{"id":118,"date":"2012-01-13T01:36:41","date_gmt":"2012-01-13T01:36:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.watchmansjournal.org\/?p=118"},"modified":"2012-01-13T01:36:41","modified_gmt":"2012-01-13T01:36:41","slug":"a-message-to-his-holy-highness-the-worshipful-bishop-rev-dr-apostle-grand-poobah","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.watchmansjournal.org\/?p=118","title":{"rendered":"A Message to His Holy Highness the Worshipful Bishop Rev. Dr. Apostle Grand Poobah"},"content":{"rendered":"

A Message to His Holy Highness the Worshipful Bishop Rev. Dr. Apostle Grand Poobah<\/strong><\/p>\n

Wednesday, 09 November 2011 09:14 AM EST J. Lee Grady Newsletters – Fire In My Bones<\/em><\/p>\n

Jesus just wasn\u2019t into titles. We shouldn\u2019t be either.<\/p>\n

I am often asked if I have a title, and my answer doesn\u2019t satisfy some people. I travel a lot, so I don\u2019t consider myself a pastor. All kinds of labels have been pinned on me: Reverend, prophet, apostle \u2026 even bishop. Once I was introduced to a church as \u201cDr. Grady\u201d and I almost crawled under my seat. I only have a college degree. There are no letters after my name.<\/p>\n

I tell people: \u201cYou can call me Lee. Or if you want to sound formal, you can say, \u2018Brother Grady.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cJesus is the King of Kings, the Lord of Lords, the Son of David, the Prince of Peace and the Apostle of our Confession. Yet when He came into this world He laid aside His heavenly glory and took on the lowly name of Jesus.\u201d<\/p>\n

Today it seems we\u2019ve developed a title fetish. For a while everyone in charismatic circles was becoming a bishop (and some were installed into this office with rings, robes and funny-looking hats). Then the same guys with the pointy hats started calling themselves apostles. Then the prophets got jealous and started calling themselves apostles too! I knew one lady who, not to be outdone, required people to call her \u201cExalted Prophetess.\u201d<\/p>\n

Now the latest fad is requiring church folks to address certain people as apostles. (As in, \u201cWhen Apostle Holy Moly arrives, please only address him as, \u2018Apostle,\u2019 and then make sure he is seated in a private room while his two adjutants, wearing dark glasses, guard his door.\u201d) They\u2019ve even invented an elaborate theology to go along with this ridiculous rule. It suggests that you can\u2019t receive the true anointing from a man of God if you don\u2019t honor him with the right title.<\/p>\n

Sounds so very ooo-ooh spiritual to the naive. But it\u2019s garbage.<\/p>\n

Jesus didn\u2019t play this religious game, especially when he was around the Grand Poobahs of His day\u2014the long-robed scribes and Pharisees. After accusing them of loving the best seats in the synagogues, He pointed out that they loved to be called \u201cRabbi\u201d by men (see Matt. 23:7).<\/p>\n

Then He warned them: \u201cBut do not be called Rabbi; for One is your Teacher, and you are all brothers. \u2026 the greatest among you shall be your servant. Whoever exalts himself shall be humbled; and whoever humbles himself shall be exalted\u201d (v. 8-12, NASB).<\/p>\n

People have quibbled over these words for centuries, insisting that ecclesiastical titles are not the problem; pride is what Jesus was rebuking. I would agree that Jesus was going to the root sin. But He was also asking these title-crazy guys if they\u2019d be willing to ditch their labels and act like normal people.<\/p>\n

When I was in China several years ago, I met some amazing leaders who had planted thousands of congregations. They had also spent a lot of time in jail for their faith, and they\u2019d been beaten with iron rods for preaching the gospel. They were the bravest apostles I\u2019ve ever met. But when I asked them if they used \u201capostle\u201d as a title, one guy said: \u201cWe believe in those roles in the church. But we prefer to call each other \u2018brother\u2019 or \u2018sister.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

That settled it for me. A few years later I met Iftakhar, a Pakistani apostle who has oversight of 900 churches. He also has two scars on his arm from gunshots fired by Muslim extremists who have put a price on his head. When I asked him how I should address him, he smiled and said, \u201cIftakhar.\u201d<\/p>\n

If these two giants of the faith\u2014and true apostles\u2014don\u2019t require to be addressed with titles, then Your Worshipful Grand Master Rev. Dr. Bishop Jones (who claims oversight of maybe four churches) shouldn\u2019t wear his ministry role around his neck like a tacky neon name badge.<\/p>\n

If people can\u2019t see the anointing on your life through your character, then don\u2019t cheapen the gospel by wearing a title you don\u2019t deserve.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m not saying people shouldn\u2019t use reverend, minister or even bishop to identify their roles in the church. But can we please dispense with the insecurity, and the childish \u201cI\u2019m more important than you\u201d appellations, and get back to the simplicity of the gospel? Let\u2019s get over ourselves!<\/p>\n

Jesus is the King of Kings, the Lord of Lords, the Son of David, the Prince of Peace and the Apostle of our Confession. Yet when He came into this world He laid aside His heavenly glory and took on the lowly name of Jesus. He wore no fancy robes. He demanded no titles. He did not come to be ministered to, but to minister. If we want to serve Him honorably, we must forsake our need for fame and cast our crowns at His feet.<\/p>\n

J. Lee Grady<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A Message to His Holy Highness the Worshipful Bishop Rev. Dr. Apostle Grand Poobah Wednesday, 09 November 2011 09:14 AM EST J. Lee Grady Newsletters – Fire In My Bones Jesus just wasn\u2019t into titles. We shouldn\u2019t be either. I am often asked if I have a title, and my answer doesn\u2019t satisfy some people. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false},"categories":[25],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7XeBW-1U","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.watchmansjournal.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/118"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.watchmansjournal.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.watchmansjournal.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.watchmansjournal.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.watchmansjournal.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=118"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/www.watchmansjournal.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/118\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":120,"href":"http:\/\/www.watchmansjournal.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/118\/revisions\/120"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.watchmansjournal.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=118"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.watchmansjournal.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=118"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.watchmansjournal.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=118"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}