Skyscraper Ministries/Lectures/Annual Baptisms/The Other Seventy Training Academy
Reflective Comments on the Use of the title “Dr.” in the Church
The
narrative below consists of the closing comments of an address directed toward
a position concerning the use of the title "Dr." in the Church of
Christ. The information was presenmted to a group of Bay Area preachers, in
response to the notion that it is wrong for preachers or Christians to be
referred to as Dr. Blank (Matthew 23).
In essence the position generates a regulation clause that instructs a person not to call a person doctor. Does this mean a Christian has no right or liberty to call another by the title doctor? Is that a law of God? A person cannot or should not refer to a brother or sister as doctor. As trivial as it may appear, what if a person said this is my brother or sister in Christ, Dr. Blank. Is it the job of every doctoral holder to instruct all people not to refer to them as doctor? We should also spend some time addressing all the negative comments that have been directed toward those with degrees in higher education, such as educated fools and post hole diggers. Those with doctoral degrees are truly a minority group, and to attack with such sarcasm's, truly indicates a problem and I wonder why that has not been addressed. If we are talking about titles and what we should be called, then it thrusts us into how we actually address each other systematically. I maintain that if the one is possible, it is also possible to set up an honorary system unconsciously in how we address each other. Who gets called brother and who gets called by their first name? What is the psychology behind it? If we are talking about consistency, how do we proceed? Who gets called doctor and who does not? What about calling senior men and women brother and sister and younger men and women by their first name. What is the determination?
Elitism is not an issue of a title, it exists with mere carnality (Some of Apollos, some of Paul). Why would calling someone doctor take away from treating people equally in Christ? If we look at that critically enough, to throw the title Dr. into that statement in terms of equality, makes equality impossible to reach in the church. Calling all members by bro./sis., does not equate to equal treatment either.
I have a problem with the mindset of a man or woman who demands that he or she be called Dr., but is that person prideful if someone refers to them as such and they do not tell them to call them brother. I do not know of any Christian who has mandated or verbally promoted/mandated that they be called Dr. This is a rather new subject for the body of Christ, but I also do not think it exists in predominantly white congregations. Why is that? So we should not cause a brother to stumble in calling one Dr., when did this become Bible and law? Has it always been the case or just when Black Christians began the pursuit of higher education? We now need biblical authority to call each other Dr. Is this in a public situation or also a greeting in private. If I approach a brother in private or crossings paths and state, Hello Dr. Blank, am I in sin and do I need scripture for that? How far do we take it? Are we talking about intent and a heart issue? What if a person calls another by a title, knowing it is not authentic, it is how they relate: doc, captain, general, teacher, professor, pops, dad, brother, dog, cousin, homeboy, nickname, etc. What about young people and their terminology? This discussion is not one that is a problem for babes, but really for those who have been in the body for years and can remember a day when many had no such education and the terminology was not prevalent among Black Christians. Babes probably have more of a problem with preachers being referred to by their first name than doctor. We must check how we really feel about those who have education, making sure this is not about overcompensation. If I put Dr. Saheli on a flyer announcing a gospel meeting or friend and family day, what is the harm? If I put Bro. Saheli on the flyer is that accurate for the person in the world. Am I their brother? What about scribe, Pharisee, Sadducee. We should be careful in how we generalize the comments in Matthew 23 because the thrust is on disobedience and hypocrisy. The emphasis was not on titles but hypocritical living. We do not teach that a distinctive element in the church of Christ is that we do not use titles. If that is the case it is new to our teaching.