Call no man father

Why do Anglicans call their pastor father if the Bible says "call no man father"?

Should Anglicans be criticized for teaching children to love their parents? When discussing the catholic faith, very rarely have I heard Anglicans criticized for teaching children to love their parents. The strict biblical literalists should criticize them for teaching children to love their parents, for in doing so, at least he would be consistent.

What am I talking about? Consider the words of Jesus:
‘‘If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters—yes, even his own life—he cannot be my disciple." (Luke 14:26)
If we take the words of Jesus literally, then all of us Anglican catholics ought to be criticized because we teach children to love their parents. This would seem to be contradicting Jesus, right? Wait... Should we consider the context of the statement? and the historical context? Let's do so!
It is absurd to think Jesus was really teaching his disciples to hate their parents. A commandment right out of the Ten Commandments given to Moses is:
‘‘Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the LORD your God is giving you." (Exodus 20:12)
Jesus also said,
‘‘Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished." (Matt 5:17,18)
In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus makes it clear that he is not overturning the commandments. Therefore, the commandment to honor mother and father is still an obligation for Jesus' disciple. If we know this, then we can make further deductions. In the Aramaic lanuage (and also Hebrew) which Jesus spoke, there were not many words for comparison. If someone wanted to say you should love some one less, they would use the word "hate". In context, what Jesus was really saying is that we ought to love God and love Him more than we love anyone else. We are to love the others less than we love Him.
Now, what has all this to do with the silly title "Call No Man Father?" I will tell you. Catholics, Anglicans and the Orthodox, are often criticized for addressing their priests and pastors with the title "Father". The critic will cite Matthew 23:9 as the prohibition against calling their pastor or priest by the title of "Father":
"And do not call anyone on earth ‘father,’ for you have one Father, and he is in heaven." (Matt 23:9)
Obviously we Orthodox, Roman and Anglican catholics are ignorant, unbiblical, and deceived for calling their pastor "Father," right? How much clearer could it get? Well, remember Luke 14:26 and the commandment to "hate" your parents? Maybe there is more to this than just what is seen on the surface? Could it be? Let's look at more of the surrounding verses:
‘‘But you are not to be called ‘Rabbi,’ for you have only one Master and you are all brothers. And do not call anyone on earth ‘father,’ for you have one Father, and he is in heaven. Nor are you to be called ‘teacher,’ for you have one Teacher, the Christ. The greatest among you will be your servant. For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted." (Matt 23:8-12)
Some translations render it a little differently, but what the verse says is that we are not to call anyone master, teacher, or father. If that's the case, I don't know how to greet anyone anymore. Apparently, the manners that my mother taught me are useless. For example, I can't call Mr. Smith "Mr." Smith anymore. Why not? Well if we look at the etymology of "Mr." [etymology is the study of where words come from], Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary indicates that it comes from the Middle English word "maister" which means "master". Since Jesus said not to call anyone "master", I can't address anyone as "Mr." I am also going to have problems addressing my physician and dentist. I can't address them with the title of "Dr." If I examine the etymology of "Dr." it derives from the Latin word for "teacher". Since Jesus said to call no man "teacher", I can't address my doctor as Dr. Smith. Everything is further complicated since I am at a loss to call all my teachers or what to call my own father. I think it is safe to say that a mechanistic approach to this verse leads to chaos. [What will the critic do with titles like Sunday School Teacher? How will he address his clergy who have doctorate degrees since the polite way is to call them Dr. So and so?]
Could it be that Jesus meant something else?
First, let's look at other passages in the Bible where the apostles use the terms father in a spiritual sense:
"Even though you have ten thousand guardians in Christ, you do not have many fathers, for in Christ Jesus I became your father through the gospel." (1 Corinthians 4:15)
"But you know that Timothy has proved himself, because as a son with his father he has served with me in the work of the gospel." (Philippians 2:22)
"For you know that we dealt with each of you as a father deals with his own children..." (1 Thess 2:11)
"To Timothy my true son in the faith..." (1 Timothy 1:2)
"Timothy, my son, I give you this instruction in keeping with the prophecies once made about you, so that by following them you may fight the good fight..." (1 Timothy 1:18)
"To Timothy, my dear son..." (2 Timothy 1:2)
"You then, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus." (2 Timothy 2:1)
"To Titus, my true son in our common faith..." (Titus 1:4)
"I appeal to you for my son Onesimus, who became my son while I was in chains." (Philemon 10)
"My dear children..." (1 John 2:1)
"I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth." (3 John 4)
Both the apostles St. Paul and St. John use terms that represent a spiritual fatherhood such as a priest would have with his own congregation. The apostles use words such as father, son, and children. Since the apostles use such terms, the mechanistic understanding of "call no man father..." does not seem to be the right understanding. It seems to me that Jesus was directing his words at the Pharisees. Right before these directives, he derides them for their pride:
"‘Everything they do is done for men to see: They make their phylacteries wide and the tassels on their garments long; they love the place of honor at banquets and the most important seats in the synagogues; they love to be greeted in the marketplaces and to have men call them ‘Rabbi.’" (Matthew 23:5-7)
What I believe Jesus is condemning is a form of pride which the Pharisees had. They took pride in being called "father", "teacher", and "master". A true spiritual father and teacher is not supposed to have those characteristics.
If someone condemns me for calling my priest "Father", I can live with that. But, to be consistent, he should also condemn me for not hating my father, mother, wife, and children (Luke 14:26). Thank God the Roman Catholic Church, the Anglican Church and the Orthodox Church have preserved the Biblical notion of spiritual fatherhood. May I be as Elisha who cried out to Elijah (not his real father), "Father, father..." (2 Kings 2:12).
God Bless You,
Father Don (+)