The Real Meaning of Royalty

LISTEN NOW instead of reading! >>>>>>
Listening / reading time: 9 minutes, 37 seconds
Glimmers is now also available on iTunes.

Hover over image to share on Pinterest

Honor. It’s a word that many of us associate with the military or the knights of the roundtable. If you’re like me, it’s a not really a word you use in everyday vocabulary. I think that’s because we regard it as a kind of lofty word, reserving it for wedding vows, veterans ceremonies, lifetime achievements, and Jane Austen films. We seem to save it for special events or rare occasions as if honor is something we only do for specific people or as a part of time-honored traditions.

Given our modern technology-driven culture that minimizes offline relationships and appears to promote only the most disrespectful and abrasive treatment of others, it would be so easy to believe that honor is passé… an old-time value from a largely bygone era. While I am not one who longs for the repressed emotions and often faux civility of the Victorian period, I have often wondered just how far our society will degrade in my lifetime in terms of our public discourse. At some point, I think I’ll have to cut the cord to broadcast and cable TV (in whatever form it eventually takes) not because of the expense, but to avoid watching the news and commercials, especially the political ones.

CS Lewis said in his book The Abolition of Man, “We laugh at honor and are shocked to find traitors in our midst.” He wrote that in the early 1940s at a time when the use of the term of was very relevant for most Britons and Americans, who were summoning all the honor and courage they had to go fight an insidious evil perpetrated by the antithesis of honor. In that climate, it’s hard to believe Lewis thought honor was slipping away from British society. But in reading the first chapter of his book, while there is absolutely no mention of Hitler or the War, I think perhaps he was implying that if good society wants to continue to hold back callousness, hatred, outright irresponsibility, and even evil in future generations, we must figure out how to teach, inspire, and live out the honor of Christ. Only through divine guidance, can we learn to reason and act based on truth while fully feeling and experiencing what it means to be a human living in God’s abundance. As always, Lewis was ahead of his time.

I can’t even imagine what Lewis would say in observing just 15 minutes of a 2018 newscast or surfing Facebook for only a few moments. He might be shocked enough to be speechless. On the other hand, I do know what the Holy Spirit says — at least to me — when I process the largely dishonorable culture around me through the lens of scripture. I hear Him whisper about royalty. This week He has been reminding me of who I am and who all those who have placed their faith in Jesus are — sons and daughters of the King. We are royalty and, as such, it behooves us to act like children of our heavenly birthright. Even if you’ve read them a thousand times, take a fresh look at the weight and implications of these scriptures:

• 1 Peter 2:9: But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for His own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.
• Romans 8:15-17: For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs — heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with Him in order that we may also be glorified with Him.
• Luke 22:29-30: And just as my Father has granted me a Kingdom, I now grant you the right to eat and drink at my table in my Kingdom. And you will sit on thrones…
• Isaiah 62:3: You shall be a crown of beauty in the hand of the Lord, and a royal diadem in the hand of your God.

So while most of us would readily agree that God’s idea of royalty includes a requirement to be honorable, there’s a surprising lack of understanding of how it is supposed to play out in everyday life. But scripture is not ambiguous about it, even though our society doesn’t teach or display honor to the extent that Jesus modeled for us. 1 Corinthians 7:22-24 says, “All of you, slave and free both, were once held hostage in a sinful society. Then a huge sum was paid out for your ransom. So please don’t, out of old habit, slip back into being or doing what everyone else tells you.” (The Message, emphasis mine) The term “huge sum,” or simply “price” in most English translations, comes from the Greek word meaning “honor.” Whoa. Think about that. Honor is defined as treating something or someone as precious, respected, and valuable. It’s not just about revering someone’s sacrifice, as in the military sense, or having a mutual respect so strong that it can withstand outside influences like the knights of the roundtable. Honor in its daily implementation means to treat others — no matter what their position, lifestyle, wealth, preferences, or behaviors — as if they are precious and valuable. The bottom line is that we are to treat them how Jesus did — that they are fellow royalty no matter where they are on their spiritual journey. From prostitutes to thieves, Jesus treated everyone he encountered based on who they could become in His kingdom, not what they were struggling with at the time.

In his sermon The Weight of Glory, C.S. Lewis said that there is no one you will ever meet who is a mere mortal. No one is just an ordinary person. Every interaction you have bears the weight of helping someone on his or her spiritual journey. Here is how Lewis put it:
“The load, or weight, or burden of my neighbor’s glory should be laid daily on my back, a load so heavy that only humility can carry it, and the backs of the proud will be broken. It is a serious thing to live in a society of possible gods and goddesses, to remember that the dullest and most uninteresting person you talk to may one day be a creature which, if you saw it now, you would be strongly tempted to worship, or else a horror and a corruption such as you now meet, if at all, only in a nightmare. All day long we are, in some degree, helping each other to one or other of these destinations.”

If you thought that one went right to the heart of the matter, 1 Peter 2:17 takes it even further, piercing into our deepest, most secretive thoughts, perspectives, and fears. The verse commands, “Honor everyone. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the emperor.” Gulp! Peter leaves no one out of that brief but powerful statement, and he even does it with a little bit of humor with his reference to the emperor. Certainly, the term “everyone” included the emperor, but just like our politics today and in every society throughout history, there’s always going to be divisiveness and dishonor surrounding those who govern us, whether it’s our boss at work or an elected official. Even worse, I think, is the dishonor that runs rampant among the various segments of people that identify with one political vision or another. Just about every personal conviction or lifestyle choice seems to force us to self-identify with some group. And if we don’t put ourselves into a camp, then guaranteed someone else will label you and do it for you. But at the end of the day, no matter our choices or differences, we are to honor every human being as a fellow royal-in-the-making. No one is out of reach of the hand of God, but Jesus made it clear that it is not our jobs to judge anyone’s progress toward — or distance away from — that destiny.

When I am confronted with the lack of honor in my heart toward someone I disagree with — even if the thoughts never exit my mouth — my first instinct is to make excuses. But then the Holy Spirit reminds me of the inescapable truth of 1 John 4:10-11 which says, “This is real love — not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins. Dear friends, since God loved us that much, we surely ought to love each other.” We can’t love God enough to make ourselves worthy of the royalty He gives us. Nor can we muster up enough honor or love from within ourselves to bring everyone we encounter to reach the glory God offers them. We have to let God’s unbiased love, made possible through Christ, flow through us to others. Our responsibility is to do our best to not get in its way and ask God to prune us more and more every day to be humble, royal servants to everyone we meet or talk to through any means, channel, or interaction. It’s a tall order, but it comes from a King who will stop at nothing to help us carry His love to every subject in the realm.
***
If you like this blog post, why not invite others to read it, share it, and subscribe to my weekly emails? You will be encouraging them and you will be helping me share the love of Christ with others. It’s a win-win!

---