I remember once visiting a church where everyone was known as brother this or sister that. The constant round of brother, brother, brother, sister, sister, sister became like a song that I had heard just once too often – irritating. I wondered if non-Christian guests found this rather off-putting too. I certainly understand the desire for humble forms of address. After all, pretentious and ostentatious religious titles can seem odd and sometimes even downright silly.
Can egalitarian titles also be a matter of conceit and haughtiness? Can such seemingly humble labels also be pride disguised as humility? It kind of reminds me of a tongue-in-cheek saying which, according to the grapevine is popular in the Philippines: We're humble and proud of it. Jesus' discouraged the proud and arrogant insistence upon titles. Whether or not we call each other brother this or sister that is probably not so important. The fact is we ARE all brothers and sisters. That's what Jesus said.
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