All things that pertain unto the Kingdom of God
Starting today there will be scripture themed post every Wednesday here at PoF. I’m kicking if off today with a few thoughts on D&C 88:78-80.
In seventh grade I remember having a conversation on a school trip. I was sharing a hotel room with three girls who were all my friends. One was an Evangelical Christian, one was Catholic, one was an Athiest, and I was (and still am!) LDS. The conversation was about, of all things, evolution. I don’t remember exactly how it came up, but all three of my friends were shocked to learn that I didn’t completely discount evolution. I distinctly remember my athiest friend asking “But how? Science and religion are complete opposites.” My response was “I believe God works through science to create his miracles.” I went on to explain that He is God because his knowledge is perfect. His power and control over the universe comes from his knowledge of how to make it work. Our knowledge is small and imperfect so compared to us God is infinitely more powerful. I also read them D&C 93:36 “The glory of God is intelligence, or, in other words, light and truth.”
This post isn’t about evolution, or even about how science and religion are highly compatible. It is instead about intelligence. D&C 88:78-80 says:
“78 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;
79 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—
80 That ye may be prepared in all things when I shall send you again to magnify the calling whereunto I have called you, and the mission with which I have commissioned you. “
There’s all sorts of goodies in here so let’s start at the very beginning (it’s a very good place to start). There is a phrase at the end of verse 78 that I find, oddly enough, comforting. It says “…that are expedient for you to understand.” I think that the message there is that we aren’t “in the know” just because we’re LDS. In fact, from the sounds of things, we’re really on a need-to-know-basis. If you have a desire to know all things then consider the story of the Brother of Jared seeing the finger of the Lord. He had such perfect faith that he “could not be kept from within the veil.” I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, God isn’t the sort that will indulge idle curiosity.
Moving along, verse 79 lists the things that we are to teach, and be instructed in. They are:
~Things in Heaven
~Things in the Earth
~Things 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 perplexities of the nations
~The judgements which are on the land
~Countries and of Kingdoms
If you can find any subject that doesn’t fit into one of those categories please share it here. I can’t think of any, and am pretty certain that you can’t either. I’m also fairly certain that we aren’t physcially able to be perfectly instructed in all of these things within just one lifetime, but we’re obvioulsy meant to gain as much knowledge as we can. So what’s the deal? Isn’t getting enough schooling to get a good job enough?
Let’s read the last verse once again: “That ye may be prepared in all things when I shall send you again to magnify the calling whereunto I have called you, and the mission with which I have commissioned you.” In summary God will have specific callings or missions for us, and we are to use the knowledge that we have in those callings. We may not need to know all sorts of great and important things, but we will need to have the knowledge to do the things God will ask us to do.
I have an example, many of you know that last year the church went through a massive computer system update. The church went from old(er that dirt) software and outdated computers to a new system with a new computer for each unit. At the time my husband and I were childless university students nearing graduation, and my husband was called to be the “Stake Computer Specialist.” We learned from the stake clerk that my husband was the only (married) man in the stake that had the skills necessary to install the computers, and train the ward clerks that did not already have a major calling (bishop, EQ pres etc). Though he spent many hours in the family history center changing font sizes for the elderly, he also was able to put his highly specialized knowledge to use, quite literally, for the building up of the kingdom of God.
I’m certainly not done building my knowledge base, and I’m not sure where my knowledge will be used, (part of me thinks it will end up in cub scouts) but I have faith that it will be used eventually. What about you? How have you been able to build up the kingdom of God?
May 10th, 2006 09:16
For all that self-identified feminist sisters balk at this answer, I actually have to say ‘motherhood.’ Being a knowledgable, capable mom, full of answers to the most obscure questions totally rocks my kids’ world sometimes. I take this calling seriously, and do my best to magnify it in every whit. My skills with writing and self-expression help me better articulate whaty needs to be communicated in any situation with my kids. My scientific knowledge helps me answer their questions in fascinating (yet age-appropriate) detail. My knowledge of other religions helps them understand their place in apluralistic world. (Once upon a time I was a double physics & religious studies major)
There’s also the example that we are, both to each other and to the world. To each other, we are examples that build up and edify each other. Good discussion and understanding accomplish this. To others outside our faith, we show ourselves to be outside the stereotypical norm of the religious ignorant. Even though we do not share the same worldview as these others, by being educated, we have other venues for intelligent, meaningful discussion. In a world where PR and image are everything, where mass perception outweighs the truth of any venture, it is important to have a best, most educated foot to put forward in a society where information is king.
All of us, whatever our level of education and knowledge is where he or she is because it is their place in this life, and we all have a work to do in our own sphere of influence–be it in a lecture hall at a university, a public political forum, or a cub scouts den meeting.
May 10th, 2006 10:40
How have you been able to build up the Kingdom of God?
What a great question.
Have to think about it a while.
Being a parent to a batch of kids. Trying to teach them the way things are.
I felt good about helping prepare some men for the priesthood while serving as an EQP.
But as an engineer? Nothing really.
I also wanted to share that your scripture struck up a memory. My father was a geography professor at Ricks College. Joe. J. Christensons wife talked at a devotional once where she mentioned that she didn’t like watching the news because of all the bad things going on. So here was my dad trying to get kids to learn a thing or two about what was going on in the world, and the wife of the president of Ricks was saying not to watch the news! He wrote her a mild rebuke using the scripture you used. To the wife of the boss! My dad would have like the bloggernacle if he had access to it in his prime.
May 10th, 2006 10:49
What a great question! How have I helped build up the Kingdom of God? I have a gift of music, not that I’m the best musiciaon out there but I have a love and a passion for it. The majority of the callings I have had are in the area of music. I have been in wards with concert pianists that do more than music and I’m playing the piano, or leading the congregation. I’m not sure why I have been so involved in the music program of the church but I am so I do what I can with my febile abilities.
The one other thing I do, is no matter what the calling is that I have, I try to serve to the best of my capability. I want to show my love for God and the Gospel by putting forth my best effort. That is ultimately what I feel I am asked to do. I also try to support my husband completely in the callings he is given. I haven’t had the opportunity to be in leadership positions, but he has and I think that God is trying to support him in this way.
May 10th, 2006 12:19
Hey Eric,
Nothing as an engineer?? I’m reminded of an entry of yours where you mentioned the coworker who quit and left that anti-mormon pamphlet out. You may not be having deep gospel discussions with people, but you are being an example where you are, and being a good engineer lends credibility to you in their eyes. Just by being a competent, capable man who happens to be a Latter-day Saint, you are, albeit passively, building the Kingdom of God.
May 10th, 2006 12:32
Naiah brings up a good point in regards to Eric. Do high (or moderate) levels of academic or career acheivement function as building up the Kingdom of God by virtue of the fact that it is, in a sense, good PR for the gospel? I tend to think that they do. Even if Brother Marriot didn’t give huge charitable donations and whatnot to the church the fact remains that he is a successful businessman who lives the gospel. And as a successful businessman he meets and interacts with people that the missionaries could never touch.
I also think that, since I am a part of the Kingdom of God, any way that I am able to improve myself is also improving the Kingdom of God. If the net result of your life is only that you are a happy well adjusted righteous individual then you have indeed built up his kingdom.
Great comments everyone!
May 10th, 2006 15:20
After all, part of the threefold mission is to perfect the saints, and as you said Starfoxy, even “[i]f the net result of your life is only that you are a happy well adjusted righteous individual then you have indeed built up his kingdom.”
May 10th, 2006 18:40
Thanks for the kind words. May I use you guys as a reference sometime?
I would LOVE to be able to be employed by the church as an engineer sometime. At least I think I would. Serve an ‘engineering’ mission? I haven’t seen any posted.
Thanks for assuming I’m good at what I do. But being some type of quality employee in general is part of being a good example I guess. There are a lot of Amish people in northern Indiana/southern Michigan. They have an interesting lifestyle. They are both respected and ridiculed by this life.
What we do in life in our careers, home life, etc. says something. Hopefully good.
May 10th, 2006 20:53
I absolutely love the topic of this post, and I think you did a great job exploring it. I also think the various ways mentioned above are all incredibly important for kingdom-building. I’m not sure yet exactly how my contributions will fall in this effort, but I’m aspiring to certain dimensions and I’m sure ways will arise that can’t be anticipated. As has been mentioned, the power of being an example - a successful example- of some kind is astonishing. The brilliant and the successful are not the only members of the church who can exert powerful influences, but it is always nice to see that ours is doctrine that can foster faith and committment from those who certainly would know of other persuasive options - in other words, that we are not a community of those who follow blindly. I think it’s a good idea to be knowledgeable in doctrine and also be able to converse articulately about doctrine because, among other reasons, our cogency can make others stop and think on principles they might otherwise have dismissed. At least I’ve seen a few examples of this in my life, anyway. Education, both secular and spiritual, is essential to building the kingdom because it helps us elevate ourselves and those around us to new levels of understanding requisite for spiritual growth. St. Augustine had a phrase that he thought would apply to a true disciple: fides quaerens intellectum - faith seeking understanding. I bet he would have loved Doctrine and Covenants 88.
May 13th, 2006 23:45
My husband’s time in college started when our son was 13 months old. By Graduation some 2.75 years later, we added two daughters to our family. He received many jokes about how some students focus on their GPAs, not how many children they can bear… According to people who knew him in classes or just saw us in the courtyard from time to time, they knew he was LDS without his having to say so. He worked hard at home and at jobs and at school–he built up the kingdom wheree’r he was =)
Now he busts up secret combinations for a living–I think that qualifies too.
As for me, Naiah’s mentioned motherhood, which I’ve got in undisputed quantity & dubious quality. Teaching and passing along my knowledge, useless and useful, that’s my passion. All of my callings until now have had been as teachers…and I hope to use this non-teaching time to sharpen my axe.
A sidenote–The Holy Ghost helped me learn calculus. It’s one of those