By Pieter Deysel
King Charles III after greeting the crowd on the balcony of Buckingham Palace. (Photo: Daniel Leal/AFP)
It seems that everyone has an opinion about the recently crowned King Charles III. Many people’s opinion about the event is very negative.
Some people do not want him as king because of the toxic nature of his former relationship with Princess Diana. Others do not want him as king because he announced that as king he will be the protector of the religions, not just the Christian faith. Sekeres simply claims that the monarchy is an old-fashioned system that should have been abolished a long time ago.
I do think that one does not always have to concern oneself with everything. The coronation of King Charles III is, in my opinion, such a case. What does it profit us to pay excessive attention to it?
Although certain international events leave a ripple effect on South Africa, we as Afrikaners are in a fundamental way far removed from the British royal house. In our daily activities, an old man sitting on a throne overseas does not really influence us. We have enough of our own problems and therefore it would be much better to pay attention to them.
We read in Proverbs 27:23-24: “Pay careful attention to the appearance of your sheep, direct your attention to the herds of cattle; for a treasure is not forever — or will a crown be from generation to generation?”
What this means is that we must concern ourselves with the things that God has entrusted to us. We must occupy ourselves with what we are responsible for at this present moment, because even a crown does not last forever. King Charles III’s ceremonial rule is also going to disappear in the course of time.
It is possible that people obsessively focus on the British royal house precisely because it is so far removed from our own context. It is much easier to talk and reason about other people’s problems than it is to pay attention to our own problems. We would much rather laugh at the latest meaningless thing Joe Biden said than weep at the incompetence of South Africa’s civil servants.
Instead of arguing too much about what is going on in other countries, we should make plans to deal with our own crises. Do you think your future in South Africa is fixed? If things continue as they are now, we as Afrikaners are probably going to be pushed further and further into the background. What are we going to do about it? Do you agree with what your children are taught at school? If you do, you probably haven’t looked at the curriculum recently! Read your child’s PE textbook a bit. Have you checked the condition of the roads around your house recently? Did you recently have to replace your shock absorbers because you drove through a pothole? What are we going to do about it?
We also read in Proverbs 27:25-27: “If the grass disappears and the young grass appears and the bushes are gathered from the mountains, then there are lambs for your clothing and goats as a purchase price for land, and enough goat’s milk for food for your house and as maintenance for your maids”.
What this means in short is if you are a wise steward of what God has given you, it will carry away His blessing. If you manage what you are responsible for in God’s name, you will be better off. We should rather focus on this than on a coronation ceremony in England.
- Pieter Deysel is a 5th year student in theology at the North-West University who wants to start serving the Lord as a minister in the GKSA in two years.
