Perfecting the Church

I believe that God will yet reveal many great and important things pertaining to the kingdom of God. As Moroni said, "if there be faults they be the faults of a man." (Mor 8:17) I think that wrong practices and beliefs of humankind generally need to be removed in order to have a church that is acceptable to God.

I have found understanding and comfort in a passage in Jacob 5 that says,

And as they begin to grow ye shall clear away the branches which bring forth bitter fruit, according to the strength of the good and the size thereof; and ye shall not clear away the bad thereof all at once, lest the roots thereof should be too strong for the graft, and the graft thereof shall perish, and I lose the trees of my vineyard. (Jac 5:65)

Part of receiving many great and important things, is pruning out the branches that produce bitter fruit. That the church collectively will be perfected even as we are individually. The scales will fall from our eyes and we will not longer see through a glass darkly.

We will see things as they really are. Until that day, we must forge forward, making the best approximation of what we understand God wants us to do. And then move forward trusting our connection with the Spirit to guide us, as well as our intellect to understand and do and be what God has in design for us.

-

Nov 2015

When I talk of clearing the most bitter branches, I am talking about clearing the traditions that are false. Peter in the New Testament had a vision where the gospel was freed up to be taught to all peoples. Does that mean that the church policy before that was wrong? I think it was as correct as the membership allowed it to be. The traditions of the members of the church.

I do not pretend to know what the future policy changes, the future revelations are for the church. I have faith in the prophets, seers and revelators as they stand and as they will stand.

I trust the work of the Lord in the perfecting of his church.

Another example of the perfecting of the church that I have seen in my lifetime is the emphasis and balance of justice and mercy. It is possible that this may only be my understanding going from a child to an adult. It does seem that the church emphasizes the power of grace in our lives. As an older teenager, I read Believing Christ. I also look to the parable of the piano practice. It seems to me that we have a more perfect understanding or that in practice that understanding is getting to our children better. I hope it is.

-