Tag: church activity

The Whole Not the Parts

There are a few important ideas that define my understanding of the Gospel of Jesus Christ as restored by the Lord through the Prophet Joseph Smith. These are the ideas that make the Gospel whole, and not just a group of disconnected thoughts. Until these were part of the core of my understanding, I was left with disconnected dots and no overall harmony from which to orient myself.

First and foremost is that we are not to follow any man or men. No man is worthy of discipleship. Not me, not another. There is only one who is worth following. He is the way, the truth and the life (John 14: 16). Beside Him there is no other person who can save you (Mosiah 3: 17).

This first principle is what has motivated all I have written. It is a mistake to think there is a departure in Passing the Heavenly Gift from the topic begun in The Second Comforter: Conversing With the Lord Through the Veil. They are both necessary. They do not reflect a change in my testimony or commitment to the truth, only an elaboration on the essential core principle that we are not going to be saved by following men. Rather, you will become “darkened in your mind” if you do so. (TPJS p. 237.)

Second and equally important, it is not the depth of your study that matters, but the quality of your connection with heaven that matters. Expounding doctrine is not only insufficient, it is oftentimes a distraction from what matters. We go from unbelief to belief when we learn truth. Not every source, including institutional sources, can be trusted to tell you the truth. Only the light of Christ, followed by the Holy Ghost is a reliable guide to distinguish between unbelief and belief. We go from belief to faith as we take action consistent with belief in truth. Faith is a principle of power. It will lead you to receive angels who still minister to those of a sound mind, not given to flights of fantasy or unstable behavior (Moroni 7: 30). We are brought from faith to knowledge as angels prepare us through their ministry. (Moroni 7: 31; Moroni 7: 25; Alma 32: 23.) Knowledge comes from contact with Jesus Christ. (Ether 3: 19.) This is the knowledge that saves, and nothing else. (John 17: 3.) The idea that knowledge of Christ through His personal appearance to you is now unavailable is an old sectarian notion and is false. (John 14: 23; D&C 130: 3.)

Third, there is no written record, including the scriptures, which are able to tell you all you must know. You can only know the truth by having it revealed to you from heaven itself. (D&C 76: 114-118.) This is the reason Joseph said if you could gaze into heaven for five minutes you would know more than you would by reading everything that has ever been written on the subject. (TPJS p. 324.) Either you do as James says, and ask of God, or you will forever remain ignorant of the only knowledge which can save a man. (JS-H 1: 13, referring to James 1: 5.)

Fourth, the truth is intended to save us. We should welcome corrections. Too often, however, we are offended and think the truth is a hard thing to endure. (1 Ne. 16: 1-3.) That is a product of pride and arrogance. It is impossible to learn what must be learned unless we are willing to be corrected. (Mosiah 3: 19.) Therefore, only the qualified will arrive at the gates, because the rest are unwilling to take the trip required of them.

Fifth, this is a personal journey which each must take for themselves. It cannot be shared. You must approach the Throne yourself. Joseph was alone when he met the Father and Son. Moses was alone when he ascended the Mount to meet the Lord. Enoch was alone when he was caught up to heaven. Elijah was alone on the mountain when the whirlwind, lightning and earthquake preceded the Lord’s own voice. Daniel alone saw the vision of the Lord. Paul alone saw the light. Nephi alone saw his father’s vision. Enos was alone in the wilderness in his encounter with God. Abraham was alone when the Lord spoke to him. Jacob slept alone when the ladder to heaven descended for him. You will also be alone should the Lord come to visit you. This cannot be borrowed from another.

These are the core. This core is what faith, repentance, baptism and the Gift of the Holy Ghost are meant to bring about. The religion of heaven always involves heaven. It does not involve men and administration and popularity. It is solitary, between you and God. The proud, however, are content to proclaim their righteousness and sit in judgment of others. They live without God in the world (Mormon 5: 16), and their end will be destruction. They think their own imagination is revelation, and they foolishly value only their conceit. (Proverbs 26: 11-12.)

I will never flatter you. But I will never lie to you, either. My faith in the Gospel is stronger now than the day I was baptized into The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. My fidelity to the church is greater now than it has ever been. It offered me baptism and I gladly accepted. If offered me scriptures, and I gladly accepted. It offered me ordination, laying on hands, washings, anointings, covenants and sacraments, and I gladly accepted them all. It gives me fellowship, and I value it. But my faith is in Christ alone.

Roles and Limitations

My wife is gone and I have access to the blog, so I will add a thought to this line of discussion as an aside:

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has a role in the Gospel, but not the central role which some have tried to make it assume.  It prints copies of the Book of Mormon, Doctrine & Covenants and Pearl of Great Price.  It conducts Sacrament Meetings at which an essential ordinance is performed.  It provides missionaries an opportunity to teach, and then gives the ordinances of baptism and the laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost.  These are important and I do not think there will be any freelance practice of these rites so long as the Church exists.  All of these things take place at the lowest level, where the hand of the Lord is still apparent.  Elder Oaks’ examples of the Holy Ghost come from that lowest level of the Church.  It was at this level I first received companionship of the Holy Ghost as a gift, and not merely a visit to bear testimony of the truth.


The Church above this local level, however, has become somewhat of a deterrent to the Saints’ progress and happiness.  Mandates and control from an increasingly distant hierarchy more often than not detract from what could be enjoyed.  The Church has first sought to obtain the ability to micro-manage every member’s lives through the correlation process, then upon securing that ability has felt duty-bound to exercise that control.  Now it is a matter of whether you are a “good member” if you conform to the central authority’s direction on everything from opening your scriptures in Sacrament meeetings, to engaging in an order of prayer in the privacy of your home, to your lesson’s content when permitted to teach in a class of the Church.  The color of the priests’ shirts, the length of their hair, their dietary habits and dating restrictions are all weighed against programs like “Duty to God” and conformity to “Church Standards.”


The standards and conditions ALWAYS have as their goal the betterment of those involved.  But the results are to mislead those who conform into thinking they’ve become better as a result.  The practice of universal conformity becomes a distraction in which the distracted believe their strict Church regimen pleases Christ; when it was the heart He was always after.  It was the religiously scrupulous who persecuted and killed Him.  His persecutors were careful about their diet, dress, language, behavior and conformity.  We may be reminding Him of His mortal opposition when we engage in this conformist behavior.  He captured the hearts of fishermen, outcasts, prostitutes, tax collectors, the heretical and rebellious.  Their outward behavior may not have conformed, but their hearts were in the right place.


The Church has something to add, to be sure.  But what it adds comes to an end, so far as I can tell, once you move above the ward level.  As LeGrand Richards quipped: “Everything above the Stake is just talk.”  He’s right, but I would have said the Ward instead of the Stake.  And some of that “just talk” actually interferes with the development of the Saints’ hearts.  It would be better to remain silent than to speak up and justify interference by a flawed program between a man and his God, or a woman and her Lord.


I am active, but not merely in my weekly Church attendance.  I am active also in my daily obligations to the Lord.  It is my daily service which I consider the more important of the two.

Be firm and steadfast!

I’ve said several times in several ways that we have an obligation to support the church’s leaders and the programs of the church.  I believe that with all my heart.  The Lord is going to hold us all accountable.  No one is going to be relieved from their respective responsibilities.
 
Pay tithes, attend your meetings.  Keep a current temple recommend and use it.  Serve when asked to do so.  You will have a great influence on others for the good when you provide service. Not merely by what you say, but by the example you provide.

There is a great deal of unrest in the church.  Oftentimes the result is inactivity.  I believe that is a mistake.  If all those who continued to care about the Gospel persisted in attending meetings and serving, it would do more to help the church than drifting into inactivity.  Those who are sensitive to the troubles which beset the church need to be there, faithfully serving.  If only those who are blinded to the troubles remain active, then the organization becomes narrower and narrower, less and less aware of its situation, and prone to continue in a course that will discard yet more of what matters most.
 
I wish I could inspire thousands of inactive Saints to return to activity.  I know I have helped hundreds to return.  Those who are most troubled are the ones who the church can use right now.  Those who keenly sense that all is not well with Zion are the ones who need to be filling the pews.  Until they fill the pews they won’t be filling the leadership positions.  And until they fill the leadership positions, there won’t be any changes made to the course we are on at present.
 
If you love Zion and want her redemption, then serve her cause.  Faithfully serve her cause.  Don’t sever yourself from her.
 
There is no question the Lord will hold accountable those who are in leadership positions for every word, every thought, and every deed.  (Alma 12: 14.)  They aren’t spared.  This is why we should pray for them, uphold them, and do what we can to relieve them of the terrible burdens and consequences of being accountable for their callings.  (D&C 107: 22.)
 
When you withdraw from the church you cut yourself off from necessary ordinances, including the sacrament.  You imperil your capacity to keep the Sabbath day holy.  You limit your capacity to serve others.  Even a bad lesson makes you consider what the teacher and manual is ignoring, misstating or mangling.  You needn’t be argumentative or unpleasant.  But by being there you have a time to reflect upon the subject being addressed by the class and to contemplate what that subject means to you.  Use it meditatively and gratefully.  It is a gift.  If you see more clearly than others, then thank the Lord for that and stop being impatient with your fellow Saint.
 
You are a gift to the church.  Your talents and your abilities belong to and were intended to be a part of the church.  Serve there.  Patiently and kindly.  You needn’t start an argument in every class to make a difference.  Quietly going about serving and occasionally providing a carefully chosen insight is important and will garner you far more blessings than withdrawing and letting your light grow dim.

We’re all in this together.  This is our dispensation.  You are responsible for helping it be preserved and passed along to the rising generation.  Do not grow weary in this fight.  We share a common enemy, and it is not the leadership of the church.  It is the one who stirs people up to anger.  (2 Ne. 28: 20.)
 
I’d like to open people’s eyes only so as to permit them to save their own souls and those of others.  I would never want anyone to walk away from the church as a result of seeing its weaknesses.  Be wise, but harmless.  (Matt. 10: 16.)  Be patient with anyone’s shortcomings, no matter whether they serve in the nursery or in the presidency of an organization.