1 Kings 12:6-11: a reflection

6King Rehoboam took counsel with the old men who had stood before Solomon his father while he yet lived, saying, “What counsel do you give me to answer these people?” 7They replied, “If you will be a servant to this people today, and will serve them, and answer them with good words, then they will be your servants forever.” 8But he abandoned the counsel of the old men which they had given him, and took counsel with the young men who had grown up with him, who stood before him. 9He said to them, “What counsel do you give, that we may answer these people who have spoken to me, saying, ‘Make the yoke that your father put on us lighter’?” 10The young men who had grown up with him said to him, “Tell these people who spoke to you, saying, ‘Your father made our yoke heavy, but make it lighter to us’—tell them, ‘My little finger is thicker than my father’s waist. 11Now my father burdened you with a heavy yoke, but I will add to your yoke. My father chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions.’”

When the people ask the new king Rehoboam to lighten the heavy burdens his father Solomon had laid on them, Rehoboam seeks counsel. The elders who had served Solomon give him wise advice: If you will be a servant to this people today, and serve them, and speak kind words to them, they will be your servants forever. But Rehoboam rejects their counsel and turns instead to the young men he had grown up with, who tell him to answer harshly, to make the yoke heavier, to boast of his own severity. He chooses the advice he wants to hear over the advice he needs.

Notice two failures here. First, Rehoboam rejects wise, seasoned counsel in favor of counsel that flatters his pride, choosing the voices that told him what he wanted to hear over the elders who told him the truth. And second, he rejects the very heart of good leadership the elders had named: If you will be a servant to this people, they will serve you. He wanted to dominate rather than serve, and in grasping for harsh power he lost the kingdom, which tore in two.

Both failures are instructive. We too are tempted to seek out the counsel that flatters us over the wiser word that corrects us, surrounding ourselves with voices that agree rather than those that tell us the truth. And we too are tempted to think that leadership, or any authority we hold, is about being served rather than serving. Rehoboam shows where both lead. Seek and heed wise counsel, even when it is not what you want to hear. And remember the elders' wisdom, which Jesus would deepen: the way to lead is to serve. Grasp for domination and you lose; serve, and you are followed.

Lord, Rehoboam rejected the elders' wise counsel to serve the people, and chose instead the flattering advice he wanted to hear, grasping for harsh power, and lost the kingdom. Guard me from both his failures. Keep me from seeking out only the counsel that flatters me, surrounding myself with voices that agree rather than those that tell me the truth; help me seek and heed wise counsel even when it is unwelcome. And keep me from thinking that any authority I hold is about being served rather than serving. Teach me the wisdom the elders spoke and Jesus deepened: that the way to lead is to serve. Make me humble enough to listen, and humble enough to serve.