When we read from the Book of Mormon –
…there were no contentions and disputations among them, and every man did deal justly one with another. And they had all things common among them; therefore there were not rich and poor, bond and free, but they were all made free, and partakers of the heavenly gift. (4 Nephi 2-3)
–we might wonder: How did they accomplish that magnificent feat? Even more pertinent would be to ask: How can we attain in this dispensation what they did in theirs? It seems clear from the scriptures that we also are charged to establish Zion. This article is an hypothesis as to how we as individual members of the church might assist those who preside over us in the great work of becoming Zion.
It seems plain that our first obligation and opportunity is to support and work within the priesthood structure of the church. Those who preside over us are specifically charged with:
…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. (Ephesians 4:12-13)
The indispensable key to the priesthood authority of the church bringing us to that state is the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives. If we have kept that first commandment we received after we were baptized, to receive the Holy Ghost, then we have a testimony of the truthfulness of this great latter-day restoration and of the divine authority of those who preside in the church. We then can be on the path to becoming as the Savior. King Benjamin phrased it this way:
For the natural man is an enemy to God, and has been from the fall of Adam, and will be, forever and ever, unless he yields to the enticings of the Holy Spirit, and putteth off the natural man and becometh a saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord, and becometh as a child, submissive, meek humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him, even as a child doth submit to his father. (Mosiah 3:19)
What a joy to have a testimony, to feel the sweet, quiet assurance of the Holy Spirit that President Spencer W. Kimball is truly a prophet who speaks to us for our Savior. How important to be founded upon that rock, that the winds and the waves of our contemporary world will not be able to sweep us away into the sufferings and hopelessness of those who have no testimony.
It is good to know that we must become perfect in our relationship to the Savior. But the gap between him and us seems great. Is it possible to find a specific set of steps, a bridge by which we might cross that gap step by step? Fortunately for us, such a bridge is plainly given in the scriptures by Peter:
And beside this, giving all diligence add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; and to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; and to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity. (2 Peter 1:5-7)
A comment on each of these steps will help to show their strength.
- Faith. We must always begin with faith in our Savior. Before we can correctly put our trust in him we mus receive the Holy Spirit which reveals his will to us, for faith comes by hearing the word of God. Having that precious seed or word, we must believe in it and act upon it, for faith without works is dead. So we begin to tread upon this bridge over the chasm by trusting in our Savior, being comforted and guided by his Holy Spirit.
- Virtue. Having begun to be faithful we must not falter or doubt. We must gather our strength and courage and do all that we know to do, to obey the commandments we have received. This is the meaning of virtue. The word derives from the Latin vir, meaning man, and by association virtue means strength. As muscle and mind grow in strength with proper use and decay through abuse or no use, so with faith. The focus of our mind and thought must be to move correctly—with faith; and surely—with strength.
- Knowledge. Faith supported by virtue brings the need for further knowledge of the ways of the Lord in order to be more faithful. “Blessed are all they who do hunger and thirst after righteousness for they shall be filled with the Holy Ghost.” (3 Nephi 12:6, emphasis added.) Though the Lord’s ways are not our ways, he nevertheless delights in revealing his mysteries to those who serve him in righteousness to the end. They learn of him line upon line, precept upon precept, until their understanding reaches unto heaven. And because they know of him, they become a great blessing to their fellow beings.
- Temperance. To be temperate is to be even, to be steady. A faithful, strong, understanding servant needs also to learn steadiness, to serve the Lord in season and out of season, in convenience and in inconvenience, in youth and in age. For to be faithful only when we so choose or at our convenience is not true faith; it is only playing with faith. To be faithful in difficulty is the only way we can show that the faith, strength, and understanding we have are our own heartfelt choices. To serve the Lord only when it is pleasant and convenient is to treat him as a convenience. But to serve him in sacrifice is our way of showing our selfless love for him, for his work, and for all for which he stands. This is temperance.
- Patience. With our personal stage now set to be much more effective in the work of righteousness (blessing others), we next learn to discern the needs of others. As we look to those around us, we see souls bound and afflicted with varying degrees of “natural man problems,” varying degrees of captivity to the adversary. We may be tempted to smite away their fetters and blindfolds. But knowledge and temperance tell us to be patient with our brothers and sisters, to know that only the self can unlock the self, and that through faith in the Savior. We must be patient, suffering with the ones whom we would bless until the key of faith is firmly in their own hands. Then they can begin to unfetter themselves.
- Godliness. But we will not just stand idly by, watching their suffering. We will share the burden with them, sacrificing our own strength to help them. Godliness follows upon patience because our heart, our concern for others, needs to grow until we cannot look upon any human being without feeling compassion for them. This compassion prepares us to serve and bless all persons around us, as would our Savior.
- Brotherly Kindness. To have godly concern for all human beings is but a frustration unless there is a solid means of helping them. As one looks for a way to help, one obvious structure for delivering help is the kingdom, the church. The essence of the church is its priesthood organization. The strength of the priesthood organization of the church is the men and women who preide, who are its embodiment. To learn to love them and to fulfill in faith the stewardship under them is the greatest way to help this world that one can have; to be a missionary, a president, a teacher, –whatever. Is it not possible that the words we have as “brotherly kindness” really were intended to say “love of the brethren and sisters who preside over us?”
- Charity. The final stage of development comes when we possess the greatest spiritual gift, which is charity, or the pure love of Christ. Charity is two things: It is pure, unselfish love from the Savior; and it is that same love reflected back from us to the Savior and then manifest toward all other human beings. It is reflected through us in patience, godly concern, love for the brethren, then delivery of blessings in our stewardship with all of our heart, might, mind, and strength. Of one who possesses this love as the completion of the bridge of faith Peter says:
For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins. Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things ye shall never fall. (2 Peter 1:8-10)
Then shall we be even as our Savior is:
Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure. (1 John 3:2-3)
The opportunity of patience, godliness, brotherly kindness and charity can be framed another way by asking the question: How shall I let my light so shine that others seeing it will be caused to glorify God? We might answer by positing three steps by which the light of the Savior can be full manifest. These steps are to help people feel the Savior’s love, to help them see his way in action, and to help them understand his way through words.
Step 1. Love. We can love purely. We can show the example of full, unselfish Christ-like love as the Holy Spirit radiates through us to others. Be we father, mother, sister, brother, president, or member, we can all give unqualified, Christ-like love to those around us. We will not be critical, but supportive; not condemning, but sympathetic; not condescending but honoring each person as a child of God. We can let each person around us be fully assured that someone knows they exist and cares about what happens to them, because we do. The purity of our love will be the purity of the Holy Spirit; the strength of our love will be the fulness of our Savior, who received a fulness of all things from our Heavenly Father.
As all spiritual people know, the world’s greatest need is more of this love. The Savior has it to give, but he needs translators. We have an opportunity to translate and transmit this love which the world does not because we have the fulness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Step 2. Example. We can show the example of a godly life. We can show how it is that a true servant of Jesus Christ eats and drinks, marries and gives in marriage, buys and sells, teaches and learns, governs and obeys, prays and worships. The example is important because the world needs hope, the hope that the commandments of Jesus can be lived. Many have the ideal, but do not believe that the Savior’s commandments can be lived because they do not understand how to do it. Only those who both know the truth and have the power of God can show the full example:
Therefore, what manner of men ought ye to be? Verily, I say unto you, even as I am. (3 Nephi 27:27)
Step 3. Witness. We can teach the word of God in its simplicity and purity, as we receive it from the scriptures and the Holy Spirit. We bear testimony that the Savior lives, that his prophet is on earth, that this Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the only true and living church. We teach the fundamental principles of faith and repentance, baptism and confirmation, of enduring to the end. Thus may others come to comprehend and understand the ways of the Lord.
These three constitute the pattern of perfect teaching: love and respect for the learner, personal demonstration of what is being taught, and correct explanation to build understanding.
Now a frank question: Would you like to have someone in your life who loves you purely; who is the example of all righteous action; who can teach you so that you understand the ways of our Savior? Could you better live the gospel if you felt, saw, and understood the truth of the gospel manifest in the flesh? Surely we would all appreciate that.
Now another frank question: Why don’t you and I who have testimonies and know something of the ways of the Lord go out and show his love, live his example, and teach his truth to the best of our ability? Truly, if we all lived in the physical presence of the Savior we would likely have a surer testimony. But we don’t. But instead of simply seeking that blessing for ourselves, would it not be better to take all the love, the example, the understanding that we have received and pass it on? Is not our opportunity thus to bless others even greater because the Savior is not here?
Let’s be about our Father’s business.