WHO ARE BETTER GOOD LEADERS - YOUNG OR OLD?
By: Arnulfo ‘Cocoy’ Yu Laniba
Agape Foundation (Agasoft)
In our town, Loon, two of the three candidates hotly contesting for the mayoralty post are uncle (Atty. Inocentes “Titing” Lopez) and his nephew, Dr. Lloyd “Lolet” Lopez.
The uncle, being a lawyer, has many experiences and is expert in the Local Government Code. On the other hand, Dr. Lopez is inexperienced regarding governance. His life has been concentrated in his work as a doctor. He has no record of being a youth leader, in the barangay SK or in the school.
This has become a topic of discussion and debate in the barangays, in the streets, among old and young, among women and men.
Who should lead us? The young or the old? The people are confused. They had experience with the old in the past who did not accomplish much. Now, most of the succeeding generation have inclined themselves to prefer Dr. Lopez because he has no stain in his character yet no experience too.
His uncle has an issue of immorality. He is rumored to have another woman, and that he has left his wife in Surigao. If this were a Muslim community, it would not be an issue because Muslim are allowed to have two or more wives. As long as that alleged other woman of Atty. Lopez is not a wife of another, then, he could easily escape the scrutiny of the Muslims. That is acceptable to them.
In the time of the Patriarchs, polygamy (many wives or women) were practiced by a number of them. Abraham had concubines. Jacob-Israel had two wives and at least two concubines. On the other hand, Adam, Isaac and Noah were one-woman men.
The 10 Commandments does not prohibit polygamy (having more than one wife). It only prohibits adultery and coveting another man’s wife. But the Genesis however, indicates that a man is to leave his parents and live with his wife (Genesis 2:24). So, that’s monogamy. But that is not enough to invalidate polygamy which the Muslims, the Chinese, the Japanese and perhaps other nations practiced before or until now.
King Solomon was a classic case: he had 700 wives and 300 concubines!!! And yet the Bible has left him unpunished if polygamy were a sin. What the Bible identified as sin was Solomon’s worshipping the false gods of his wives (1 Kings 11:1-13). God however warned about intermarrying foreign women, not precisely because it is sin, but because that would expose him to idolatries, or worship of false gods. Polygamy or marrying 700 women was not clearly identified by God as a sin. It was idolatry or worship of other gods that was pointed out to be Solomon’s undoing.
But, in this Catholic monogamous community, that issue is sensitive. I also believe that monogamy is the better, if not the only, way – the ideal way. However, having many wives did not make David and Solomon ineffective. As a matter of fact, David who had also many wives and his son Solomon were considered to be the best kings Israel had ever had that brought about the Golden Age of Israel!
So, you can rule effectively even if you have more than one wife. But to covet another man’s wife was another story. This is the greatest mistake of David, when he was blinded by his power and thought it OK to covet beautiful Bathsheba and let her husband be killed in the war. What followed from this surely twin sins of adultery and murder was a series of great misfortunes upon David’s life, family and kingship that almost cost his position and life. Three of his sons (that of Bathsheba, then, his son Amnon and the last, Absalom his eldest son) died because of the ensuing family feud as God’s punishment for David’s sins (1 Kings 11-20).
On the other hand, there are no clear penalties ever recorded in the Bible for polygamy, except that of envy and rivalry between women (e.g., Leah vs. her sister Rachel over Jacob; Sarah and her maid Hagar over Abraham). Esau had many wives but no punishment was recorded.
We need other Scriptures from God to clarify this issue. In my own readings of God’s other revelations, it was clear to me that MONOGAMY IS THE IDEAL, BUT POLYGYNY (polygamy by man, not by woman) WAS/IS ALLOWED IN CERTAIN CASES, e.g., to the founding Chinese to hasten population.
This needs a separate time and space to discuss. Suffice is to say that in ruling or leading a people, polygamy may not cause ineffectiveness on the part of the leader. Polygamy does not serve as a point of disqualification.
But the monogamous Loonanons took the issue seriously. But what makes it more confusing to the people (voters) is that (1) Lloyd is like a newly bought young carabao who has no experience in plowing a field but who the new owner wants to use in open a new field; and, (2) he could not pledge to release the 20% Development Fund while his uncle has pledged to release the Fund for the people’s livelihood and business. Llyod’s silence about the 20% DF reminds the people of his older brother- incumbent mayor Yul’s illegal yet uncontested use of the same Fund from 1998 to 2007, or a period of nine years, for projects that did not result to the people’s economic and social development.
I have cited the incumbent young mayor of our neighboring town, Calape, whose main problems as a mayor these past 3 years is his inability to decide. His lack of experience has made him like a yacht which is paddled by two parties, one is going to the east and the other going to the west. Or he is like driftwood, being tossed to and fro by the waves.
What good has he done to Calape? Almost none!
Therefore, a wisdom-less young man is not a good leader.
Who is to choose, then: an old man of experience who has no more small children to feed and is less likely to steal and who has pledged to allocate the town’s main fund (around P8 millions) for the livelihood, jobs and business of the people in each barangay but who is accused of having another woman, Or a young man without a known vice but lacking in experience, thus, wisdom?
Who is to be chosen: the young or the old? I have told one of the old men I had discussed the issue with that Lloyd is so lacking in both understanding of the problems and still less is he armed with solutions to these problems. “If Lloyd won and sat as our mayor, how can he solve the problems of the fishermen, of the farmers, of the women, of the construction workers, of the youth, of the disabled, of the businessmen, of the OFWs, of the children, of the wives, of the husbands, etc., etc.? He does not know all other sectors except his own field of medicine. Lloyd is like a neophyte carabao that is put to work and plow a field. The new owner shall surely have problem with the new carabao. Or he might even say, I would rather do the plowing myself!”
And for a man who is not experienced in as many fields as possible, progress of the town is slow or hindered. That is our experience with former mayor Caresosa for more or less 20 years during Marcos time and until 1998. He viewed governance as a lawyer, not as a businessman or economist. Dr. Yul Lopez followed the last 9 years and he failed to show good performance in socio-economic aspects of the town.
This error (or was it the lack of better alternative?) has caused the long-standing not-just stagnation of the town but also its demise, after over 100 of its 120 small garments manufacturers got bankrupt due to the Levi’s raid that they allowed.
My conclusion then is: Being an attorney or a doctor is not a sure guarantee that your town or nation will progress. Not even with an economist like our incumbent president Arroyo.
Who then is best to be chosen as a leader: the old or the young?
Answer: Any age as long as he has (1) wisdom and (2) righteousness and (3) love.
What is wisdom? And what is righteousness? And what kind of love?
Let us touch each one them in order to more fully understand their importance and value. Without understanding the value of wisdom, righteousness and love, we will fail to appreciate them and will not insist that we choose only the leader who has them.
I. WISDOM
What is wisdom? What does wisdom do? What are its fruits or benefits?
WISDOM is a way, a path, scheme, process, system or decision that bears good, both in the short and long-range. If a decision brings good in the short run but brings damage in the long-run, then, that is not wisdom. If a system enriches the few but impoverishes the many, like capitalism!, then, that is not wisdom! That is exploitation!
There are two kinds of wisdom. Only God’s ways qualify to be called wisdom but man labels his ways to be wisdom and calls himself wise. So, there are two kinds of wisdom that exist in the world: the true wisdom from above, and the false wisdom of man (James 3:13-18).
How do you differentiate the two? According to the apostle James, true wisdom produces peace while the fruit of false wisdom is disorder, conflict, like what happens with our raw, unenlightened capitalism which displaces many poor and innocent and causing an eternal civil war!
What does God say about man’s wisdom? “The wisdom of the world is foolishness in God’s sight…The thoughts of the worldly wise are futile” (1 Corinthians 3:19-20).
What are the fruits of worldly man’s wisdom? DISORDER AND EVERY EVIL PRACTICE (James 3:16).
What for example? The disorder wherein our nation is sending women to find a living abroad for their husband and children left at home to gamble and become wasteful and drug addicts!
My cousin, a seaman, was alarmed at the sudden increase of Filipinas meeting them on foreign ports to sell their bodies. Not able to hold himself in pity, my cousin asked them, “Sano, why are you doing this?” Bebot was surprised at their answer: “This is better than to stay home. At least, here we can eat and also send money to feed our husbands and children”!
Ginoo ko!
Idle men in the liquor stores, not studying nor working while the women went to college and then abroad to work for the family.
Is that not disorder? If not, how do you call it? And do you call yourself? Foolish! We are foolish! And I have realized that; that’s why, I have launched into this advocacy and left my wife to manage our business – at the risk of also being called foolish for letting my wife do the earning for our living!
But who of us is more foolish? You who waste your time in earthly pleasures and vices or me studying and telling all foolish like I was about God’s wisdom that I have discovered?
You see to it! For nobody can save you except yourself and the Lord. We only help guide.
What are the good fruits of true wisdom?
- STABILITY AND DURABILITY. It builds a house or a nation on a solid foundation of a rock. No wind, nor storm nor hurricane can cause its collapse (Matthew 7:24-25). Is it stability when out of 13.4 millions Micro, Cottage, Small and Medium Enterprises in 1994 only 783,923 remained in 2004? Does that prove that the decisions and policies of our leaders were wise? You see that!
- LONGEVITY. Good health and long life is a result of wisdom (Proverbs 3:16). The fact that our lifespan has decreased to 50 or 60 instead of 900 in Adam’s time or 120 after Noah up to our great grandfathers’ time, means we are not getting wiser, but making more foolish decisions.
For example: Before 1960, our grandparents and great grandparents used ORGANIC, NATURAL FARMING. Type of fertilizer: grasses eaten by animals and made into dung, weeds made into compost fertilizer by earthworms and the microorganisms. Results: Last year’s harvest have to be moved out of the storeroom to give room for the new harvest.
What does that mean in terms of sacks per hectare? Basing on the current figure of India and Indonesia, ORGANIC FARMING yields from 240 to 360 sacks of rice per hectare, depending on the fertility of the soil made possible with the aid of compost weeds and grasses, animal dung, etc.
In 1960, inorganic farming using chemical fertilizers such as urea, complete (14-14-14) were introduced and burning of all weeds ordered. Result: Increased size of corn ears and increase volume of harvest.
1960 – 2007 – 47 years of farming using inorganic fertilizers (urea, complete, etc.). Result: Dead earthworms and microorganisms due to the poisons (toxins) of chemical fertilizers and pesticides = loss of soil’s natural fertility. Chemical inorganic fertilizers and pesticides left on their own, with no more soil fertility, result: The usual yield of 120 sacks of rice per hectare has dwindled to hardly 70 or 80. And it is increasingly the case now when the crops, because of their lost immunity, are destroyed by more resistant blights and other pests. Result: Zero harvest, big losses due to expensive inorganic fertilizers and pesticides.
So, left on its own, chemical inorganic fertilizers are a poor fertilizer. And a dangerous one!
Dangerous!
It was in Germany that chemical inorganic fertilizer was invented by German chemist Fritz Haber and commercialized by Bosch, another German scientist starting in the 1930s or 30 years ahead the Philippines.
By 1970s, enough findings were made that proved that fertilizers formed nitrosamines, a very dangerous carcinogen (cancer-causing by-product). These and other carcinogens found their way into the wombs and breasts of women. And there in the Philippines today, scientists and doctors are mute about what has caused breast cancer (No.1 killer cancer among Filipino women) and cervical (or womb) cancer (No. 2). Also, why is it that the womb is no longer a place conducive for life; women experience sterility, miscarriages, and infants come out with many deformities, and child cancers are in the rise!
Why is this? Explanation: atoms (invisible tiny balls) of these floating chemicals which successfully entered the womb bumped the egg or sperm or the tiny fetus. It is in this stage that one collision could easily result to, if not death, deformed parts very pronounced later when the child came out of the womb.
Conclusion:
The increase of yield in the early 1960s using the inorganic chemical fertilizers was short-lived and a deceit. During the last decades of the 47 years experiment with chemical inorganic fertilizers, the yield dwindled after the natural fertility of the soil was done away with by these poisons of these chemical inorganic fertilizers and pesticides.
This is a classic case of diminishing return!
Not only are the fertilizer and pesticides getting very expensive, they are causing many diseases that drain our savings, if there are any savings!, make our lives very miserable and cut our life short.
Those of you who are reading this, prove it yourself. Do your own research and thereby confirm this folly to decide to reject God’s ecological, natural system in favor of artificial, chemical system made by myopic, impatient man!
- “In wisdom’s left hand is found riches and honor” (Proverbs 3:16). The fact that the Filipinos are getting poorer and more miserable shows that its leaders and the rich men as well as these poor people themselves are harboring wrong assumptions, spreading lies, making wrong foolish decisions, not wise decisions.
For example: Why is this so-called Christian nation allowing people to think and believe that UNLIMITED WEALTH and ABSOLUTE OWNERSHIP are taught, allowed and commanded by our Lord Jesus Christ? Unlimited wealth means you can sip the resources of the nations and of the people in whatever way, legal or not, thus render the mass majority very poor. ABSOLUTE OWNERSHIP refers to the assumption of the wives of these rich men to think that they are 100% owner of their vast wealth and that no one, not even God, has a say. All rights reserved how the money and their possessions should be used. Result: I found in many houses of the rich dozens of used but still very good shoes and sandals, while I walk passed many houses whose poor occupants could hardly afford to replace their worn out slippers! God is the owner, man is only a steward. “Managers, not owners” so goes the title of a booklet authored by a pastor. That is correct. We are supposed to be mere stewards (managers) and as such we should follow the will of the Owner, such as: to feed His household in season (Matthew 24:45-47) – to build and support His family (Haggai 1), through our tithes and freewill offerings (Malachi 3).
Why is the woman of the house thinking and acting otherwise? Why has she forgotten what the Lord’s will is, namely: that she feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, shelter the homeless, treat the sick, help the prisoner, remembering the final words of the Lord, “Whatever you would do unto the least of these My poor brethren, you have done that to Me”? (Matthew 25:34-40).
What a great damage this evil belief and teaching called capitalism has done to mankind! With the exception of a handful, these few rich women are enjoying luxurious living by sucking many poor families. Definitely, this is time that our Church must be clear about THE FALSITY OF UNLIMITED WEALTH AND ABSOLUTE OWNERSHIP, AND BEGIN TO TEACH THAT OUR DUTY IS TO LOVE GOD ABOVE ALL IN THE PERSONS OF THE POOR PEOPLE AROUND US AND TO LOVE OUR NEIGHBOR AS WE LOVE OURSELVES.
That is how we should use our resources and riches. Not for our own self only.
- PEACE AND PLEASANTNESS. “The ways of wisdom are pleasant and all her paths are peace” (Proverbs 3:17). The technique of Manila government called militarization in places still occupied by our native tribes in Mindanao is sowing hatred and breeding rebellion among the young sons of these indigenous, original, native, landowners. The government set-up false military encounters or spread false reports of rebel occupation of the area, so the army could occupy the place and the natives would abandon their lands. Result: A certain rich man closed to the occupants of Malacañan would soon declare he is the owner of such rich land! Brazen greed! That is true in Bukidnon, Mindanao, and other parts of the country still occupied by our native brothers. And so the MNLF and MILF and the NPA are just struggles. Without them, this country would have been owned privately by a few families! I have grave complaint against each so-called fellow Christian who is naïve and foolish about the will of God and did not get forewarned by Christ hint “If I would not cut that day short, even the elect would be deceived.” And so deceived we are! Capitalism is not all wrong just as the serpent’s statements to Eve contained both truth and lies, mixed like halo-halo – twisted and distorted. But surely, Capitalism’s teaching about UNLIMITED WEALTH and ABSOLUTE OWNERSHIP are the devil’s poisons that had poisoned this nation! If there is no peace and our ways are not pleasant but troublesome, at home, in marriage, in business and in society in general, how can we think we are wise? Even in the mind and heart of the individual citizens, there is anger seething against the government. But it is also not wisdom to put all the blame on the government. Here it is true: it takes two to tango! Decipher that!
- TREE OF LIFE AND BLESSINGS. “Wisdom is a tree of life to those who embrace her; those who lay hold of her will be blessed” (Proverbs 3:18). Can we call blessing those 9 million Filipinos leaving their families to work abroad? Can we call blessed their marriages and families, mostly broken and disintegrated? Can we call it blessing where majority of our drug addicts in the country are sons and daughters of OFWs? Can we call it blessed and therefore wise to destroy our land and farm and go to foreign countries where we are treated as utilities (read: slaves!) and made prostitutes?
There are more than 1,000 cases and evidences that prove beyond doubt this nation that claims proudly before the whole world to be Christ’s nation, even the only nation of Christ in the whole of Asia – is a foolish nation! What a pity that we insist to be Christian but could not prove that we are “wise as a serpent but blameless as a dove”!
* * * * *
II. RGHTEOUSNESS.
What is righteousness?
Not what man defines. For “there is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death” (Proverbs 14:12). This statement is very important because it is repeated in Proverbs 16:25. Whenever God caused a statement repeated in the Bible indicates that it is very important. “All our righteous acts are like filthy rags” before God (Isaiah 64:6). “There is not one righteous, not even one” -- all are faulty – all are sinners (Romans 3:10).
The Lord commanded, “Seek you first the Kingdom of God and all His righteousness…” (Matthew 6:33). God has His own righteousness. That is what we are to seek first. What is God’s righteousness? How is it defined? Upon which is it based? What make up God’s righteousness? Answer: God’s laws or commandments compose His righteousness: “For all Thy commandments are righteousness” (Psalm 119:172).
Since the 1600s, we have been for 400 years claiming to be Christians, yet we do not admit that only in the 1990s that we, Catholics who comprise 80% of the total population, started to read the Holy Bible. In short, we cover ourselves with the name Christian but our mind and heart have been largely empty of God’s commandments, wisdom and righteousness. In short, we still remained 95 % pagans, in thoughts, in feelings, in words and in deeds! Whether we accept that or not! Our love is not 600fold love for God + 60fold love for neighbor + 6fold for Self. Our love is the perverted 666: 600fold love for Self + 60 fold love for neighbor and only 6fold love for God! That is, whether we admit it or not!
Only God’s love commandments becoming the occupant in our heart replacing the selfish love that we have had, makes us righteous before God. And it is this righteousness that “all these material things that you need and which pagans prioritize shall be added freely unto you” (Matthew 6:33) and it is this “righteousness that shall exalt a nation” (Proverbs 14:34).
Only the laws and commandments of God are said to bring the blessings listed in Leviticus 26 and Deuteronomy 28. And only our disobedience of these laws and commandments are also said to bring us curses as listed in the same chapters.
* * *
Who should lead us? The young or the old?
Answer: Any age as long as he has wisdom and righteousness. Although the old has an advantage because of its years where his long and numerous experience will provide him wisdom, nevertheless, a young man can also have wisdom by learning from the experiences of others but above all from learning God’s laws, commandments, ways or teachings.
The youth is advised to remember his Creator in the days of his youth, and to fear God and do His commandments (Ecclesiastes 12:1-10). Then he shall be wise.
There are two known sources of wisdom: EXPERIENCE and GOD’S TEACHINGS.
Because man is teachable, if not by God’s teachings but certainly by [harsh] experience, wisdom is gained. Therefore, the longer the age, the more likely that the man gets wiser. So this is the advantage of an old man over the youth.
That is why God demands respect and honor for the elder including parents.
“Rise in the presence of the aged, show respect for the elderly and revere your God. I am Jehovah.”[1]
“Honor your father and mother so that your days on earth will be long.”[2]
To honor includes the act of listening to the advices and warnings of our parents. And this will make our ‘days on earth long’ because we will be able to avoid the deadly mistakes our parents or ancestors committed.
“Gray hair is a crown of splendor; it is attained by a righteous life.”[3]
“The glory of young men is their strength; gray hair is the splendor of the old.”[4]
“Age should speak; advanced years should teach wisdom.”[5]
These Scriptures state that years and experience result to ACCUMULATION OF WISDOM. It is like a bank. Every experience teaches at least one lesson. Each lesson learned is a deposit to the bank. The more experiences or the more lessons learned and deposited into the mind, the wiser a person becomes.
We are commanded to rise before the presence of the elders and to honor our parents because they possess God’s wisdom they discovered and learned through experienced, if not with study.
GOD IS THE SOURCE OF WISDOM
The Scriptures is clear that GOD, through His Holy Spirit, aided by the written Scriptures, is the source of wisdom that any youth can possess despite his lack of experience.
Elihu was a young man, and he was the one who succeeded in leading Job to repentance, and not Job’s other 3 older friends!
For Elihu has received wisdom from God through the Holy Spirit that enters to enlighten our mind during our study and meditation and as we go through our daily work thinking and evaluating the happenings taking place. It is the Holy Spirit that guides us. It is the Holy Spirit that gives us wisdom.
Elihu said of this: “But it is the Spirit in a man, the breath of the Almighty that gives him understanding. [So] it is not only the aged who understands what is right.”[6]
The apostle Paul affirmed what Elihu said over 2 thousands of years earlier. He wrote to the Corinthians: “We, however, speak a message of wisdom among the mature, but not the wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing. No, we speak of God’s secret wisdom, a wisdom that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began. None of the rulers of this age understood it… but God has revealed it to us by His Spirit…We have the mind of Christ.” (1 Corinthians 2:6-16).
2 EXAMPLES: A WISE YOUTH AND A FOOLISH YOUTH
Solomon was a WISE YOUTH. On the other hand, strangely, his son, Rehoboam was the opposite; Rehoboam was a FOOLISH YOUTH. Rehoboam’s foolishness was due to his rejection of God’s wisdom which the elder counselors gave to him. Rehoboam believed his “barkadas” and rejected the advices of the prophets and old wise men.
Let us quote their opposite life stories in brief.
Solomon valued wisdom more than anything else so that it was wisdom that he asked from God: “I am only a little child and do not know how to carry out my duties. So, grant me a discerning heart [wisdom] to effectively rule this numerous people and to distinguish between right and wrong.”[7] And God answered him, “OK, it is granted. You shall become the wisest among men, and no one could surpass your wisdom”.[8]
In a classic but most difficult case, Solomon displayed great wisdom which continues to awe even the present leaders of nations today.
A wise ruling is necessary to give justice to whom it is due.
One day, two prostitutes came to the king and stood before him. One of them said, ‘My lord, this woman and I live in the same house. I had a baby while she was there with me. The third day after my child was born, this woman also had a baby. We were alone; there was no one in the house but the two of us.
“During the night this woman’s son died because she lay on him. So she got up in the middle of the night and took my son from my side while I your servant was asleep. She put him by her breast and put her dead son by my breast. The next morning, I got up to nurse my son – and he was dead! But when I looked at him closely in the morning light, I saw that it wasn’t the son I have borne.”
The other woman said, “No! The living one is my son; the dead one is yours.”
But the first one insisted, “No! The dead one is yours; the living one is mine.” And so they argued before the king.
The king said, “This one says, ‘My son is alive and your son is dead,’ while that one says, ‘No! Your son is dead and mine is alive.’”
Then the king said, “Bring me a sword.” So they brought a sword for the king. He then gave an order, “Cut the living child in two and give half to one and half to the other.”
The woman whose son was alive was filled with compassion for her son and said to the king, “Please, my lord, give her the living baby! Don’t kill him!”
But the other said, “Neither I nor you shall have him. Cut him in two!”
Then the king gave his ruling, “Give the living baby to the first woman. Do not kill him; she is his mother.”
When all Israel heard the verdict the king had given, they held the king in awe, because they saw that he had wisdom from God to administer justice.[9] The Bible states that “God gave Solomon wisdom and very great insight, and a breadth of understanding as measureless as the sand of the seashore. Solomon’s wisdom was greater than the wisdom of all the men of the East, and greater than all the wisdom of Egypt. He was wiser than any other man… And his fame spread to all surrounding nations…” (1 Kings 4:29-31).
On the other hand, his son Rehoboam succeeded him as king but did not follow his love for wisdom. Rehoboam was a foolish young king. He followed his barkadas’ advice.
Let us quote:
“Rehoboam went to Shechem, for all the Israelites had gone there to make him king. When Jeroboam son of Nebat heard this (he was still in Egypt, where he had fled from King Solomon), he returned from Egypt. So they sent for Jeroboam, and he and the whole assembly of Israel went to Rehoboam and said to him: ‘Your father put a heavy yoke on us, but now lighten the harsh labor and the heavy yoke he put on us, and we will serve you.’
“Rehoboam answered: ‘Go away for three days and come back to me.’ So the people went away.
“Then King Rehoboam consulted the elders who had served his father Solomon during his lifetime. ‘How would you advise me to answer these people?’ he asked.
“They replied, ‘If today you will be a servant to these people and serve them and give them a favorable answer, they will always be your servants.’
See, the strategy: To make the people his servant, he was to be their servant. Hence, mutual service. Brotherly love, “You shall love your neighbor as you love yourself.” That’s what the elders advised Rehoboam the son of King Solomon.
“But Rehoboam also consulted the young men who had grown up with him and were serving him which led him to reject the advice the elders gave him”! He asked them, ‘What is your advice? How should we answer these people who say to me, “Lighten the yoke your father put on us’?’
“Then the young men who had grown up with him replied, ‘Tell these people who have said to you, ‘Your father put a heavy yoke on us, but make our yoke lighter’ – tell them, ‘My little finger is thicker than my father’s waist. My father laid on you a heavy yoke; I will make it even heavier. My father scourged you with whips; I will scourge you with scorpions.’”
King Rehoboam followed the advice of his young advisers. Unfortunately!
So the people said, “What share do we have in David, what part in Jesse’s son? To your tents, O Israel! Look after your own house, O David!”
That was the time when the 12 tribes were divided: 10 rebelled against King Rehoboam and came to be known as the House of Israel. The remaining tribes of Judah and Benjamin with some of Levi formed the House of Judah.[10]
“There was continual warfare between Jeroboam and Rehoboam.”[11]
Youth often decides foolishly. He lacks hindsight (wisdom from past experience) to serve him as the lamp to the present darkness. He lacks insight (wisdom of the present) to make size up the present conditions. Thirdly, because he lacks the first two, he also lacks foresight, or the wisdom to see the future correctly. In short, he is blind.
It is not correct that in selecting a leader, you make age as the main criterion. But we should take special note of age especially if the candidates for leadership have long age gaps. But that is not enough. We should determine who of them are wise and righteous because of God’s word and Spirit. Instead of age, we should make TRUE WISDOM as the main criterion in selecting a leader, irregardless of the age of the man.
Age should not be the main criterion. Of course, I do not mean that we can select a five-year old boy to become our President! What I mean is that 10 or 30 or even 50 years of age gap between one leader and the other, should not matter. Look who is wiser and choose him.
Let us quote God’s clear words about this: : “However, it is God’s will that you will always listen and look to the wisest among you in order to willingly receive the decrees of God, both general and personal. But beware of ever according such as a wise one more respect, love and reverence than another not yet wise, but still most willing and dear brother.
“And the respect for the one wise out of God’s grace shall consist in nothing else but love of God, love of the neighbor and the most willing obedience to God’s directives through the humble heart of a wise brother.”[12]
“Abolish all superiority…so that all shall be equal as brothers and sisters, and appoint only the wisest among the common people as future leaders. However, do not ever let them occupy the royal palaces, for they shall live in the simplest and most lowly huts.
When you see that they are capable and suitable as leaders and supervisors, lay your hands on their foreheads and shoulders, thereby bestowing on them the necessary power.”[13]
It is interesting that God mentioned the words “among the common people”. He did not say among or from the rich shall be chosen your leaders.
SO, LET US FIRST SEEK AMONG THE AGED WHO IS WISE AND IS STILL PHYSICALLY ABLE TO SERVE US. IF HE IS ALREADY PHYSCICALLY DISABLED, THEN, HE CAN ONLY SERVE US AS ADVISER BUT NOT AS AN ACTIVE LEADER.
AT THE SAME TIME, LET US NOT OVERLOOK THE FACT THAT ELSEWHERE THE LORD HAS GIVEN SOMEONE HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS AND WISDOM TO MAKE HIM ABLE TO LEAD HIS PEOPLE TO SALVATION AND ETERNAL LIFE. HE MAY BE ALONE; HE MAY BE A FEW MEN, BUT SURELY NOT MANY.
The people would do well if they make sure that “the blind will lead the blind”. Or else both will fall into the ditch!
FINALLY, LET US REALIZE THAT WISDOM AND RIGHTEOUSNESS WHICH ARE OF THE MIND, CANNOT BE POSSIBLE WITHOUT GOD’S LOVE IN OUR HEARTS. NOT OUR OWN LOVE. BUT GOD’S LOVE PLACED IN OUR HEARTS. Our kind of love is selfish and myopic. It is called Self-love. But God’s love is selfless and all-encompassing. It is that kind of love that Christ brought to give to mankind. It is a love that embraces God, neighbor and self. Man’s love loves only the self. It pays lip-service to God, is ungrateful to Him. To the neighbor, it is selfish and greedy.
By God’s Holy Spirit, we awakened divine love in our hearts. And it is this love that also gives us true wisdom and righteousness.
How can we have this love? And that wisdom? And that righteousness?
“Ask and it shall be given, seek and you shall find and knock and it shall be opened.”[14]
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