Do you REALLY stand by this statement of yours? If so, then what do you do with Matthew 23:9, "And call no man your father on earth, for you have one Father, who is in Heaven."
Or do you only stand on your statement with one foot for one religious practices of works, but not the other? Which one does Jesus REALLY want us to know, or was He just kidding in one case but not the other? On one hand you use it to give yourself reason to practice one thing, but on the other hand, you totally reject it. And interestingly, you need the latter to make sure the former is correct.
I really am interested in how you reconcile your statement so I can understand your line of reasoning.
You skipped verses, 6, 7, and 8, as well as 10 so explain why not to call anyone teacher, professor, and a good many other titles in common use that are implied in those other verses but conveniently ignored in a lame attempt to change the subject.
Oh, and what about in the same chapter
(2) Saying : The scribes and the Pharisees have sitten on the chair of Moses.(3) All things therefore whatsoever they shall say to you, observe and do : but according to their works do ye not ; for they say, and do not.
which shows that Christ establishes authority and order that He expects His flock to obey because of the authority He granted their position. An anarchy of thousands different doctrines and the bad joke about an invisible church really fits that well, doesn't it?
How about "obey your prelates"?
How about Jude warning about the heresy of Core which is "let it be enough for you that we're all Holy as an argument against having a priesthood over them? Sound like the same broken record the tens of thousands of anti-Catholic comic book fans spout?
Yeah, I know, none of that matters because it doesn't change the subject to anything you want to discuss.
You like the strong delusion of Self and Self Alone?
Fine, enjoy it and the single verse, out of context, games that destroy the Scripture by turning it into little Lego Blocks everyone can build whatever they want to build out of.
have a nice day