We have looked at how all four characters look individually. We’ve seen how they operate when things are good, and how to notice where they are operating in bad ways in our life. There is one more study that is imperative to the four characters, and that is how they tie together and need each other to become whole, to reach their potential, and to stay clear of the bipolar shadows that are inherent in each.
KING
The King is the foundational character that all others are built upon. He is the basis of order, the ruler of the other three. He provides a fertile kingdom for the four to operate together and become effective. As mentioned earlier about the King, he embodies the law of the land. He lives his rule, and that example extends to the kingdom.
The King is not self sufficient, as powerful as he may be. He needs the Warrior to keep from becoming the weakling, or one who is hesitant to act. The King needs the Warrior to combat and conquer evil. He needs him to extend his kingdom’s rule to the chaos that is outside his realm; the chaos that threatens the peace of all lands. A King without a courageous Warrior is powerless.
The King needs the Magician for his wisdom. This wisdom allows him to rule effectively. An unwise King will not know how to pass proper laws that will provide healthy boundaries for the fertility and peace of the land. If the Warrior goes on conquest to extend the land, but there is not proper law brought to the new land, all is lost in one form of chaos replacing another. Jesus said that if you drive out a demon and do not clean house, he will bring back seven more demons, more wicked than himself. (Matthew 12:45) A King without a wise Magician is useless.
The King needs the Lover in order to show mercy to those within his kingdom. A merciless King will turn into a tyrant who does not embody his law, who does not live out his rule. A merciless King rules his kingdom out of fear, and creates fear within it. A King without the Lover is ruthless.
WARRIOR
The Warrior, as courageous as he is, is not a stand-alone character either. The Warrior needs the other four characters to bring a balanced role so he does not slip into the barbarian and/or pushover.
The Warrior needs the King for the purpose of conquest. A Warrior without a purpose is merely a savage. A Warrior without a purpose will go out and look for one. He will take up trivial causes to keep from getting bored. He will take his frustrations and anger out on people around him. A Warrior without a strong King is dangerous.
The Warrior needs the Magician for the knowledge and skill of combat. A Wise Magician can train up a Warrior in the arts, tactics and skills of weapon wielding. A Warrior who does not know how to properly use his weapons is not very effective, just as a Warrior who is not skilled in the art of tactics is useless in battle. This Warrior will have an overabundance of energy, but will be defeated quickly and easily for a lack of knowledge. The Warrior without a skilled Magician is ineffective.
The Warrior also needs the compassionate Lover to keep from becoming a barbarian. The Lover provides the compassion needed for acts of mercy, the ability to feel. Not all battle needs to be done by the sword. The compassionate Warrior will also be able to take on a fight for another. The Bible often refers to looking after widows and orphans, those who do not have the ability to battle on their own. The Warrior without the compassionate Lover is barbaric.
MAGICIAN
The Magician is in dire need of the other three characters to bring order and balance to his characteristics. He needs the King’s accountability, the Warriors action, and the Lovers mercy.
The Magician needs the King’s accountability. Often the Magician can use his knowledge for manipulation for selfish gains. The King will embody the law, live the rule, and give an example for the Magician to follow. The Magician who does not have the accountability of a King becomes a manipulator.
The Magician needs the Warrior for his action. There is an old saying, “Those who can do, do, those who cannot do, teach.” While that may be selling our teachers short, the Magician, on his own is incapable of action. He has many great ideas, much knowledge on issues, and wise in tactics to get things accomplished, but he lacks the strength on his own to make any of it happen. A Magician without a Warrior is immobile.
The Magician needs the Lover’s patience. Often the Magician can get frustrated with all the “idiots who don’t get it” and become ineffective in helping them to understand his wisdom. The Magician who lacks a patient Lover will become self-righteous, and condescending.
LOVER
The Lover is in desperate need of each of the other three characters to help give him the proper boundaries he needs for healthy operation, instead of chaotic consumption of his passions.
The Lover needs the King to set the boundaries of what will bring peace into the kingdom. These boundaries will allow the Lover to flourish healthily without consuming his entire life with passions running wild. A Lover without a controlled King is a consuming wildfire that destroys what it seeks to enjoy.
The Lover needs the Warrior to provide the discipline needed to keep his passions within its proper boundaries. A King provides the rule and boundaries, while the Warrior enforces those boundaries. A Lover without a Warrior is a weak addict.
The Lover needs the Magician to provide understanding of the importance of boundaries. The Lover needs the Magician to bring knowledge of art, beauty, and creativity. The lover needs the Magician to bring skill in the areas of romance and how to love his wife, musicianship and how to create music, tools on how to create art, vocabulary skills on how to write. The Lover without a Magician is left silent.
If we strive to learn about ourselves through these four characters, strive to learn where we are strong and enforce it, and strive to learn about where we are weak and work to strengthen these areas, we can live a great story from day to day. We can be men of character, principle, passion, action, and peace. The Bible calls this wholeness. We can move towards wholeness and healing as men, and impart this to those around us.
Closing Prayer
We would do well to pray for ourselves what Thomas Merton prayed for himself:
MY LORD GOD, I have no idea where I am going.
I do not see the road ahead of me.
I cannot know for certain where it will end.
Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think that I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so.
But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you.
And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing.
I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire.
And I know that if I do this you will lead me by the right road though I may know nothing about it.
Therefore will I trust you always though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death.
I will not fear, for you are ever with me, and you will never leave me to face my perils alone.
- Thomas Merton, "Thoughts in Solitude"
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