"Lord, to whom shall we go?" Charting the Course of the Church from Here to the Second Coming: Part 6

​Open Letter to Believers and Non-Believers in 2021

What would we do if we were given the opportunity to create something new, something better, as a body of believers?

What if the Church convened a convention (like the American Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia) and we went about writing a constitution for Christ? 

Because right now it feels like we are more divided and contentious than ever.  There seems to be an increasing focus on issues that plague us (which we don't agree on) rather than on the individuals that surround us. 

Do we care more about masks and mandates than about loving each other and being precious to one another?

Never has Zion felt further away than it does now.

Sure, it could be we're just experiencing the dark before the light of dawn.  But I worry that things are going to get much bleaker before they get better.

And so I want to address the three segments of my faith community:

   1.  Believing members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. 

This group includes, for example, the General Authorities, leaders, lay members who are active in Church, and also members who are beginning to question things.

   2.  Nuanced believers and those who still see value in the Restoration tradition.

This group includes active, less-active, and former members who have come to see the complexity and messiness of our LDS history and culture (including an honest assessment of the bad parts), but who still remain tethered to the ideals of the Restoration in some fashion: the Dialogue folk, the Sunstone folk, the Givenses, progressive Mormons, the Restoration (Snuffer) movement, the Community of Christ and all the other branches.

   3.  Disaffected and Post-Mormons who view the Church as unhealthy and harmful, and who no longer believe in Joseph Smith's prophetic call.

This group includes those who formerly worshipped with us but who have moved on in their faith journeys to new churches or religions (or to no religion at all), but who still remain part of the Mormon zeitgeist in the 21st Century, and who participate in the ongoing discussion of Joseph Smith's legacy; and those who are involved in the ex-Mormon reddit, for example.

1.  To Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

Dear friends and family:

Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ.

I thank my God always for you: my primary teachers and young men leaders; my Sunday school teachers and bishops; my missionary companions and presidents.

I beseech you that there be no more divisions among us; but that we be "perfectly joined together in the same mind" (1 Cor. 1:10), as equals in Christ.

Now, we need to talk about the smell.

That's right: does anyone else smell something foul?  What stinks so bad in here?  (No amount of Axe Body Spray® is going to cover that up.)

I think what we're smelling is the decomposing doctrines of the Restoration ― there! you see that?  The corpse of Common Consent?  The subjugation of personal conscience to authority figures?

Don't freak out.  We can clean up this mess.  Here are some friendly suggestions to get us back on track.

What Does Repentance Look Like?

When prophets tell us to "repent," what do they mean?  What are we supposed to do, in particular? Can someone give some practice pointers?

   1.  Ways We Can Repent

Perhaps we could learn something from Alma's people, who "were not proud in their own eyes, and they did impart the word of God, one with another, without money and without price" (Alma 1:20). 

The real problem we're facing is priestcrafts.  In fact, priestcrafts are flourishing among us.  Alma warned, "Were priestcraft to be enforced among this people it would prove their entire destruction" (Alma 1:12). 

Yup.  We're almost there.  Members are hemorrhaging out of our chapels because of the idolatry and priestcrafts going on. 

The Church is not going to survive much longer if we continue to uphold priestcrafts. 

What are priestcrafts, you ask?  It's when people:

   a.  Set themselves up for a light unto the world (2 Nephi 26:29).

   b.  That they may get gain (2 Nephi 26:29).

   c.  That they may get the praise of the world (2 Nephi 26:29).

Let's see: do General Authorities preach for us to follow them and/or the Prophet?  Has the Church amassed a fortune?  Do the apostles and Prophet get praised a lot?

Houston, I think we have a problem.

Practical Suggestions For Overcoming Priestcraft, A - Z

Here are some practical, friendly suggestions if we're serious about repenting of our priestcrafts:

   a.  Emeritus Status.  General authorities could all be released at 70 years of age, including the Prophet and the apostles.  In fact, they considered doing so back in the 1970s, but chose to only make members of the Quorum of Seventy emeritus.  Well, since we already do it for the Seventies, what's good for the Goose is good for the Gander . . . .

   b.  No Remuneration of General Authorities.  No General Authorities should receive money, stipends, expense accounts or remuneration for their service.  Remember how people say, "Oh, the apostles left lucrative jobs and took a pay cut when they became a General Authority?"  Well, guess what?  It's not necessary.  Our Area Authority Seventies currently keep their day jobs.  Why can't General Authorities?  Why does the Church pride itself on not having a paid clergy when . . . it has a paid clergy?

   c.  Tithing.  The practice of Tithing should be discontinued so members can give alms to the poor anonymously as Christ taught in the Sermon on the Mount, using the Holy Ghost to direct their giving (see, Matt. 6:1-4).  Discontinue the abusive and manipulative practice of "Tithing Settlement."  If we need $1 Trillion dollars in stocks, bonds and real estate investments to get us to the Second Coming, then fine, we've got it.  We should stop oppressing the poor and the widows.

   d.  Church Bureaucracy.  Discontinue the Church's civil service bureaucracy.  You know, like how the Church fired all of its full-time janitors who used to clean our buildings and asked the members to scrub the toilets instead?  Well, let's go further.  Members can step up and give voluntary service, like those who teach early-morning seminary for free.  If General Authorities need bodyguards, like Orrin Porter Rockwell, then let's form a neighborhood watch and take turns guarding the Prophet.  We don't need hired security or hired . . . anything.  I don't recall Paul employing thousands of employees to take the gospel to the Gentiles.  (Trust in the arm of flesh, much?)

   e.  Instruction.  Discontinue the curriculum which requires us to rehash a General Authority's conference talk during sacrament meetings, priesthood and relief society.  Does no one in this Church have the gift of the Holy Ghost?  Why is God the Ghost benched while we play the second string of the junior varsity?  It makes no sense.  Our meetings are boring because people are not speaking by the power of the Holy Ghost: they're reading from a correlated message that was assigned.  I don't understand why the leaders do not trust the members enough to let them be . . . themselves.

   f.  Temple Recommends.  "Worthiness" to enter the House of the Lord should not require the payment of money.  This is the clearest and most blatant example of Priestcraft.  It is a tool of control and extortion.  (There are a lot of issues with the way we handle "worthiness" interviews, but let's leave that for another day.)

   g.  Transparency.  Release a full accounting of all Church holdings and assets.  Release the minutes of the Quorum meetings of the First Presidency, Twelve, and 70s.  Release the budgets and expenditures of local units.  Release the records sealed in the Church libraries and vaults.

   h.  Abolish the Handbook.  The General Handbook is an abomination.  Literally.  It mixes the philosophies of men mingled with scripture.  Look at its various iterations throughout the years and how it has changed as society has shifted.  It is anonymous, has never been canonized, and is updated without input from the membership.  When there is a conflict between the Handbook and the laws of God we have accepted in the scriptures, the Handbook prevails.  That is backwards.  Why are we led by a Handbook rather than the gift of the Holy Ghost?

    i.  Common Consent.  Restore the doctrine and practice of common consent.  Full stop.

   j.  Ward and Stake Councils.  Abolish the ward and stake councils in which leaders gossip about the "needs" of various members and make judgments without consulting the members themselves.  I have seen more decisions based upon hearsay and rumor (what the wife of the bishop saw on Facebook) than I have based on the Spirit of God.

   k.  Callings.  Leaders should stop issuing callings unilaterally.  Members should be consulted about where they want to serve and they need to be informed of what the needs in the ward are.  Why do leaders have access to special reports and information that is withheld from the body?  Members should be free to reject a calling or to ask to be released.  Members are better judges, using the Spirit, of where they can be the most helpful, than is a group of men sitting around a desk looking on their phones at what vacancies need to be filled and matching it to a report of "Members Without Callings."

    l.  Word of Wisdom.  We need to start a discussion about the future of this "principle with a promise."  Is it time we go back to it being a Word of Wisdom rather than a Word of Commandment?  Bless President Heber J. Grant, but we are now a century beyond the Prohibition movement.  The war is over.  We've inherited the torch of a dead cause.  When the Lord returns and sips a coffee, won't it be awkward for the rest of us?

   m.  Apologize.  There are a number of things we need to apologize for as an institution before we can heal from the wounds of our past and move on.  Look at all the black eyes we've caused!  We've been abusive towards Blacks.  We've been abusive towards LGBTQ members.  We've been abusive towards women in the Church.  Let's make it right.  Let's live up to our ideals rather than ignoring them.  (Who said we neither request nor give apologies?  That is stupid.)

   n.  Follow the Prophet.  When did we start needing a mortal intercessor to use his keys to grant us salvation, when we already have "the Apostle and High Priest of our profession, Christ Jesus" (Hebrews 3:1)?  The scriptures do not teach that when an apostle or Prophet speak it is as if the Lord Himself were speaking.  Angels speak the words of Christ.  Prophets and apostles occasionally speak the words of Christ.  Regular members occasionally speak the words of Christ.  The test is not who's speaking, but whose words they are.  Someone might wonder, "But Tim, how in the world can we discern whether the General Authority is speaking the words of Christ or not?"  Ummm.  By the Holy Ghost?

   o.  Discontinue Ministering / Home Teaching.  In for a penny, in for a pound.  Where to begin?  Maybe I'll write a series on this topic.  Let me just say that Ministering is a net-negative.  Sure, the bishop can't be in every home, and he needs boots on the ground to seek out the needs of the widows.  Etc. Etc. Etc.  We've all heard it.  How did home teaching become such an idol?  I remember an elderly sister who testified once in Church that her husband was a perfect Home Teacher, never missed a month, and that no priesthood holder who failed to do their home teaching was worthy.  Sorry to break the news to this woman, but Jesus was not a Home Teacher/Minister.  Why do we go to such lengths to justify this program?  Is it a sign of how broken we are.  Rather than uniting hearts, Ministering hardens them.  Why?  Because the performance of duty is toxic to love.  (Which is why Christ said if we love Him, we'll keep His commandments.)  When love is primary, then doing is a pleasure.  When duty is primary, love is stifled because the action arises not from pure love but from assignment.  Ministering is foremost a duty, as demonstrated by the fact we have to report our numbers on it.  Some might say, "But Tim, can't it be both?  Can't I love those I am called to serve?"  Of course you can.  But you can't love them as much as you would have been able to without the calling to serve them.  Christ did not learn to love us because the Father assigned Him to be our Savior.  Christ loved us first, and so the Father chose Him to be our Savior.  See the difference?

   p.  Put "Jesus Christ" Back in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  I saved the most important one for last.  The Brethren are no better and no wiser than we are.  Why can I say that?  Because we all have the gift of the Holy Ghost.  We all have the greatest Source of sanctification and knowledge there is.  So the Brethren should stop treating us like we're in their down-line, as if the Church were a Multi-Level-Marketing company, and get back to basics where "we talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we preach of Christ, we prophesy of Christ" (2 Nephi 25:26), rather than talking, preaching, rejoicing, and prophesying so much about their own callings, offices, and keys!

In Conclusion

My friends and family, I believe the Lord has a purpose for all of us.  We can be better.  We are better as equals. 

We can repent and come unto Christ and live his royal law of love.  How?  By not dunging the olive trees in the vineyard with the manure of priestcraft.

I love you, and always will. 

​Tim 

. . . to be continued . . .