Last week I focused on the alcohol part of the Word of Wisdom. I know there is more to it. One thing that has been interesting to me is that I have heard that a lot of members in the South are vegetarian or flexitarian, taking the "meat sparingly" part very seriously. Almost no one does that out here.
Some people are very against drinking cola, due to the caffeine, because of the hot drinks. I have been like that, and now I rarely drink pop at all. It's not good for you. It ruins you for water, which is good for you. At the same time, give me about three days without meat and I will become a danger to people.
My point is that even with the guidelines that we have, there is a fair amount of latitude in how you interpret and live them. Some things are pretty basic, and some things come up in temple recommend interviews, but even then, you have some leeway. For example, they will ask you if you are a full-tithe payer, but they will not ask you if you pay on your net income or gross income, or ask to see a W2 and compare it to your tithing totals to see if it is really ten percent.
This is not encouraging anyone to lie, but to get at the importance of the individual relationship with God. We need to think about things. We need to understand why they are important. Sometimes you learn the importance of a commandment through practicing it, so it is not that you will always work it out before you live it, but it is not blind faith either. It is informed faith, and that is important.
This is not a secret. In part this series was inspired by frustration with how people blend their faith with their political ideologies. You would think that the announcements over the pulpit every election year reminding the congregation that we don't endorse candidates or parties, and that we don't hold political events, and that members are encouraged to study the issues would kind of give a hint that automatically assuming you need to belong to a specific party, and vote that way, is misguided.
When I was teaching Sunday School, there were many times when people would be surprised to find out that I teach adults, because there is this idea that Sunday School is for kids. It's not. We all study the scriptures together every Sunday, with extra classes during the week for high school students (seminary) and college students (institute), and then as adults we still study. It is the most popular class to skip, but the opportunity is still there.
Education is encouraged. Learning is encouraged. Pondering is encouraged. And yes, we still have leaders, and we are still supposed to listen to them. There is general council that works for the majority of us, and there are organizational issues, and it makes sense for those things to come out of leadership. There is also a great deal that is individual, where it makes sense to come to us directly, and personal revelation is important there.
There is also a need to know that the leaders are worth following. This is certainly something for investigators. If you don't believe in God or prophets, or if you believe in prophets for Biblical times but not for the modern era, you would need a witness from the Holy Ghost to get you there.
In addition, if you are a member, and have been, but the prophet says something you don't like, or you get a bishop in who is a real stick in the mud, then you need the Holy Ghost again.
We get commandments that are guidelines. It's not that they are not specific necessarily, but it is fascinating how people will build on them, either to justify judging others, or to build a Pharisaical hedge around the law which seems like it will help keep the law but really just creates a burden and removes the spiritual blessing of the law.
We need the Holy Ghost.
No comments:
Post a Comment