I believe when Jesus said: "Call no man Father" that was exactly what he meant but not in a PHYSICAL SENSE but in a SPIRITUAL SENSE. Now we can know this by also comparing scriptures with scriptures.
Since Jesus himself acknowledged that we had fathers in the natural sense and in other contexts, we can therefore derive understanding that when Jesus said "call no man your father", he was not referring to calling one "Father" in a natural or physical sense but in a spiritual sense.
Luke 6:26 Woe unto you, when all men shall speak well of you! for so did their fathers to the false prophets.
Mt 10:37 He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me
So it is very clear from the above that even Jesus himself referred to men as our fathers either from the context of ancestry, biological sense or other earthly contexts.
So in what sense therefore did he say we should not refer to any man on earth as "Father"? This is in a spiritual sense. When you call men your spiritual father, this is the context in which Jesus says we should not call any man "Father". This instruction is not saying that it is okay to call men "spiritual Father" as long as they are not taking the place of God. It says you should not call them "father" in this spiritual sense AT ALL. . One of the few Translations that help to reveal this context is the NLT. Read this.
Mat 23:9 And don't address anyone here on earth as 'Father,' for only God in heaven is your spiritual Father. (NLT)
This helps us to understand the context of Jesus' Words. In essence, we are not to refer to men here on earth as our spiritual Fathers why? the reason is explicated by the statement that follows - because ONLY GOD in heaven is your spiritual Father.
Because ONLY God in heaven is our Spiritual Father, it is therefore idolatrous to refer to any man on earth as your spiritual Father. This is why you will never find any single place in the bible where any body called another person "spiritual Father".
A lot of people who try to defend this idolatrous tradition have tried to pitch Paul against Jesus by referencing the part where he said although the brethren had many instructors, they did not have many Fathers because he has begotten them through the gospel. However, there are evident problems with this argument.
1. The words of Paul do not trump the words of Jesus
2. He made metaphorical analogies, but Paul was not in any way encouraging others to call him their "Spiritual Father"
3. Regardless of the above, the fact still remains that there is not a single person in the scriptures that referred to any other as their Spiritual Father.
....Context is very key in understanding the scriptures and that when Jesus said we should call no man "Father", he meant this in the spiritual sense because ONLY God in heaven is our spiritual Father.
Stop calling men your spiritual father.
It is disobedient to the words of Christ and Idolatrous.
- Oje Giwa-Amu