An Editorial
Occasionally, members of this modern Church in 2009 come to believe that they have obtained insights into the policies and/or doctrines of the Church that General Authorities need to hear. Letters are written to Salt Lake and then routed back to Stake Presidents. Unfortunately (or actually fortunately, depending upon one's point of view) the Church does not operate from a "bottom-up" design. Democracies are bottom-up, but the Church is NOT.
In the 1830s, Hiram Page professed to be receiving revelations for the Church. His actions prompted in part the following words found in the Doctrine & Covenants:
D&C 28:2
…no one shall be appointed to receive commandments and revelations in this church excepting my servant Joseph Smith, Jun., for he receiveth them even as Moses.
The Church, even this day, has potential Hiram Pages. How can the Church proceed without dissolving into continuous debate? The answer is the Law of Harmony.
Sure, LDS individuals should have opinions, and they do, lots of them. But, Church operations depend upon individuals setting aside their own personal agendas. Otherwise, the Church dissolves into chaos.
There are some splinter groups, but none of them have mastered or implemented the Law of Harmony. Ultimately, they have stagnated by comparison to the LDS.
The best example of the Law of Harmony is Jesus himself – He said, "I can of mine own self do nothing … because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father" (John 5:30).
Members of the Church, for all their brilliance, are here to live and implement the gospel. We are NOT here to shape and mold the Church into our version of an ideal institution. Such is the obligation of LDS membership. At baptism we take on the name of Christ, to remember Him and keep His commandments, NOT our own.
Actually, gospel principles maximize influence (of the correct type). By living the gospel a moral calculus is implemented – that is, we maximize good and minimize harm. And, of course, the Church has changed and adapted to the times, because after all, we are a Church of continuing revelation – but such revelation must come through the proper channels.
Copyright 2009 S.Faux (Email: foxgoku54 [at] gmail [d0t] c0m; URL: http://mormoninsights.blogspot.com). Readers may distribute this post for noncommercial purposes provided such distributing is of the entire post, including author's copyright and contact information. All other rights reserved.
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4 comments:
Yes, it certainly was divine direction that set up the church's organization as it is.
As for the Hyrum Page types, we recently lost one from our ward. He was claiming spiritual guidance over the stake president. We kept him for a while, though he was forbidden from participating/speaking in class. Eventually, I suppose he got fed up because he just stopped coming, his two lovely daughters included. While I regret that he has stopped attending (especially taking his kids with him), I see the wisdom in not allowing this bottom up type of direction. This fellow certainly had a dark countenance; I would seriously doubt the godly wisdom in any direction he might give.
Seems to me that claiming to bypass the established channels in the Church indicates either runaway pride in one's own wisdom/knowledge or a lack of faith in the Lord's ability to run His church.
As much as "self-esteem" is pushed in today's society, we really need to watch out for the kind of "I'm so great" thinking that decides we know more than God does about how His church should work.
I was a Hyrum Page type for a few months. I was forbidden from bearing testimony. It made me feel like I wasn't welcome at church and I was tempted to stop going. I was really miserable the whole time. I finally realized what I was doing when I read in the Joseph Smith manual the chapter about apostasy and saw that I had a lot of the symptoms. I had to humble myself and do a lot of repenting and pray a lot for forgiveness. I had to work through different stages. I had to realize everything I had done wrong, then mentally and emotionally reject what I had done and there were other difficult stages that I had to go through. It was so HARD. But it was worth it.
I grateful for the law of common consent and for righteous judges in Israel with the gift of discernment.
Anonymous:
I am SO VERY grateful for your comment.
The Church is a hospital, and we are all patients under various stages of healing.
Your testimony published here touched me very much.
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