AND SSIDENCE IN THE CHURCH*
I. All of us here today are relatively new members of the Church
a) Have learned a good deal about doctrines restored after 100 years of apostasy, ecclesiastical
abuse, schism, and proliferation of reformist sects having no priesthood authority.
b) But no all of you yet have a full understanding of the administrative order of the Church:
what is called Church Government.
c) So President Morrey has especially asked me to give this talk today on these principles.
II. The Kingdom of our Heavenly Father in unique in is form of governance.
a) It is not a traditional democracy, let alone a traditional monarchy or aristocracy. Nor is it the perversion of these: tyranny, plutocracy, or ochlocracy. It is a form of
government entirely unconsidered by the Greek philosophers who gave us our customary
guidance to thinking about forms of government.
b) And just as the Ancient World's extreme regard for Greek philosophy led to a corruption in the simple doctrinal teachings of the Primitive Church, we must guard against the intrusion of traditional notions of government in our understanding of the government
of the Restored Church which could impair its message or access to revelatory guidance.
-1- No one in the Church inherits office by birth or previous position
-1- Nor do people present themselves for Church office
-2- Nor are they nominated for office by the commonality of membership
-3- Nor does one campaign for office, or have others campaign in one's behalf
-4- We do not vote for slates of pre-selected candidates
-5- Nor does one hold office for a given term
-6- Nor is one dismissed from office following a vote of "no confidence"
-7- While holding a position of trust or prominence in civil society is always
desirable in a Church office holder, to project a favorable image of the Church,
neither wealth or position is in itself a qualification for Church office.
c) Leaders in the Church are chosen by inspiration given to the next higher level of
Church leadership.
-1- The Lord seems to choose leaders for a variety of reasons. Among these are:
-i- that the individual has shown him/herself by previous loyal and effective
service to the most capable choice.
-ii- the Lord, looking to future need, calls a less-qualified person to prepare
him/her at a lower level for a later role for which he has a needed talent..
-iii- the call is a normal growth experience for a counselor who has
served well succeeding to a presidency, or a branch clerk
progressing to counselor
* detailed outline of a talk given at the request of Mission President John Morrey in J uly 1994 -iv- a spiritually less qualified individual may have talent needed by the Lord
at a specific time or in a specific calling.
-v- the Lord sees that a call of high responsibility to a person with tithing or
word of wisdom problems may release a well spring of dammed up testimony
that will lead him/her to accept the call, and through devoted service return
to full activity, bringing salvation to that individual -- or his entire family.
d) But the Lord's form of government also includes the Doctrine of Common Consent
He does not, and will not, override our gift of Free Agency. So he does not,
and will not impose leadership upon his people. We'll return to this later.
e) Now at this stage of analysis the LDS Church may superficially look to some as
a form of quasi-totalitarianism -- even perhaps like the Communist Party's system
of coopting from above. But the Lord's way is radically different. This is why
it's important not to try to analyze the Church either doctrinally in terms of
traditional philosophic terms of morality, or the ideal social order, or government.
-i- in communism the cadres, or nomenklatura, had to compete aggressively
among each other for advancement, or be run over or left behind.
-ii- communist government presented meaningless lists of pre-selected candi-
dates for office, and went through a mockery of periodic elections to
provide a smokescreen of false democratic appearances.
-iii- this led to disillusionment, cynicism, and eventual revolution. The Lord's
way of preserving Free Agency through the Principle of Common Consent
may be slower, and allow for setbacks, but it is the only way of preserving
the system in the long-run -- and this means during the Eternities.
This is an important principle. Don't forget it.
-iv-The surest way never to be called to a position in the LDS Church is to
seek it. People do not stand for office, or promote others for office in the
Church. There are sound reasons for this.
-a- Church work demands hard effort an enormous sacrifice of time
-b- anyone seeking office in the Church is thus emotionally unbalanced
(e.g. self-seeking and vain), or profoundly out-of-touch with the
nature of Church office.
-c- both are contrary to principles and disqualify a man for the job.
Also remember that principle well
III. Let's talk in some detail about just how a Church leader is selected. And this applies
equally to every level of Church government. I'll use some specific examples to make
clear what we're talking about.
a) When I served on the High Council of the Washington, D.C. Stake, Apostle Marvin
Ashton visited our stake to install a new Stake President. Now you'd perhaps think
he came with a name in mind that the Lord had revealed to him in Salt Lake City. That's
not the way the Lord operates. He expects us to put in some hard work ourselves, come
up with a proposed solution, then take the matter to Him for confirmation -- or
rejection. This is how Free Agency works. This is the way, and the only way, we can
learn to think and act like Him -- and prepare ourselves to inherit his mantle through
righteous living. Remember when Oliver Cowdery thought he could help with the
translation of the Book of Mormon simply by sitting down and staring at the gold leaves.
The Lord told him, "Behold, you have not understood; you have supposed that I would give it unto you, when you took no thought save it was to ask me. . . . I say unto you, that you must study [things] out in your own mind; then you must ask me if it be right, and if it is right I will cause that your bosom shall burn within you; therefore you shall feel that it is right.
b) So this is how the principle of inspiration works. We are to gather all the information
we can about a problem or question, study it out in our own minds, formulate a plan
of action, and then take it to the Lord for confirmation that this is how He would solve
the problem. This principle is operational not only in Church, but in business,
family, and personal matters It is the principle by which we learn to think, live, and act like our Heavenly Father. When we've mastered this principle we become
partakers of the divine nature, i.e. we've become like Him. And this is not an impossible
principle. Mortals have succeeded in so living, among them Enoch, Moses, and others.
c) Elder Ashton interviewed each member of the existing Stake Presidency, each member of the High Council, and the Stake Patriarch to see which candidates stood out in our minds from our visits to the wards of our stake in our High Council capacity. For my part I put forward two names: That of Ralph Mecham, whom I'd known for years. We'd both been District Presidents in Great Britain during our missions. Ralph was at the time one of the outstanding bishops in the stake, and Director of the Judicial Conference of the U.S. Federal Court System, charged with making more uniform
the rulings of judges within the twelve Federal Court Districts. He was a very busy man, but a top administrator who was able to run a family, the Federal Judicial System, and his Ward.
The other name was that of Bill Marriott, head of one of the largest hotel and restaurant chains in the world, another enormously busy man. Bill's father had earlier been Stake President, and of course Bill was very rich. While he was my colleague on the High Council, he had very little Church administrative experience.
d) Well, when Elder Ashton got through considering all the names, and taking them to the Lord for confirmation of which one (or another) the Lord wished to run Church affairs in this very important, high profile stake located in the capital city of one of the most important nations in the world, he next day in Stake Conference presented the name of someone none of us had thought of.-- this was Don Ladd, Counselor to our present Stake President. Brother Ladd was quiet, modest man, of somewhat humble background, who worked in the Department of Agriculture, and stood out in no one's mind. But he was an excellent stake president, and is now a General Authority.
-- what to me was most interesting in all this is that both of the individuals who
appeared to be most qualified were indeed subsequently called to serve
as President of the Washington Stake -- but in the Lord's own time.
IV When we divided the Ploesti Branch a couple of months ago and installed a new Branch President in the Second Branch we had an interesting experience.
a) someone who had obviously not yet learned much about Church government
stood up in the congregation and put forward the name of a candidate he
considered much better for the job and started to deliver a campaign speech.
b) he was quickly called to order. The man he nominated wasn't even a member of
the new Branch.
c) this was a learning experience for everyone. WE had to give an abbreviated
version of my sermon of today.
d) but again, what is interesting to me, is that the President of the old Ploesti Branch
where the improperly nominated brother did live, has just been called to a new
position in the Mission to start Temple Preparation classes, show members how
to do four generation genealogies so the temple will have Romanian names when
we go to Frieburg, and arrange our first mission temple excursion for October.
And the man the Lord has called to succeed him in office is the very
individual someone improperly tried to nominate from the floor.
e) so the man who put his name forward -- in improper Church order -- appears
not to have been totally uninspired: just inadequately instructed in church
government and a bit previous in timing -- as I was in advancing the names
of the two individuals whose times had not yet come to be called as Stake
President in Washington.
V When the Church starts really rolling and making strong progress in any part of the world, you can be sure that the Adversary will always step in to hinder the work.
a) in the early days of the Church a man named Hyrum Page started receiving revelations telling the members the leadership of the Church should be taking other paths.
b) seeing this happening, the Lord gave the revelation recorded in the D&C as Section 28 saying that Brother Page's whispering were coming from the Great Deceiver, warning the Church that the devil can appear as an angel of light, and telling us how to discern true messengers. In this great revelation, the Lord gave us the important message that no priesthood leader is entitled to receive inspiration or revelation beyond the level he's been given the keys to preside over. Thus --
-i- a father is entitled to inspiration to guide his family
-ii- a Relief Society President or Quorum President for her R.S. or his Q.
-iii- a Branch President for his Branch
-iv- a District President for his District
-v- a Mission President for his Mission
-vi- an Area President for his Area -- e.g. the Frankfurt Presidency for Europe
-vii- finally, the Lord will give instructions only to the President of the Church for the Church as a whole. And, as a matter of practice, new revelation is never announced until it's been prayed about and confirmed to the Quorum of the Twelve
-viii- Back to the comments on the law of Common Consent I promised to make, such new revelation is not binding on Church members until it's been publicly presented and voted on in a General Conference. If rejected, the new commandment would remain the Will of the Lord, but we have the Free Agency to deprive ourselves of the blessing attendant on living the new commandment if we wish. I can think of no example in modern Church history where this has happened. And I can think of only a couple of occasions where people have voted not to sustain proposed new leadership.
For your information, what is done on such rare occasions is to suspend the voting to sustain and takethe opposing individual apart (ideally into the bishop's private office), to explore the reasons for opposition. This is usually found to be simply a matter of personal preference, in which case the person called to office is simply installed on basis of the majority who voted to sustain, as in any democratic process. If it should be a matter of moral delinquency, presumably another look would be given to other choices -- though I have never heard of this happening.
VI A further word on false inspiration. Despite the lord's clear warning and instructions about how to avoid deception, there have arisen other Hyrum Pages in the Church.
a) Story of William Godbe in Utah who tried to repeat the Hyrum Page experience when Brigham Young succeeded Joseph Smith in the Presidency.
b) Now going to tell you a more recent personal experience with false revelation;
1. Few priesthood leaders in Spain. I had to serve in both a Branch and District
Presidency.
2. Brilliant young attorney convert. Baptized in Bordeaux 'cause still no relig. liberty.
3. Came one day to tell Branch Presidency that he'd heard a voice in the night, just
as clearly as any voice he'd ever heard; not the"still, small voice" of concience,
nor a dream.
The voice told him that just as Spain had been an instrument in spreading the gospel in days of old, and evangelizing almost the entire New World, the Lord would have to rely on Spain for the missionaries to preach the Restoration in Europe. The French were too secular; the Brits too grasping and material; the Germans too domineering, and the Scandinavians too carnal.
The child his wife was carrying in her womb was to be one "Mighty and Strong" -- as spoken of in the D&C -- who would set matters straight in the Church.
4. Well, what to do?
- this man had a strong testimony of the Gospel
- he was teaching a Gospel Doctrine class which had attracted almost 60
native Spanish members of the Church
- he was a potentially valuable future leader now that the Church was rolling
5. The matter was referred to the District Presidency (being in both Presidencies
I got to review the matter twice). We decided to write to President McKay
6. Imagine our surprise when we got a letter back from President McKay forthwith
telling us to keep our arms around this man and his wife, not to interfere with his teaching his class (usually one of the first things one stops when someone starts teaching false doctrine or heresy), and not to impede his exercise of Free Agency in any way. President McKay said the Lord would resolve the matter for us. President McKay was known for his gift of prophesy, and we were relieved to know the Lord would take care of things.
7. Well, we kept our arms around him, kept inviting him into our homes to dine with us, continued teaching him the things we're discussing this morning; but he could not be swerved. Time went on.
8. Eight months later the child was born. A beautiful baby girl! Brother X came immediately to tell us he'd just had another revelation. This time that all we'd been teaching him about deceiving spirits, the order of the priesthood, testing inspiration against doctrine, church principles, and scripture was true. Everything had suddenly fallen into place in his mind as he realized Lucifer had bet everything on the 50/50 chance he'd guess right on the sex of the baby, thus putting a spoke in the progress of the Church in Spain and of the progress of this man and his family. He saw a wonderful new harmony of doctrine he'd never seen before.
9. This man became my Counselor in the first branch of native Spanish people in Restoration times. He succeeded me as Branch President. Became one of the first Bishops in Spain, went on to become Stake President, and is now a Patriarch. The daughter grew up into a beuatiful young woman who was called to direct the Young Women's Program of the Church in Spain. A young woman "mighty and strong" Another of Lucifer's half truths. He just didn't have the power to know the sex of the spirit the Lord sent to that family. But just think of that power of deception if he'd guesses right.
And, frankly, given the wonderful growth and powerful spiritual qualities of Church members is Spain, it is not beyond possibility that Spanish missionarie will indeed play a key role in the re-evangelization of Europe. Lucifer can screw things up by teaching a half truth, or an untimely whole truth, some-times better than advancing an outright lie.
b) So if some of your new brothers or sisters in the Church get a little off the track,
expect the Mission Presidency to work harder to give you better and deeper
instruction in Gospel principles, as I'm trying to do today. And reflect that Satan
may be working on you through a half-truth to slow down, or derail the work in
this land.
But do not expect the Presidency to adopt your new ideas or policy suggestions at
once. We'll listen. We realize you understand Romanian customs and usages better
than we do. And wherever local usage does not impair gospel principle, we're ready
to do things the Romanian way. Yours is a Romanian Church, after all. We want
you to think of it that way. And we wish you to have Romanian leadership right up
the line as soon as their is priesthood leadership ready to take over direction of affairs.
Remember. This is the Lord's Church -- not yours, and not mine.
o His ways are not man's way. He sees further than we do.
o The Church is not a democracy: and God will not compromise on principle
o One's right to inspired guidance goes no further than the reach of one's keys
o When someone is called by the Mission President, then fails to perform
or in your judgment performs inadequately, this is a personal failure in the
exercise the individual's Free Agency, not a lack of inspiration in the call.
Agency implies that some are called to fail, i.e. not to live up to the blessings the Lord is prepared to extend. That is to say, the Lord may choose one for a job because of special talent, potential growth, future need, or considerations of time with respect to the callings of others. But one always remains free not to do the job, or not do it well. What this means is that one may be called of the Lord, but chose not to make the Lord the true Guide for his life.
So you see, there are lessons to be learned by all of us, even in failure.
May the Lord bless and keep you -- as a Branch, and as families, and individually. May His Spirit continue to rest on this nation and people that you may enjoy peace and prosperity and enjoy the riches of democracy. And may the blessings of the Restoration come to enrich the lives of many in this wonderful land is my prayer, Amen
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