Dark Knights
As I prayed and reflected on the idea of Dark Horses, another image kept coming to mind: the knight on a chessboard.
At first, the connection was obvious. It’s a horse.
But the more I thought about it, the more meaningful the symbol became.
I’m not a great chess player, though I enjoy playing occasionally with my grandson, Finn. What fascinates me about the knight is that it doesn’t move like any other piece on the board.
Most chess pieces move in straight, predictable lines.
The knight doesn’t.
It moves in an L-shape. It can leap over obstacles. It reaches places other pieces can’t reach in the same way. And because of the unusual way it moves, a knight can sometimes approach the board from an angle others didn’t see coming.
That feels like a fitting symbol for the Dark Horses.
Not because being unconventional is automatically better.
And not because conventional churches, traditions, or structures are automatically bad. I’m grateful for much of what I’ve received through them, and many people I love continue to follow Jesus faithfully within them.
But structures naturally tend toward predictability. Organizations need systems, processes, schedules, and agreed-upon ways of doing things. Those things can be helpful.
They can also, sometimes unintentionally, make it harder to imagine something different.
And we serve a massively creative God.
Creation itself is astonishingly diverse. God seems far less interested in producing identical copies than we sometimes are. And when we look at Jesus, we repeatedly find him refusing to be confined by other people’s expectations of where he should go, whom he should spend time with, or how a faithful religious leader was supposed to behave.
Jesus moved toward people on the margins.
He ate with people respectable religious leaders avoided.
He touched people others considered unclean.
He crossed social, religious, ethnic, and cultural boundaries.
He taught beside lakes, on hillsides, in homes, around dinner tables, and along roads.
When people expected a straight line, Jesus often seemed to arrive from another angle.
Maybe you’ve already made a knight move.
If you’re reading this, perhaps your journey with Jesus has already taken an unexpected turn.
Maybe you stepped outside a church structure you once assumed was essential.
Maybe you began asking questions you were once afraid to ask.
Maybe you discovered meaningful Christian community around a dining-room table instead of in a sanctuary.
Maybe you began seeing your workplace, neighborhood, art studio, hiking group, classroom, or favorite coffee shop as part of your Kingdom Expression.
Or maybe you’re still involved in a conventional church but sense Jesus inviting you beyond the programs and into something more personal, relational, and participatory.
None of those paths necessarily makes us more faithful than anyone else.
The question isn’t whether our path looks conventional or unconventional.
The question is:
Are we following Jesus?
That’s the kind of creativity I hope Dark Horses will encourage.
Not rebellion for rebellion’s sake.
Not innovation because new is automatically better.
Not another tribe congratulating itself for being different.
But the freedom to listen carefully to Jesus and follow him faithfully—even when the next step doesn’t look like everybody else’s.
I hope we can become the kind of community that says to one another:
“That’s an unusual path. Tell me what you’re sensing Jesus is doing there.”
And, when it seems faithful:
“Yes. Follow him. Let’s see where he leads.”
Dark Horses should be curious without becoming cynical, free without becoming arrogant, and courageous without becoming contemptuous.
Maybe that’s another lesson the knight can teach us.
We don’t have to move like every other piece on the board.
But we do need to remember who the King is.
Your Turn
I’d love to hear what you’re learning. Add your thoughts to the conversation:
- Have you ever sensed Jesus leading you down an unexpected path? What helped you discern whether it was really a faithful next step?
- Where have you seen church structures or traditions help people flourish—and where can they unintentionally make creativity harder?
- Where do you see Jesus making unexpected “knight moves” in the Gospels? Who does he move toward, and what boundaries does he cross?
- What tends to keep us on predictable paths? Fear? Approval? Habit? Uncertainty? The desire to belong?
- What would it look like for a community of Dark Horses to encourage experimentation without becoming cynical, reckless, or dismissive of people whose paths look different?
- What unusual Kingdom idea has been stirring in you lately? Where might Jesus be inviting you to take one small, faithful step?
You don’t have to make an unconventional move just to be different. But when Jesus leads somewhere unexpected, may we have the courage to follow.
