Kings and Politicians 06: David and Solomon (and Moses and Joshua!)

The idea that we need to rule like politicians and statesmen, and this whole concept that a ministry needs to move from a warrior stage to a politician stage often uses the history of David and Solomon as an illustration, or a prophetic example, of what they are trying to say.

The idea goes something like this: David was a warrior, and that is like a new ministry, being a warrior, but for a ministry to grow, the lead minister needs to learn to be a politician like Solomon, Solomon was a great statesman, and all David’s need to learn to grow into Solomon’s, Solomon after all had more territory than David.

At first glance, it seems like wisdom, and I can see why many people have unthinkingly accepted this teaching.  Now, if you have read the other posts I have done on this topic (part 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5) you will know that the entire idea that we are supposed to rule like statesmen to be a fallacious one – we are called to rule like kings.  But, today, I want to dig into this “prophetic analogy” of David and Solomon, and point out a few flaws.

1. David and Solomon are not the same person.  Solomon is not a more mature David.  David was king, he died and then Solomon became king.  Any differences between their leadership is due to the fact they are different people with different graces, different ideas, different experiences.  David didn’t rule for so many years as David, then God visited him and said “Now, stop being authentic, and start being Solomon, start being something else”.  You see one of my greatest issues with this is it leads to inauthentic leaders.  They shut up  because they want to be diplomatic, they are scared that by holding the sword that the Lord has given them, they will fail to have their ministry grow.  This “statesmen” teaching tries to get the young Davids of our generation, and the older Davids too, to dress up in the armour of Solomon.  That doesn’t work.  It’s inauthentic.  The people telling David to wear Solomon’s armour, in my experience are people who have never fought a giant, never lead a church, never planted a ministry.  They do not have the fruitfulness and the wisdom necessary to disciple you, so they use fear – if you do not be more diplomatic, your ministry will not grow.  We have your best interest at heart, listen to our wisdom.  It’s not the wisdom of God, it’s the earthly wisdom of the world sadly.
2. Being a diplomat didn’t work out that well for Solomon, he married a whole bunch of women to try and please all the nations around him, forgot about God, forgot about living for God and had a truly unhappy life for most of his life.  It’s not something to aspire to, it’s something to avoid!  Do not be more like Solomon, be more like David.  Be a king!  Rule, fight, win.
3. Solomon could only be a man of peace because David slaughtered all the enemies.  People can only rest in peace because of warrior-leaders.  The warriors prepared to stand, to tell it as it is, to refuse to play politics, to refuse to have a negotiation with Goliath.  They are the people who make the world a better place.  They are the people who bring about peace!  David’s should be honoured for the wars they fought and won, and if you are enjoy the fruit of someone else’s successful wars, you should always honour them, not despise them and try and relegate them to a supposed bygone era of when it was ok to fight.
4. The idea that you go from warrior to diplomat can be forced into David-Solomon, but what about the (arguably more important) transition of leadership from Moses-Joshua.  Moses was the prince of Egypt, no one was more of a statesman than Moses.  Joshua was a military general.  Yet, the diplomat did not get people into the promised land.  Moses sent 12 spies into the promised land, one for every tribe.  Joshua sent 2.  Moses wanted to make sure all the tribes had a spy, he wanted all the tribes to feel part of it, he did the diplomatic thing, and it led to unbelief.  Joshua did the military thing and it led to the conquering of the promised land and the people getting out of the wilderness.  I could easily from this transition build a “prophetic paradigm” that until you stop being such a diplomat and such a statesman, and start fighting for what is true and real, and start standing for the promises of God, you will never enter God’s promises for your life.  Selah!

I don’t want to argue with other ministers.  But this doctrine that all warriors should become statesmen, and the idea that their ministries will not grow unless they do (what a way to add blatant manipulation to your doctrine to get people to embrace it) is not godly, not Biblical, and will end up in people being squeezed into a mold that is not from God.  God made us all unique.

What’s interesting is that the people who present this idea to you – they are never pioneers.  They have never faced a Goliath, they have never stood and having done all stand.  They are politicians themselves.  You reigning like a king makes them nervous.  Andrew Wommack says:

Persecution is an indication that the ones doing the persecuting are under conviction. They realize that they are not living what your words or actions are advocating and so, in defense of self, they attack the ones whom they perceive to be the source of their conviction. If this is understood, it makes persecution much easier to take. They aren’t just mad at you; they are convicted. When the Gospel is presented in the power of the Holy Spirit, there will always be either a revival or a riot, but not indifference.

This is the truth, people are nervous when they see you healing the sick, casting out devils, they are more nervous when they realize you will not dance to their beat just because they have a nice set of armour, or work for a big ministry.  They want you to dial it down, because they live on low-volume.  This David to Solomon teaching is actually, below the surface saying “don’t live at the level of a Goliath killer, a nation shaker, a worshipper who loved the Lord”, but reduce yourself to a backslidden fool. who forced his own people into slave labour and taxed them mercilessly, a man who built temples to foreign gods as not to upset the foreigners in his land.  That is not a step anyone should ever make, especially a pioneer who is changing the world.

My advice to you – don’t quit winning.  Don’t quit standing on the Word.  Don’t press mute for anyone.  Be loud, be strong, be confident.  Ignore the brothers calling you arrogant, ignore the brothers who say your dream is never going to happen.  Block the people trying to make you more diplomatic on Facebook, and find some true pioneers to hang around with.

Reign as a king in life!  Selah.