Kings And Pawns
July 16, 2006
If you play the game of chess, you are familiar with the pieces on the board – from the lowly pawn to the all – important king.
If one of your pawns get “captured” – it’s not that big a deal. But if your king gets captured – the game is over. Pawns have little power – are usually used to set up other pieces or sacrificed to help clear the way for the other, more important pieces – like the rook, knight, bishop, or queen. Kings, however, while their movement is somewhat limited when compared to the other pieces – are the one piece you want to protect at all cost.
That’s the way it is in life, also – isn’t it?
People will strive to be a king – but nobody wants to be a pawn. The truth, however, is that even kings can end up being pawns – and we have to be careful that we live our lives following and serving the real King – God – instead of being someone else’s pawn.
Do you serve the real King — God — – or are you someone else’s pawn?
In the sixth chapter of Mark there is a fascinating story about the household of King Herod. Herod was the king of Galilee, and his family life was a text-book example of dysfunctional relationships. Herod married his brother’s wife, who also happened to be his niece. Her name was Herodias. She didn’t bother to divorce Herod’s brother when she married Herod, but she told Herod he must divorce his wife before she would marry him. She did this because she wanted to be the sole recipient of the power and influence of being married to a King. Herod was so smitten with his niece that he agreed to arrangement. The King acted more like a pawn – moved and manipulated by the wiles of Herodias.
John the Baptist, on the other hand, was no person’s pawn – but listened to and proclaimed the word of the real King – that being God – and stood up to the earthly King Herod – telling him he had no business marrying his brother’s wife. This angered Herodias, who was surrounded by people who were her pawns and always got her way – so eventually John the Baptist was put in prison. He’s in prison when this story takes place. Now — even though the King who acted more like a pawn — Herod — had imprisoned John, the Bible says that he feared John because he knew him to be a righteous man. Herod was a pawn of many people – and lived in fear.
Today’s story takes place at Herod’s birthday party. High officials, military commanders, and the leading men of Galilee were present. It was undoubtedly a rather raucous event. During the party, Herod’s step-daughter—the daughter of Herodias—was called in to dance. The Bible is discreet about the nature of this dance; it merely says, “She pleased Herod and his dinner guests.” From what we know about Herod, and what we know about Roman celebratory customs, we can assume the dance was suggestive, if not vulgar. Well — Herod was an impulsive man. He was enraptured with the dance—and probably also inebriated. He offered to Herodias’s daughter anything she wanted, up to half of his kingdom. She must have been surprised by the offer. She asked her mother what she should request. It was then that Herodias decided to get rid of John. She said to her daughter, “Ask for the head of John the Baptist.” Even though Herod didn’t want to do it, he felt bound by the oath he made in front of guests and sent the executioner to John’s cell. The King was nothing but a pawn in the hands of Herodias and her daughter – and probably many others.
There are many tragedies in this story.
One, obviously, is that a man of God was senselessly murdered.
A second tragedy is that the king of an empire was merely a pawn – and could be so driven by greed, pride, lust, and ego that he would take the life of an innocent man.
A third tragedy is that a mother would use her daughter in such a vulgar act of revenge.
Yet another tragedy is that a young girl would allow herself to be the pawn of those who do not have her best interests at heart.
The brutal fact of the world is that if you have anything at all going for you, you will experience what Herodias’ daughter experienced. If you have anything to offer someone will come along who will try to use what you have for their own selfish purposes.
You have to decide – are you going to be a pawn of someone else – or are you going to serve the true King – God – and use your gifts and talents for His kingdom.
Unfortunately for Herodias’ daughter, she didn’t know how to prevent herself from being used. As a result she became a pawn of her stepfather, of her mother, and even of the devil!
Let’s look at how she was used by others — and maybe learn some ways to prevent the same thing from happening to us.
Mark does not give her a name. Other Gospels give her the name Salome. I think it is significant that we do not know this girl’s name in Mark’s story. As far as the principles in this story are concerned, who she didn’t matter. All that mattered was what she could do for them. Because of the social customs of the day, this young girl may have believed that she didn’t have any other choice but to do what she did….I don’t know. But YOU have a choice. You don’t have to allow yourself to be used by those around you. You don’t have to be a pawn in the hands of others – but you can serve the true King – you can serve God.
I see three things we all need to remember to avoid becoming someone else’s pawn.
First – remember that you are not an object.
Herod was having a feast and he invited his step-daughter in to dance. It was a stag party, and Herod’s step-daughter was their entertainment. She was an object—her purpose was to gratify a room full of drunks. More than likely, this is how she gauged her value as a person—by her ability to invoke a certain response from men. The society in which we live today places this kind of pressure on women. It’s ironic that, in spite of all the rhetoric of the feminist movement, women are objectified by Hollywood, Madison Avenue, and music videos more than ever before.
People become pawns when they allow their self-esteem to be wrapped up in someone else’s opinion of them. It doesn’t just happen on a physical level, and it doesn’t just happen to women. Most likely anyone with a job has been treated as a pawn at one time or another. Men and women who have their entire self-worth wrapped up in their career often allow themselves to be taken advantage of.
I read of a college football player who wanted to be drafted by an NFL team. He didn’t make it. Looking back on it, he said that he couldn’t believe the way prospective players were treated. “As far as the representatives from the NFL were concerned, we weren’t humans, we were machines…money making machines.” This is more than a case of “sour grapes.” This athlete’s main problem, he admitted, was that his entire self-worth was wrapped up in his athletic abilities, and he was extremely vulnerable to becoming the pawn of others — even if it meant taking steroids, selling out his school, or compromising his convictions.
I read of someone else who worked for a rather manipulative boss. The boss was extremely hard to get along with, and tended to treat people like his personal stepping stones to success. Those who worked for him didn’t like the way they were treated, but most of them felt trapped, so they put up with it. But this particular worker had a sense of who he was. He established boundaries, and when the boss tried to push him around, he stood his ground. When the boss threatened to fire him if he did not do things that were illegal and immoral, he turned in his resignation. He told one of his co workers on his last day: “I will give 100% for my employer, but I will not be treated like dirt and I will not do what I know is wrong.” When he resigned, the other workers couldn’t help but admire his strength.
He knew how not to be a pawn – but how to serve the real King – God.
If you don’t want to go through life being a pawn, you have to develop an attitude that says, “I am not an object! I am a human and I deserve to be treated with respect.” That’s what Herod’s step-daughter needed to do, and that’s what many of us need to do today.
Secondly, remember… You can’t bargain for love.
This part is especially sad because we see a mother taking advantage of her own daughter. The daughter was offered one-half of Herod’s kingdom. She had an opportunity to receive wealth and power beyond her dreams. Instead, she helped her mother get revenge. Why would she make such a choice?
Maybe because she was an “enabler.” You’ve heard this term before. An enabler is someone who does something to make it possible for someone else to continue self-destructive behavior, such as a person who buys alcohol for the alcoholic, or loans money to a compulsive gambler. They claim to be doing this out of concern, but generally they do it out of their own need for love, acceptance, or control in a relationship. Enablers often consider themselves to be generous and compassionate, but they are missing a crucial distinction: If you give of your resources to help someone do good, you’re being generous. If you give of your resources to help someone do something destructive, you’re being an enabler.
Enablers try to bargain for love. Everyone probably remembers having (or being) the childhood friend who would give away a favorite baseball card, a special doll, or an expensive toy in order to be liked. Like Herod’s step-daughter trading a kingdom for mom’s approval, enablers will trade whatever resources they have for acceptance. And like Herod’s step-daughter, enablers eventually find themselves with absolutely nothing to show for their “compassion.”
There is no reason for anyone to go through life this way. We don’t have to be slaves to the selfishness of others. We must decide once and for all that our purpose is not to please people. Our purpose is to please God. Paul said,
Am I trying to win the approval of men, or of God? Or am I trying to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ. (Galatians 1:10)
You primary motive in life can not be to do whatever it takes for people to like you.
There’s an old joke about the preacher who tried to keep one eye on the Lord and one eye on the deacon board, and the two got so far apart that the preacher went cock-eyed!
Bill Cosby once said, “I don’t know what the secret to success is, but I know the secret to failure is trying to please everybody.”
God has given you certain resources — talents, gifts, money, looks, personality, intelligence, and on and on. These are not bargaining chips you can use to win friends. He has given you these resources to use for His glory. When we see others in need, we should be generous. But remember, generosity is helping to do right. You can’t bargain for love.
So – you have to serve the true King – God – and not be other peoples’ pawn. You have to remember that you are not an object – and can not bargain for love.
Thirdly – if you want to avoid being treated like a pawn, remember… a sense of direction is your best weapon.
There is something more insidious than just a drunken man and a vindictive woman at work in our scripture passage. The devil is also at work, and Herod’s step-daughter becomes his agent of death.
John the Baptist was, according to Jesus, the greatest man who ever lived. Not only was he a good person, he was not afraid to speak the truth—regardless of the consequences. He was, by virtue of his goodness, an enemy of the devil.
We know that
“the thief comes to steal, kill, and destroy” (John 10:10)
and at Herod’s party the devil seized the opportunity to destroy John the Baptist. It wasn’t only Herod’s daughter that he used; Herod and Herodias were both pawns in his hand. If the daughter of Herodias had a sense of direction in life—if her purpose in life had been to serve God—she never would have listened to such bad advice, and she never would have allowed herself to be used in such a dreadful way.
Someone I read about was flattered to be offered a position on the board of directors for a charitable organization. Being new to this venture, she wasn’t sure how to vote on some issues, or how to administrate her areas of responsibility. Another board member “graciously” offered his assistance. It wasn’t long before she realized that she had unwittingly become his pawn to grant favors for his friends and get revenge on his enemies. She later wrote
“This happened because when I came into this organization I was completely ignorant. I had no real vision for what I could accomplish.”
Lack of vision and direction caused her to become a pawn for others.
When we live with no sense of direction, when we drift through life from one day to the next with no specific idea of where we are going, we make ourselves easy targets for bad advice, and we find ourselves being used by anyone who can get to us.
In football there is saying:
The best defense is a good offense.
In life it works the same way. The best way to prevent yourself from being used by others is to make sure you are being used by God. Your most powerful weapon is to pursue life with God-given direction. If you don’t have direction in life—if you don’t have a strong sense of who you are and where you’re going—you will become the pawn of anyone who can benefit from you.
A person cannot be truly independent unless he knows God’s purpose for his life. People who just want to be liked (or comfortable, or happy, or rich) are easy prey for others – and for the devil. However, if a person is consumed with the idea of pleasing God, no one can stand in his way.
Bill Bright can be said to be such a man. In 1960, when Campus Crusade for Christ had the opportunity to buy the Arrowhead Springs property in California for their rapidly growing international ministry, he was told by his largest contributor: “If you buy this property I will never give you another penny.” The contributor thought the property – which was once a glamorous hotel — to be too run down to be sued for Campus Crusade for Christ. Well — Bill Bright wasn’t trying to please his investors and he knew that he wasn’t in the ministry for their benefit. If he had no vision, the idea of losing money would have frightened him. But Bill Bright had a God-given vision of what he could accomplish. He didn’t listen to the voices of others; he listened to God. He bought the property. His God-given vision gave him the strength to be truly independent – and the property was purchased and used by Campus Crusade For Christ for years as it’s ministry expanded.
It comes down to this: People become pawns when they see themselves as a second-class human. “I’m just an object for other’s to use…maybe if I do this people will like me…this seems like good advice.” On the other hand, when you have a God-given vision about who you are and God-given direction about what you can accomplish, no one can touch you. You will not be a pawn; you will be an independent servant of God.
Don’t let others tell you who you are. Let God tell you.
Don’t be a pawn in others hands – but serve the real King – God.
As this Church moves into the new chapter of it’s history, you have a choice. You can follow what others might say and what others might tell you – or you can pray to God for leadership and follow where you feel God is leading you.
You can let this Church be a pawn in someone else’s plan – or you can stand up and work for what you feel is God’s plan.
Knowing God’s plan for your life or for this Church will not be easy.
It will take faith and courage – but first it will take prayer.
Listen to God – and let God lead you – as an individual and a Church.
Don’t be a pawn for someone else – listening to their advice – without praying for God’s advice.
Don’t think that you – as an individual and a Church — are not an object – Don’t think that you have to bargain for love – because as an individual and a Church you are beautiful and full of worth –
Remember that – for the Church and for you as an individual — the best way to avoid being used by others is to be used by God.
In your life – serve the real King — God – and don’t be a pawn of others.
Make sure that – at this time and in this place – this Church serves God – and does not become a pawn of others.
Amen.
