The Church Today: Any Relation to The Biblical Church?
How does this apply to our church today? Is it possible we have completely lost sight of God’s intention for what we consider “the church”?
23:1 Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples, 2 “The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses’ seat, 3 so practice and observe whatever they tell you—but not what they do. For they preach, but do not practice. 4 They tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear, [1] and lay them on people’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to move them with their finger. 5 They do all their deeds to be seen by others. For they make their phylacteries broad and their fringes long, 6 and they love the place of honor at feasts and the best seats in the synagogues 7 and greetings in the marketplaces and being called rabbi [2](or elder, bishop, pastor, deacon) by others. 8 But you are not to be called rabbi, for you have one teacher, and you are all brothers. [3] 9 And call no man your father on earth, for you have one Father, who is in heaven.10 Neither be called instructors, for you have one instructor, the Christ. 11 The greatest among you shall be your servant. 12 Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.
Matthew 23:1-11 (Emphasis and Parenthesis Mine)
Surely other places in the scripture outline different roles and we get titles from them, but have we truthfully understood what the original authors are trying to communicate to the original recipients? Or are we reading our own preconceived notions into a God inspired excuse to serve our own desires? How long have I desired the title Pastor, Youth Pastor, or just full time minister? Is God calling me to something which feels like less but perhaps is much more in the title brother or even worse servant?
Consider the title deacon’s definition:
Today,
1. A cleric ranking just below a priest in the Anglican, Eastern Orthodox, and Roman Catholic churches.
2. A Protestant layperson who assists the minister in various functions.
3. Used as a title prefixed to the surname of such a person: Deacon Brown.
–The Free Dictionary by Farlex; http://www.thefreedictionary.com/deacon (Emphasis Mine)
Compared to the Greek,
Diakonos: Whence Eng. deacon, primarily denotes a servant, whether as doing servile work, or as an attendant rendering free service, without particular reference to its character. The word is probably connected with the verb dioko, to hasten after, pursue (perhaps originally a runner).
–Vine’s Expository Dictionary by W.E. Vine (Emphasis Mine)
This is one place our incorrect common use of a title is easy to point out. Scriptures like the one above cause me to wonder what else we are missing. What more are we taking for granted from our church culture?
P.S. Sorry for the rant I just read this scripture and felt the need to share more than twitter could handle. 
P.P.S. If you were wondering . . . a definition of phylacteries:
phylactery – (Judaism) either of two small leather cases containing texts from the Hebrew Scriptures (known collectively as tefillin); traditionally worn (on the forehead and the left arm) by Jewish men during morning prayer
