Is This Your King?

The finesse is strong in the church.

I've had time to really study the Gospel. How have you used your moments since the coronavirus pandemic hit?

Perhaps it always has been, but we are witnesses in a season that curtains have been opened exposing the good, the bad, and the indifferent; while the good will be justly rewarded, the bad and indifferent do deserve the whippings due them both physically and spiritually - and those are beatings undesired. Seventeen months after coronavirus, what have we learned? Does anything go as long as the coffers are full and the optics of a visible leadership team take priority good health be damned? How is the Gospel shared to a sin sick world that is seeking something greater beyond the norm?

You leaders accept bribes for dishonest decisions. You priests and prophets teach and preach, but only for money. Then you say, “The Lord is on our side. No harm will come to us.” Micah 3:11 

Tell me. #IsThisYourKing pic.twitter.com/LTSM46BUMb

— A. Cedric Armstrong (@cedteaches) February 7, 2021

In 1 Samuel 8-15, the Israelites knew that Samuel had been an effective king and as he aged, the elders acknowledged that his sons failed to follow his blueprint for leading Israel fairly, so they began to wander with their little eyes and ask for a king like the surrounding nations. Samuel knew this was a bad idea because a king could take them through things far worse than they ever anticipated, so he reluctantly accepted their request. Check out 1 Samuel 8:4-22 for an introduction - consider that the people have been backsliding for centuries and bellyaching since shortly after crossing the Red Sea. 

One day the nation's leaders came to Samuel at Ramah and said, “You are an old man. You set a good example for your sons, but they haven't followed it. Now we want a king to be our leader, just like all the other nations. Choose one for us!”  Samuel was upset to hear the leaders say they wanted a king, so he prayed about it. The Lord answered: Samuel, do everything they want you to do. I am really the one they have rejected as their king. Ever since the day I rescued my people from Egypt, they have turned from me to worship idols. Now they are turning away from you. Do everything they ask, but warn them and tell them how a king will treat them.  Samuel told the people who were asking for a king what the Lord had said:  If you have a king, this is how he will treat you. He will force your sons to join his army. Some of them will ride in his chariots, some will serve in the cavalry, and others will run ahead of his own chariot.  Some of them will be officers in charge of 1,000 soldiers, and others will be in charge of 50. Still others will have to farm the king's land and harvest his crops, or make weapons and parts for his chariots. Your daughters will have to make perfume or do his cooking and baking.  The king will take your best fields, as well as your vineyards, and olive orchards and give them to his own officials. He will also take a tenth of your grain and grapes and give it to his officers and officials.  The king will take your slaves and your best young men and your donkeys and make them do his work. He will also take a tenth of your sheep and goats. You will become the king's slaves, and you will finally cry out for the Lord to save you from the king you wanted. But the Lord won't answer your prayers.  The people would not listen to Samuel. “No!” they said. “We want to be like other nations. We want a king to rule us and lead us in battle.”  Samuel listened to them and then told the Lord exactly what they had said. “Do what they want,” the Lord answered. “Give them a king.” Samuel told the people to go back to their homes.

1 Samuel 8:4‭-‬22

Having a physical figurehead is more important than the God who has kept them all this time meaning that God is truly the one they are rejecting. His people have turned from him at every turn to worship idols, follow the other nations in leading hedonistic lifestyles (see The Curious Case of Lot and the Five Cities), and now they want a different direction than what Samuel has guided. Samuel's words:  Be careful of what you ask for. 

I love y'all but this is one ticket I will decline. #IsThisYourKing pic.twitter.com/s43aUMhybf

— A. Cedric Armstrong (@cedteaches) February 7, 2021

The people continued to demand a king as they were being ruled by the King, and soon they would suffer the consequences. In a foretelling act, Samuel details a tyrant, a bully who will force the sons into joining his army; some of those young men will get to ride in chariots, some will get to serve in the calvary, and the rest will be foot soldiers running ahead of the chariots. For those who have not studied the history of wars prior to the Vietnam War, conflicts were typically head-to-head events which the lesser privileged were served on a platter as collateral damage for the "heroes" in the back to arise and save the day - or retreat, depending on how the battle went. Among that group of young men, some would become generals and lead platoons of a thousand men while others led groups of fifty men. In addition, some men were left behind to farm the king's land and harvest his crops, and maintain the chariots and other battle weapons. 

But you want a king. 

Let's move further in the text.

Those beautiful daughters will be reduced to servitude making perfume, cooking and baking for his Highness if not outright harems. The king will also take your best fields, crops, and talents and pass on your hard work to his officers and other officials to do whatever they please. He'll also possess dominion over the best young men and donkeys, and enslave them. Eventually, you'll realize the error of your ways and cry out to God to be rescued from this bully but, guess what? God won't answer your prayers. As you suffer from the consequences of your actions, the nation gets further splintered to an unrecognizable shell of itself. 

Does this happen today in the modern church? Yes. It. Does.

Whose fault is this? 

Ours. 

I'm not abdicating my obligations in ensuring a smooth sailing ship yet when we find ourselves falling in love with a few sermons that are pleasing to our ears or otherwise let our egos get in the way of Kingdom building, then we are at fault. As some of us obsess over optics, analytics, and the finances, we inevitably miss out on the work in the fields because we want to play church instead of being the church. 

But you wanted a king.

OK.

Is this your king? In addition, are his officers the types of people who are desired, or do they gladly flex with a title alone? 

I've seen too much in my own church as well as today's Black church in general, and the pandemic has opened my eyes to the hypocrisy of the leadership & willful congregation ignorance.

Ex. New Testament plus Malachi 3:10 because we like your money.

— A. Cedric Armstrong (@cedteaches) January 19, 2021

God has told us that the penalty for scattering the flock is great:  Would you want a piece of that whupping? Are the bag and clout worth it? 

Once again, let me reiterate that since I've largely stepped away from the rote and routine portions of Sunday morning at 11 am worship, I have taken my own person-to-person relationship and evaluated it more critically than I perhaps would have. This is finding my way closer to what this saith the Lord in converse to keeping up a facade. In spite of it all and the cattiness abounding, I do truly love my fellow congregants and mostly cherish the eight years we've been together. If this paragraph gets me dismissed, then so be it.

What has happened is in a quest to be like everyone else, the congregation sometimes misses the point or notices across the landscape that every church surrounding them has a a pastor, musician, etc., and as a result, the group becomes a bit envious of said outward appearance. Does that occur everywhere? No; however, as we fixate upon the ideal outcome, we may find ourselves in such a pickle that we lose our way. Because of comfort, some may revert to spiritual babies while others seize an opportunity to dominate all aspects of the localized praise and worship experience with ill regard of the larger group and most certainly the sick and shut-in members. THAT is why I have asked throughout the post Is this your king?

Tell me.

Maybe going it alone for a while is best for all of us, but I'm going to mind my own Black business as people who hang on to coattails looking for the next best thing when they have not received the bare necessities for survival struggle to comprehend that the church has always been inside of them. Maybe in the midst of four or five pretty sermons over time have diminished a desire to continue learning likely because the initiative to study independently has never occurred to those fully satisfied with running about the aisles or boasting of a financial offering as outreach still needs to happen beyond the physical and mental four walls.

What shall we do when those tears stream down our faces with no one to comfort us? Worse, what will come of us if God turns His back from us?