The themes for this week’s lessons seem to float around the concept of perspectives. Let’s look at how we see things, versus how God does.
Background of the Kirtland rebellion
If you have been reading the historical articles from the Saints book online, and they are readily available from the online scriptures themselves, you have probably experienced what I have, mild shock over the behavior of the apostles and members in Kirtland. Our modern view of the way the church works is vastly different from the assumptions held by many of the early Saints. Let’s look at how and why.
Apostasy
The Lord’s church had thoroughly apostatized more than 1.5 thousand years ago. There was no one living for many, many generations that had any idea as to how the Lord ran His original church, and what was expected by those who belonged to God’s church. Starting with the Protestant Reformation it became customary, and accepted socially, to leave your church and start a new one if you thought your way of worshiping was more accurately representative of how things were done in the Lord’s original church. Sure, you and your new congregation may be based more or less on a common church’s doctrines and habits, but you had your own twist as to how the daily doctrine and customs were observed. As you read in Saints note how often it mentions that so and so and his congregation joined the church. These were not usually die hard Methodists or Episcopalians, etc., but were independent congregations following the teachings of the one who set up the congregation. It was not uncommon for people to switch churches based on what was being taught and who was doing the teaching. This is still the way it is in the Christian world today.
It was absolutely customary and acceptable to go off on your own and set up your own congregation if you disagreed with how things were being done in your old church/congregation. Independent churches like this were everywhere, especially in America where so many of the Protestants had fled for religious freedom. With that understanding can you see why it never crossed the minds of those who disagreed with Joseph Smith, Jr. over his decisions about how the church was to be run that leaving the church might actually affect their salvation? We have it ingrained in us that there is only one way to get to the Celestial kingdom, and that is through God’s authorized servants who hold the keys of God’s priesthood.
Every member of the Lord’s church in Joseph’s day was a convert, mostly from Protestant congregations. Every one of them brought these afore mentioned views about church and membership with them. It would take a while for the culture we appreciate today to be built and to become part of their world view. Yes, there were those who had caught the vision of how the Lord’s church was supposed to work, like Brigham Young. These people understood the concept that simply walking away from the Lord’s church, because of a disagreement about procedure or doctrine, was detrimental to one’s long-term spiritual health. But not everyone in the church had caught that vision yet. Many didn’t see anything wrong with believing in the prophet and the Book of Mormon, but still going to the new church started by former members of the Lord’s church. There was no perceived emotional or spiritual conflict for many of them in doing this.
What people did when they disagreed in Joseph Smith’s day was different from what we do today. We are taught that the priesthood keys are only in one place, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. If we disagree with our church leaders over how something is done it is our responsibility to figure out how to change our self to bring our opinion into agreement with our church leaders, not the other way around. This was a very foreign concept to most of the early Saints. It is also a difficult concept for today’s newly baptized members, since they come from the same basic religious background as the converts of Joseph Smith’s day.
My point
My point here is that as shocking as some of their behaviors may feel to our religious sensibilities 200 years removed from these incidents, if we understand the world in which they were raised, their behavior feels more rational and natural. That doesn’t make them right in what they did, but it explains why so many of them had no problem behaving as they did. We should feel greater empathy for them because of the differences between their knowledge and our current knowledge. Knowing why they behaved as they did should help us to be more tolerant and loving towards them and the things they did. We also need to recognize that this same understanding of the importance of being faithful to the Lord’s chosen leaders means we have no excuse for behaving as so many of the early Saints did. We know better.
The name of the Church
The Lord’s church was reintroduced to the children of men after well more than a thousand years of apostacy. The Reformation started October 31, 1517. This means people of Joseph Smith’s day were leaving the Catholic church and naming their own churches for more than 200 years longer than America had been a country. It was customary to give a name to your congregation to distinguish it from all other congregations. Absolutely no one felt a need to name their church after the name of Christ, because they all needed to set themselves apart from all the other sects of their day.
Along comes the Lord’s restored church, and all the detractors called it Mormonism. No one saw any problems with this, since this was a universally accepted practice in naming every church in a way that would set it apart, even if it was meant to be a negative thing. After a while it was just easier for the Saints to accept the common designation, since that is the way everyone recognized who they were. At one point early on the Lord told the prophet that the church needed to be named after him, but no specific name was dictated or insisted upon. It isn’t until we get to Doctrine and Covenants 115 that the Lord finally tells the prophet what the exact name of the church was to be. The problem was that the Saints were already accustomed to hearing the name Mormon, and even referred to themselves as Mormons. They had become proud of the designation.
For more than a hundred years the official name of the church was The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, but all the members referred to themselves as Mormons. We wrote about Mormons, bore testimony as Mormons, and did all things as Mormons. That name to the rest of the world was the name of our church. It wasn’t until President Russell M. Nelson came out and taught that the Lord was a little offended by that designation that things were officially changed and the real name of the church was emphasized. As a church we still struggle getting people to accept our official name. Those outside the church have been raised with the name Mormon as well. It is a big change for everyone.
But why the change in which name we use? Consider such things as this. Where is salvation found, in Mormon or in Jesus Christ? What purpose is being served to further the salvation of souls if we continue to represent ourselves by someone’s name that doesn’t lead us directly to Christ? If we want to bring people to Christ then let’s bring them to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, not the Mormon church. Perspective. Christ needs to be at the center of all we do. He is the purpose and goal of all the Church does and is about. Yes, Mormon wrote the Book of Mormon, but the reason for the book is to bring us to Christ. Christ needs to be our focus, not his ancient prophet. It is Christ and our Father that we worship, not Mormon. The world needs to know that. We shouldn’t have to keep explaining that we don’t worship Mormon.
As we mentioned about the ingrained habits and assumptions of the early Saints, and how we need to be tolerant of them, because they, as a body, didn’t know any better at the time, so too do we need to recognize that when it comes to the name of the Lord’s church, we are in the same boat they were. We need to accept the Lord’s will as given to us from His mouthpiece, and change how we think of and refer to the Lord’s church. We are not Mormons. We don’t belong to Mormonism. We are Latter-day Saints who belong to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Sacrifices are sacred
Background: Section 117 speaks to three brethren, William Marks, Newell K. Whitney, and Oliver Granger. At least the first two of these brethren were prospering in Kirtland, Ohio. They had been asked to go to Far West to settle with the Saints, but couldn’t find it within themselves to leave their comforts behind. This section is the Lord rebuking them for putting the affairs of the world ahead of His work of saving the souls of men. The Lord even refers to Newell K. Whitney and “all his littleness of soul before me” when He called him to come be a bishop to His people in Far West.
God wanted to adjust the perspective of these gentlemen. He reminds them in the following verses that as the creator of all things aren’t the temporal concerns of these brethren rather petty?
6 For have I not the fowls of heaven, and also the fish of the sea, and the beasts of the mountains? Have I not the earth? Do I not hold the of all the armies of the nations of the earth?
7 Therefore, will I not make places to bud and to , and to bring forth in abundance? saith the Lord.
8 Is there not room enough on the mountains of , and on the plains of Olaha , or the land where dwelt, that you should covet that which is but the drop, and neglect the more weighty matters?
What are the “more weighty matters” the Lord is referring to? They are the assignments given to these brethren to come among the Saints and serve them in various capacities. To God this is more important than their worries about the comforts of this life. This is why He reminds them that He is perfectly capable of prospering them in one place as well as in another, despite what it may look like on the surface of the situation. All things are in God’s hands.
The lesson here is for us to look at our earthly possessions, be they small or great. Are we guilty of “littleness of soul” when we don’t accept a calling or don’t help to care for our brothers and sisters around us because it interferes with what we wanted to do? Do we need to trust God more than we currently are and put our faith in His ability to do for us whatever seemeth Him good to do? Sometimes we get so caught up in our worldly pursuits and concerns that we forget that God is all powerful, for the whole of the universe was created and is currently maintained by Him for our benefit. If that is so then cannot He answer any prayer or petition made by those who keep His commandments and seek His glory? What was He looking for these men to do but to acknowledge God’s wisdom and love for His children, and His desire to bless us all?
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