Many people today chafe at the idea of having someone else
tell them what to do with their lives. When it comes to the structure of the
Mormon church, they claim that we “blindly follow” whatever the prophets say, that
we are in slavery to them (does this sound like Korihor to anyone?). And while us Mormons do believe
in doing whatever the prophet counsels us to do, we tend to view it a little
differently. But these people bring up an interesting question: Why do people
who are able to use their own fully competent brains to make their own fully
sound decisions need a prophet to tell them what to do?
Good question. I’m not sure I know all the reasons, but I
have discovered enough to reassure my mind of what the Spirit had already
taught my heart. Although in the end what will matter will be the individual spiritual
confirmation each of us has of the prophet’s divine calling, sometimes the
Spirit teaches us through reason. So can we take a look at some of the reasons why
we have a prophet?
As Mormons, we come from so many different backgrounds.
Nationally, economically, culturally, and ethnically we are all so diverse. We
need this diversity. From people who are different from us we learn new ways of
looking at the gospel, ways that heighten our own perspective of the gospel. We
learn how to get along with people, how to understand them better, how to serve
and love like Jesus did (and does).
But some of these diversities include views on the gospel
that are not quite doctrinal (this includes ideas sometimes brought to the
table by long-life members). The goal is to keep those things from our culture
that bring us closer to the Savior and to discard those ideas that keep us from
fully embracing His role in our lives. And as we use the guidance of the Holy
Ghost and the words of the scriptures, we can all achieve this balance. The
danger comes when, instead of changing the culture we grew up with to fit the
doctrine, we instead change the doctrine of the church to fit our culture.
We see this in the New Testament as Peter and Paul tell the
Jewish converts to Christianity that the Law of Moses was fulfilled in Christ.
They don’t just tell them this once, nor even twice, but again and again. It
takes a long time for the Jewish converts to stop trying to fit the Savior’s
gospel to suit the culture they are used to, instead of changing their culture
to better fit the gospel.
Of course there was other confusion tied up with the idea of
abandoning the Law of Moses; it was the Jewish way of worshipping the Savior,
after all, so it’s perfectly understandable that, for them, being told that the
Law was now unnecessary was a little hard to understand. The point I’m making,
though, is that the people of these time needed a leader, a spokesman from the
Lord, to steer them back onto the gospel path at a time when they were steering
off it.
We see this idea of culture overtaking doctrine in
modern-day culture as well, even in Mormon religious strongholds such as Utah. While
most Utah Mormons I know are very devoted, Christ-like people, the stereotype associated
with the phrase “Utah Mormon” does exist here in the here in the Mormon Bubble.
Utah Mormons, beyond being Mormons who live in Utah, are those hypocritical church-goers
who have gotten so caught up in the cultural aspects of living in Utah that they
have strayed from actual Mormon doctrine. Specifically, I’m talking about the
tendency to try to look perfect as a way to portray yourself as either “good
enough”, or as better than your non-Mormon (or less righteous Mormon) neighbors.
And indeed, sometimes here in the Mormon Bubble it does feel as if you’ve got
to be perfect to fit in.
Tied into these beliefs is the idea that if you want people
to think you’re righteous, first you’ve got to convince them that nothing in
your life ever goes wrong. Or, if it does, that it doesn’t upset you. Righteous
people are always happy, always faithful, have big homes, lots of money, and
lots of perfect, happy children. Outwardly, they are blessed of the Lord.
Strangely enough, nowhere in the scriptures is this doctrine taught. And if you
look at the words of modern-day prophets and apostles, you’ll find that this
unique Utah Mormon doctrine is preached against time and time again (for example,
see President Uchtdorf’s talk "Forget Me Not" from October 2011).
Of course there are many other examples out there of culture
being confused with doctrine all across the world. This is just one example of
something that, as a Mormon from Utah, I have experienced in my life. The
difference between culture and doctrine, actual truth and mere tradition, is a very
tricky thing to figure out.
When these distortions happen, prophets and apostles, as men
who speak for God, catch on to this much quicker than we do. They teach the
truth in its purity. You’ll notice that they tend to talk about the same basic
principles over and over again. This is for those times when we start to get
our culture mixed up with our doctrine, as a way to guide us back to the actual
doctrine that we as Mormons profess to believe in. People from different
backgrounds bring with them different interpretations of the gospel, and this
is helpful and needed in giving us a different perspective than the limited
scope of our life’s experiences. And then, with the prophet’s words as our
guide, if any one we come into contact with tells us something that we’re not
sure is correct doctrine, we can check it against the words of the prophets to
see if it is in line with God’s truth, or whether it is a cultural
misinterpretation, or whether we merely think that it’s a cultural
misinterpretation because of our own cultural biases.
Of course we can turn to the scriptures to learn the basics
of the doctrine as well, but God is not done revealing things, and at any rate,
the cultural distortions common today are much different than the ones in the
time of Moses. Not many people today think that it’s all right to worship
golden calves, but buying a flat-screen T.V. before paying tithing or providing
for your family? That’s a lot more common and, strangely enough, not something
that ever gets mentioned in the Bible. I don’t think Moses or even Moroni knew
anything about the potential benefits and dangers of social media, diet fads, or
even the addictive nature of pervasive pornography. Elder Bednar, a modern-day
apostle, on the other hand, obviously does.
The prophet and apostles provide an anchor of truth. The
church as an organization thrives when people bring unique viewpoints into it, but
we need something with which to measure the doctrinal accuracy of both our own
unique viewpoints and those of others. Cultures and traditions and programs
change; God’s doctrine never will. The Plan of Salvation was set forth before
the world began, and it will never change, regardless of what mankind may
teach. The Doctrine of Christ, as well, was set forth before the world began
and will therefore never change. The centrality of family, the power of the
Priesthood, the ten commandments - all of these are things that will never
change, regardless of what the world believes. Sometimes people’s unique ideas
about the gospel – including our own – are very insightful, and sometimes they
include false doctrine. Apostasy happens so quickly (read any of the epistles
in the New Testament for an example of how the cultural environment of an
individual causes them to warp doctrine to better fit their neighbor’s ideas of
the world), and without a leader there to keep emphasizing the things God needs
us to know – to restate the basic doctrine over and over again – we all, like
sheep, would go astray (see Isaiah 53:6)
One final scripture as a springboard for your personal
continued study of this idea:
And
he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and
some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; For
the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of
the body of Christ: Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and
of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the
measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ: That we henceforth be
no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind
of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning
craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive.
