I hope you enjoy some insights from my Come, Follow Me for Doctrine and Covenants 102-105 If you missed last week’s insight, for Doctrine and Covenants 98-101 click here for it. Please share this with your friends or use this picture to save this pin to read later:
Working with imperfect people.
“The accused, in all cases, has a right to one-half of the council, to prevent insult or injustice.”
Doctrine and Covenants 102:15
Doctrine and Covenants 102 outlines Church protocol in regards to disciplinary counsels. I love this section as it shows that there are many safeguards to prevent injustice. I view it as a testimony that God wants to help His imperfect children get it right. This naturally means we get it wrong, sometimes even church leaders get it wrong.
That is ok. We are imperfect people living a perfect Gospel. God is teaching us to become better. The command to become perfect is just that, to become, not to be right now. He is patient with us, we should be also! In the words of Elder Jeffrey R. Holland: “Except in the case of His only perfect Begotten Son, imperfect people are all God has ever had to work with. That must be terribly frustrating to Him, but He deals with it. So should we.”
Becoming saviors of men.
“And inasmuch as they are not the saviors of men, they are as salt that has lost its savor, and is thenceforth good for nothing but to be cast out and trodden under foot of men.”
Doctrine and Covenants 103:10
This verse never hit me with more power than this morning. In the prior verse, it reads: “For they were set to be a light unto the world, and to be the saviors of men;”
With both of these verses, we can understand what God expects of us. We are a city on a hill. We are meant to #LIGHTtheWORLD God expects us to become saviors on Mount Zion! [see Obadiah 1:21]. He expects us to engage in the work of saving the living and the dead. In the words of Elder Bernard P. Brockbank, “Now is the time every Latter-day Saint is urgently needed to be one with Jesus Christ and to be saviors of men.”
And in the words of Joseph Smith, “But how are they to become saviors on Mount Zion? By building their temples … and going forth and receiving all the ordinances … in behalf of all their progenitors who are dead” Let us join with the Savior in His holy work and thereby become saviors on Mount Zion.
Welfare MUST be done in the Lord’s way.
“But it must needs be done in mine own way; and behold this is the way that I, the Lord, have decreed to provide for my saints…”
Doctrine and Covenants 104:16
How we go about doing a lot of things in the gospel really does not matter. Does it matter if you pay tithing with cash or check? No. Does it matter if you walk to church or drive? No. Does it matter when you read your scriptures so long as you read them? Nope! In Doctrine and Covenants 27:2 the Lord even says that what we eat or drink for the sacrament does not really matter! But when it comes to welfare and the United Order, The Lord does care about how it is done. In Doctrine and Covenants 104:16 the Lord declared, “But it must needs be done in mine own way.”
The entire Plan of Salvation is based on the premise of agency. Men must choose for themselves what to do. The United Order as a Celestial Law is also based upon agency. Marion G. Romney taught that “The united order is implemented by the voluntary freewill actions of men, evidenced by a consecration of all their property to the Church of God. No force of any kind is ever involved.” No matter how promising the benefits might sound, the use of force cannot replace agency.
Lorenzo Snow drove this point home when he taught, “In things that pertain to celestial glory there can be no forced operations. We must do according as the Spirit of the Lord operates upon our understandings and feelings. We cannot be crowded into matters, however great might be the blessing attending such procedure. We cannot be forced into living a celestial law; we must do this ourselves, of our own free will. And whatever we do in regard to the principles of the United Order, we must do it because we desire to do it.” (In Journal of Discourses, 19:346.)
For more on this topic see “Why So Many Members Are Falling For Satan’s Counterfeits of the United Order“
Church welfare humbles the giver and exalts the receiver.
“…that the poor shall be exalted, in that the rich are made low.”
Doctrine and Covenants 104:16
In Doctrine and Covenants 104:16, the Lord outlines why we must follow His pattern in welfare: “But it must needs be done in mine own way; and behold this is the way that I, the Lord, have decreed to provide for my saints, that the poor shall be exalted, in that the rich are made low.” Not only are many government programs bloated and ineffective, but they gather their funds via forced taxation or running a deficit and borrowing money, this causes a disconnect between the giver from the receiver, robbing both of the full benefits of welfare. This is not even addressing the fact they employ force and infringe on freedom with their socialist welfare states. President Hunter addressed this issue at BYU when he said:
“If man will not recognize the inequalities around him and voluntarily, through the gospel plan, come to the aid of his brother, he will find that through “a democratic process” he will be forced to come to the aid of his brother. The government will take from the “haves” and give to the “have nots.” Both have lost their freedom. Those who “have,” lost their freedom to give voluntarily of their own free will and in the way they desire. Those who “have not,” lost their freedom because they did not earn what they received. They got “something for nothing,” and they will neither appreciate the gift nor the giver of the gift.”
(Howard W. Hunter, “The Law of the Harvest.” BYU, 8 March 1966.)
Within the Lord’s program of Welfare, the goal is not to simply get someone to pony up the cash, as the Lord could provide if all we needed was money, and it is not only about helping others. Welfare within the Church is about blessing both the giver and the receiver. Marion G. Romney explained it like this:
“The Lord doesn’t really need us to take care of the poor. He could take care of them without our help if it were his purpose to do so… It would be a simple thing for the Lord to reveal to President [Nelson] where the deposits of oil and precious ores are. We could then hire someone to dig them out and we could float in wealth—and we would float in wealth right down to Hades. No, the Lord doesn’t really need us to take care of the poor, but we need this experience; for it is only through our learning how to take care of each other that we develop within us the Christlike love and disposition necessary to qualify us to return to his presence.“
Marion G. Romney, Living Welfare Principles, Oct 1981
We can’t abdicate our duty to take care of the poor.
“Therefore, if any man shall take of the abundance which I have made, and impart not his portion, according to the law of my gospel, unto the poor and the needy, he shall, with the wicked, lift up his eyes in hell, being in torment.”
Doctrine and Covenants 104:17
Too often we think what we have is ours. We did work for it after all. But in reality, the Lord made the whole earth. Everything is His. When we lose track of this truth it becomes easy to neglect the poor and needy around us. We judge them, and think are they worthy of our kindness?
Thanks be to God that His Son does not treat us the same way! Christ does not look at us and judge if we are worthy of love and kindness. He loves everyone. He is kind to everyone. No one is rejected for his looks, marital status, sexual orientation, or ethnic background. If we truly want to become like the Savior we must act the same. Not judging, shaming, or withholding because of ANYTHING.
It might not be socially, or politically popular to think or talk about serving the poor and needy, the homeless and the refugee. For some people, they will have to make the choice “Do I follow my God or my political party?” Be warned as Salvation is in none else but Christ!
And least you think you can shift this responsibility to another. The words of President Marion G. Romney still ring true, “In this modern world plagued with counterfeits for the Lord’s plan, we must not be misled into supposing that we can discharge our obligations to the poor and the needy by shifting the responsibility to some governmental or other public agency. Only by voluntarily giving out of an abundant love for our neighbors can we develop that charity characterized by Mormon as “the pure love of Christ.” (Moro. 7:47.) This we must develop if we would obtain eternal life.”
Celestial Laws.
“And Zion cannot be built up unless it is by the principles of the law of the celestial kingdom; otherwise I cannot receive her unto myself.”
Doctrine and Covenants 105:5
Every kingdom has a law, and the law that we abide by is reflected and restored to us in the resurrection. We can not live the telestial law here and expect a celestial reward. The Law of Moses was a Terrestrial law, it was designed to bring the people from the fallen worldly way to a way closer to God. Jesus Christ taught the Celestial law to the Jewish people. Some examples of the differences between the laws would be seen like so.
Telestial law = Do unto others before they do unto you.
Terrestrial law = Do unto others as they do to you.
Celestial law = Do unto others as Christ has done unto you.
Telestial law = It’s your body, do what you want.
Terrestrial law = Think what you want but don’t actually break the law of chastity.
Celestial law = Don’t even think of lusting, for that is breaking the law of chastity in your heart.
Telestial law = It’s your money.
Terrestrial law = Pay Tithing.
Celestial law = Live the law of consecration.
Basically, the principles that govern each kingdom and its laws are these.
Telestial = Break the commandments.
Terrestrial = Outwardly ‘act the act’ Discipleship.
Celestial = Inwardly ‘walk the walk’ of Discipleship.
The overarching law of the Celestial Kingdom is the Law of Consecration, it embodies all other laws and is summarized by giving everything we have and are to God. And in return, He promises to give us everything He has. In the words of Bruce R. McConkie, “We are commanded to live in harmony with the Lord’s laws, to keep all his commandments, to sacrifice all things if need be for his name’s sake, to conform to the terms and conditions of the law of consecration. We have made covenants so to do—solemn, sacred, holy covenants, pledging ourselves before gods and angels.”