In Europe and elsewhere it is common to find local churches with names like, "The Church of Our Lady of Guadalupe" or "The Church of St Hilda," or "The Church of St John the Divine".
Inside those buildings you may often find a chapel, separate from the main church meeting area, dedicated to a local benefactor or to a wealthy donor. Think of one of the themes in the movie, The Bishop's Wife.
In a sideways nod to this sort of practice, Elder Boyd K. Packer some years ago felt it necessary to warn that "This is not ' The Church of the Comfortable Chapel'."
Ours is a pioneer heritage. We are rugged individualists fighting on the frontier of truth and right, where "the world is our foe," and our relative prosperity and ease, as contrasted with our pioneer forebears', may become a problem indeed.
Notwithstanding you can get anything in this world with money, our attitude is always that we have sufficient for our needs, and not much more.
Which of the early Brethren was it, on his way to open up the work in England, let his companions know that he had "plenty of money"? It turned out he had a sixpenny piece (around ten cents) above and beyond his immediate needs for passage and food, and so considered himself to have "plenty of money", and that the Lord would provide as he was on the Lord's errand.
There is a lesson in that attitude of abundance in small and simple means.
A good friend, who reads these posts and who will no doubt recognize himself in this next illustration, told me some years back of his wealthy father-in-law who often used to say that "The extent of your righteousness is measured by the thickness of your wallet," that this was a common idea and sentiment among our people as he was growing up.
I suppose they had read---and memorized---the frequent references in the Book of Mormon that "If ye shall keep the commandments ye shall prosper in the land," and took that as their prime article of faith.
This father-in-law served as a mission president in later life. His gospel understanding was wanting, I think it is fair to say, but he was "self-sufficient" as a multi-millionaire. He was a good, decent man, a loyal and faithful Latter-day Saint, but there was something lacking, notwithstanding his pre-eminence and status and his business acumen, which led to his temporal success.
"Without purse or scrip" seems to collide with "the thickness of your wallet" when it comes to missionary work, the work of the kingdom, and the riches of eternity. The Lord revealed:
"Seek not for riches but for wisdom, and behold, the mysteries of God shall be unfolded unto you, and then shall you be made rich. Behold, he that hath eternal life is rich" (D&C 6:7).
Ah . . . "eternal life." God's life. The kind of life God lives. And which gift He extends to all His children. A fulness of joy. . . . Spiritual life. . . . Eternal life = God's life = spiritual life. Where we take the time and trouble and energy to feed the spirit within us. God's life.
When Heber C. Kimball returned from a mission to the eastern United States, he lamented how he felt a distinct and "a grievous change had come over the Church in Kirtland," a spirit of speculation, accumulation and of covetousness. The words in the quote marks above are those of Heber's son-in-law, Orson Ferguson Whitney in Life of Heber C. Kimball.
Space will not allow an extensive extract, but Orson F.'s prose here is excellent, and describes the very real difference between the temporal riches and the spiritual:
"The order of Christ's kingdom is the order of creation; firstly spiritual, secondly temporal. When this order is subverted, 'chaos is come again.' Sorrow is the inevitable consequence of apostasy from the spiritual to the temporal. 'To be carnally-minded is death; but to be spiritually-minded is [eternal] life and peace.'
"Does not the fall of man illustrate this principle? Can he descend from heaven to earth without causing and enduring pain?"
Orson F. answers his own questions:
"The spiritual must sway the temporal, the earthly be ruled by the heavenly. How else shall it be sanctified?
"It is the spirit in man that moves the body, not the body the spirit. In the Church, Christ's body, the spiritual must reign supreme. The temporal on the heart's throne is ever the usurper; the spiritual crowned and sceptred, ruler by right divine.
"Jacob is spiritual; Japheth is temporal. The mission of [the house of] Israel and the mission of the Gentiles are as the poles antipodal; God's ways and man's ways, as heaven and earth apart."
These trenchant words are from the first two pages of chapter 13 of this biography of Heber C., the father of the British mission. The whole chapter is worth reading closely, as is the whole book.
Now we are not being critical of wealthy men in the Church, men whose gifts and genius and industry have resulted in vast riches of a temporal nature. As in the Book of Acts, it is not uncommon today for wealthy men in the Church to lay "at the apostles' feet" (see 4:35, 37) huge sums of money, land, and property, far beyond a tithe or generous offering, and the work is blessed and moves forward with such bequests.
The concern of Heber, on his return to Kirtland, was that such accumulations diverted and engrossed "the time and attention of the Saints" so that there was no time left for gaining the riches of eternity. Or, in other words, for learning the things of God, which is synonymous with the riches of eternity.
I recently heard my sweet home teacher express deep regret that in his old age he now rues not taking the time and trouble and opportunities to increase in knowledge and wisdom and the things of eternity. Such regrets will be common beyond the veil as we recognize there the great truth that,
"If a person gains more knowledge and intelligence in this life through his diligence and obedience than another, he will have so much the advantage in the world to come."
The knowledge and intelligence we must have in order to be like our God and Father. And if we have squandered the opportunities here to grow and progress in the things of God and of eternity, we shall be required to make up the deficit in the spirit world, in the classes which are held there. But it will be ten times harder there to learn if we have not set the pattern and the precedent here.
This is serious business. It is not an exaggeration to suggest that the Lord places a high premium on knowledge of the things that He knows and values, and He expects us to know and value the same eternal matters. I know this is true, from His Spirit. We contradict such testimony at the peril of our salvation, and thus place our souls in jeopardy.
Strong words? True words.
But, in conclusion, what of the value of the spiritual for our work here, in mortality---here and now?
It is, sad to say, common to find home-teaching high priests who have interest and understanding in the temporal only. The same is too often true of visiting teachers. A stark illustration:
Since the global economic collapse of 2008 which brought Marxism / socialism out from behind the curtain in the United States and elsewhere, there have rightly been frequent "lessons" in priesthood and Relief Society classes on the need for prudence and frugality in temporal affairs. Invariably, the Parable of the Ten Virgins is used as an illustration of the pressing need for being prepared in food and emergency storage, for "If ye are prepared, ye shall not fear."
Such lessons are more than helpful and appropriate. But they are riveted on the temporal, and the spiritual meaning of the parable is lost. Such lessons focus on the oil in the lamps of the wise as temporal oil, as food and provision. The true meaning of this parable given by the Savior---the deep need for spiritual preparation, for the oil is the Holy Spirit, the spirit of revelation---is highjacked and missing, hostage to the temporal.
It is not a question of one or the other --- the spiritual or the temporal --- both are needed. But we clearly tend to neglect one at the expense of the other. I'll leave you to work out which one we neglect and reject.
We are left with the Church of the Comfortable Chapel . . . .
When the Lord spoke to us of such things, He said:
"Organize yourselves; prepare every needful thing; and establish a house, even a house of prayer, a house of fasting, a house of faith, a house of learning, a house of glory, a house of order, a house of God."
Can you see (and hear . . . and feel) the spiritual and the temporal in His words?
If I speak openly of such things as these when I am asked to teach the high priests group I usually draw criticism from a small number. They are happy to rest in the Church of the Comfortable Chapel, and they do not want a young whippersnapper from England pointing out the error and folly of such.
I am animated in my teaching to them by something the Prophet Joseph emphasized:
"The duty of a High Priest is to administer in spiritual and holy things, and to hold communion with God [see D&C 107:1--4, 8, 12, 18], . . . it is the High Priests' duty to be better qualified to teach principles and doctrines, than the Elders" (TPJS, 21).
Not that this excuses the elders from such Godly pursuits, for "Every elder should be a profound theologian," as Brigham taught.
Our observation is that very few elders or high priests live up to these injunctions. As my home teacher spontaneously observed about himself (bless his humble heart!), we are sorely lacking in knowledge and understanding in the important matters of God and eternity. We simply, for the most part, do not know the restored gospel as revealed in the scriptures. And our home teaching visits are left to discuss the weather, food storage, how to prevent water pipes from freezing and bursting in winter, and other such matters: "These things ought ye to have done, and not leave the other undone," as the Master Home Teacher Himself taught.
There is more to say. Please . . . feel free to take the trouble to send these observations on a home-teaching visit of their own. There is a need for us to wake up in this area, is there not!
God bless.
Steve
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment