Bp Paul D. Laws
20 Jan 08
Perdido Ward
D&C 88:78-80
And I give unto you a commandment that you shall teach one another the doctrine of the kingdom.
Teach ye diligently and my grace shall attend you, that you may be instructed more perfectly in theory, in principle, in doctrine, in the law of the gospel, in all things that pertain unto the kingdom of God, that are expedient for you to understand;
Of things both in heaven and in the earth, and under the earth; things which have been, things which are, things which must shortly come to pass; things which are at home, things which are abroad; the wars and the perplexities of the nations, and the judgments which are on the land; and a knowledge also of countries and of kingdoms--
Teaching diligently the doctrines of the kingdom can most effectively be done by using the pure word of God as found in the standard works of the Church. They are the King James Version of the Holy Bible, the Book of Mormon, the Doctrine and Covenants, and the Pearl of Great Price.
President Boyd K. Packer, acting president of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles taught in 1986:
Scripture…is the basis for doctrine.
From the scriptures we are taught correct doctrine.
From doctrine we are taught principles.
From principles and with the help of the Spirit we can find how they might apply to our needs and circumstances today.
True doctrine, understood, changes attitudes and behavior.
And 10 years later:
A principle is an enduring truth, a law, a rule you can adopt to guide you in making decisions. Generally principles are not spelled out in detail. That leaves you free to find your way with an enduring truth, a principle, as your anchor
Having the word of the Lord as revealed to His prophets available for our learning and edification and as a tool in our teaching is in a word invaluable. For any given circumstance for any teaching situation our default reference choice is always the scriptures.
President Hinckley has said:
The Standard Works' . . . are the reservoir of our doctrine from which flows the waters of gospel light. They provide the standard by which all gospel doctrine is measured. All other [materials] should spring from the word of the Lord as set forth in these volumes"
When I was a fulltime missionary there was a master scriptorian program in my mission which consisted of 300 carefully selected references the design of which was to "fill the well" of each missionaries' mind with the "living water" that we each might
…sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and [be] ready always to [give] an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you…
Every day and week in hundreds of homes and Church buildings literally thousands of youth and young single adults learn and retain the 100 Scripture Mastery verses designed to give the strength and ammunition needed in the spiritual war they wage with the adversary. We are reminded in Ephesians that
…we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high [places].
These verses give spiritual vitality to our Youth and YSA's. They can do the same for you! I invite you to find out which scriptures made the list, to ponder why, and to APPLY them to your daily life as well as use them in your teaching. They are extremely powerful!!
President Packer emphasizes 5 key principles in using the scriptures in teaching:
- Instruction vital to our salvation is not hidden in an obscure verse or phrase in the scriptures. To the contrary, essential truths are repeated over and over again.
- Every verse, whether oft-quoted or obscure, must be measured against other verses. There are complementary and tempering teachings in the scriptures which bring a balanced knowledge of truth.
- There is a consistency in what the Lord says and what He does. . . .
- Not all that God has said is in the Bible. Other scriptures—the Book of Mormon, the Doctrine and Covenants, and the Pearl of Great Price—have equal validity, and they sustain one another.
- While much must be taken on faith alone, there is individual revelation through which we may know the truth. . . . What may be obscure in the scriptures can be made plain through the gift of the Holy Ghost. We can have as full an understanding of spiritual things as we are willing to earn"
And I add one more conviction: there is an adversary who has his own channels of spiritual communication. He confuses the careless and prompts those who serve him to devise deceptive, counterfeit doctrine, carefully contrived to appear genuine.
When we teach one another in the spiritual setting the impressions and promptings received by the teacher and his/her students during the course of their time together must be strong and effective enough to find a place deep within the heart of both parties. I pondered the following statement given by Elder Jeffrey R. Holland of the Twelve:
"I have been painfully disappointed over the years at wonderful lessons, given by loyal, gifted teachers who, somehow, at the end of a class, say, "Well, there is the bell. Brother Jones, would you give the prayer?" And it's over. There's no closing of the books, no looking in the eye for just a minute, no settling down to say, in effect, where have we been and where are we going and what does the Lord want us to do? In some cases—I'm being a little unfair and a little extravagant, but to make a point—not a single reference is made to what this lesson was supposed to mean to the student or to the teacher. I'm left to walk away saying, "I wonder how he felt about that. I wonder what she thought about it or what it was supposed to mean to me." There is so much effort to get some doctrine, some principle, some map, some video clip across to the students, but not a hint of personal testimony about what that doctrine or that principle meant to the teacher, the one who was supposed to lead us and guide us and walk beside us."
You and I must take the opportunity at every given chance to testify to one another about the saving truths of the gospel. Let me share the next 3 verses from section 88 of the D&C that I quoted at the beginning:
Behold, I sent you out to testify and warn the people, and it becometh every man who hath been warned to warn his neighbor.
Therefore, they are left without excuse, and their sins are upon their own heads.
He that seeketh me early shall find me, and shall not be forsaken.
You and I have the good fortune of living in a time when Apostles and Prophets are on the earth, when mighty streams of pure doctrine bound from their sources and are ever at our fingertips digitally. The advent of personal computers and wireless and satellite communication make it possible for you and I to access reams of data from their sources with a few mouse clicks. What a blessing!
President J. Reuben Clark Jr who served for many years as a member of the First Presidency said speaking of the Apostles:
[They]… have had assigned to them a special calling; they possess a special gift; they are sustained as prophets, seers, and revelators, which gives them a special spiritual endowment in connection with their teaching of the people. They have the right, the power, and authority to declare the mind and will of God to his people, subject to the over-all power and authority of the President of the Church. Others of the General Authorities are not given this special spiritual endowment." This resulting limitation "applies to every other officer and member of the Church, for none of them is spiritually endowed as prophet, seer, and revelator"
Let us ever be mindful of the charge to keep the "living water" we serve to one another pure and undiluted by worldly influence or design. When we teach our first reference should be the Standard Works followed by the words of living prophets and Apostles, followed by Church prepared curriculum, and other approved materials. As we teach we must be open to the promptings of the Spirit, remembering that HE IS THE REAL TEACHER. Even the most fastidiously prepared lesson will be less effective if we are not flexible enough to follow an inspired thread where it leads. There will ALWAYS be more lesson material than can be covered in the allotted time, ALWAYS. Once we realize this and relax a bit the Holy Ghost may have a chance in our class! Again Elder Holland:
Our ultimate reassurance is in the honest prompting of the Lord—the prompting that you are the Lord's instrument, this is His class, this is His Church, these are His people. Then honestly respond to that Spirit. Generally speaking, the curriculum is going to give us our framework, our course and direction during the months of the year. But at any given moment, we are less than we are supposed to be as a teacher in the Lord's hands if we aren't willing to set aside some special thing we had prepared and respond to something the Lord prompts us to do. We have to say, 'Right now is the moment. This is the teaching moment.'
"Parents face this situation all the time. Parents have to seize the teaching moment because it may not come again. We must prepare the best we can, then trust that the Lord will take us into some unexpected opportunities in a given class. We need to be prepared to go where He leads us."
May we ever enjoy the blessings of the Lord as we daily seek to walk with Him, to learn of him, and be like him. As we do so keeping his revealed word from the scriptures and his revealed word from living Apostles and Prophets in our hearts and minds and on our tongues we will indeed speak with the "power of God unto the convincing of men"
No comments:
Post a Comment