When Leaders Go Wrong

“Don’t put your trust in human leaders; no human being can save you.  When they die, they return to the dust; on that day all their plans come to an end.” Psalms 146:3-4

Allow me to start this blog with the last verse I used in my previous post. This is a very profound verse which we seldom hear these days – especially inside the Church of Christ (Iglesia Ni Cristo) of which I am a member of. People might accuse me of causing divisions. Let me tackle this first before I go into my actual topic:

DIVISION: separation by difference of opinion or feeling; disagreement; dissension.  – Dictionary.com

Divisions result obviously when there are two opposing points of view.  But if I am simply stating what we have been taught  to us in the past by the previous Church leaders, then which side are YOU on?

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 Let’s begin with this topic now. One of the questions that Ministers like to pose, to discourage brethren from listening to any questions and topics that “Defenders” bring up, is with regards to WHO WILL LEAD God’s nation if it is not the current Executive Minister – Brother EVM? The answer to that is quite simple, if they will think about it. It is GOD who chooses. None of us can decide that. Not even Them. The book of Hebrews makes that clear: “And no one takes this honor on himself, but he receives it when called by God, just as Aaron was. In the same way, Christ did not take on himself the glory of becoming a high priest…”

And this is exactly what happened in the past. Let’s do a little bit of Bible history today. I’ve mentioned in the past that the leaders appointed by God were never perfect with the exception of Jesus Christ (so I don’t know why everybody is up in arms when anyone says anything about EVM). I’ve mentioned in past articles about Saul, the first king of Israel; also David, one of the greatest and loved by God, but also had his flaws; and there was King Solomon, known for his wisdom but was also mentioned for marrying many women not from God’s nation and building altars to false Gods. Imagine that; leaders who had flaws. Hmm…

Before I wander away from the topic, let’s continue… after the first three kings, here is where we study the history. We are doing this so we will not be accused again of more lies. We can simply read from the Bible. King Solomon had a son named Rehoboam. When he took over Solomon, many complained about the heavy taxation. Instead of lightening the load, Rehoboam did not accept advice of the old advisers but instead listened to the people he grew up with. He instead answered the people of Israel harshly. His insulting reply to them? “My little finger is thicker than my father’s loins”. Instead of listening to the people, he increased the taxes. The people did not want Rehoboam and instead wanted a different leader. There were those who remained following Rehoboam but there were those who did not.

What do you think God did? Did He say “wait a minute, you have to keep it in the family”? Did God say “his father was a good guy so he gets to inherit the position automatically”? NO.

He actually blessed and appointed Jeroboam as King and blessed the tribe of Judah, which was originally just a portion of Israel.

What’s the point here? It is wrong to automatically assume that the true Administrator is the one who took the job. The oldest son does not always get a free pass to leadership. Sometimes God has a different plan and He even showed this to His people.  Let me repeat my points

• Rehoboam, was the son of one of the greatest, wisest leader, King Solomon and grandson of David
• Rehoboam was not a good king. He listened to people he grew up with
• God listened to those who complained about Rehoboam because of his poor leadership skills
• God instead chose Jeroboam to lead. God blessed the tribe of Judah

We cannot disregard the tribe of Judah. This was not a tiny group of “jealous” (inggit) people. God indeed blessed the people of Judah even though they rejected the king of Israel. We often hear of how Israel was God’s nation. But God truly blessed Judah. According to Jewishvirtuallibrary.org:

“In 722 BC, the Assyrians conquered Israel. The Assyrians were aggressive and effective; the history of their dominance over the Middle East is a history of constant warfare…When they conquered Israel, they forced the ten tribes to scatter throughout their empire. For all practical purposes, you might consider this a proto-diaspora(“diaspora”=”scattering”), except that these Israelites disappear from history permanently; they are called “the ten lost tribes of Israel.” 

Yes you read correctly, TEN. Aren’t there 12 tribes? Yes. Judah and Ammon were not conquered. They remained under the protection of God. One of the great Biblical kings we are often told about  – King Hezekiah known for being blessed with an additional 15 years of life – was king of Judah – not Israel. Israel was conquered because they turned away from the true worship of God and turned to idol worship.

What I am trying to drive at is not division. It is history repeating itself. What I am getting at is because of the terrible leadership of Rehoboam, God listened to His people who suffered under his reign; appointed Jeroboam to lead Judah and an entire parallel history emerged because God blessed those who prayed for a new leader.

So to answer those who say, if we are complaining about the leadership of EVM, that is nothing new; when leadership is terrible, it is terrible. Why lie about it? When there is injustice, corruption and turning away from the true worship, true servants groan and can complain to God. Are we being hindered and prohibited now from groaning to God? The early Israelites groaned:

“During that long period, the king of Egypt died. The Israelites groaned in their slavery and cried out, and their cry for help because of their slavery went up to God.” Exodus 2:23

“Because the poor are plundered and the needy groan, I will now arise,” says the Lord. “I will protect them from those who malign them.”’ Psalm 12:5

The early Christians groaned:

“The Spirit makes us sure about what we will be in the future. But now we groan silently, while we wait for God to show that we are his children. This means that our bodies will also be set free.” Romans 8:23

Perhaps many of us now groan too. We witness the pretentiousness. We feel the emptiness of the gatherings. We see the corruption and injustice. But no matter what, stay strong in the TRUE FAITH.

I dedicate this to a friend of mine. You don’t know I am the writer but I know you want to quit the Church. Just keep praying. God will hear our groaning. God is not deaf. He will listen. He will help us. Those in position may oppress us but God will be there for us, my friend.

“to render judgment for the fatherless and the oppressed so that a mere mortal from the earth will no longer cause terror.” Psalm 10:18