10 December 2023
Recall the biblical model of what men are like.
Adam was preoccupied in the Garden, and failed to object to the Tempter's message to Eve. He went along with it because he had more important things to worry about, managing the Garden and all. Maybe the job would get easier if he could decide for himself what was important.
Moses tried to start a revolt to set his people free, but his human ambitions were wrong. Only when he had forsaken them was the Lord ready to use him. Saul was a pretty good king when he was reluctant, but once he embraced his ambition, he turned away from the Lord. Paul's ambition was flatly wrong, until the Lord knocked him to the ground, and he became useful in a mission for which he did not volunteer.
Throughout Bible history, the good leader was the guy who had more important things to do, but ended up roped into leadership under God's authority. This is the essence of the shepherd. Herding sheep does not take a lot of direct attention; it's pretty simple and allows a man to give mental attention to other things (think about a world where entertainment of any kind was quite rare and human attention span was far longer). But when things do happen, this man is quite ready to protect his Lord's investment in defending the sheep.
Naturally, this is oversimplified, but it captures the essence of things. The only way forward in God's Creation is for men to accept the necessities of providing for everyone who cannot provide for themselves. He cannot simply let his family fall through the cracks. In other words, almost no man was ever allowed to enjoy things as they might be; life itself was a chore. The fantasies of boyhood died slowly, and waited in the wings to capture his attention when he wasn't busy. Shepherding freed up his attention for those things. It was as close as he could get to the ideal situation.
Real men are driven by a sense of mission, of necessity in serving someone higher. They have a sense of duty; they will not be deterred. But what happens when that same energy gets captured while still in the boyhood fantasies? There were some who never outgrew their boyhood dreams. These were the ones taken with human ambitions. They were eager to seize authority so they could get things done, following their boyish dreams. It seems approximately the same as good men, but there is that drive to be in charge, against the image of real men who would rather just take care of their own. It's not shirking; real men will do the job when it's necessary. They care about others.
But ambitious men forget the caring part.
Here is a solid moral truth: Good moral people do not want to exercise authority over others any more than necessary for the common welfare. They will not run for office. The people who run for office seethe with childish ambition.
Aside from a few miracles, those evil ambitions are typically shut down by men who have had enough, and must move to protect their flocks. If they are wise, they'll organize together and seek the Lord's guidance. That was always an element in biblical men of action -- getting a word from God. They'll be deeply offended that someone is monkeying with God's promises. God is the one taking the loss, and they want to protect His investments. Failure to react and rise up indicates that the men are still boys.
This is not always, nor wholly, their own fault. We live in a society that offers everything except the opportunity to shepherd. Those that aren't forever distracted by fantasies are distracted by false caring and false shepherding. And I haven't even started talking about the way feminism and the "goddess self-worship" complex gets in the way of things. My point is the net effect on men.
I'm willing to bet that some men who read this will miss the point entirely in their fantasies about being a smart leader in some non-biblical sense, and pick over the whole discussion. They'll insist I'm writing this from ambition so they can reject it. They haven't had enough, yet.
Still, the New Testament model isn't about changing the political system. That's part of what Paul was saying in Romans 13. The latter half of that chapter points out that the real issue is loving your flock, your "tribe". The real concern of biblical shepherd males is making the best of an impossible situation. It's not about worldly success, but being captured by strong spiritual currents that lead the sheep to the better pasture God provides.
God doesn't grant us a solution to human political chaos. That's part of the context in which we pursue our duty to Him. So, I'm not proposing any kind of practical instruction here, but offering a vision of how God does things, a single parable. I'm hoping to awaken a change in men's hearts that will lead them to serve faithfully. Stop getting distracted by the things this world offers to absorb your attention. When you've had enough, you'll be face down before the real Lord, seeking His answers.
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