A Tale of Three Kings: A Study of Brokenness

The question of leaving a particular kingdom (i.e., a church) arises again, and this time the narrator returns to telling the story of David in order to answer it. David did not leave Saul’s kingdom; he was driven out by force. Rather than making the decision to leave and then creating a performative public exit to generate sympathy, David waited until Saul’s behavior—at this point, the resolution to hunt David down and kill him—made the decision for him. Then David left quietly, all alone. The analogy to contemporary church life is that if one is forced to leave a church because of toxic leadership, that person should not make it their ambition to take a whole movement along with them: “He left alone. Alone. All alone. King Saul II never does that. He always takes those who ‘insist on coming along’” (27). The narrator points out that anyone who leaves a church in this manner, emulating King Saul’s methods, is simply setting up their own kingdom and will shortly become a King Saul themselves.