The request “King me” lives deep in every man. It is a hope that endures, as we navigate the obstacles of life, that one day we will be initiated into a life of more, validated as men. But even when a man becomes a king—when he has arrived at the zenith of his influence, understanding, and authority—he is still hunted. His adversaries know that if they can take out a king, they can make his whole kingdom pay.

What a man offers those he loves and the world around him in his forties, fifties, and sixties is largely shaped by all that has happened to him during the first two decades of his life, the years when a young heart is subject to another kingdom whose evil ruler is pitted against him and who works through others to compromise parts of his heart. The chance that we were captured in our youth and held captive on the enemy’s side of the board is 100 percent. That’s how our adversary gets a head start: by using other kings to usher guilt, shame, and fear into a boy’s story, take hold of his heart, and compromise his ability to reign in his own sphere of influence when his turn comes as a man.

These are difficult times to be a man. But it has been difficult since the garden, mostly because men as a whole haven’t played their part well. We have not learned how to provide for and protect others, because to some degree, we were not protected or provided for. And so, we have unfortunately continued and confirmed our reputation that men aren’t safe, cannot be trusted, and therefore are a large part of the problem with the world.

Because most men have not been loved well—have not been healed, trained, validated, and initiated by the kings who came before them—there are very few good kings in the game today. 

But if men are largely the problem, then maybe, just maybe, men are also a key part of the solution. I believe this is what God is wanting and calling this generation of men to be: men loved by God so they can be entrusted to love the hearts of others. With God’s help, good kings recover their lost and assaulted hearts and trust God to restore what was stolen on their masculine journey.  

This is the calling of godly kings, of the sons of God written into a larger story. No one king can fulfill that calling by himself; it will take kings of all races and kinds allying with one another. But this is nothing new. It is a wildly ancient way that must be recovered. Time now to cross the board and claim your crown.