Learn Mysteries of God - then bring Thousands to Repentance?

[swiftbrook]

Thank you everyone....it all seems so obvious....

[KerriM]

Swiftbrook. I’ve been pondering this idea (like the comment made by the ex-bishop), and I ran across the following verses in my own study.:

1 Corinthians 13: 1-8
1 Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal.

2 And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing.

3 And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing.

4 Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up,

5 Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil;

6 Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth;

7 Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.

8 Charity never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away.

I think, simply viewed, this can be understood to mean that seeking mysteries and knowledge isn't as important as...(whatever charity means to you). I'm wondering though, if the ex-bishop is thinking that verse 3 is charity. We don't usually emphasize this part:

...but rejoiceth in the truth; 7 Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things...

I know that for me, the spirit’s been telling me that I need balance while seeking mysteries. Sometimes (OK, a lot), I sit at the end of the day, and just read and read and read and the spirit whispers that I need to put down the book, or get off the internet, and get involved in life. Give, love, live, experience life, not just read, read, read. I need to practice, practice, practice too. There are things I can learn by reading and their are things that I can only learn by doing and experiencing.

My guess is, this ex-bishop of yours has had experience with members who’ve been out of balance, and he wasn’t impressed. Maybe someone who was an arrogant know-it-all? Knowledge doesn’t help if you’re a jerk and are too busy to help anyone. I don’t agree with his assessment though that the early members didn’t seek mysteries. I believe that’s exactly what they did if they personally knew Joseph Smith. Joseph was not very quiet about mysteries and he advocated personal revelation too. Also, Joseph Smith was learning all of the time, and created an environment where others wanted to learn too. Where do you think the School of the Prophet’s came from? Joseph practically started adult night school .

His more exact comment included that the early saints in Joseph's time didn't sit around seeking revelations and trying to learn mysteries -- instead they went out on missions and sought to bring people into the Church.

I’d say they did both. I think going on missions helped speed up their own learning, and their reliance on constant personal revelation. What a great time to go on a mission. 100% dependence on the Lord. No mission president, no manual, no phone to call someone who might know something. But what do I know?

[durangout]

I think there are far too many people in the church today that try to discourage a person from seeking the Second Comforter.

LOL...How many is "far too many"? Show me one example of this (The anti-mormons who frequent this site posing as members for disinformation purposes don't count).

[Gideon]

Okay, but really -- should we just focus on good works and service and put all that seeking light and knowledge on the back burner? Now this sounds silly as I type it out, but the commenter is the past bishop in our ward and he was dead serious. His more exact comment included that the early saints in Joseph's time didn't sit around seeking revelations and trying to learn mysteries -- instead they went out on missions and sought to bring people into the Church.

And some of those people brought 1,000's into the church. Why? Because of their faith.

We need a certain amount of knowledge to get started, but it isn't possible, or necessary, to know all the mysteries before we share the basics.
On the other hand, I think that the basics are covered very well by most of the programs of the church. Teaching like you are doing, adds some desperately needed balance. We need more of it.