Paul's Down-Home Page

Michael Williams has an interesting blog entry: Difficult Teachings of Jesus. He points out, quite rightly, that Jesus taught some hard principles, too, not just the “love your neighbor” type teachings that have largely been reduced to platitudes. That reminds me of an article from the September Ensign that I’d been meaning to blog, “The Surety of a Better Testament“. Here’s an excerpt:

The New Testament is “a better testament” because the intent of a person alone becomes part of the rightness or wrongness of human action. So our intent to do evil or our desire to do good will be a freestanding element of consideration of our actions. We are told we will be judged in part by the intent of our hearts (see D&C 88:109). An example of being convicted by freestanding intent is found in Matthew:
“Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery: But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart” (Matt. 5:27-28).
This New Testament is harder doctrine.
Because of the formality and rigidity developed in the administration of the old English common law, in order to obtain justice the law of equity was developed. One of my favorite maxims in equity is “Equity does what ought to be done.” The New Testament takes the concept of law even farther. In a large measure we will be judged not only by what we have done but what we should have done in a given situation.

This raises the bar a lot, since it’s no longer sufficient to do right actions. Instead, we have to govern ourselves to do right actions for the right reasons– and that’s a lot harder.

I went to our stake priesthood leadership meeting the other night, and the president of our elders’ quorum asked me to take notes because he couldn’t be there. These may be unintelligible if you’re not LDS, but feel free to ask questions in the comments if you’re curious.
The meeting opened with an address by Brother Williams from the stake presidency. He cited Matthew 4:18-20 and said that we’re called to do the same work as Simon Peter and Andrew, and that in doing so we should try to be energized and not weary in well doing because the rewards will be worth it (D&C 64:33-34). He promised that as we “leave our desks” and kneel to ask God for our help, he’ll give it, according to D&C 88:78. He’s a pretty good speaker.
We then broke up into separate meetings; I went with the elders’ quorum people.
Brother Richard Hamilton went first. He spoke on the importance of conducting good stewardship interviews, which is where we interview the home teachers to find out how their families are doing and whether any of them need anything. He stressed the importance of giving good feedback and asking the home teachers to report back– no one likes to do work that never comes to light. He pointed out that stewardship interviews are under our control, even if the individual family visits aren’t, and that if we regularly conduct these interviews that home teaching will be more effective as the brethren understand its importance and have the opportunity to report on their visits. He gave some suggestions for interviews (find a quiet location to invite the spirit, perform one-on-one personal interviews, keep records so you can follow up from month to month, make a regular date for your interviews). He also gave us a couple of handouts: a checklist for interviews, and a checklist for the home teachers to use when planning their visits.
Tim Lenahan spoke next on prospective elders (those who are preparing to be ordained to the Melchizedek Priesthood). His central theme was simple: don’t give up. He asked a simple question: which of your children would you abandon? What’s that? None of them? Fine. Don’t give up on your prospective elders. He cited D&C 107:99-100 in reminding us to be diligent in reaching out to these men. We had a good discussion of good ways to do this, including scheduling social activities (note to self: prepare for chili cookoff next week!). His overall guidance was simple: meet these brethern wherever they are spiritually and befriend them. Don’t try to convert them, just be their friend.
I missed the next talk due to an ill-timed phone call about Oracle, and I don’t know the name of the next speaker because I returned partway through his talk. He was a real fireball, though– he pointed out that the home teacher is supposed to be the first line of help for the family, but in most wards the relief society is actually the ones who notify the bishop when someone’s sick, out of work, moving, or whatever. That doesn’t speak very well for how well we’re doing our duty. He cited Mosiah 19:5-6, Moses 7:18, and the famous John 21:16-18 (“Feed my sheep” for those of you playing at home.)
He closed with a quote from President Monson in the OCtober 1970 general conference: “When performance is measured, performance improves.”
I know I’ve got some improving to do in the home teaching department, and I’m going to jump on it today.