King or Servant? A question of responsibility.

Ever wondered the roles of individuals, and how they’ll make account at the end of time for their actions? Well, probably not. The thing is, if you’ve not yet heard it, soon you will. People in positions are making life hard for many people. I’m not just talking about religious, or political positions, I actually mean literally everywhere that God’s eyes can reach.

Most people who are blessed with positions of authority have abused their powers so much. The subjects have in turn become enemies to the leaders. There’s opposition in nearly every organized groups, or organizations. Accusations are too much, that it has become so hard to understand if there’s anyone innocent. The question still stands, will the plea of being misled by the leaders be strong enough to make the subjects justified?

Remember this;

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“And the Lord will make you the head and not the tail; you shall be above only, and not be beneath, if you heed the commandments of the Lord your God, which I command you today, and are careful to observe them.”

If therefore the whole point in being the head is dependent on the obedience to what the Lord commands you, then the manner in which one reacts to the primary actions of others should be very carefully considered. If the command says respect your leaders, then I suppose that even disagreement with the leaders in position should still be done with care. It might be so disappointing that in noticing the errors of the leaders, one errs even more. Failing to understand the primary responsibility of oneself makes it so easy for one to push others in to the frying pan, and they rush into fire. 

To better understand, let’s look at this story:

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Once lived a king. He was so rich that everyone could talk about him, both in his town, and far away. He was a good hearted king, loved everything he had, but he did everything by himself. He tendered the flock of animals he had, he watered the plantations, and pruned the plantations to look good. His work was always so beautiful, and he enjoyed it very much. Everyday he would look at his work and say, “this is beautiful”.

One day, he thought to himself, “I’ll have a servant who will reign over my kingdom. He will have the power to do everything that can make the kingdom beautiful. He can give names to the property that I have, he can feed on them, he can do anything.” So, the good hearted king looked for someone who looked like him, and appointed him to reign over the kingdom, and the king went for a tour.

This servant thought to himself, “I’m now the king since the king has gone. I will show my power to everyone. He refused to give alms to the poor. He started transferring all the important belongings to his account name. He got for himself many other servants, and though he had the capacity to pay them, he extorted them instead. These other servants became slaves to this man.

Some of the extorted servants decided to withdraw from the works assigned to them. Others tried to overthrow this chief servant indirectly, by doing bad work. While some focussed onto their work, providing the best they had according to the abilities they had. They never complained, nor rejoiced, but focused on their works. Day and night, they labored, though they were not given what was worthy of their labor.

When the king came back, he saw so many people in his palace. All of them didn’t know the king, though they had heard that One Day the king would come. The king ordered for accountability from each of the servants.

The head servant stood and said, “Master, I’ve done a great work. I’ve even got all these people to work for you, to make sure the works are always done on time”. The king looked at him, and asked, “if I had not gone, would you appoint all these people?”. He didn’t have what to say. The king was too mad at this man, and ordered him to stand aside for others to submit their reports. 

The first group stood up, and said, “long live the king! We were not well treated, so we decided to leave the works undone. We are sorry Sir.” The king said, “you lived in my palace, yet turned your back on the affairs of the palace. You have defied the instructions from the one I appointed over you. You have acted unfaithful.” He ordered all of them to be given to wild beasts for food.

The second group stood up and said, “long live the king! We didn’t want to do the work to perfection, because we wanted to point the chief servant bad to you. We knew that you’re a just man, giving to everyone what they deserve.” The king looked at them, and said, “You knew I give justice to all, yet you didn’t do justly to me. The palace was mine when I was around, and mine while I was away, yet you have not kept it to perfection. For you’ve been corrupt to me, the worms will also corrupt your body.” Then the king ordered them to be thrown as feeds for worms.

The last group came, and fell at the feet of the king. They couldn’t look up to the eyes of the king. They said, “long live the king, and his kingdom forever! Everything that we were asked to do, thus we did. Every day that we finished our assigned works early, we tried to go beyond what we were told. Yes, there are days we were not fed, nor given allowances, but we still worked, hoping that you would still give us all what we didn’t get justly. Long live the king!” The king looked at them and said, “you faithful servants, you were faithful in little. You never lost hope even though I never said when I’d be back. I no longer will call you servants, but my family.” The king ordered that they be dressed in fine linens, and be given royal treatments. 

To the chief servant, he turned again, and said, “You wicked man! I gave you all powers, yet you have abused it. You turned yourself into a king, and did whatever you wanted. You neither cared if I ate, nor slept hungry.” The servant asked, “My king, when did you sleep hungry and I never fed you?” The king told him, “all these people you hired are my people, whatever you did not do to them, you did not do to me. You subjected them to hard work, starved them, and didn’t care if they grew weary, or unhealthy. The same measure you used, you’ll be given, in a bigger and better proportions”. 

At this, the chief servant fell at the king’s feet, begging for mercy, and crying bitterly. The king looked at him and said, “For many days, I cried to you, yet you didn’t have mercy on me. Though you were just a servant, you set yourself a kingdom, and made your fellow servants your laborers. You starved me, and stole from me. You didn’t care if my tears would ever run dry, or my strength would wax feeble. Depart from me you evil man!” Then the king ordered for him to be thrown into the field of snakes, to be bitten by snakes, that he might die slowly. 

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I know that most leaders whom God has given us, both in the religious settings and the political settings are not always doing the best they should. Infact, the leaders in family settings have even failed more everyday. Most of these leaders have turned their backs on the subjects. They’ve looked onto their individual needs, and not of those they lead.

Politically, the government officials subject the citizens to high taxes, and exempt themselves from paying these taxes. They don’t provide good quality infrastructure for the citizens, but instead create their own good ones, and charge highly if anyone should use it. Most citizens can’t afford good facilities anymore. Some citizens have turned into zealots, dodging tax payments, looting from the government, and doing all such negative things. The big question comes, is such a way of getting back to the government good enough for your relationship with your creator? Answer a fool according to his folly, and be like him.

In religious settings, we’ve seen from one headline to another, describing the scandals the leaders have gotten into. Some have used their positions to extort desperate followers, others have relentlessly molested the members of their congregations, while some have done other bad acts that will in fact make a headline soon. Then the big question comes, does running from one leader to another solve the problem? Or better yet, does celebrating the fall of one leader make the other leaders so holy?

God has given these leaders all what they need to faithfully represent Him on earth. He has given them powers, some to see visions, others to prophecy, others to pastor, others to teach, and so on, and so forth. The ones who see visions, and those who prophecy have become no different from devinners. The same Baalam spirit has entered them, causing them to see business in what they ought to do freely. The teachers have chosen to become motivational speakers, rather than truth teachers. They’ve worked hand in hand with the pastors to properly take advantage of people’s desperation. Like Jesus said, the shepherds have just become like a hired servant. They don’t care what happens to the flock anymore. 

In Christian setting, the Pharisees’ behavior of preaching one thing, while doing another, is a common sense. Jesus who is Lord, knew what these people were. He knew how their actions were evil. He knew how hypocritical they were, yet this he said: 

“The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses’ seat”

If Moses was appointed by God, so were these hypocrites. If Moses’ seat deserved respect, so were the ones of these people. If it was right to do anything to Moses, then it’s absolutely right to do so to the Pharisees. Moses, the one who brought the law was no more, yet his seat was occupied by someone. These unfaithful people occupied the seat of the most humble prophet. Jesus went further and said this:

“so practice and observe whatever they tell you— but not what they do. For they preach, but do not practice.”

In other words, take what is good from them, and don’t think towards the bad things they do. If their words are good, take it. If their actions are bad, don’t copy it. Good things will attract good. Good words, if practiced, will bring blessings, and in the end, a reward of heaven. Bad things will also attract bad.

In other words, none can use failures of his master as a defense before God. For Jesus said, we have one instructor, and one teacher. This means, we can not plead the mistakes of our leaders for our justifications. We can’t. Jesus asked us to follow him. Paul echoes it out by asking, “did Paul or Peter die for you?” In choosing to follow them, we risk making them God to ourselves. They’re humans. They struggle just as we all do. Why not stick to Jesus, a flawless being? Why not follow, and imitate him for a better justification?

Even in death, we must always remember to do our tasks assigned to us, thus to believe in God’s only son. If our partners are failing their parts, it’s not for us to keep complaining about it, especially if you can’t pray for them. Remember, fixing eyes on Jesus is the key to all who desire good.

Further Reading: Matthew 23.