Who is your king? Or in modern parlance one might ask, “Who is your man or woman in government?” Who do you want to rule over you as your president or leader?
Answer: We all want someone who thinks like us; who champions our causes and values. We want Our Person to be in power.
In 1Samuel chapter 8 we read how Israel approached the prophet Samuel with some, presumably, legitimate grievances. Samuel’s two sons, who were judges of Israel, are misbehaving by taking bribes and perverting justice. They’re not walking in Samuel’s ways. Moreover, Samuel is very old and not long for this world. So they want a king to rule over them, just like all the other nations.
When Samuel prayed to the Lord about, it he was told:
Heed the voice of the people in all that they say to you; for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected Me, that I should not reign over them. 1Sa 8:7
At the heart of it all, Israel was tired of God’s rule over them. They had forgotten their bondage in Egypt and all God had done for them. God would grant their wish. Nevertheless, the Lord predicted the consequences of Israel’s appointment of a human king to rule over them. For example:
He will take your daughters to be perfumers, cooks, and bakers. And he will take the best of your fields, your vineyards, and your olive groves, and give them to his servants. He will take a tenth of your grain and your vintage, and give it to his officers and servants. And he will take your male servants, your female servants, your finest young men, and your donkeys, and put them to his work. He will take a tenth of your sheep. And you will be his servants. And you will cry out in that day because of your king whom you have chosen for yourselves, and the LORD will not hear you in that day. 1Sam 8:13-18
Like ancient Israel, this modern world does not want God’s rule over it. The same goes for Progressive Christianity. P. C. is becoming popular because it distances itself from biblical strictures, promotes autonomy and a relationship to cultural narratives. You get to decide what’s right and wrong in the Bible by checking whether it aligns with modern social mores.
The Bible has different ideas about this world and where our allegiance ought to be:
And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Phil 2:8-11
For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body, according to the working by which He is able even to subdue all things to Himself. Phil 3:20-21
Now out of His mouth goes a sharp sword, that with it He should strike the nations. And He Himself will rule them with a rod of iron. He Himself treads the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. Rev 19:15
The King of kings and Lord of lords will rule justly, and in His way rather then the world’s way.
On Aslan the Great Lion:
“Safe?” said the Mr Beaver; “don’t you hear what Mrs Beaver tells you? Who said anything about safe? ‘Course he isn’t safe. But he’s good. He’s the King, I tell you.” ~ C. S. Lewis (The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe)
A Hat Tip to Pastor Alistair Begg for much of the above content and the Narnian citation.
Maranatha!
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