Cancel Culture, the Bible, the Church, and King David

This series follows the First Readings for this season in the Revised Common Lectionary, mostly. We won’t have all the background of King Saul’s administration from 1 Samuel, but we’re picking up with the troublesome character of King David in 2 Samuel. 

Here are the two main questions these readings (and the parts we won’t read in worship) probe:

1. How does the church narrate David now, knowing all that we know about the myth of redemptive violence, genocidal land grabs, sexual assault and misogyny, homophobia, and more? 

2. Where is God in these stories, and how are we to find God behind the scrim of scripture’s narrator?

What if David was a “chaotic bisexual”? In David’s lament for Saul’s and Jonathan’s deaths, we are invited to remember how David and Jonathan loved each other, and how impossible that was then, and how liberating it might be to uncover that story.

What if David was malformed by violence? David’s reign was secured by his constant readiness to go to war, and to have people murdered. He sat on a throne of blood – and claimed God’s blessing for his positioning. Huh.

What if David was unashamed? The rowdy, raunchy dancing… the lack of decorum… the body positivity… can we handle that? Does Michal stand in for our constricted relationships with our own and others’ bodies?

What if David oversteps his bounds? He wants to ensconce God more or less permanently in a “house” – imagining, perhaps, that putting down real estate roots means we’re here forever. But God says “no,” that God’s own Self is still running this show, and does not need David’s blessing in exchange for God’s.

What if David is a rapist? All the previous chapters were about setting up a new administration, but now it’s settled. David is at home, bored, and turned on by his own sense of potency. What delusions are possible when too much power settles in one place/person?

What if David’s family is in ruins? Amnon’s rape of Tamar… Absalom’s murder of his brother and political-military rebellion against his father… David’s inability to adjudicate family matters (while he reigns all Israel!)… How do we measure his “professional” success vs. his personal failures? Is David revered, or cancelled? Or is there some third way?