When I was younger, my church leaders seemed almost heroic. They were men who knew so much about the gospel, seemed to have every answer, and didn’t seem to have any flaws at all. This is a quasi confession, but the older I get the less I see these same qualities in my current church leaders. I realize that none of us (especially me) are perfect; that we are all trying the best we can to lead those of which we have stewardship. I don’t know if it is my pride or the fact that I have seen a variety of different leaders since I was younger, but I tend to compare them all, and the shortcomings that some have compared to others, make it difficult for me to have complete trust and faith in them.
Toward the end of his first letter to the Thessalonians, the Apostle Paul gave some advice that hit me like a ton of bricks in this regard. He says:
“12 And we beseech you, brethren, to know them which labour among you, and are over you in the Lord, and admonish you;
13 And to esteem them very highly in love for their work’s sake. And be at peace among yourselves.” (1 Thessalonians 5:12-13).
I have noticed over the past several months that my attitude has digressed a little, and I have tried to make goals to improve my perception of local church leaders, although it has been slow going. As I read this short exhortation, it hit home to me that the leaders serving in local congregations truly are laboring among us and we should esteem them highly for their willingness and ability to serve the Lord in whatever capacity He has called them.
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Service and Rewards
Last night I was reading “Selfless Service” by William R. Bradford out of the November 1987 Ensign. I have been thinking about service lately because that is one of my responsibilities in our ward. Having this topic on my mind and after reading this talk I felt the need to write down my thoughts.
Elder Bradford tells the story of a group of young people who raised a lot of money to go on an adventure outing, and wanted his help in getting some press coverage of their accomplishments. He told them “no”, because he felt there were better things they could do with the money they had raised than spend it something fairly frivolous for themselves. The young people came around and decided to donate the money to the missionary fund, and wanted to present a check and take some pictures to get a little publicity. Again Elder Bradford told them “no”, but this time because their intentions were wrong. They would be donating money for recognition, not to help others. The theme of his talk is “Many things are only interesting and enticing, while other things are important.”
It was this last statement that stuck out to me. I know there are people who enjoy giving service, but I think, unfortunately those are the minority. I understand people are busy, and giving service at soup kitchens or canneries or whatever, isn’t very high on the priority list. I also understand that some people are willing to give service, but they want recognition for it. But that’s the whole problem with a lot of us. We have filled our lives with so many things (some important, but I dare say most are only interesting/enticing) that we don’t or won’t give time to give service to others.
Elder Bradford then summarizes:
“To get recognition and the praise of men can become an obsessive goal in one’s life. It can lead from one act to another until life is filled with egotism and selfishness. The momentary pleasure that recognition and the praise of men bring almost always causes people to want more. If they can’t get it in one way, they will try another. If it can’t be obtained by being one’s natural self, they will try to get it acting out a life that is unnatural. The longing to be popular, to be praised by one’s peers, and to receive the recognition of men is a very powerful force.
It is vain to seek the praise or recognition of men. This vanity comes of evil because it springs forth out of selfishness. Christ clearly taught this as he spoke of those who “set themselves up for a light unto the world, that they may get gain and praise of the world; but they seek not the welfare of Zion.
“Behold, the Lord hath forbidden this thing; wherefore, the Lord God hath given a commandment that all men should have charity, which charity is love. And except they should have charity they were nothing. Wherefore, if they should have charity they would not suffer the laborer in Zion to perish.
“But the laborer in Zion shall labor for Zion” (2 Ne. 26:29–31).
It reminds me of the Savior’s teachings during the Sermon on the Mount (see Matthew 6). The Savior gives examples of giving alms to be seen of men, praying to be heard of men and fasting in a way that people are aware you are fasting. All of these (giving alms, praying and fasting) are very important, but the underlying reason for doing them is the key the Savior is teaching. In the examples given, the Savior explains that God does not reward those who do these worthwhile things for the wrong reasons. In other words, if the only reason we gave alms/pray/fast is so others would know we are, and if that is our intent, then our reward is having people see us, hear us and see us “disfigure [our] faces” and if that is really what we want, “[we] have [our] reward”.
I think it is interesting that Elder Bradford mentions the scripture in the Book of Mormon about charity, because charity is what is needed if we are to give service with real intent. Service should be given so that we can truly help others, especially those less fortunate. Without charity, we could still give service, I suppose, but we would not be giving it for the right reason. This was actually a topic I taught about a few weeks ago in class. In reading Paul’s “Love Psalm” (see 1 Corinthians 13), we talked about verse 3 which states “And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing.” and discussed why someone would “bestow all my goods to feed the poor” without having charity. Why would they? The answer is for the (wrong) reasons mentioned above; to be seen of others. Paul’s statement that this type of service “profiteth me nothing” goes hand in hand with the Savior’s teaching that those who serve for the wrong reasons, already have their reward.
Elder Bradford tells the story of a group of young people who raised a lot of money to go on an adventure outing, and wanted his help in getting some press coverage of their accomplishments. He told them “no”, because he felt there were better things they could do with the money they had raised than spend it something fairly frivolous for themselves. The young people came around and decided to donate the money to the missionary fund, and wanted to present a check and take some pictures to get a little publicity. Again Elder Bradford told them “no”, but this time because their intentions were wrong. They would be donating money for recognition, not to help others. The theme of his talk is “Many things are only interesting and enticing, while other things are important.”
It was this last statement that stuck out to me. I know there are people who enjoy giving service, but I think, unfortunately those are the minority. I understand people are busy, and giving service at soup kitchens or canneries or whatever, isn’t very high on the priority list. I also understand that some people are willing to give service, but they want recognition for it. But that’s the whole problem with a lot of us. We have filled our lives with so many things (some important, but I dare say most are only interesting/enticing) that we don’t or won’t give time to give service to others.
Elder Bradford then summarizes:
“To get recognition and the praise of men can become an obsessive goal in one’s life. It can lead from one act to another until life is filled with egotism and selfishness. The momentary pleasure that recognition and the praise of men bring almost always causes people to want more. If they can’t get it in one way, they will try another. If it can’t be obtained by being one’s natural self, they will try to get it acting out a life that is unnatural. The longing to be popular, to be praised by one’s peers, and to receive the recognition of men is a very powerful force.
It is vain to seek the praise or recognition of men. This vanity comes of evil because it springs forth out of selfishness. Christ clearly taught this as he spoke of those who “set themselves up for a light unto the world, that they may get gain and praise of the world; but they seek not the welfare of Zion.
“Behold, the Lord hath forbidden this thing; wherefore, the Lord God hath given a commandment that all men should have charity, which charity is love. And except they should have charity they were nothing. Wherefore, if they should have charity they would not suffer the laborer in Zion to perish.
“But the laborer in Zion shall labor for Zion” (2 Ne. 26:29–31).
It reminds me of the Savior’s teachings during the Sermon on the Mount (see Matthew 6). The Savior gives examples of giving alms to be seen of men, praying to be heard of men and fasting in a way that people are aware you are fasting. All of these (giving alms, praying and fasting) are very important, but the underlying reason for doing them is the key the Savior is teaching. In the examples given, the Savior explains that God does not reward those who do these worthwhile things for the wrong reasons. In other words, if the only reason we gave alms/pray/fast is so others would know we are, and if that is our intent, then our reward is having people see us, hear us and see us “disfigure [our] faces” and if that is really what we want, “[we] have [our] reward”.
I think it is interesting that Elder Bradford mentions the scripture in the Book of Mormon about charity, because charity is what is needed if we are to give service with real intent. Service should be given so that we can truly help others, especially those less fortunate. Without charity, we could still give service, I suppose, but we would not be giving it for the right reason. This was actually a topic I taught about a few weeks ago in class. In reading Paul’s “Love Psalm” (see 1 Corinthians 13), we talked about verse 3 which states “And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing.” and discussed why someone would “bestow all my goods to feed the poor” without having charity. Why would they? The answer is for the (wrong) reasons mentioned above; to be seen of others. Paul’s statement that this type of service “profiteth me nothing” goes hand in hand with the Savior’s teaching that those who serve for the wrong reasons, already have their reward.
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