Led by Children, Good or Bad?

Children Leading, a Bad Thing?

“I will make mere youths their officials; children will rule over them.” Isaiah 3:4 (NIV 2011)

This was judgment, it was not a good thing. It is interesting that the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (TSK) cross-references this verse to several verses about the child kings in the Old Testament (OT). I had not thought that the boy-king Josiah's rule was a result of judgment: a bad thing. But it does make some sense.

Josiah became king because his father was judged. Okay, sure. So it may not be the fact that a child is ruling that is in itself a bad thing, but that it came about because of bad things. This squares with what comes later in Isaiah about future blessings of old age. If the people of God are blessed, children won't be forced to take the leadership roles.

Children Leading, a Good Thing?

The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat, the calf and the lion and the yearling together; and a little child will lead them. Isaiah 11:6

I have always taken this passage literally. It's a wolf. It's a lamb. Next question...

But as I was listening to this, it occurred to me that we refer to evil people as wolves and the average person as a sheep. Ah, the people that once preyed upon others will do so no longer! This is what the passage is talking about, righteousness and justice. It is also the case that in other parts of Isaiah animals and plants represent people, so it squares.

This brings us to the point about children leading. In the way I used to read it, children will be able to pet lions, tigers, and bears, Oh My! While I don't want to throw that away, I don't think that's the point of the passage. It's talking about people, much of Isaiah does that with metaphors.

So this means that a child will lead people, a blessing in this context!

Uh...

If children are in charge, how do we know if we're being cursed or being blessed?

Good question. Let's look at a few more verses.

How Shall Children Lead?

Through the praise of children and infants you have established a stronghold against your enemies, to silence the foe and the avenger. Psalm 8:2

We have considered the auspices under which children ascend to the throne of leadership (Isaiah 3:4). We have considered the type of society that children would lead (Isaiah 11:6). But we have not talked about what would characterize their leadership.

In Psalm 8:2 we see a childlike trust in the Lord, because we know they don't have the experience to fight and win. Jesus refers to this kind of faith. Cleverness and shrewdness have their place, but trusting in the Lord should characterize us and our leadership. In fact, a child could lead. Not by their knowledge, skills, and abilities, but by their faith. Their faith in God.

Interestingly, when you've worked for the federal government for 17 years, you realize just how much the system relies on faith. Even leaders step out on faith to lead. So is it really any different? Man has been reduced to faith in man, but God asks us to place our faith in Him. In this way, any child of God could lead, because all of the support we give to bad leaders anyways, could instead be given to children who lead with their faith in God.

Now, don't misunderstand.

I'd prefer someone with experience AND a childlike trust in Jesus to lead our society.

Why can't we have both? How do we get there?

Lead by Example: Be a Leader Worth Following

“If anyone causes one of these little ones—those who believe in me—to stumble, it would be better for them to have a large millstone hung around their neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea. Matthew 18:6

I know, I know. It's not talking about "children." But it is talking about how you lead people and by consequence how you raise up the next generation of leadership. And that's my point here. How we lead will have an impact on how those who come after us will lead. "More is caught than taught."

Conclusion

IF your society has justice…

IF your children trust Jesus…

They will LEAD us in praise! 

That's my point. So beware, dear reader. You have been warned. Do you practice justice, righteousness, and faithfulness? Do you inspire others to trust and place faith in Jesus?

IF NOT we'll be left will childish leaders. 

Hmm. 

What kind of leaders do you think we have today? And is your response to criticize the leaders or to practice justice? Oh, I'm the one who doesn't understand??? Oh well, I'll go back to reading Isaiah.

To Build a Movement, to Develop Focus, and to Hatch a Plan

MVV

Core Value(s): To #ReturnToGod through Jesus Christ.

Mission: To work alongside #CoreligionistsAndCobelligerents

Vision: To build towards #TheFutureCity in the New Earth.

As a statement:

#ReturnToGod and work with #CoreligionistsAndCobelligerents to build #TheFutureCity.

This statement takes the form of Initial, Progressive, Final, or in other words Already, but Not Yet.

Strategic Planning

1. Define your vision
2. Assess where you are
3. Determine your priorities and objectives
4. Define responsibilities
5. Measure and evaluate results

(Taken from: https://www.mural.co/blog/strategic-planning-process)

1. The vision of #TheFutureCity needs to be fleshed out. There are many visions out there. Every person, generation, intellectual camp, etc. has to set down their vision. My vision is the one that I can see most conforms to the vision I see in the Christian Bible, most notably in the book of Revelation. It is a theonomic theocracy (more on that later), a monarchial kritarchy, etc. (more terms for "archy" and "cracy" can be found here: https://phrontistery.info/govern.html).

2. The mission of working alongside #CoreligionistsAndCobelligerents is where we are at today. There are problems in public schools that we must fight along with other theists who are fighting those battles. There are problems in our laws that we must fight along with cultural Christians, Supreme Court Justices, Congress men and women, etc. You get the point. Insisting on only working with "the pure" will necessarily lead to failure of achieving our goals. "The Pure" do not exist, if you think they do, you yourself will eventually be excised from that group anyways, so what's the point?

3. Theology provides the foundation for all of life and thought. Start there. If you started somewhere else or left, #ReturnToGod.

4. This is something that will be done as the movement is fleshed out. In any case, each person should act in accordance with their conscience. So, take the principles we will present here and work them out! A lot of people will resist anything that's prescriptive, but some people crave structure (due to personality or other factors). Also children, the immature, or those with aging mental faculties could greatly benefit from that which is prescriptive. We shouldn't shy away from that which is prescriptive, we should shy away from totalitarian/authoritarian methods of enforcing prescriptions. We should also be charitable about them as they are often adiaphora, open-handed. The prescriptiveness of some religions are drawing people to them, Christians should consider it.

5. Time will tell. However, we will look to develop SMART Goals! Plan, Do, Check, Act is another methodology which can be employed (with some modifications, or at least clarity of actually understanding the methodology). This is often clarified by true understanding of mission and vision. Where there is no vision, God's people perishes. Often when we truly understand the problem, antithesis, whatever, the solutions seem to readily present themselves.