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YOU ARE THE MAN!
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Nathan is the kind of person no King or President wants in his cabinet
or party or audience. Nathan is not blinded by the power or charisma of
any high office. He has moral clarity, something greatly needed by those
in places of power. |
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I thought of Nathan and King David when I either heard in the night, or
read in the Tacoma paper we get at the cabin, that the President never
exposes himself to an unfriendly audience. |
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Makes sense, if you can do it. Most of us in the real world have no choice.
If you report, write or speak out loud, you can’t sanitize your audience.
I can’t ever remember speaking to a group that was guaranteed to approve
of me. |
I wondered onward, thinking, would it be good for me, or anyone, to always
write or speak before a
selected group that applauded
every inane and insane thing I might say? |
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I remember a guy in my first church. He considered himself the moral patrol
for the congregation. His job was to listen for errors in my ways. He wasn’t
really sharp enough to put a finger on the vagaries of my theology—of which
he was properly suspicious—but he was faithful to his task. Once he seriously
suggested that I had crossed the line when I used the term, “horsing around.”
I guess he had spent more time on the ranch and had a different vision
of those words. Another time, after a particularly troubling sermon (I
could see him wincing), he made an effort to say something nice. “I like
your tie, preacher.” I assumed that he had evaluated my sermon and found
nothing there worthy of a good word. I hope I got the point. |
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I was always aware of people with different ideas in my congregations.
The most helpful were those who spoke up about their differences. The least
helpful were those who either bagged their objections internally or simply
quit coming. Neither did anything to adjust my thinking. |
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The days when the John Birch Society was finding Communists (with as little
evidence to support their claims as we have had so far in proving weapons
of mass destruction) were not pleasant for many clergy. I actually saw
people taking notes during my sermons. When did you last take notes during
a sermon? One Sunday I preached on the subject—announced in our newspaper
ad—"How To Break the Law.” This was not long after the infamous Watt’s
riots in Los Angeles.. Three neatly groomed, dark-suited men were scattered
in my church. In the 60’s, neatly groomed was not groovy. I was being watched. |
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If you are particularly paranoid, or fearful of losing your job, there
might be a temptation to speak very carefully. You might wish for a congregation
more welcoming of challenging ideas. Who needs trouble? |
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Somewhere along the way I decided that it was good for me to know that
there were people out there with ideas different from mine. I already figured
out there were different ideas out there. It took a bit longer to realize
that the differences were good for me. |
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So, I envy the President and his selected audiences. But I am sorry for
him. You don’t grow by preaching to the choir. It can be blinding. |
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That’s when I thought about King David and Nathan. I don’t remember details
about all of the famed biblical kings, but my sense is that every one of
them—except perhaps for Solomon—had someone close by with a contrary view.
The greatest biblical King was David. He could raise up an army and go
to war anyplace he wanted with little objection. Just like Presidents that
I can think of during my lifetime have done. |
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What jumps out from the story is the fact that the great King David lets
Nathan into his presence. He is not isolated behind a riot fence a half-mile
away from where his King is speaking. He has access. Nathan is not afraid
to speak. David hears him out. |
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Nathan reminds the King that he has been given every power and opportunity
to do good. His power is unlimited. Yet, he has become arrogant and insensitive
to the will of the Lord. Nathan tells his parable about the wealthy owner
of flocks who has no hesitancy to add to his own wealth at the expense
of a poor man. When the king claims moral outrage against the one who stole
from the poor, Nathan says, “You are the Man!” |
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King David needed Nathan as does every kind of leader, Bishop, President
of the Junior Chamber of Commerce, Head football coach, famous TV personality,
home run champion, successful preacher, or President of the most powerful
nation in the history of the world. |
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Blessed are those who have Nathan’s in their audiences. And blessed are
the Nathan’s with courage to be rabble-rousers for God. They make us uncomfortable,
but they are needed.
Art Morgan
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