Today I read Doctrine and Covenants section 97 where the Lord commands a temple to be built in Missouri and commands His people to be humble and not to cause persecutions to arise by their actions. Now the Lord tells Joseph Smith, if I am reading the revelation correctly, that if they build a temple in Missouri and honor it appropriately so that no unclean thing enters into it that all nations will honor Zion. Obviously that did not happen.
The thing that strikes me about this chapter is actually the first part where the Lord is talking about the School of the Prophets and how He is pleased with Parley P. Pratt for his faithfulness. What stands out about it to me is the classic example of the Lord's pattern for learning that it is. No one, not even the Savior Himself when He was here, learns everything all at once. Everyone is given a little light and a little knowledge at a time and allowed to grow into it so that they are not held accountable for too much all at once.
We read in Doctrine and Covenants section 82:3 that when much is given, much is required. This is true of everything in the gospel. That is why when people are first baptized we do not immediately rush them off to the temple to make sacred covenants. They are not ready for it first of all. But secondly, they have not yet had a chance to grow into the new covenant they have made with the Lord yet, that of baptism and confirmation. Whenever we make sacred covenants with the Lord, whether we were in fact ready to make them or not, we are held to them. We are expected to do our part in the covenant and that is why we do not make them frivolously and why we are given so many chances to back out before making them if we are uncomfortable.
It has always amused me to see how the world emulates the gospel of Jesus Christ and its truth. For example, with learning and making covenants, the world does the exact same thing that the Lord does. When a kindergartner begins his/her first day of school he/she is not taught trigonometry immediately upon learning that 1+1=2. They are taught a little bit at a time just like we do in the church. When I worked as a temple worker the ordinance I most had opportunity to assist with more than any other I think was sealings. I was amazed how much of the "modern Christian" wedding ceremony is lifted straight from the sealing ordinance and I can see that it was had in ancient Christian times. Some of the traditions at a wedding that have always made no sense to me at all, suddenly became clear where they came from as I understood the sealing ordinance more and more. It was kind of fascinating really.
Back to our original point however of learning line upon line and not being held accountable to things we don't understand, it is a comfort really to me. It also shows another tender mercy of the Lord that we are only held accountable to things we understand and covenants we enter into with Him. That is after all the reason the Savior taught in parables during His earthly reign, because He wanted to make sure only the people who were ready to know it, understood what He was talking about. I mean, some of the things He taught, not even His apostles understood. How fair would it have been to hold someone who didn't even have their level of light and knowledge accountable to it?
As we each learn and progress in the gospel, hopefully we can all take comfort in the knowledge that the Lord will not let us get too far ahead of ourselves. That is why church leaders generally will focus on the basics and reaffirm them over and over again with us instead of teaching what is colloquially referred to as the deep doctrine. It is because we all need to master the basics before we can move on and that too is for our own good and protection. I for one am glad of it and glad for the constant reminders and deeper insights I gain to the basics of the doctrine. It seems to me like no matter how much of it I know, there is always another level deeper to learn. Hopefully you are the same way, because I don't think the leaders are going to change their tactics anytime soon. Until tomorrow.
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