beloved, fellow-worker, labourer, slave, servant, prisoner, fellow-soldier and steward.’ While it is also true that there were prophets, teachers, apostles, evangelists, leaders, elders and deacons in the early Churches, they were, however, not used as formal titles for individuals carrying out those functions.
The crave for titles in Churches or indiscriminate use of the modern day ecclesiastical titles such as Archbishop, Cardinal, Pope, Primate, Metropolitan, Your Holiness, Your Grace, General Overseer, General Superintendent, to mention a few, is totally absent from the New Testament. For instance, in Revelation 1:9, the author simply introduced himself as, ‘I, John, who also am your brother.’
The use of these ecclesiastical titles today is only for personality argumentation; and it shows how much the Church has patterned its administration after the secular system. It may be some how difficult to jettison some of these titles in view of the historical denominational antecedents, for instance, in the Roman Catholic Church and Anglican Church. However, there is need to go back to the Bible to recover humility of service since the eternal reward awaiting ministers of God does not depend on the titles they wear.
“We Use ‘My Lordship Or Your Lordship’ For Judges, It Does Not Mean We Are ‘Worshipping’ Them’
(His Eminence, Sunday Ola Makinde, Prelate, Methodist Church, Nigeria)
IT amounts to ignorance on the part of those who think or believe that undue honour are being accorded to religious leaders because of titles attached to their names. Those titles are just social sanctification. Heavenly focused or heavenly bound leaders know fully well that titles such as General Overseer, Senior Pastor, His Eminence, His Grace, General Superintendent, Papa or even Mama, among others cannot take them to heaven. Titles are no qualification, ticket or yardsticks for making heaven.
Be that as it may, titles are diversified, which are also attached to traditions both in Africa and Western; they do not signify equality with God. We use ‘My Lordship or Your Lordship for Judges and it does not mean that we are ‘worshipping’ them. As I said, they are referred to as ‘social sanctification’ in either Sociology or Social Psychology. Social Anthropology will also give us deep insight into how we came about these titles. The Bible also tells us to respect our leaders and this does not mean we are placing them through relevant titles above God. They are not also sharing the same titles with God.
When our Saviour was on earth, He also had inner circle. Misunderstanding of titles dates back to the days of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ when the Jews accused Him of calling Himself the ‘Son of God’, thereby making Himself equal with God. But, Jesus, though God and even God Almighty said: “My Father is Greater than I. And yet, God has given Him a name above every other name that at His name, every knee must bow. Jesus is worthy of all the Titles that have been given to Him by God and with all that He honours His Father. With all His Glory, He honors the Father and even calls His Father ‘Your Father that is, we, believers; and that is what the Muslims find difficult to believe. Titles are honours recognised by God, though He would not want us to carry them on our head and become pompous because they are no certificates to heaven. Jesus with all His titles remains Humble. We are to emulate Him.
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