Give Us A King

Have you noticed how often churches and christians try to follow the world?

How often we measure our lives by the standard of the world around us.

Not just our lives, but our walks.

How many members in this church.

How many baptisms.

How much money in the bank.

We don’t just measure our lives by the standards, but we adopt the worlds ways to grow our lives and our churches.

Christian book stores are full of “self-help” books that differ little from their secular counterparts.

Church training on the right programs, the right sermon outlines, to please those in the pews.

This phenomenon is nothing new.

1 Samuel 8:1–3 NKJV

Now it came to pass when Samuel was old that he made his sons judges over Israel. The name of his firstborn was Joel, and the name of his second, Abijah; they were judges in Beersheba. But his sons did not walk in his ways; they turned aside after dishonest gain, took bribes, and perverted justice.

Samuel had been a great prophet,

His son’s … not so much.

They looted, took bribes, and perverted justice.

In other words, they did what the world says is the best way to get ahead.

Now Samuel was old, he would not be around much longer.

Which means his no-good sons would judge not just Beersheba, but all of Israel.

This was not to the people’s liking.

So what were they to do?

1 Samuel 8:4–5 NKJV

Then all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah, and said to him, “Look, you are old, and your sons do not walk in your ways. Now make us a king to judge us like all the nations.”

We know, give us a king.

That way, we’ll be just like all the other nations in this world.

Then, everything will be just right.

We’re smarter than that… aren’t we?

Not on your life.

I don’t know about you, but I’ve seen plenty of churches that failed because of this attitude.

Someone or some group starts a church.

They focus on God and His calling.

They follow His Word.

Then they start expecting the pastor to do things they should be doing themselves.

Then the church start to grow,

And they start to have problems.

And they keep pilling responsibilities onto the pastor.

Until he is almost a king in this little kingdom.

Finally, when the pastor leaves, the church looks for a new king to lead them,

Rather than a shepherd to guide them.

Just look at all of the denomination with a monarchial structure.

Sure, there’s the Roman Catholics,

But what about the Presbyterians, the Lutherans, the Methodists, etc.

In many ways, they are all looking for a king,

Someone to tell them what to do.

When Israel told Samuel that they wanted a king, that they wanted to be like all he other nations, you could say that Samuel was not happy.

1 Samuel 8:6–7 NKJV

But the thing displeased Samuel when they said, “Give us a king to judge us.” So Samuel prayed to the Lord. And the Lord said to Samuel, “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.

The phrase translated “displeased” literally means the decision was evil in Samuel’s eyes.

So Samuel prayed

And God points out that the people have not rejected Samuel, but God Himself.

That the people did not want God to reign over them.

What do you think God would say about the churches that follow programs rather than Him?

Churches that emulate the world in order to “bring people in”, rather than emulate the Lord they claim to follow?

Could it be that they no longer follow God, but instead their own passions?

1 Samuel 8:8–9 NKJV

According to all the works which they have done since the day that I brought them up out of Egypt, even to this day—with which they have forsaken Me and served other gods—so they are doing to you also. Now therefore, heed their voice. However, you shall solemnly forewarn them, and show them the behavior of the king who will reign over them.”

Of course, this is nothing new,

Israel has been forsaking God pretty much since they left Egypt.

Then again, so have modern Christians.

We have created our own idols, and yes, own gods.

So God tells Samuel to go ahead, do what Israel asks.

Just warn them first of what they can expect from their future kings.

Maybe 21st Century Christians need this warning as well?

1 Samuel 8:10–18 NKJV

So Samuel told all the words of the Lord to the people who asked him for a king. And he said, “This will be the behavior of the king who will reign over you: He will take your sons and appoint them for his own chariots and to be his horsemen, and some will run before his chariots. He will appoint captains over his thousands and captains over his fifties, will set some to plow his ground and reap his harvest, and some to make his weapons of war and equipment for his chariots. 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.”

Sounds like this king thing may not be the wonderful idea the Israelites think it is.

It seems that much of their lives will be spent serving the king.

And of course, if they are serving the king, they are not serving God.

I remember the first time I was asked to serve as a deacon.

The sense of responsibility I felt.

The concerns I had, if I was ready to hold such a position.

I remember being on a pastoral search committee.

Another sense of responsibility,

Who do we choose?

How do we choose?

What if we choose someone who turns out to not be who we thought?

What if we do not choose the man God wants?

I also remember being considered as an interim pastor.

The sense of responsibility I would be taking on.

The expectations people would have of me.

Because, not unlike a king, churches today often choose leaders because that is how everyone else does it.

They look to pastors to “run” the church, not unlike a king.

They look to deacons to take care of things for them.

And frequently, they look to these leaders to absolve them from the responsibility of doing things themselves.

I’m not saying we shouldn’t have pastors, elders, and deacons,

I’m saying we need to be careful we aren’t searching for leaders in order to be like everyone else.

That we are not trying to get someone else to do our work for us.

That we are not trying to avoid having God reign over us directly.

What was Israel’s reaction to Samuel’s warning?

1 Samuel 8:19–20 NKJV

Nevertheless the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel; and they said, “No, but we will have a king over us, that we also may be like all the nations, and that our king may judge us and go out before us and fight our battles.”

Israel didn’t want to be a special nation.

They wanted to be just like the all the rest of the nations,

To have someone fight their battles for them.

And they didn’t consider, or maybe didn’t care, what it cost them.

I’ve also seen plenty of churches that were just like Israel,

They wanted to be like all the other churches.

They wanted a pastor to fight all of their battles for them.

And they rarely seem to consider what it will cost them.

1 Samuel 8:21–22 NKJV

And Samuel heard all the words of the people, and he repeated them in the hearing of the Lord. So the Lord said to Samuel, “Heed their voice, and make them a king.” And Samuel said to the men of Israel, “Every man go to his city.”

Samuel took Israel’s words to God,

And God said, give them what they want.

Have you ever considered, how much of the pain and trouble in your life is because God let you have what you asked for, even after He warned you about the cost?

God did choose a king for Israel,

He choose Saul,

Sure, things were good at first.

But it didn’t take too long before things changed:

1 Samuel 15:10–11 NKJV

Now the word of the Lord came to Samuel, saying, “I greatly regret that I have set up Saul as king, for he has turned back from following Me, and has not performed My commandments.” And it grieved Samuel, and he cried out to the Lord all night.

Of course then there was David and Solomon.

But there was also Rehoboam, Ahab, Nadab, and many more kings who did evil in the sight of the Lord.

Conclusion

I don’t know if it’s a manifestation of the fall or just part of being human, but people generally want to be like everyone else.

Peer pressure is real, and not just for teenagers.

As we read about Israel wanting a king, could you see times in your life when you wanted to be like everyone else?

There are plenty of other stories where people were expected to go along, to be like everyone else.

Even the Pharisees were not only willing to go along with Rome,

But were willing to kill Messiah to keep their positions.

Ask yourself, what do you expect from a church?

To be like everyone else, or to be ruled by God.