Shoved Off the Throne

In his book, Made for Goodness, Desmond Tutu talks about a time when he lead presumptuously until he made a simple decision that would serve to reveal the frailties in his ministry. In short, he put off visiting a sick parishioner and she died before he reached out to her. For Desmond Tutu this was a colossal failure. When he received the news that the lady had passed away he felt like he had been shoved off the throne of ethereal ascent. Suddenly, a sanctified, mighty and revered Desmond Tutu was made to feel low, inept, and undeserving. He had to sulk in the pain of failing the deceased woman, failing the community from which she came, failing self, and failing at the commitment he made to God. Perhaps, the latter was the most hurtful.

Desmond Tutu’s pitfall in this situation only serves to show that the best among us fail. We know that Desmond Tutu’s contributions to the world far exceed whatever mistakes he made along the way.  However, there is something we can glean from how he viewed his failure. He said he felt as though he had been shoved off the throne.  For our exploration there are four important questions. First, what throne was he speaking of?  Second, who put him on it? Third, who shoved him off?  Finally, why does it matter?

More than a large chair atop a flight of stairs, a throne is also an impalpable reality.  We don’t always see thrones, but we know they exist. A throne represents a euphoric position of power. On some level we all have a position of power. Thus, we all have a throne to marvel.  Our throne is what we use to display our power. Perhaps this is the reason we work so hard, and spend much of our lives constructing our throne; we want to put our power on display. Desmond Tutu’s throne displayed his ability to lead people in religious devotion.  Yes noble, but undoubtedly a dangerously powerful position.

We like to think that our throne is ordained by God.  This way of thinking helps suppress the guilt that stems from vanity. We would rather believe God desires for us to live elevated than accept that our throne is self-aggrandized.  So, we pray for our throne; we ask God to bless our throne.  We even plead God’s hand in building our throne.  The problem is we construct our throne regardless of what God says. We are determined to acquire our position(s) of power with, or without God’s consent. Thus, we don’t always know for whom, or by whom our throne is built. God and Desmond Tutu may have shared hands in building his throne.  Tutu may have formed, and mounted his throne all alone.  Nonetheless, Desmond Tutu found himself forced off.

Though it may not be clear who built his throne, Desmond Tutu uses language that would help us understand that he did not voluntarily step down. According to him he was shoved off the throne.  In other words, he was forced down.  Apart from himself there are only two other possibilities for who was responsible for his demotion. Either it was the people who acknowledged his throne, or it was God.  People can surely knock us off our pedestal.  They can dismantle our thrones with accusations, gossip, condemnation, or any other use of their power.  In this case witnesses would denote Desmond Tutu’s neglect to visit his parishioner as an understandable blunder.  After all, people witness worse indiscretions committed by leaders frequently.  The standard in which people have become accustomed to holding leaders accountable had been diminished greatly by the time of Tutu’s mistake.  So, the people whom recognized his throne had no impulse to dethrone him. However, God was fully aware of Desmond Tutu’s misstep; and God’s standards do not fluctuate.

Desmond Tutu was ever mindful of his humility under the sight of God.  He was aware that his throne was a privilege, and that he should honor God by being careful with it.   The standard set for governing his throne was far greater than what people would expect of him.  It was a Godly standard.  It was one that was established by him and God alone. No matter what anyone else thought, Tutu was well aware of how far he missed the mark. In the end it would be God, who pricked Desmond Tutu’s conscience, and God who shoved him off the throne.

Why does any of this matter? Heirs of God should be made aware that God reserves the right to bring us down from the noblest pedestals. So how much more should we expect to be dethroned from constructs of selfish ambition? It’s plausible that God only allows us to build thrones so that God can shove us off of them. This is the secret life of God’s chosen; a life of being lifted up and shoved down.  Does this personify God as a mean bully who takes pleasure in setting people up to fail?  No more than it does a teacher who looks forward to her/his students making mistakes.  If we are to grow, learn and be of effective use for God we have to endure the pain of occasionally being brought down.  Only after we are brought down we give proper attention to the flaws in our life’s design. We pick apart the places in our ascent where we worked to build ourselves up without God’s input. In the end, Desmond Tutu appreciated God’s rebuke. He learned that he did not have it all together. There were some areas in his ministry that needed some attention. He also learned that his throne was not completely a divine construct.  Some of it was made of self-glory. This acknowledgement served Desmond Tutu in becoming a better servant.  We should note that from time to time we will be shoved off our throne. It creates in us the humility necessary for the proper use of our power.

Read (Philippians 2:5-8)