"I will tell you of my king and his greatness: My king never threatened me as yours does. Your new king has begun his reign with laws, rules, regulations, and fear. The clearest memory I have of my king when we lived in the caves, is that his was a life of submission. Yes, David showed me submission, not authority. He taught me not the quick cure of rules and laws, but of the art of patience. That is what changed my life. Legalism is nothing but a leader's way of avoiding suffering.
"Rules were invented by elders so they could get to bed early! Men who speak endlessly on authority only prove they have none. And kings who make speeches about submission only betray twin fears in their hearts: They are not certain they are really true leaders, sent of God. And they live in mortal fear of a rebellion.
"My king spoke not of submitting to him. He feared no rebellion... because he did not mind if he was dethroned!
"David taught me losing, not winning. Giving, not taking. He showed me the leader, not the follower is inconvenienced. David shielded us from suffering; he did not mete it out.
"He taught me that authority yields to rebellion, especially when that rebellion is nothing more dangerous than immaturity, or perhaps stupidity."
....one last salvo: "As far as David's having authority: Men who don't have it talk about it all the time. submit, submit! That's all you hear. David had authority, but I don't think that fact ever occurred to him. We were six hundred no-goods with a leader who cried a lot. that's all we were!"
These were the last words the young soldier heard from the old warrior. slipping back into the street, he wondered if he would ever again be happy serving under Rehoboam.
Here is a school marm question for you: Who else does the description of David sound like?
This is an excerpt from a small book called A Tale of three Kings: A Study in Brokenness
No, he wasn't speaking of today's complementarian traditionalists, but he might as well have... the teachings are the same. Today's form just isn't so zealous of living out their teachings. Although Edwards doesn't mention it by name, I remember the "Shepherding Movement". It left a sailors graveyard of shipwrecked Christians.
And it amazes me that no one draws the obvious parallels with much of the "complementarian" teaching and practice that we see coming forth from it. The egalitarians have their own shoals to watch out for in sailing rather close to secular feminism, but of the two... this is the more dangerous because it looks so seemingly "holy"... and righteous.... and religious.
