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Re: Is Home Teaching a Calling? [message #2138 is a reply to message #2129] |
Thu, 31 January 2013 00:55 |
Called to Serve
Messages: 39 Registered: December 2012
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Dragon wrote on Wed, 30 January 2013 09:02How often do we ask God for a miracle and then get disappointed when our neighbor provides what we need instead of an angel? How many times do we look for God to lead us by the nose rather than follow our own intelligence and trust God to warn us if we've taken a wrong step?
Assuming the Spirit is strong enough in anyone on this Earth to know exactly who needs help all the time is fallacy. Many of the miracles wrought through Home Teaching/Visiting Teaching require months or even years of friendship between the parties to gain trust. The Lord has approved of Home Teaching and Visiting Teaching assignments as the best way to meet the needs of all the members of the ward. Remember, the LDS Church is not for perfected beings. It is for those shedding their Telestial life and learning to live the Terrestrial Laws, while being pointed to the path to the Celestial Kingdom. Therefore, order and organization are needed. It is like the Iron Rod. If people were capable of following the Spirit, or an Angel, as Lehi did in his vision, there would be no need for the Rod. Yet even Lehi lost sight of the Angel, and was nearly lost in the mist of darkness. Members of the LDS Church are not ready and will never be ready for the level of spiritual insights you speak of. Nor would it be helpful to allow Home Teaching to be directed the way you suggest. There would be no friendships created, only slaves to the Spirit. That is not God's plan.
okay. I'll put away the soap box now so you can return to your regularly scheduled program.
You make some interesting points, though I have to wonder what "slaves to the Spirit" means as well.
I personally believe that the iron rod is the promptings of the Spirit. It is the word of God to us. The word of God can come from any source, even a drunk on the street. Nothing, not even the scriptures, are of any use to us if we haven't gained insight through the Spirit. We simply can't overcome our own paradigms without help from a higher source. Of course, we are not compelled to follow the Spirit. We can choose to let go of that rod anytime.
Certainly, the home teaching/visiting teaching programs are the best way to meet members' needs at this time, but this is not a compliment to the church. People used to be expected to govern their behavior through the guidance of the Spirit and that always worked better. Now through these programs, people are told who they must befriend and driven by guilt to do their best at it. Some people do fine, but others just struggle no matter how badly they would like to befriend their assigned home/visit teachees. And of course others just don't try because they have other priorities.
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