Just wondering.
It’s a fine line in religion, and specifically inside an organization like The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, between followers’ spiritual nourishment being enhanced by church teachings, namely telling those followers what to do and not to do, as opposed to allowing adult members room to decide for themselves what’s best for them.
Latter-day Saint writer Natalie Brown, a guest columnist for The Salt Lake Tribune, recently wrote about the division between members who follow or try to follow every dictate coming from church leaders versus those members who choose which tenets work best for them and which don’t, especially those tenets that affect the human body.
Orthodox Latter-day Saints would say that commandments and other strictures — whether hardcore principles or strong cultural suggestions — are meant to grease the skids, to smooth the avenues back to heaven for the faithful. The question is: Is that always the case? Or are there circumstances in which individuals would or could grow in their spiritual maturity by following their own promptings, by opening their own lines of communication, their own interpretations and inspiration, with God in matters of prayer?
Again, orthodoxy suggests that those connections would be identical. If individual followers were getting proper divine vibes, there would never be a contradiction. But just because an apostle like David Bednar or a counselor in the church’s governing First Presidency such as Dallin Oaks makes a pronouncement in a Sunday meeting or at, say, General Conference, does that really slam the door shut on the discussion, making any persuasion an individual feels that is counter to or different from said statement incorrect or uninspired or, even worse, of the devil?
Examples extend from temple garments — how and when they should be donned — to shopping or attending paid entertainment or boating on Sunday to watching certain movies to listening to certain music to drinking a cup of coffee to what constitutes paying a full tithe and a whole bunch more.
In some cases, it’s not so much a matter of disregarding commandments or guidelines but rather interpreting what following those commandments or guidelines looks like for them.
Is there wiggle room?
A Latter-day Saint woman recalls when, years ago, church leaders advised wives to concentrate primarily on being homemakers and not work outside the home. She disregarded that counsel, took a job as a teacher, and has been employed in that role ever since, following her own inspiration. And she said that move has greatly blessed her life — and the lives of many of her students.
Would wiggle room, without such heavy edicts, allow followers space for more personal growth, more maturity inside their own faith by stressing less the Law of Moses commands and emphasizing more Christ’s admonitions to love fellow humans, to care for them, to care for community, to help the needy and the impoverished?
It’s not unlike the old conversation about whether it’s as worshipful for church members to help out at a homeless shelter on a Sunday as to attend all their meetings inside a chapel. Is one as God-centered, as charitable as the other, and should that be left up to individuals rather than being told by leaders what to do and how and when to do it?
There’s much specific direction handed down to Latter-day Saints from leaders, including what they should and shouldn’t eat and drink and watch and wear and say and think.
Seeking the ‘sweet spot’
Some believe this earthly existence is a test, a test of strict obedience, obedience to do whatever they’re told, even if it’s to jump up and down on one foot for an hour a day, if that’s what’s handed down. And adhering to whatever is handed down provides a guardrail to heavenly help, acceptance and admission.
Inside the faith, church directives are seen as blessings, as the lines, to use a sports analogy, that are laid down and nets erected on the tennis courts of our lives to make the game more meaningful, more enjoyable, more disciplined, more even-matched, supposedly because God watches whether our serves and forehands and overheads and drop shots are inside the lines.
Does God care that we all play the game the same way?
Does he require an umpire to be sitting in a courtside chair, with judges watching every line, to ensure every shot is properly executed and called?
The Almighty may care about the size of our rackets. But every racket has a different sweet spot. Should individuals be allowed to find their own sweet spots? Does God mainly just want to see us in the game — swinging, striving, doing our best?
Does God want humans to follow the letter of law or the spirit? Is the former the real measure of righteousness and the latter just an excuse to do whatever you want?
I don’t know. But it might be a downright heavenly adventure not to be told so often what and what not to do. Not as a means to turn your back on deity, rather to connect with it inside a gospel-rich path that leads to Christlike living — helping any and all you meet along the way.
Would that enrich the lives of Latter-day Saints, make them better humans? Should they focus on doing what the church expects of them and the supposed blessings they’re laying up in store for themselves or instead dial in on what Jesus did, how he served and treated people, and follow that example?
Some might say it’s not an either/or. But what if it feels to some like it is?
Just wondering.
(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) Tribune columnist Gordon Monson.
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