Absalom's conspiracy

“And Absalom would add, ‘If only I were appointed judge in the land! Then everyone who has a complaint or case could come to me and I would see that he gets justice.’” 2 Samuel 15:4
Absalom was David’s third son, born to his wife Maacah (2 Sam. 3:2-3). He had killed his older brother Amnon (born to David’s wife Ahinoam, 2 Sam. 3:2), after his indecent act with Absalom’s sister Tamar (2 Sam. 13). After this Absalom had fled into exile, until Joab convinced David to bring him back. But it would seem that their relationship was strained, and perhaps this gave rise to Absalom conspiring to take the throne away from his father by force.
Absalom began his conspiracy by undermining David’s authority. He implied that David was too busy to listen to the people and their problems – which was completely untrue; David had given court to a widow (2 Sam. 14:4-8), and listened to Nathan tell him about a poor man whose only lamb was forcibly taken from him (2 Sam. 12:1-6).
Absalom used his position as the king’s son to exalt himself. If he had not been the son of David, he would have had no standing among the people. And Absalom was not interested in providing justice for the people – he was only saying this to win their hearts away so that they would support him when he rose up to take the throne.
There are people today in churches who do the same thing. They don’t have any official position, but they’ll convince others seeking guidance from the church leadership to listen to themselves instead. They set themselves up as an counsellor – not to help, but to draw people away to themselves. We need to be mindful of this kind of thing – there is nothing new under the sun. People will be hungry for power and will use various methods to take it. But a true Christian leader will follow Jesus’ example and show by their lifestyle that they are willing to be the servant of all.

*Edited in response to anonymous comment