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.