What is Better Than Being a King?

Round Table

According to legend, the central feature of King Arthur's court was the Round Table.  The king placed his knights around the Table so none could boast of a higher position than any other ― (and here's the important part) not even the king.

Is it really possible for the king to be equal with others?  Has the king any peer?

Is it really possible in the Kingdom of God for his children to be "equal in power, and in might, and in dominion" (D&C 76:95)?

What you may not know is that, according to legend, Merlin himself fashioned the Round Table in similitude of the table of the Last Supper.

And at the Table there was always one seat left empty (no, not for Elijah), awaiting the coming of the knight who would return with the Holy Grail.

Ever since my childhood I have loved the lore of the Arthurian legends, but as I have grown older I have come to love even more the doctrine of the Kingdom of God. 

And I have long wondered what it means to be given "the keys" to the Kingdom.  But the kingdom is not a car to be driven, but a door to be unlocked.

As everyone knows, the keys of the kingdom are held by its king.  But what everyone forgets is that Jesus refused to be king.

   When Jesus therefore
   perceived that they would
   come and take him by force,
   to make him a king,
   he departed again
   into a mountain.

(John 6:15)

Ever since, the misguided have been trying to turn Jesus into a king like the ones we see on earth, a monarch fit for heaven.

But Jesus had no desire to play Nebuchadnezzar's part.   He sought no status.  He conspicuously avoided being "made a king."

After all, his kingdom was not of this world.

And so I want to explore what kind of king, exactly, is Jesus?

Uncle Sam Needs YOU

Who belongs to God's kingdom?  How are its citizens chosen?  Well, quite shockingly Jesus told us:

   Verily I say unto you,
   That the publicans 
   and the harlots
   go into the kingdom of God
   before you.

(Matthew 21:31)

In just one sentence, Jesus flipped all our religious notions on their heads, didn't he, leaving us speechless!

It must have taken hours for the Jews to lift their jaws from the Temple's Outer-Court-floor.

With this simple statement, the Lord dashed thousands of years of religious sensibilities straight to the pit.

And the fact that thieves and sex workers get to cut in line at the Pearly Gates in front of the law-abiding Pharisees, it highlights the fact that we, sadly, do not understand his kingdom at all.

No wonder Jesus' disciples were confused, and asked, "Who is greatest in the kingdom of heaven" (Matt. 18:1)?  I'm sure they hoped it would be someone sensible.

But no, Jesus threw them another curve ball when he said the greatest in the kingdom were little children.

Kids?  What do they know about management and taxation and armies?  How in the world could a kingdom run by children ever survive?  The whole idea is preposterous.

Humble, meek, mind-your-own-business types?  Not exactly what we think of when we think "Executive material."  We're searching for a strong, mighty king, right?  As in, almighty?

Listening to preachers, we might believe that "sovereignty" is top dog.  The desire for God to knock some sense into everybody is a common theme in Christianity, where churches thrive on eschatology, feasting on a theology of God's judgment and Armageddon.

So what business had Christ going around, telling us the Kingdom of God is a crazy assortment of lost things and souls, full of misplaced coins and wandering sheep and prodigals?  What a curious thing, this Kingdom!

Having turned things inside-out, we can safely assume that every convention we have about what a proper "king" should be like, Jesus will throw out window.

Chances are, we're in for a surprise.

"Can I see some identification, please?"

We're told to teach one another "the doctrine of the kingdom" (D&C 88:77).  What is this doctrine, exactly?  Is it the same as the Doctrine of Christ?

Well, although I am a poor teacher, if the Lord wants us to teach the doctrine, let's take a stab.

The first thing we encounter, quite bizarrely, is that we cannot migrate to the Kingdom, thinking to leave our homeland and cross over the border to God's country, as if we had a passport.

Because the Kingdom must be inherited.  What is that all about?  We have to be "born again" into this Kingdom.

​   And the Lord said unto me:
   Marvel not that all mankind,
   yea, men and women . . . 
   must be born again,
   being redeemed of God,
   becoming his sons
   and daughters;

   and thus they become new
   creatures; and unless
   they do this, they can
   in nowise INHERIT
   the kingdom of God.

(Mosiah 27:25-26)

So the Kingdom, let's pretend, is not a geographical destination but a matter of lineage.

Which makes sense, in a way, because everyone in the Kingdom is, in fact, royalty.  Everyone in it possesses the King's blood.

This explains, perhaps, the deeper meaning of Jesus' statement that "the Kingdom of God is within you" (Luke 17:21) ― because the Kingdom and its keys are an heritage of lineage and birth, which is to say, a matter of blood.

But how do we "seek ye first the kingdom of God" if the thing we're seeking is within us?  Do I buy leeches and let the blood out?  Do I cut myself like the priests of Ba'al?

   And Moses took the blood,
   and sprinkled it
   on the people,
   and said, Behold the blood
   of the covenant,
   which the Lord hath made
   with you.

(Exodus 24:8)

How do we "build the kingdom of God" if the kingdom is constituted from blood?  How do we magnify blood, or propagate God's spiritual DNA?

Take a Second Look!

Why are the citizens of the kingdom so vulnerable?  I mean, Jesus said they're persecuted  (it's awful they don't stand up for themselves but turn the other cheek) ― "for theirs is the kingdom of heaven" (Matt. 5:10).

Well, the more we dig into this Kingdom, the more perplexing things get.  Why can't God's kingdom be more like the Holy Roman Empire, strong and impressively rich?

Well, yes, I think that is what we have sort of done in making the priesthood about governance: turning deacons into miniature dukes, and elders acting like earls, and apostles regarded as the princes of the Church, and so on.

You get the idea, okay.  All this management structure makes more and more bosses.  But that's what we seem to want, deep down: someone to really get a move on, and make things happen in an orderly fashion.  That's what a kingdom needs, people to take charge, issue orders, and make the trains run on time.

So why was Jesus such a terrible administrator?  Goodness, he let his treasurer embezzle, gave no thought to the morrow, and implemented no sensible logistics for the feeding of thousands.  Why didn't he care about all the practical stuff?  Why does his kingdom "toil not" (Matt. 6:28)?

I've never met a single person who lives the Sermon on the Mount's counsel:  "Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?" (Matt. 6:31).

That's no way to operate a kingdom.  The economy would sink!  Without regimented ranks, how would anyone know what to do, without spiritual sergeants to assign them latrine duty and push-ups and to minister to Sister So-and-so?

And yet this fellow, this man they called Joshua, son of Joseph, is somehow a King of Kings?

Now here's my point: Jesus' kingdom is a reflection of his character.  He exercises no compulsion.  He is like a gardener who doesn't pull weeds (allowing them to grow together with the wheat).

If you want a king to boss you around, and take charge, then Satan is more than willing to suit your desire.

Christ's kingdom is unseemly because it observes the seasons rather than trying to control them.  The celestial only harvests what is freely offered.

Thus in the celestial kingdom, kings do not have subjects so much as students.  Celestial kings inspire as teachers of the Way, but they do not impose their views (for the first law of heaven appears to be the free flowing of intelligent will).  God's nature is to nurture soil so it produces good fruit through persuasion and love unfeigned, just by providing sunlight and rain (Matt. 5:45).

Now, that's no way to run a business, is it?  Yet Jesus showed no desire to rule and reign, or govern, as Herod Antipas.  

Jesus never sat upon a throne in his lifetime, so why would that change now?  Shall Christ ascend to heaven to take upon himself the guise of Pontius Pilate?  Shall Jesus don Caesar's robes when he eschewed titles on earth?

No one believes it!  How crazy I sound, suggesting the idea that Jesus actually meant what He said.

No, we know better than He.  We think the Kingdom needs a Constantine more than a Christ (and this is why our churches resemble the world instead of the Kingdom).

​Never mind this notion of letting the people govern themselves.   No, we insist on a monarchy ― and have been trying to foist God into the role of monarch-of-the-universe ever since.

And yet, I am here to tell you, if you can believe it, that just as Jesus refused to be the king people wanted him to be back in John 6, so likewise, today he refuses to assume the role we expect him to play of Supreme Ruler and Master of the Universe.

I will not try to prove it, or convince you.  I will simply make some observations.  See what you think.

No Multi-Level-Marketing?  How Will the Kingdom Pay its Bills?

The first thing I think we should explore is the fact that God's Kingdom is numinous.

Numinous means "arousing spiritual or religious emotion; mysterious or awe-inspiring."

The coming of God’s kingdom is not as a crusader expanding the borders of his dominion, gaining territory and tribute, but refers to the mutual in-dwelling of the Father in every kingdom.

Joseph Smith said in the King Follett discourse, "What did Jesus do? ... When I get my kingdom, I shall present it to My Father, so that He may obtain kingdom upon kingdom, and it will exalt Him in glory.  He will then take a higher exaltation, and I will take His place."

Now, I understand where Joseph Smith was coming from, but I do not see things quite the same way; heaven is not a Ponzi scheme with a downline.

Instead of conceptualizing the Father's kingdom as being "above" or "greater" than others, think of the Father’s kingdom as abiding in them all.

When the whole is increased and integrated into a new creation, to whom does it belong?  It belongs to all whom God has made “equal in power, and in might, and in dominion” (D&C 76:95).
 
God then does not preside over his kingdom, for God is the kingdom, the collective intelligence of all his parts, as the head crowns the body.

But the body does not belong to the head, though the head unifies and inspires the members to act, as when we tell our hand to blow each other kisses.

For the head and members are one Being, a living organism whose glory is one. 

There are many exalted beings and Fathers in heaven, but there is one God.  This is the doctrine of the kingdom, as well as, coincidentally, the Doctrine of Christ (2 Nephi 31:21).

Walking on Water

It is easy to walk on water when the lake surface is frozen.

We consider it miraculous only when the water moves beneath our feet.

Listen: God’s kingdom is not frozen or static ― it flows freely upon the celestial tide, for God walks upon the waves of eternity as Jesus did upon the Sea of Galilee.
 
To enter the Kingdom is like walking on spiritual water.  Those who are unwise will attempt to devise ways to make the water hard, like unto a hierarchy, crystalized and rigid, as a pyramid (Pharaoh's at it again).

But those who are wise have learned to walk by faith upon currents constantly reforming and changing, creating newness of life as joint-heirs.
 
In his mortal ministry, Jesus modeled a reality the world has rejected ― that is, that heaven is a self-organizing organism:

   For intelligence cleaveth
   unto intelligence;
   wisdom receiveth wisdom;
   truth embraceth truth;
   virtue loveth virtue;
   light cleaveth unto light.

(D&C 88:40)

The Kingdom is a cooperative woven together by faith and hope and charity.

Love is the Constitution of the kingdom, for God is a living, relational Being, not a machine.

Flow with whatever edifies you (D&C 50:23).  If it does not edify, let it go with your blessing.  Do not allow anyone's doctrine to become quicksand upon your path, tethering your soul as a yoke, a noose for your faith.

Christ transcends the precepts of men; the atonement refers to a reality far greater than we have imagined, for it is infinite: do we comprehend infinity?
 
Now, between alpha and omega exists all of creation, and so Christ can be seen as many things.  But for me, when I consider my relationship with the Lord, I do not think of him as a king: for Jesus told us plainly who He is, and what role He wants to play, by His own word, and that is:

   Our Friend (John 15:15).

If our Friend also happens to be a king, then fealty is merely the love owed to a friend, which loyalty is reciprocated in kind.

It was friendship, even more than priesthood, that served as the great hope of Zion, according to Joseph Smith:

    It was my endeavor
    to so organize the Church
    that the brethren
    might eventually
    be [brought into]
    the celestial kingdom
    by bonds and covenants
    of mutual friendship
    and mutual love.

(Joseph Smith, History of the Church, vol 1, p. 269)

As the song says, what a friend we have in Jesus!