When Our Leaders Cause Us to Err

The prophet Isaiah. Image from Wikimedia

"For the leaders of this people cause them to err; and they that are led of them are destroyed" (Isaiah 9:16).

This is a rather dangerous verse from the Old Testament. I say that because it can be readily applied as scriptural evidence against basically anything you don't happen to like that someone in a position of power or authority endorses. For instance, you could use it to encourage people to reject the recent, appalling comments by Senator Mike Lee, the latest and among the worst in his long legacy of disgraceful behavior. But it can also be used to discredit politicians who have spoken up in defense of the due process and basic human dignity so frequently being cast aside during the ongoing ICE raids that plague our nation. All you have to do to make this verse work for you is define "leaders" in the way that best suits your goals.

That's part what makes this verse dangerous, and one reason I've been grappling with it, and others like it, whenever they come up, for a long, long time.

I'm no scholar of the Old Testament, but the best I can tell, the book of Isaiah works pretty hard to frame the political conflicts of the time in a religious context. It's absolutely full of references to geopolitical events, places, and people (Rezin, Remaliah's son, The kings of Assyria and Babylon, disputes between Ephraim and Judah, etc.), and the descriptions and depictions of those events are saturated with spiritual comments about what God intends and how He will respond, what promises He's made using what symbolism, what religious principles should be followed, and how greater righteousness and reliance on the Lord will induce Him to step in and save Israel, though nothing else can.

In other words, not much has changed in the way we talk about politics. And doing that is natural enough for those of us who believe in a God with an overarching plan for humanity, or when our political views are informed by our religious beliefs. Especially when we look at the principles we believe in and see politicians, "the leaders of this people," flagrantly violating those principles, and even actively seeking their destruction. This verse from Isaiah is very handy when you want to score quick points with like-minded people, or maybe get under the skin of your opponents.

But to me the more troubling aspect of this verse isn't the "leaders" part, but the "people" part. What people is Isaiah talking about here?

Ok, obvious answer: the house of Israel. Sure. Easy. He's talking to the Israelites of his day, right? The people directly involved in the religious/political conflicts he's speaking of.

That's good as far as it goes. From a historical perspective you can say it's for that time and place, and leave it at that. Maybe there are some relatable words, but there's no need to draw direct inferences about our situation. But that's not really how a lot of Christians tend to look at the Bible, and for Latter-day Saints, there's another complication, which is The Book of Mormon.

You see, this is one of the chapters of Isaiah quoted in Second Nephi (along with chapter three, which has a similar verse in it). Later in the book, in Third Nephi, during Christ's visit, Jesus seals the importance of this part of the text with a direct endorsement: "great are the words of Isaiah" (3 Nephi 23:1). When you recall that Second Nephi, though written much earlier, was included in the record after it was otherwise completed, you can see that these Isaiah quotations are there specifically because we are meant to study and draw meaning from them not in their historical context, but in the Book of Mormon context. I've written about this elsewhere.

One of my most firmly held beliefs about scriptural warnings is that they are intended primarily for those who believe in the scriptures. This seems obvious, but we often overlook it. It's very easy to read all those cautions and condemnations and think they apply to "the world" and feel very easy looking down on those wicked, wicked sinners out there, while rejoicing that our discipleship has separated us from all that. But I think this is a mistake, and this verse is an example of why.

In the Book of Mormon context, the house of Israel Isaiah is speaking to is the believers in Christ, specifically, the members of the Church. So when Isaiah says "The leaders of this people cause them to err," or, as in chapter 3, "O my people, they which lead thee cause thee to err" (Isaiah 3:12, emphasis added to both quotations), it's particularly troubling. What does it mean?

Well, it's not any kind of a stretch, reading the Old Testament, to see that at times there was wickedness and deceit among the Israelites' religious leaders. In fact, Isaiah 9:15, (the verse right before the first one I quoted) warns about "the prophet the teacheth lies." [fn1] Does that mean the same is true of us today?

At best, I think it means that it can be true. It's possible for church leaders to lead us astray, and it seems important to recognize that includes leaders at any level, from ward choir director all the way up to president of the church (though I have more to say about exactly what it means to be led astray). At worst, it seems to mean that in our day, it will be true. There will be leaders, whether prophets, bishops, popular youth fireside givers, or that one person in Sunday School who always makes really spiritual sounding comments, who will mislead us, both intentionally and otherwise.

We often pay lip service to the idea that our leaders are fallible, but really believing that is hard because it means that faithfulness requires a lot more work than just accepting whatever is preached from the pulpit. We have to figure out for ourselves if it's actually true.

This is the point where it would be very tempting to give examples, but my goal here is not to accuse. Far be it from me to speak evil of the Lord's anointed. Nevertheless, for that spiritual survival our current prophet has counseled us about, the possibility has to be acknowledged and reckoned with. If all of the false prophets were going to arise outside of the church, well, it seems like that would be life on easy mode. [fn2]

I said I had more to say about what it means to be led astray, so do that now. Sometimes, we're led astray because someone intentionally leads us that way. But sometimes it's because they use words or actions that we don't interpret well. That can happen because of our lack of engagement, but also because the leader in question doesn't fully consider the impact of their words/actions, and instead expects us to do all the work of figuring out what they mean. I think this is a far more common issue in the church than the other. A leader (again, at any level) might feel so strongly about a certain concept, phrase, word, or action, that they assume simply saying/using/doing it earnestly will communicate the desired meaning, when in reality, the diversity of experiences and understandings among the followers means that someone is bound to misinterpret it through no fault of their own.

If the leader doesn't consider that possibility, or dismisses it too readily, the fault is with the leader, not the follower. Yes, there's agency on both sides, but "personal responsibility" is often wielded like a club against confused followers by leaders who seem to think they can do no wrong just because they feel inspired.

It's also important to note that the scripture doesn't say "the leaders of my people lead them astray," but "the leaders of my people cause them to err." In other words, because of something the leader did or didn't do, the people made a mistake. That allows, but doesn't require active intent to mislead, it's just the lamentable outcome.

And that's where this post originated. I was thinking about all of the horrible, immoral, anti-Christian things being done by our political leaders in this country, from Mike Lee to Donald Trump, to Elon Musk (who is at least a leader in the sense that he has followers and influence, even if he was never judicially confirmed to be a government leader), and about how the leaders of my church have not had anything much to say about it. For some reason, this is true even though these are moral issues with religious implications that they've spoken out on pretty clearly before, and heaven knows we could use those same voices right now. It's been disappointing and, I think, the silence is causing our people to err.

At church, politics is mostly avoided, as usual, in favor of focusing on spiritual things. But these aren't usual times, and we need spiritual guidance to navigate them. We will not want to look back on these years and remember that we were silent.

To quote the movie Remember the Titans, "attitude reflects leadership." Issues like war, human suffering, humane immigration practices, respect for the constitution and the rule of law, dishonesty and disinformation, cruelty, individual freedoms, and class warfare, to make an incomplete list, have strong moral components and religious tie-ins that we haven't shied away from in the past. The church's silence on these issues now sends the message "we don't really think it's worth getting involved." That, in turn, leads some members either to not care enough to get involved either, or to feel religiously justified in choosing the side of evil. But these are not attributes that describe what God wants us to be.

I hope the church speaks out, and corrects these errors so many of us are falling into.

[fn1] It's clear, in the Old Testament context, that the word "prophet" doesn't exclusively mean what we think of in the modern day Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The term applies to both false and true prophets, and one need not be an institutional religious leader in OT times to be considered a prophet. I've also written about that before.

[fn2] Unfortunately, "life on easy mode" is basically the answer that a lot of people give when asked to define how the gospel of Jesus Christ blesses them. Because they believe the gospel, they don't have to worry about a lot of the things others have to worry about. There are some challenges that's true for, though it tends to be different for everyone, but discipleship brings its own challenges that, if engaged, will give you plenty of places to put all that energy you're saving by, say, not dealing with tobacco addiction. Also, I'm not sure living the gospel is supposed to let us cruise through life without noticing the problems the world is dealing with.