Abner
Theme:
Allegiance
Business Application:
Change is difficult without buy-in
Who he was:
The leader of King Saul’s army and his cousin. After the king’s death, he initially propped up Saul’s son Ishbosheth as his successor rather than changing allegiance to the new king, David.
During the seven years of skirmishes between King David’s army and the late King Saul’s, Abner killed Joab’s brother in self-defense. Later, feeling betrayed and disillusioned by Ishbosheth, he switched allegiances to King David and brought the army with him. Joab seized the opportunity for a revenge killing.
Why his story matters:
Abner’s story illustrates the difficulty of change, especially when it impacts a person’s identity. Abner’s identity was so wrapped up in service to the House of Saul that he resisted conceding the fight to the House of David, even after the former king’s death. For his part, Joab’s identity was in doing battle against Saul’s army. He missed the much larger mission of having a unified force against their common enemies.
What we can learn from him:
Abner’s story shows the importance of doing the hard work of connecting with people who disagree with you, so you can win them over to participate in a common mission. Otherwise, they can sabotage your plans. It also serves as a caution against spending our energy on lost causes because of a misplaced sense of loyalty.
Where we see his archetype today:
We see traces of Abner when trying to effect change that people perceive as a threat to their identity. Too often, we demonize them and alienate them rather than making an effort to build bridges and make a common cause with them.
How we can learn more about him:
Abner is introduced in 1 Samuel 14:50-51. We see his encounters with David, while King Saul was alive, in 1 Samuel 17:57 and 1 Samuel 26:5-16. Later, we find him fighting on behalf of Ishbosheth in 2 Samuel 2:8-28 and defecting to David in 2 Samuel 3.