Copyright © 2007 Ron Schwartz
All rights reserved.

By The Rivers Of Babylon

Part 6. A Little Child Shall Lead Them

March 17, 2007

Ron Schwartz  

To subscribe to these notes: SUBSCRIBE

To see more of these notes: Ron's Thoughts

Isaiah 11:1-6 KJV

1 And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots:

2 And the spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD;

6 The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them.

This is a prophecy concerning the Christ and His coming kingdom.  Contrary to how Christianity is often practiced it’s NOT the wise and educated who are to lead in this kingdom, but the “little child[ren].”  In many ways, Christianity would be better off if the so-called “leaders” would go to the back of the line and let the “little child[ren]” lead..  Their simplistic grasp of what is relevant and their willingness to take scripture at face value is what Christianity is supposed to be.

You cannot really understand how much your mind has been influenced by the culture of Babylon until you talk to “a little child” in Christ.  Simply read the scripture with them and watch how you start dancing when they begin to ask, “Why?”   Why is there such a disparity between Christianity as practiced and Christianity as described in the scripture?  Why are there no disciples as described by Jesus?   Why do Christians hate and fight each other rather than their true enemy, the devil?  Where are the Christians like what you read about in the scripture?  Why?  Why?  Why?   Young Christians aren’t stupid.  They see the sin, apathy, and compromise that experienced Christians often call maturity, so you’re only fooling yourself.

We both remember how it was when we first got saved and the questions we asked, including, “If Jesus said this, then why are we doing that?”  We can also remember with perfect clarity how all the “experienced” Christians told us that someday we would “understand.”  When we grew up in the Lord, we would understand what Jesus really meant.  Well, we have grown up, and in many ways, we regret it.  We have one blessing, though: we are around “little child[ren]” in the Lord, and you know what?  They are asking all the questions we once asked.  Only this time, they are not hearing the discouraging arrogance from the lips of a wasted life.  They are hearing a different message: “You’re absolutely right!  Lead on!”

Babylon was not the land of Judah.  There was no temple of Jehovah nor were there observances of Jewish feasts.  But there were plenty of idols and there was a temple to Babylonian gods.  The Jews who found themselves held captive in Babylon simply tried to adapt to their new home.  Over time, their cultural distinctiveness began to erode.  Their language and customs eventually fell victim to the strong Babylonian influence.

The “Free” Gift

Ephesians 2:8-9 KJV

8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:

9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.

Ask a child what it means to get something for free.  They will explain that it does not cost anything.  It is that simple.  The other night we listened to the testimony of “Pistol” Pete Maravich.  During his testimony, he asked how we would respond if someone were to come to our door and say, “Here’s a million dollars.  It’s free.  I’m giving it to you because I like you.”  How many people would NOT accept it?

We couldn’t help but wonder why he would use such a ridiculous example.  After all, who really believes salvation is free?  Certainly the unsaved world does not buy it.  If they did, everyone would be saved.  No one really believes that salvation is free – especially Christians – so why continue to peddle such a myth?  It’s fraudulent!

Sinners know that buying in to salvation is like signing a blank check or a contract that they are not allowed to read.  Only desperate people or those whose fear of hell outweighs the cost they see are willing to accept it.  Walk into any church building on Sunday morning and you will quickly discover the hidden cost: the way you dress, the way you act, and the way you talk.  It will cost you your music, your time, and your money.  You will have to obey strict rules of behavior, and you will continue to discover new ones every Sunday.  It will cost you your friends and quite possibly your family.  So why don’t we stop lying to sinners and simply tell them the truth: “Here’s salvation.  All you have to do is sign over your home, say good-bye to your friends, divorce your unsaved spouse, promise never to have any fun again, and get used to doing things that you absolutely hate for the rest of your life (that is how sinners feel).” At least then we would be honest.  If someone came to our door and said, “Here’s a million dollars. All you have to do is be my slave for the rest of your life,” we would no doubt tell them, “Hit the road, Jack, and dontcha come back no more, no more, no more, nooooooo more!”

The culture of Babylon teaches that in order to be saved, sinners must become imitators of us.  Ron remembers with perfect clarity why he resisted salvation as a child.  His pastor’s wife taught his children’s church.  One Sunday she explained that someday when we stand before God He’s going to look on one hand at all the good things we’ve done, and on the other hand all the bad things we’ve done.  If our good deeds outweigh our bad deeds, we would be able to go to heaven.  (No, he’s not mistaken.  He remembers every detail of the situation).  We do thank her for her honesty.  She is the only Christian who never tried to hide how Christians really think.  Everyone else tried the million-dollar scam.

There are many people who have been raised in churches and refused salvation.  When you talk to them about salvation and God’s love, all they see is ten miles of countless things that will be required of them, and they simply don’t have the heart for it.  In many ways you need to first “deprogram” the unsaved.  Try a different approach.  Tell them:

“Salvation really is a free gift.  We want you to take this salvation, but we don’t want you to change.  And we don’t want you to do anything.  When you lay in bed tonight, in the dark, when everything is quiet around you, look up toward God and simply say, ‘God forgive me.  I accept your free gift.’  That’s all.  And don’t change.  In the days that follow, as often as you think about it, say it again: ‘God forgive me.  I accept your free gift.’  Don’t even think about changing.  Just keep saying this to God until you don’t feel like you have to say it anymore.”  This is exactly how Ron got saved.  

We were both brought up in church.  When it came to salvation, all Ron could see were all the changes that would be required of him.  Then one night he simply said, “God forgive me.  I accept salvation.”  In the days and weeks that followed, he found himself saying that to God every day.  Then one day he just knew that he no longer had to say it.  What amazed him was that he had changed.  He didn’t even realize it, and he couldn’t explain how it happened.  So stop trying to be God to everyone and simply offer salvation.  God’s Spirit can do the rest.

Is salvation free, or is it not?  As we see it, the Babylonian culture has transformed salvation into a congressional bill.  Have you ever watched as a bill submitted to congress to, for example, buy extra school buses transforms into something else as it goes through the various committees?  When it finally comes up for a vote, it somehow now contains provisions for a new airbase in West Virginia, the clean-up of pollution in Alaska, and a bridge in Oregon.  What happened to the school buses?   Well, that’s what happens to salvation in our Babylonian culture: it’s no longer free.

If salvation is to be appealing to the world, then it must cease to be subjectively defined by churches rooted in Babylon or by people who have escaped from it.  When it comes to salvation, “a little child shall lead” us.

Experiential Faith

Matthew 17:20 KJV

And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.

In this passage, the disciples had asked Jesus why they were unable to cast out a demon.  Jesus told them that it was “Because of [their] unbelief.”  How many times have you been asked, “Why hasn’t God healed me?” Or “Why am I facing this obstacle?”  How do you answer?  Do you say, “Well, the rain falls on the just and unjust…”  “Sometimes like Job we are just meant to suffer…”  “It’s just your thorn in the flesh…” “Our thoughts are not His thoughts and so we must just continue on by faith…” etc.  These answers may all be true, but we must also consider the fact that Jesus cut to the heart of the matter when He replied, “It’s because of your unbelief.”  We avoid considering His answer because we don’t want to hurt their feelings.  Therefore, we teach instead an experiential faith.  We teach them to trust their experiences rather than the scripture.  This is the culture of Babylon.

Experiential faith teaches us to look for answers in our experiences, which results in our experiences holding more credibility then the very words of Jesus.  Books have been written to counter what Jesus said: “If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.”  But such books that attempt to dissect this verse do not serve God.  They only serve to take away from the simplistic faith that is herein described.  And because of teaching that explains that God doesn’t work supernaturally, that sometimes we’re meet to suffer, that we don’t know what God wants for our lives, or that God doesn’t hear our prayers because of the spiritual quality of our lives, many people no longer believe.  Faith has become the exception instead of the rule.  Faith is little more than an afterthought.  When needs arises prayer is often the last resort instead of “top mind.”  Children are not this way.  They have a simplistic faith in God’s good will toward them. 

The Babylonian culture confuses the issue of faith.  Faith becomes a hodge-podge of luck, lethargy, God’s mood, and the necessity of suffering.  Simple faith goes to God first in all things, not second or third or “as a last resort.”  If we are ever to rediscover the simple faith that Jesus taught, then “a little child shall lead” us.

Social Enigma

Why is it that Christians tend to leave relationships when they leave a church?  Why is it that Christians put so little effort into pursuing these relationships after they leave a church?  Many contemporary Christians have become socially languorous (dict: lack of physical of mental energy, a lazy mood).  Social fulfillment is found “at” the church and through its various functions so there is no real need to work for relationships.  Many Christians assume that these relationships will continue when they leave.  But they don’t.  When Christians leave a church, they often leave their friendships behind.  Both they and their friends have never worked to develop their friendships, so they lack the knowledge of how to keep these relationships once they leave.  This is social languor, and it is a result of Babylonian culture.  By keeping Christians in social bondage, their leaders insure that they will never leave.

Children are not this way.  They beg and pester either to go visit their friends or have their friends come over to see them.  They somehow understand that if they are to have social fulfillment, they must work for it.

Many people tell us of the solitude they experienced when they left their church.  While it may have happened, it does not need to stay that way.   The biggest challenge these Christians face is in understanding how to handle differences.    When Christians join a church, it provides them with friends who believe as they do.  There is no need to learn how to handle differences.  But when they leave a church, they often find themselves alone or with others (who have left other churches) but believe differently.

Tribalism

John 13:33,35 KJV

33 Little children, yet a little while I am with you. Ye shall seek me: and as I said unto the Jews, Whither I go, ye cannot come; so now I say to you.

35 By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.

It is interesting that children don’t see gender or color; they simply see a playmate.  As we grow older, we begin to understand the importance of gender and color.  But these differences are artificial.  Underneath the veneer of gender and color is a unique person that has never existed before and will never exist again.  Gender and color is not what defines a person.  One’s true being is as intangible as a ray of light and as invisible as the wind.  Just as there are ethnic differences between people, the differences between Christians are in how they believe.

Psychologists call it tribalism. Most Christians, however, understand it as denominationalism.  Tribalism is characterized by the loyalty and similarities of a group.  Being tribal prevents Christians from functioning outside of their group.  Tribalism is the great adversary of those who leave institutional churches.  They feel compelled find another tribe that holds to their beliefs, and if they do manage to find one, they usually accomplish little more than to create another institutional church like the one they left.

Tribalism causes Christians to think that unless they correct, instruct, or even argue their beliefs with others who are different that they are somehow disloyal or betraying their beliefs.  While this may be true in a tribe, it is not so with the body of Christ.  This form of loyalty is simply misplaced. 

Why is it that most people feel complete comfortable going to work or to the store where sinners surround them, yet they avoid other Christians who serve the same God but believe slightly differently?  Why is it that Christians feel more comfortable around those who don’t serve God rather than those who do?  It’s called tribalism, and it is NOT Christianity.  The culture of Babylon causes Christians to think tribally (denominationally) rather than as a Christian.  Consequently, many Christians who leave Babylon find themselves faced with an enigma: their old friends seem to be going on without them, and when they do see them, either they avoid the topic of Jesus and church altogether or they talk about superficial religious topics like their church, their pastor, and their denomination.  Many of the new friends they have found are vastly different in other beliefs.  So it is not unusual to feel stuck all alone between two worlds.  What should they do?  To begin with, see the situation for what it is: tribalism.

You are not disloyal or betraying your beliefs to continue to pursue old friendships.   These friendships do not need to end, and they shouldn’t.  We put up with a lot of churchy talk (how their church is growing, how it is being blessed, how great the pastor is, etc.) in groups to break down the tribal walls of suspicion.  We know that eventually we will be able to get the alone time with one or two so that we can really talk.  Don’t write off your old friends.  Just as you have patience with sinners waiting for opportunities to share the gospel with them, you must have patience with your old friends.

If they see you remaining alone, avoiding people, what will this tell them?  They may assume that you have made a horrible mistake but are refusing to admit it.  Remember also that they most likely would like to remain friends with you, but because they have become socially languorous, they may not know how to pursue a relationship with you.  It will be discouraging to constantly be the one who makes arrangements, but do it anyway.  Maintaining relationships is worth the effort.

Synergy

Proverbs 27:17 KJV

Iron sharpeneth iron; so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend.

There is a social phenomenon known as synthesis.  Synthesis is the result of the fusion of thesis and antithesis.  For example, say that a society suffers from some form of oppression of minorities.  That is the thesis.  Then a social revolt begins to rise against this oppression. That is the antithesis.  The two forces collide and eventually synthesize into a new social phenomenon that is neither the thesis of the antithesis.

This should be how Christians interact.  Rather than forming tribal alliances, or going into solitude, we should interact with those who are different.  This allows my thesis to coalesce (dict: to grow together into one body) with your antithesis so that together we might become a synthesis.

This phenomenon is also described as synergy.  Synergy is where the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.  In other words, together we are capable of doing much more than we could ever achieve while we are apart.  It’s where one and one equals three.  It’s where your best combines with the best in me, and my best combines with the best in you.  Both synergy and synthesis require the combining of agents that are different.  Combining agents that are the same merely produces more of that agent.  It does not produce something better.  This is why tribal (and denominational) mindsets are such failures.  They can get bigger but they will NOT get better, and it is this growth that tribe members often attribute to being better - though it is not.  Tribalism (denominationalism) does not want synergy.  It wants uniformity.  In other words, tribes want you to conform to their way of thinking.  Tribes do not want to change.  In contrast, both synergy and synthesis require change.

You must shed the tribal (denominational) mindset and the social languor you learned in Babylon.  If you remain alone, then you still carry the Babylonian mindset.  If you are able to learn to develop relationships with those who are different, and if you learn to appreciate and grow in these differences, then that is when you will know that you have shed the Babylonian social culture.  Wouldn’t it be great to go back to being children in our relationships?  If we are ever to discover what true fellowship is, then “a little child shall lead” us.

Pushing A Dead Horse

If a child finds that a toy is broken or does not work, they simply discard it and go on.  But we as adults often see value in salvaging things that are broken or are no longer useful.  I know people who have their garages or basements filled with broken or obsolete equipment.  They feel that somehow someday these things will once again be useful.

I Samuel 13 tells of the fall of King Saul.  Saul fell from favor by taking it upon himself to offer a sacrifice that someone else was supposed to offer.  This is where the story of Jonathan begins.  Jonathan’s story is as inspiring as it is tragic.  Jonathan remained loyal to his father, Saul, even after Saul was rejected of God.

Jonathan knew his father had lost his anointing, that it had been passed on to David.  He knew that his father’s hatred of David put him in opposition to God, but Jonathan thought he could change things: “And Saul spake to Jonathan his son, and to all his servants, that they should kill David.  But Jonathan Saul's son delighted much in David: and Jonathan told David, saying, Saul my father seeketh to kill thee: now therefore, I pray thee, take heed to thyself until the morning, and abide in a secret place, and hide thyself:  And I will go out and stand beside my father in the field where thou art, and I will commune with my father of thee; and what I see, that I will tell thee (I Samuel 19:1-3).”

Rather than go on with God, Jonathan chose loyalty to his father.  Likewise, many people attend churches that have little (if any) anointing.  For the most part, it is ineffectual for God.  And because it is a tribe, it will never synthesize or synergize into anything better; at best it will just grow bigger.

Jonathan eventually died with Saul, still hoping to change things.  Jonathan was loyal to the end, a loyalty that was sorely misplaced.  His was one of the greatest wastes of potential in his day. Similarly, many Christians attend churches that are little more than a Saul to them.  Like Jonathan, they remain faithful to the end, believing that if they just keep hoping and praying, someday their church will get better.  But all they are really doing is trying to push a dead horse.

The culture of Babylon causes us to wrongly place our loyalties toward a church first, doctrines second, and then toward God.  Such churches do not believe they need to change.  Like the church of Laodicea it says,  “I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing (Revelation 3:17)”.  So stop trying to change what cannot and does not want to be changed.  If your church is a tribe, than that is what you have become.  Don’t be like Jonathan and die with your church.

It doesn’t matter if you have never gone to an institutional church because its culture is all around you.  It is in contemporary music, literature, and books.  It’s in your friends and parents who either went to one or been influenced by those who did.  You’re only deceiving yourself if you believe that you are unaffected.  You cannot escape it, but you can see it if you are willing to be honest with yourself.   Step out and leave your comfort zone.   There is life outside of Babylon.   You need only to watch the little children for they are the true leaders of God’s kingdom.

Counter: