C035 9/18/55
© Project Winsome International, 1999

HENPECKED CONQUERORS
Dr. John Allan Lavender
Rom. 8:35, 37-39; Mt. 11:29-30

For a man who didn't start to school until he was 40 years old, Charlemagne the Great did alright for himself. His initial wealth and power came through inheriting the kingdom of Franks from his legendary grandfather, Charles Martel. But he wisely exploited this rather meager beginning and extended that kingdom from the Baltic to the Mediterranean and from the Atlantic (except Spain) to the Slavlands. In so doing, he quite naturally built up something of a reputation as a fearless warrior who performed super-human feats. He became known as the perfect ruler dispensing perfect justice and, as a loyal disciple of the Christian faith, in the year 800, was crowned Holy Roman Emperor of the entire West.

But like all human beings, Charlemagne had his Achilles heel. In a rather colorful biography, Charles Lamb pokes a gaping hole through the conqueror's otherwise shining armor by showing him to be a thoroughly henpecked husband. In fact, the inference is that his wife, Fastrada, a cruel, conniving woman had something to do with his incessant campaigns to distant lands, and the totally uncharacteristic outbreaks of ruthlessness which sometimes possessed him.

It makes a fascinating picture, doesn't it? Taken from the angle of a profile, one sees the shadowy outline of a conquering hero. Owner of vast stretches of terrain. Benevolent ruler of uncounted throngs of the earth's population. But seen from the front, with the shadow torn away, one glimpses the little lines of frustration and humiliation etched there by the constant harassing of his conniving wife, and you know that despite his wealth and power, his pomp and circumstance, Charlemagne the Great -- Emperor of the West, ruler of half the known world -- was a henpecked conqueror.

I wonder if we can bring this historical reference into focus and relate it to our own experience as Christians. Here are we who, through faith in Christ, have become "more than conquerors". We have been given victory over death and sin. We have inherited eternal life with all of its consequent benefits. We have been made children of God and thus, are heirs apparent to all of the wealth and power of our Father's kingdom.

We have been given the tremendous resources of the Holy Spirit and, through Him, such rich gifts as love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, meekness and self-control.
We should, indeed, be more than conquerors. We ought to be the happiest of all people and, in the last analysis, we may be. But let us also admit that when the facade of pretense has been pulled away, and the shadows of religiosity have been removed by the glaring, white light of truth, there are also times in the life of each of us when, like Charlemagne the Great, we too are henpecked conquerors.

In our case, the culprit is not a conniving wife (or tyrannical husband.) Rather, the thin lines of frustration which mar our Christian countenance are drawn there by the constant harassing of
The complexity of the world in which we live.
The competing loyalties which vie for our allegiance.
The conflicting impulses which war within us.
Look at the first of these harassing influences which henpeck 20th century Christians.

The Complexity of Modern Life
Mechanical, industrial, economic, and social "progress" have all taken their toll on Christians, just as they have left their mark upon our entire culture.

Speed has become the watch word of the hour. The average suburban business person has become captive of the 7:31 and the 5:02. They have been so conditioned that if, on their way to the office on a Monday morning, they miss one opening in the revolving door, they feel they're behind schedule all week.

Fortunes are made and lost and made again overnight. Great ships which once took months to construct are now completed in a matter of a few days. I can still remember sharing in the launching of a 10,000 ton Liberty ship which had been built from the keel up in 96 hours!

This great industrial revolution has contributed to the confusing eruption of population that has beset our metropolitan areas as hordes of people, many unprepared for urban living, descend upon cities like Chicago, looking for economic health and security.

We live in an age of prosperity without precedent, but unfortunately it has been accompanied by self-indulgence without parallel. As a result, the world seems to lack the moral fibre it takes to get off the treadmill.

All around us bewildered, emotionally distraught men and women scurry helter-skelter amid the maddening maze of modern life, searching for that nebulous thing called "success".

And even though the wayside is strewed with glittering gadgets and gaudy accruements, the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow is often found to be full of iron. And, when the balance is struck, the result of all this struggle hardly seems to be worth the effort.

In fact, professor John Bailey contends that:
"There is in the life of every person today a sense of failure, a feeling that idealism has collapsed."
And because we as Christians must, of necessity, live in this confused and confusing world, we cannot avoid the daily harassment of a complex society. The second influence that drives its pin-pricks into 20th century Christians is the factor of

A Multiplicity of Competing Loyalties.
In the 31st chapter of Genesis, there is the story of Jacob's flight from Laban. In it, you will remember that Rachel, the wife of Jacob, stole the little heathen god that belonged to her father, hoping it would bring happiness and prosperity to her own household.

It was a case of competing loyalty. For a while, Rachel believed in the one true God of Israel, then she floundered in her faith, giving way to the prevailing superstitions of her day. As a result, she was not only guilty of stealing, but of lying. When Laban came looking for the missing idol, Rachel, who had hid them in her camel saddle, claimed to be sick and unable to move so they could not search her tent. Two grievous sins...lying and stealing...were committed because she fell prey to the siren call of a false loyalty.

I think there's a lesson here for us. We, too, are surrounded by a bevy of enterprises, interests and organizations which compete for our loyalty. The loyalty we owe, first, last and always to the Christ whose captive we are. For as Paul declares in I Cor 6:20, we have been "bought with a price" and we belong to the buyer!

We might call these competing attractions "loyalties junior grade," for while they are good, stimulating, even edifying, they are definitely second class. They are "little god's" 20th century style. And, when we allow them to take preeminence in our lives, we are just as guilty of idolatry as Rachel was. And what is more, the results are just the same.
Idolatry always leads to other sins. Perhaps that's why the first commandment is: