Grumbling at the Water Cooler (FB, etc...)

1. I thought I'd make one more post on A Tale of Three Kings. I tweeted several quotes from the book:

• "Rebels who ascend to the throne by rebellion have no patience with other rebels and their rebellions."
• "At most, the Lord’s people will follow a leader for a few years. They never support anyone very long."
• "Men who don't have authority talk about it all the time."

I also did a blog post on promises people make when they are aspiring to leadership.

Of course I'm not entirely on the same page as Edwards. He has a fatalism to him that speaks of a heavily deterministic perspective. So this tweet was also inspired by the book: "Saul was God's allowance, a king granted against God's perfect will because of hard hearts, a kingdom of God's permissive will."

Edwards comes from that "purpose driven" perspective that sees God orchestrating every little thing that happens in the world. He and Bobby Clinton have the same feel, in this regards.

2. There are some other good points I didn't find a nice soundbite to tweet. Here are some summaries of those:

• It is almost impossible to tell whether someone is going to be a Saul or a David.
• David preferred to be killed than to behave the same as Saul.
• Sometimes when an unworthy individual gets a greater portion of power, we are finally enabled to see the true state of "internal nakedness" they have, which was not apparent before.
• "Even Sauls are often the Lord's anointed."
• "Men who go after the Sauls among us often crucify the Davids among us.
• "God is not afraid of challengers."
• Kings who make speeches about submission show twin fears: 1) that they are not really true leaders and 2) that they fear rebellion.
• David, once in power, did not treat Absalom the way Saul had treated him.

3. The point I wanted to blog about here is in chapter 20. It is where rebellions come from.

• It starts at the water cooler, at the coffee shop, on Facebook, by email.
• People enjoyed unloading to Absalom. "As he discussed problem after problem and solution after solution, men began to long for the day when this one would be their leader. He could right so many wrongs. He gave them a sense of hope."
• "The more they sat in his living room and talked, the more they realized that things were amiss in the kingdom... that they had never thought of before." Cable news has this effect. It is no wonder to me that America is in more of an uproar than ever, with our steady stream of cable news and Facebook feed. I feel it in myself. When I listen to the news, I get angry. When I don't, I'm often more at peace.
• "Word spread quietly... 'Here is one who understands and has the answers.'"
• "Finally, his followers, which he vowed he did not have, were almost livid... They all wanted to do something about these endless injustices."

So this is how revolution often starts. History looks back and makes such grumblers often look foolish. Indeed, they often realize it themselves in old age.