{"id":2335,"date":"2017-11-08T18:47:50","date_gmt":"2017-11-08T18:47:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.therealgeobooth.com\/?p=2335"},"modified":"2017-11-08T00:48:55","modified_gmt":"2017-11-08T00:48:55","slug":"re-post-four-lessons-from-king-lune-of-archenland","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.therealgeobooth.com\/?p=2335","title":{"rendered":"Re-post: Four Lessons from King Lune of Archenland"},"content":{"rendered":"

“But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God\u2019s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.”<\/em><\/span>
\n -1 Peter 2:9 (NIV)<\/em><\/span><\/h4>\n

From the time my first son was born I have been a fan of C.S. Lewis’s The Chronicles of Narnia<\/em>. \u00a0During my sons’ formative years, we probably read through the entire series — aloud — at least seven times. \u00a0This does not include the various other times I read one or another of the books for the enjoyment of it.<\/p>\n

In book five (according to the copyright date — don’t get me started) titled The Horse and His Boy<\/em>, we encounter a character who, despite his brief appearance in this one volume, made a real impression on me. \u00a0I am referring to King Lune of Archenland, a model of manliness as I hope you’ll see in the following passage:<\/p>\n

\"Processed<\/a>

“The King’s under the law, for it’s the law makes him a king.”<\/p><\/div>\n

“As was certain to happen sooner or later, King Lune said it was time for young people to be in bed. \u201cAnd tomorrow, Cor,\u201d he added, \u201cshalt come over all the castle with me and see the estate, and mark all its strength and weakness: for it will be thine to guard when I\u2019m gone.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBut Corin will be the King then, Father,\u201d said Cor.<\/p>\n

\u201cNay, lad,\u201d said King Lune, \u201cthou art my heir. The crown comes to thee.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBut I don\u2019t want it,\u201d said Cor. \u201cI\u2019d far rather\u2013\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201c\u2018Tis no question what thou wantest, Cor, nor I either. \u2018Tis in the course of law.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBut if we\u2019re twins we must be the same age.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNay,\u201d said the King with a laugh. \u201cOne must come first. Art Corin\u2019s elder by full twenty minutes. And his better too, let\u2019s hope, though that\u2019s no great mastery.\u201d And he looked at Corin with a twinkle in his eyes.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut, Father, couldn\u2019t you make whichever you like to be the next King?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNo. The King\u2019s under the law, for it\u2019s the law makes him a king. Hast no more power to start away from thy crown than any sentry from his post.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOh dear,\u201d said Cor. \u201cI don\u2019t want to at all. And Corin\u2013 I am most dreadfully sorry. I never dreamed my turning up was going to chisel you out of your kingdom.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHurrah! Hurrah!\u201d said Corin. \u201cI shan\u2019t have to be king. I shan\u2019t have to be king. I\u2019ll always be a prince. It\u2019s princes have all the fun.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd that\u2019s truer than thy brother knows, Cor,\u201d said King Lune. \u201cFor this is what it means to be a king: to be first in every desperate attack and last in every desperate retreat, and when there\u2019s hunger in the land (as must be now and then in bad years) to wear finer clothes and laugh louder over a scantier meal than any man in your land.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2013C.S. Lewis,\u00a0The Horse and His Boy<\/a>\u00a0<\/em>in\u00a0The Chronicles of Narnia<\/a><\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

As a man, you are made to exercise your masculine strength. \u00a0If you’re called to be a husband, your mission is to be her head and to lead your wife toward ever-increasing Christlikeness. \u00a0If you’re blessed to be a father, your mission is to teach your children and train them in right living under the grace of God. \u00a0This type of spiritual headship has been described as a man’s being the king of his castle.<\/p>\n

If you’re a leader — a king — \u00a0here are four concepts I offer for your consideration, based on the example of good King Lune.<\/p>\n

Even kings are under authority<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n

King Lune submits to the law, making him a moral and just leader. \u00a0If you read the entire series, you’ll understand that in the fictional realm of Narnia, there are laws because there is a transcendent law-giver. \u00a0So Lune wouldn’t have tried to change the law even if he wanted to.\u00a0This is consistent with the saying that we are a country of laws, not men. \u00a0Everyone is subject to the same standard, even the king.<\/p>\n

A king has a duty – he is not his own<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n

Everyone in Archenland has his role. \u00a0As Lune points out, it isn’t a matter of what he, his son or anyone else prefers. \u00a0If your job is to be king, then by all means rule. \u00a0The monarch can’t shirk his responsibilities any more than a soldier or a sentry in the king’s army can be derelict in his. \u00a0As Robert E. Lee said, “You should do your duty in all things. You can never do more, you should never wish to do less.”<\/p>\n

A king leads from the front<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n


\n<\/strong>As Lune explains to his son what it means to be king, he models a concept known as leading from the front. \u00a0A good king is first in every charge, and the last man in every retreat. \u00a0He puts his own life on the line in battle, since it is by his authority that the kingdom is at war. \u00a0If there are hard times, he bears them with his subjects and doesn’t exempt or isolate himself from the suffering in his domain. \u00a0The motto at the Marine Corps Officer Candidate School is Ductus exemplo<\/em> — lead by example.<\/p>\n

A king sets the tone for those in his kingdom<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n

Note that King Lune is no politician. He doesn’t promise never-ending prosperity, and he recognizes that bad years will come. \u00a0He understands and articulates that in those circumstances a good king doesn’t go into hiding. \u00a0Rather he brightens his attitude and those of his people by force of his optimism. \u00a0He wears fine clothes and laughs despite the lack of food on his plate because he has hope.<\/p>\n

A husband and a father needs to be strong before his wife and children in this same way. \u00a0They are looking to their leader — you — to set the emotional and spiritual tone in good and bad times. \u00a0I personally couldn’t do this without God’s help, but I do it because I have hope<\/p>\n

So how about you? \u00a0<\/strong>How do you — or how do you intend to — wield your authority in your domain? \u00a0Add your comments below.<\/span><\/h4>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

“But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God\u2019s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.” -1 Peter 2:9 (NIV) From the time my first son was born I have been a fan of C.S. Lewis’s The Chronicles […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[86,38,28,111,87,13,118,185,70,10,65,52,91,106,9,55],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2335","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-books","category-c-s-lewis","category-confidence","category-courage","category-destiny","category-faith","category-fatherhood","category-headship","category-honor","category-integrity","category-leadership","category-masculinity","category-narnia","category-purpose","category-role-model","category-wisdom"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.therealgeobooth.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2335","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.therealgeobooth.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.therealgeobooth.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.therealgeobooth.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.therealgeobooth.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2335"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.therealgeobooth.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2335\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2336,"href":"https:\/\/www.therealgeobooth.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2335\/revisions\/2336"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.therealgeobooth.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2335"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.therealgeobooth.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2335"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.therealgeobooth.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2335"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}