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Post Info TOPIC: Leadership: Priesthood, Spirit, Power and... something else...


Hot Air Balloon

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Leadership: Priesthood, Spirit, Power and... something else...


I was called recently to be first counsellor in the Elder's Quorum. For most of my experience in the church I've served in non-leader positions, and not much in priesthood leadership since the Aaronic priesthood. I'm finding this calling very humbling. Since this time I've been thinking over what it means to have a leadership position and how much is expected of someone if they are to do the job right.

Let's just say I haven't known what to think. I believe for a long while I've harbored a lot of fear about leadership in the church, and the awesome responsibility that is in the priesthood. Further it is not a part of my nature to lead. I am comfortable as a follower.

After reading section 50 in a priesthood leadership meeting and completely relating to the Lord's chastisement in which he observes...


  13 Wherefore, I the Lord ask you this question—unto what were ye ordained?
  14 To preach my gospel by the Spirit, even the Comforter which was sent forth to teach the truth.
  15 And then received ye spirits which ye could not understand, and received them to be of God; and in this are ye justified?
  16 Behold ye shall answer this question yourselves; nevertheless, I will be merciful unto you; he that is weak among you hereafter shall be made strong.
  17 Verily I say unto you, he that is ordained of me and sent forth to preach the word of truth by the Comforter, in the Spirit of truth, doth he preach it by the Spirit of truth or some other way?
  18 And if it be by some other way it is not of God.


So much of my life has been hit or miss when it comes to the Spirit. I find it daunting to think that now I'm expected to have the Spirit to do this calling, pretty much all the time. I feel so impressionable and weak and well... unqualified. Before I received this calling, my father gave me a blessing in which he called me to repentance, to step up and be a leader and assume the positions of leadership that the Lord would have me serve. I thought at the time it was referring to my work, and took that blessing pretty hard. Now however, I think it was referring more than just work...

While I was sitting in the Priesthood leadership meeting, hearing the counsellor in the stake presidency explain how it was imperative to have the Spirit to do our callings, and that we would need to act with power and all the duties required of me. I began to think to myself, "Why me!?" I have tried to be a good home teacher. But I'm not the leader type. I don't aspire to being a leader. I have no desire to tell others how to run their lives, even if it is inspired--cuz more often than not, they won't receive the Spirit in which it is shared in the first place. I see the challenges the Elders face with the weight of the world and I tremble. Their challenges are real and tough and require the type of miracles that Christ and his apostles performed... and I've never been qualified for that sort of thing.

The counsellor reassured the brethren there that if we had the Spirit and lived worthily we would have the power to perform miracles. But I kept wonder, "Why does a man put himself through this!?" I was marvelling at all the other men in the room. They seemed eager and pumped up by the discussion but I just felt entirely overwhelmed by it.

Then my mind caught onto the reason why I needed to be there. For me, it isn't about power and it isn't about being in tune with the Spirit. It isn't about calling men to repentance or leading them over the next ridge to form Zion. For me it is about love. The counsellor had not mentioned that one word. He had all the mechanics of the machine and described it, but I'd grown up caught in the gears of that machine. What I'd always missed in all this cranky gearwork is the motive beneath all of it is the quest for, the drive to, the lesson of love.

As I caught upon the scripture "God is Love," I thought of how merciful and loving God had been to me, to forgive me of the grief of my sins. I thought of the Love of his Son for us. I thought of how much I needed to learn to love the brethren in priesthood leadership and my own fellow Elders, and myself. This journey we take toward Godhood is not about power, it is about love. The Spirit washed over me, poured into me as I caught upon this notion. I knew myself. I don't know a lot about power, or leading, or lifting heavy objects, but I do know love and what I don't know about love I admire and want to learn.

To learn true love.

As I've thought about this, the words of Paul, "if ye have not charity ye are nothing," made so much more sense to me... it is a slogan of the relief society, but I think sometimes that's a disservice to us of the priesthood--for it is at the core of the Priesthood.  

Ironically I thought of this counsellor and how he'd missed this point. I almost raised my hand to correct him or at least point this out... but then I thought of the man who steadied the ark and was struck down... and I chickened out. It was not my place to correct the man. I thought, "If the Stake President were here, he's such a loving man, he would not forget to mention love."

The meeting went on for some time. In fact it ran off into the next block and who should show up at the door ready to go to the High Council meeting but our beloved Stake President. The counsellor invited him to bear his testimony. During a fiery reaffirment of pretty much everything the counsellor had said, he repeated back much of the same counsel, and then, to my surprise, he mentioned that we have a duty if we love the Lord, if we love each other, to be leaders--to stand up. He mentioned the motive behind the madness... He mentioned Love.

I left the meeting filled with the such optimism and love--I'd been sandblasted by the Spirit to a degree that I confess I've never felt before. Ironically at a stake meeting--not general conference, and not in the temple... this was something quite remarkable... and in the spirit of sharing, I thought I would share my witness that the Lord has delegated his authority to members at every level of this church. He cares about all of us so much. He lives and He is there to guide and help us in our callings. We must do our part, and a part of that part is to bring our duties, shortcomings and responsibilities to Him, polished by love and sacrifice.

May we never forget the greatest gift of love...

Best regards,

--Ray





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(Don't take it personally, everyone finds me offensive. Yet somehow I manage to live with myself.)


Senior Member

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Thank you so much for your thoughts, Ray. I was just sitting down and studying a little bit on the Spirit of Discernment, and I happened upon a scripture that kind of brought what you were talking about to my mind. 1 Corinthians 2, especially verse 9:

"...Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him."

I may have mentioned before my theory that is so wonderfully said in the words of John Lennon: "All you need is love." The greatest commandment is to love the Lord they God, and the second is to love thy neighbor as thyself. The only way that we can return to our Heavenly Father is through the greatest act of Love in all eternity: The Atonement of Jesus Christ. And even greater, the love of a Heavenly Father who entitles us to agency.

Some excerpts from Elder Bednar's talk about the "Tender Mercies of the Lord":

"...the fundamental purposes for the gift of agency were to love one another and to choose God. Thus we become God's chosen and invite His tender mercies as we use our agency to choose God."

"The Father's work is to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of His children. Our work is to keep His commandments with all of our might, mind, and strength—and we thereby become chosen and, through the Holy Ghost, receive and recognize the tender mercies of the Lord in our daily lives."

I don't know if there's any contextual sense in this, but I wanted to thank you for your thoughts because they led me to some of my own. The biggest is that as we keep the commandments we in turn show our love to God. And as we show our love to God, we can see those blessings in our lives that we may never have seen before. It sounds so simple, but the gospel is really simple. We as humans just tend to complicate it I guess.

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Keeper of the Holy Grail

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I enjoyed reading your thoughts, rayb.  It reminded me of a part in Gladiator-


Marcus Aurelius: Won't you accept this great honor that I have offered you?
Maximus: With all my heart, no.
Marcus Aurelius: Maximus, that is why it must be you.



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Senior Bucketkeeper

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D&C 107:99-100 Wherefore, now let every man learn his duty, and to act in the office in which he is appointed, in all diligence. He that is slothful shall not be counted worthy to stand, and he that learns not his duty and shows himself not approved shall not be counted worthy to stand. Even so. Amen.

And how do we obtain that love?

Moroni 7:47-48
But charity is the pure love of Christ, and it endureth forever; and whoso is found possessed of it at the last day, it shall be well with him. Wherefore, my beloved brethren, pray unto the Father with all the energy of heart, that ye may be filled with this love, which he hath bestowed upon all who are true followers of his Son, Jesus Christ; that ye may become the sons of God; that when he shall appear we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is; that we may have this hope; that we may be purified even as he is pure. Amen.

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no unhallowed hand can stop the work from progressing... the truth of God will go forth till it has penetrated every website, sounded in every ear, till the purposes of God shall be accomplished and the great Jehovah shall say the work is done


Profuse Pontificator

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Ray, your example means so much to me.  Thank you for your testimony.  I hate numbers for numbers sake alone.  I do love hearts knit together and turned to one another seeking to serve. 

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Wise and Revered Master

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Cocobeem wrote:

I enjoyed reading your thoughts, rayb.  It reminded me of a part in Gladiator-


Marcus Aurelius: Won't you accept this great honor that I have offered you?
Maximus: With all my heart, no.
Marcus Aurelius: Maximus, that is why it must be you.





Gladiator?  Are you kidding.  It reminded me much more of this scene from Office Space:

MILTON:
I, I don't care if they, if they lay me off either, because I, I told
Bill that if he moves my desk one more time, then, then I'm quitting.
I'm going to quit. And I told Dom too because they've moved my desk
four times. I used to be by the window, where I could see the squirrels
and they were merry. But then they switched from the Swingline to the
Boston stapler, but I kept my Swingline. (he's holding his red
Swingline) (Camera pans to Peter) They have my staples for the Boston
and I kept the staples from the Swingline stapler.

PETER:
Ok, Milton.

MILTON:
And if, if they take my stapler, I will, I will set this building on
fire.

PETER:
Oh, that's great. I will talk to you later.









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Jason



Hot Air Balloon

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For those who don't guzzle from the teat of Hollywood, both the movies Office Space, and Gladiator were Rated R, and should be avoided by all good self-righteous mormons... (Though I have to confess i saw one of the above two mentioned... in a moment of weakness... for which my wife never lets me live it down... )

--Ray

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I'm not slow; I'm special.
(Don't take it personally, everyone finds me offensive. Yet somehow I manage to live with myself.)


Hot Air Balloon

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btw, a thought about numbers... I agree I find them easily a distraction from the Spirit of God and the love we strive for... cuz when you see the numbers and they're less than stellar... it's a challenge to love... and when you see the numbers and they are stellar... it's a pretty shallow reward if all you're in it for, is to report the numbers...

But here's a quote from Pres. Thomas S. Monson...

"When we deal in generalities, we shall never succeed; when we deal in specifics, we shall rarely have a failure. When performance is measured, performace improves. When performance is measured and reported, the rate of performance accelerates."

I would think that numbers might be good to ascertain in general terms where someone might be neglected or feel isolated, and seeing as how our intent is to try to help everyone, a little regular shuffling can probably help this a lot.

But what do I know? I'm just full of theories at this point. I'm sure the doing, and the talking are two totally different animals... :)

--Ray

-- Edited by rayb at 23:13, 2007-03-19

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I'm not slow; I'm special.
(Don't take it personally, everyone finds me offensive. Yet somehow I manage to live with myself.)


Senior Member

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I was reading Elder Ballard's talk "O Be Wise" from last General Conference in preparation for the upcoming GC, and he talks about this:

There is a difference between being responsible for getting the work done and doing the work yourself. For example, gone should be the days when the elders quorum president feels he needs to personally finish the home teaching visits that others have missed. The same is true for Relief Society presidents with respect to visiting teaching. Not only is this unwise; it isn't home or visiting teaching. Home teaching isn't about numbers or reporting visits to a home; visits and numbers are just a measuring stick. Home teaching is about love of people and service to and watchcare over our Heavenly Father's children.
I especially like the last couple lines.  Once every member realizes for himself (or herself) what Home and Visiting Teaching really are, we will realize that it's a blessing for us to do our home/visiting teaching.  I have made so many good friends by just going out of my way a little to do it.  I could care less about numbers, and am sometimes surprised that just by being friends with those I teach, visiting teaching is a fun, enjoyable event that can destress my life in just a half an hour.

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Ordinary riches can be stolen, real riches cannot. In your soul are infinitely precious things that cannot be taken from you. — Oscar Wilde


Keeper of the Holy Grail

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...guzzle from the teat of Hollywood...

Now that sounds like something Michael Savage would say. What's his rating? Hm?



-- Edited by Cocobeem at 14:26, 2007-03-20

-- Edited by Cocobeem at 10:45, 2007-03-23

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Life is tough but it's tougher if you're stupid.  -John Wayne



Hot Air Balloon

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I'm not slow; I'm special.
(Don't take it personally, everyone finds me offensive. Yet somehow I manage to live with myself.)


Senior Bucketkeeper

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"Do not ask the Lord to guide your footsteps, if you're not willing to move your feet

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no unhallowed hand can stop the work from progressing... the truth of God will go forth till it has penetrated every website, sounded in every ear, till the purposes of God shall be accomplished and the great Jehovah shall say the work is done


Wise and Revered Master

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rayb wrote:

For those who don't guzzle from the teat of Hollywood, both the movies Office Space, and Gladiator were Rated R, and should be avoided by all good self-righteous mormons... (Though I have to confess i saw one of the above two mentioned... in a moment of weakness... for which my wife never lets me live it down... )

--Ray



Just for the record, I saw both movies on TV where they were heavilly edited for content.  I don't go see rated R movies.  Now excuse me while I reprimand one of my employees for not wearing enough "Flare".



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Jason



Head Chef

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But he's wearing the minimum required!

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