King Saul's Faulty Vision
"Samuel said, 'Though you are little in your own eyes, are you not the head of the tribes of Israel? The Lord anointed you king over Israel'" (1 Samuel 15:17)
This is a damning statement from the prophet to King Saul. It comes after Saul failed to obey God concerning the Amalekites. Utter destruction was the command, partial destruction was the execution.
As I read the story it seems like there is a bit of disappointment in Samuel's words. The same kind of disappointment that is present in the teacher who watches her student with tons of potential swim down the stream of mediocrity. Or the coach who is literally watching a star athlete waste away their potential because they are afraid to be great.
King Saul was this sort of person. He was, "a handsome young man, There was not a man among the people of Israel more handsome than he; he stood head and shoulders above everyone else" (1 Samuel 10:2). But with all these enviable, albeit external, qualities, there was something wrong with Saul. He didn't see himself that way.
There was something about him that wanted to make everyone happy and loved; he was a people pleaser. Being tall and handsome, I can imagine him lowering his stature during a class picture so he wouldn't stand out. Capitulation to popular opinion was his game, and he played it like a pro. This, unfortunately, was his downfall.
The problem with Saul was that God saw him one way — a courageous king who would lead Israel to more victory, but Saul saw himself another way — "you are little in your own eyes," the prophet said. Therefore, he tried to gain his significance, not by adopting God's vision, but by adopting a false vision whose goal was to make the people happy.
I can't be to hard on Saul, because I find within myself the propensity to lead by getting people to like me. But the reason this approach to life should be avoided vigorously is because when our aim is to get people to like us, we are sacrificing a vision of life that God has for us, for a vision of life that those around us have. I'm not suggesting that one should constantly say, "God spoke to me, therefore, yield!" But a person should lead towards the vision that God has. Always towards God's vision.
People pleasing effectively pushes God out of the equation, because success, for the people pleaser, means doing what will make the people smile. Where is the place for God, here? This is what Saul did. He said to Samuel, "I have transgressed the commandment of the Lord and your words, because I feared the people and obeyed their voice" (1 Samuel 15:24). This is wimpy. This is tragic. This is the reason women and men of God today fail to become the person God created them to be. Instead of living into the role of queen or king, they settle for the role of slave because they are afraid. The leadership that seeks to please people is based off of fear. Remember Saul's own words, "I feared the people."
To live into God's vision, on the other hand, takes courage. It doesn't mean being opposed to everyone as a natural course. It means being so committed to pleasing God that you lead in a way that results in what God wants done being done. It means knowing that people will reject you, despise you, maybe even try to kill you; but still leading towards God, because you believe that God's vision is best, and because you value God's approval more than the approval of the crowd.
Jesus was a new and better Saul. In John 6 the crowd sought to force him to become king. The next verse offers insight into whose approval Jesus was seeking. "When Jesus realized that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, he withdrew again to the mountain by himself" (John 6:15). By himself? No. His Father was there with him. For He is the one Jesus sought to please. If he was like Saul, he would've let the crowd make him king. But how can the crowd make him what he already was. Since the Father already saw Jesus as king, all Jesus had to do was pursue the Father, and realize his inheritance.
The same is true for you and me. God already sees us as the people he created us to be. To borrow from Dallas Willard, "You are an unceasing spiritual being with an eternal destiny in God's great universe." That is what you are, because that is how God sees you. Live towards that vision. Reject any other vision, including your own, that suggests otherwise. Be bold. Be courageous. Do not fear. Live towards God, and you, too, will realize your inheritance.