A well-known and respected priest has a doctorate degree, yet he dislikes being called ‘Reverend’ or ‘Father‘ or ‘Doctor.‘ He prefers being called just ‘Bill.‘ This man is a noted Hebrew scholar, he is a guest lecturer in German universities, he works on assignment for the Archbishop of Canterbury in matters of ecumenism, he translates the scripture readings in church from the Greek on the fly; yet you have to find these things out indirectly. To you he’s just Bill, the guy who likes to ride a bike to work, who loves his wife and sons, who lifts up every soul that comes in contact with him.

On the other hand, there's the story about a man who was filling out an application to be a lecturer. He took the unfinished application to the receptionist and complained that the fee was too low. The receptionist replied that it was the fee that everyone received. “But you don’t understand,” the applicant thundered, “I have a doctorate degree!” And the receptionist replied, “So do I."

If you have a title, revealing it in the proper context is a part of appropriate self-disclosure. For example, if you have a doctorate in geometry and you teach it in a college, it is appropriate and probably even necessary to use your title. However, if you use your doctorate in geometry to best your opponent in a political argument—“Well, I have a doctorate degree, and I say…”—you are abusing your title. It is the abuse of titles that Jesus denounces. Hence my title, “Pharisees love to be called by their academic or ecclesiastical titles in public,” that is, at a time and place where it carries no weight and is nothing more than bragging.