There was once a Kingdom called Gienor, and it was the largest, most wealthy Kingdom of all. And it came to pass that the King of this Kingdom was dying. So the King called his most trusted servant, and gave him a list of princes that he thought would be acceptable to rule and told him that he must pick the wisest of all the princes to run his kingdom in his place. You see, the King had no heir, but dearly loved his kingdom, and the thought of dying without knowing that a wise, clever, just, ruler would exceed him, pained him greatly.
“But sire” the servant said to his king after hearing his reply, “How will I know which prince is the right one?”
“You have been my wisest and most trusted servant” the King replied “I am sure that you will find means to test him and see his true character.”
And thus it came to pass that the servant came to the first of the three kingdoms whom princes he was to test. And the name of the first prince was Sinclair. So the servant went up to Sinclair and said “How would you like to inherit the Kingdom of Gienor, the largest and wealthiest kingdom of all?”
As Sinclair heard these words, he puffed out his chest and said: “Gienor would be lucky to have a ruler such as me, for I listen to the people! Of course I will accept.” But the servant responded, “You must first prove that you are a fit ruler.” Then the servant asked “Tell me the middle name of the presently ruling king of Gienor, and if you are correct you may rule”
Then the servant went out and started to tell all the people in the kingdom that Sinclair lived in that the middle name of the king was ‘meek’, even though that was not the middle name of the King. Then he told only a few people the real name of the king, which was ‘Brave’.
Sinclair then, decided to hold a poll, (he not knowing what the middle name of the king was) and gathered all the people together to see who knew what the middle name of the king was.
After the poll was counted Sinclair studied the results. 95% of the people said that they knew that the middle name of the king was ‘meek’. While only 5% of the people said they knew his middle name to be ‘brave’.
Then Sinclair came to reason that since most everybody said that ‘meek’ was the right name, it must be right. Yes, since the majority of people believed it to be ‘meek’ Sinclair believe it also. But when he gave his answer to the trusted servant, the servant looked at him with sad eyes and said “You are not fit to rule the Kingdom of Gienor.
And so the servant went on to the second kingdom whose prince was among the list of candidates. And the name of the Prince was Edward.
And so the servant went to Edward and asked “How would you like to inherit the Kingdom of Gienor, the largest and wealthiest kingdom of all?” When He heard these words Edward puffed out his chest and said: “Gienor would be lucky to have a ruler such as me, for I listen to wise counsel! Or course I will accept”. But the servant responded, “You must first prove that you are a fit ruler.” Then the servant asked “Tell me the middle name of the presently ruling king of Gienor, and if you are correct you may rule”
And there was a certain wise man in the kingdom that Edward lived in who all in the kingdom (including Edward) trusted and went to for answers. So the servant went to this wise man and told him that the middle name of the king was ‘meek’.
Soon afterwards Edward went to this wise man and asked him if he knew the middle name of the king of Gienor. The wise man told him that he knew the name to be ‘meek’. Edward then reasoned that the wise man had way more knowledge then he did, and that if the wise man said the middle name was ‘meek’ then he would accept what the wise man said.
But when he gave the servant his answer, the servant looked at him with sad eyes and said “you are not fit to rule the kingdom of Gienor”
So it came to pass that the servant arrived at the last kingdom on the list. And the name of the prince of this kingdom was called Peter. And so the servant approached Peter and said, ““How would you like to inherit the Kingdom of Gienor, the largest and wealthiest kingdom of all?” When Peter heard this, he stared at the servant for a second and then replied “I think I will be a wise king to the Kingdom of Gienor, for I listen to the people and wise counsel, yet I question. Of course I will accept.” But the servant responded, “You must first prove that you are a fit ruler.” Then the servant asked “Tell me the middle name of the presently ruling king of Gienor, and if you are correct you may rule”
So then the servant went out, and he told most all the people that the middle name of the King was ‘meek’ but he told a few it was ‘Brave’. He then found a well respected man of the kingdom of Peter, and told him the middle name of the king was ‘meek’.
Shortly after that, Edward asked all the people what the middle name of the king was, and found that 95% of them said it was ‘meek’, but 5% said it was ‘Brave’. He then asked the respected man, and the man said it was ‘meek’. But Edward was not satisfied, for 5% said it was ‘Brave’. So he decided to go to find out himself. So he traveled a great distance to the Kingdom of Gienor himself, approached the King, and asked what his middle name was. The King who was not aware of what was going on, told the prince his name, and then sent him on his way. Finally, after traveling back a great distance, Peter approached the Servant and told him that the middle name of the King was ‘Brave’. The servant then looked at him with happy eyes and said “Surely you are meant to rule Gienor.” And so it came to pass the Peter became the new King of Gienor.
Interesting huh? This is directed to anybody reading this, but I think Christians will get the most from it...being that what I'm about to say has to do with Christianity. I think today's Christians, (I could also say today's society) has gotten way to lazy. We just don't question anymore. We are like sheep, aimlessly doing what the majority of people do. The Bible says we are like sheep, and that Jesus is to Shepard us. But we are letting the world Shepard us instead! The Bible is tough. Hebrew and Greek language had many words that could be interpreted in more than one way. As a result from that, we have many interpretations of what the Bible tells us in theology, the way we are to act, and so on. But that's the point. The Bible is tough, and it should be tough. As Christians, we should find time to study our word everyday. I'm not talking just reading it. That's not enough. You have to search it....really search it. If you don't, it's like trying to fill your car full of gas with the gas hose, standing ten feet away; you're not going to get a lot in the tank. "But hey, that's just two time consuming" You might say "I've got another things that have to get done." So what do we do instead, we let others teach us instead. We listen to tapes in the car, or read an easy-to-read book from some Christain author. Now don't mistake me here. I think that all that stuff is great! I LOVE reading books by christian authors: R.C Sproul, John MacAurther, John Piper, Vernon McGee, those guys are all some of my biggest heroes. But that alone is not enough, we have to do our own digging.
Now where does this fit in with the story I've posted? Well, I'm getting to it. Because there are a ton of people who aren't searching the Word, who aren't spending time with God everyday and letting Him talk to him\her, we tend to believe everything we hear. A common thought for Christians goes something like this: "Well, if Rob Bell says this is right, then who am I to argue with a godly man like him?" Or, "John MacAurther is an amazing man! Whatever he says must be right!" Or, "If everybody else is doing it, or believing this, then they all can't be wrong."
Well guess what? Rob Bell is preaching things that aren't biblical. John MacAuther isn't perfect. And the crowd isn't always right.
Contemplative Prayer, the Emerging Church, Christian Meditation, the Christian Mystic movement. Maybe you've heard of these things, maybe you've haven't. I don't think they are biblical, and I don't think they are right. But hey, don't take my word for it...search it up. Read the Bible, Pray that the Holy Spirit will fill you up with His wisdom and knowledge. Read from people who don't agree in these things or movements. They are all very popular, and the men and women who accept them and promote them are popular too. Read review on people who don't agree with them. Post on my Blog....lets talk.
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