The Life of a Pawn

Having the ability to multi-task is a great thing, or at least I always thought it was. My job position and many other things in life call for a multi-tasker, one of the few things I am consistently good with, as it is a gift. But sometimes too much of a gift can be not so good or even harmful to situations, people, or oneself.

On a honest note, putting aside the fact that I am in the top 10% of the wealthiest people in the world just because I live in America and don’t have to worry about the government I submit to trying to harm me for power’s sake, life has not exactly been as peachy as I’d like it to be…
Stress, over-reaching, and too much running on an empty tank finally caught up with me recently. An overloaded mind and body that is already stressed can only go on for so long, and unfortunately it took me almost being hospitalized to realize that….


Being forced to take a break for me was definitely a mind-boggling experience. It gave me time to think about stuff that was really going on in my life and what priorities needed to actually be priorities. I guess it is a universal trait of multi-taskers to not stop thinking; hopefully this particular one can use it for good…

Anyways, part of my thought processes were finding analogies or different scenarios that could help me better understand my own current state of affairs. In a nutshell, at this point there was no need for split-second decision-making, thank God, because it would take me quite some time to find anything to relate too.

And, oddly enough, the thing I could most relate my present situations too was a simple chessboard. Well, not just the board, the pieces are perhaps more important, at least they are as important…
Whatever measure of importance is not really what I want to speak of, although I am sure it would make for a rich topic once you see how it is to be applied:

My proposal is that all of us, regardless of social, economic, religious, racial, or even physical locale status, live on a chessboard of sorts.

If you are not familiar with the game of chess, let me briefly explain the objectives and overarching goals of the game:
The main goal is to force the opponent’s king into a position where it can no longer move…aka “checkmate.”
Minor goals include clearing the board of any opposing piece that blocks you from the checkmate, advancing across the board in a strategic way that limits the other player’s options, and being skilled enough to have a flexible plan that will allow you to win.

It sounds simple enough, but in all honesty it is not. Chess is a very complex, complicated game…

But regardless of complications, the analogy I pulled from the game and compared into my life, or perhaps even God-inspired, was that we are like pawns on a chessboard…and when reality hits the ground running, life becomes uncontrollable. Unfortunatly for the pawn, this can be an every play scenario; or, in our lives, a possible every day scenario.

Perhaps the main problem is that I, like so many others, consider myself the king on the chessboard. Sure, all the other players are important, but they all should be looking out for “number 1.” (me) Right?
Apparently not…

Romans 9 speaks of God’s enduring and uncompromising power. Flipping idly through the Scriptures in my down time led me to verse 18:

“Therefore God has mercy on whom he wants to have mercy, and he hardens whom he wants to harden.”

Wow…talk about hitting home. If the High King of Heaven can control our hearts, then am I really the King on chessboard? Not at all! Living the life of a pawn seems to be much more appropriate for a fallen being such as I and the rest of humanity.
I’ve always known the Gospel to be offensive to many, and in all honesty it can be. No one, especially in our society that puts so much emphasis on independence, likes to hear that they are not the king on there own chessboards…. even some of us professing believers…like me….

I’ve seen, read, and studied the historical, archeological, and other secular accounts of the Scriptures to believe that it is THE inspired Word of God, a love letter to a fallen world. So, when I come to stuff like this…sometimes it can be a little bit of a slap in the face. I guess, in a way, the Bible is like a best friend: Soothing when it needs to be, challenging when confrontation arrives, and still there to pick you up when rock bottom is more than just a reality…way to go Evan, you are kinda like the Bible!

But back to the chess analogy…

Most of us know how to live in the illusion that we are in charge (yes, it is an illusion). But I dare say we know very little about being the pawn. In all honesty, it sounds kind of lame: pawns have the appearance of being the weakest player and are very limited in movement. Our illusionary “kingship” sounds much more exciting. But is it really?

Is submission, please don’t wince at the word, really such a bad thing? Is being a pawn really that bad? Do we even understand what the pawn’s (our) position is?

The pawn is really an amazing part of the game of chess. When combined with other pawns, whole sections of the board can be secured, opposing pieces can be defeated, and, when joined by more powerful pieces, the game can be won.
We look around our world and we see that it is small groups of people that are making the biggest difference. A pawn, or person, going solo quickly burns out and is defeated. A group of pawns holds their ground and may even gain some….
But a pawn/person who is with a group of pawns with the support of the King and other stronger players…comes close to being unstoppable.

I guess the greatest fear of stepping down to the position of the pawn is thinking that the King taking our place will be like any other human, and we could be sacrificed to get what he wants…
But what we forget, what we forget, is that Christ, the King, sacrificed Himself for the pawns.

So, in this light, is being a pawn really degrading? On the chessboard of the world, the King sacrificed Himself for the pawns…. apparently we are worth something…and we haven’t even considered that the chessboard was also created by God…
And not only do I know that I am worth something from my King’s sacrifice, but I also know that I am worth something by the fact that if I do not take my proper place on the board, no one will replace it…in essence keeping my individuality while submitting to something higher than me.

This is what makes Christianity more than a religion: it is a lifestyle choice that involves submission everyday. It is personal. It is taking your place on the chessboard and sticking with it.
Of course, being a pawn does not mean things will always be easy. There are some major opponents in this world as well. There are things such as violence, genocide, and even oppressive governments that sit on the other side of the board, things that are much larger than us. Thankfully, we are not the only pawn the board. And even more so, we have a King who not only never loses, but also created the playing field.

Perhaps being a pawn isn’t such a bad thing…
It means submitting yourself to Christ as independent being. Submission doesn’t make you any less of a person…but perhaps the thing we forget about independence is that to be independent in Christ we must be dependent on Him…a paradox, I know. Freedom in Christ is being dependent on Him, and from that one dependence being independent in all else. Submission may not be such a bitch after all…a lesson we could all learn from…

Maybe multi-tasking isn’t such a bad thing after all either…

Anyways, I’m going to go be a pawn now…you are welcome to join me if you like. I’ve been assigned a pretty scary place on the chessboard, and my submissive independence is needed there.

I sincerely hope you find your place on the chessboard as well, and the sooner the better.

In Christ,
Hackett