Royalty and you

As we all welcome Britain’s royal baby, the Prince of Cambridge, I cannot but think about how not too long ago (thirty-one years precisely) we rejoiced at the birth of his father, Prince Williams. I have observed this family from the time Prince Charles married the sweet Princess Diana (thirty-two years ago) till date and I tell you, it is never a dull moment.

I lost a bit of interest after a while but my interest for the royal lifestyle came alive again when the Prince of Wales announced his engagement to a commoner. Oh! How my eyes glowed with light and my heart leaped for joy to know that the son of the People’s Princess lived up to expectation. Not just because of the lady he chose, but I am also excited about the fact that the new link between the Prince of Wales and commoner Kate Middleton will breed a new generation of royalty like we have not experienced since 1660. Those who love history will ask what happened in 1660 but I would rather leave you to find out while I focus more on how this whole thing concerns you and me.

Royalty and you

Many of us have come to lay claim to royalty, thanks to some biblical texts that refers to believers in Christ as Kings. In my opinion, the most popular scripture that refers to believers in the Christian faith as royalty is 1Peter 2:9 which says “But you [are] a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light” (NASB).  I have no problem with that because I believe that as children of the King we are indeed of a royal lineage. But if truly we are children of the King are we not supposed to live and reign like Kings, Queens, Princes and Princesses (cf. Revelations 5:10)? Are we not supposed to go by principles laid down by our Lord and King? Do Kings, Queens, Princes and Princesses live as they like or do they follow a certain pattern of life that behooves royalty?

Yes! Oh yes! Royal people live by rules which were laid down by their ancestors and rarely does anybody suddenly change the rules. Let us consider three (3) things we notice about royalty.

a) Order

Contrary to the lifestyle of many believers today, royal people do things decently and in order (cf. 1Corinthians 14:40). Hardly, if ever, will you find a disorganized Prince or Princess. They seem to walk orderly, talk orderly and generally act decently in the public. Take for instance; they marry before they have children and not the other way round. Can you imagine what it would have been like if Kate Middleton became pregnant before marriage? Unimaginable! Unlike most people who care less about what anyone thinks about their actions, people of royal descent are trained to do things orderly and give a good impression at every public appearance.  

Several Christians are very disorderly but claim to be royalty. They live anyhow, do whatever they like, have no particular pattern of living and some even openly dishonor the name of the Lord. They go to church late, and when they do get there they behave so unruly. Order in the church!   

b) Control

Sometimes I wonder why many people from royal families hardly express their emotions in public. Take for instance, on September 6 1997 when Princes Diana was to be buried, I observed all members of the royal family and I did not see any of them shed tears. Let us assume the older members of the royal family have been trained enough to imbibe the culture of self control, how about the two boys whom the Princess left behind? If anyone would miss her most, it would be Prince Williams and Prince Harry; but I did not see a tear drop from their eyes. All they did was wave at the crowd that was lined along the way to their mother’s grave. It is not for me to judge the moral quality of their action, however I believe that they felt some emotion but due to their training they had to control themselves in public.

Lesson: When we are pressed to overreact in public we should apply control especially when our show of emotions cannot make any difference. Royals may have a lot to say but they have learnt to say what is required and keep silent when necessary. They do not throw tantrums in public and hope people understand. They, like every human, have times when they are pushed to the wall and are tempted to misbehave; but they know how to control their emotions and reactions.

c) Respect   

People from royal lineage do not break ranks, they respect authorities. Just like the centurion told Jesus in Matthew 8:8, they understand the flow of authority and recognize that whoever is put in charge of them deserve the utmost regard. They respect themselves and act responsibly. One of the ways to identify a great personality in the crowd is by how they show respect to people in authority. For example, some years ago I had an event and I invited several top personalities. I instructed the ushers to make sure they identify all the VIPs and take them to a special seat reserved for them. After about forty-five (45) minutes into the event the crowd was distracted by some noise coming from behind the auditorium “do you know who I am? How can you give me a back seat? For what?” the male voice yelled. In the first place, this man came late and in the second place, he was very rude to delegated authority which tells us that he does not understand authority and would probably abuse power if giving the chance to lead. Well, the ushers handled him right as he was put out of the meeting and not too long we heard news of him being stripped of his position. A true man of authority will respect and submit to authority.    

Have you heard some people speak disrespectfully about their leaders in public? Or have you seen the way some criticize a system they are supposed to represent? That is so disrespectful and you would never see anyone from the royal family speak about the King or Queen or even any member of the royal lineage, with such impertinence. When you see someone who speaks about people in authority rudely, you can be sure that they are not in any way of the royal order.

Dishonorable act

Recently we read in the news about some leaders in Nigeria’s River State house of assembly who were involved in a physical fight. I am not as concerned about what led to the fight as I am about the dishonorable act. Should a leader lose his temper in public to the point of hitting someone? Some may argue that he was pushed too hard till he lost it; but isn’t that where control is needed?  Maybe somebody in there was not supposed to be there. Maybe none of them should be there. Then again, if they rose to such positions by crooked means, it would amount to foolishness on our part to expect anything reasonable from such irresponsible, uncultured and dishonorable fellows. My recommendation is that before people take public positions (no matter how they got there), they should be taken through some kind of training and in light of recent happenings, maybe anger management should be one of the compulsory courses.

Royal nannies

I hear that Prince Williams and his wife may not be hiring a nanny to help with the upbringing of HRH Prince George of Cambridge; but we know about the traditional process of hiring a Royal nanny or nannies to help. With that tradition in mind, permit me to compare the job of those royal nannies to that of church pastors.

If God is the King of Kings and believers are Kings and princes/princesses and the church is called out from the kingdom of darkness to the Kingdom of light, then the pastors’ job would be that of nanny to new believers. It is the responsibility of the pastor to inculcate into believers the royal mentality. All believers need to learn Kingdom philosophy -as opposed to worldly ideologies-, spiritual etiquette and every thing they need to represent the King; and these they must learn from the pastor who is trained and very verse in matters of royalty.

Then somebody may say “how about when they are grown and do not need their nannies?” Well, when the time comes and the children become sons, they step up to another class where they are trained to be skilled sons and custodians of the royal heritage.

Now the question to you is; are you true royalty? Are you bringing disrepute and shame to the lineage you claim? If you are, I encourage you to put off this old garment and walk worthy of your call.