“Doctor.” “CEO.” “Pastor.” “Boss.” “Influencer.” “Alpha.” “Six-figure entrepreneur.” Pick your favorite costume.
Matthew 7:3-5
For the last few weeks, social media has turned into an unpaid accreditation agency. Folks have become private investigators, FBI agents, and assistant registrars overnight, all trying to answer one question: “Where did the PhD come from?”
We’re the same people who ask, “What do you do?” five minutes after meeting somebody.
And while everybody is arguing over transcripts and university records, I keep thinking we’re missing the bigger story.
When people tie their entire identity to a title, losing that title feels like losing oxygen. “Doctor” stops being something you earned and starts becoming who you are.
But before we pile on Dr. Bryant, let’s admit something uncomfortable: WE BUILT THIS SYSTEM (sing it like we built this city)
We’re the same people who ask, “What do you do?” five minutes after meeting somebody. We hand microphones to people with letters after their names and side-eye people whose only credential is wisdom and life experience. We practically require folks to arrive with a résumé, three references, and a TED Talk before we decide whether they matter.
Then we act shocked when people cling to titles like Jack clinging to that floating door in Titanic. And this goes way beyond degrees.
Some people are still living off the touchdown they scored in 1997. Some folks introduce themselves with their job title before their name. Some of us would have a mild existential crisis if Instagram hid follower counts tomorrow morning.
The truth is, most people have something they use to prove to themselves that they matter.
The irony is that the people who are truly secure rarely need to remind you every fifteen minutes who they are. The title is supposed to describe you, not become your entire personality.
Because if somebody takes away the label and you no longer recognize yourself, the real issue was never the title. It appears somewhere along the way, we’ve been conditioned to believe that titles carry our self-worth vs. introduce us!!!
