At the recently concluded October General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, President Russell M. Nelson announced changes which, along with changes announced in April, effectively took off the “training wheels” which have upheld Latter-day Saints in some of their religious activities for decades. Let me explain.
When we first learned to ride a bike, we may have gratefully used training wheels. They help children gain confidence and avoid early calamity. But on an older rider they not only look ridiculous but limit mobility and independence.
Beginning swimmers may similarly use water wings.
But one hardly expects to see them on an adult.
Ancient Training Wheels
With ancient Israel, God also used training wheels. When the recently freed captive nation proved unprepared to live the higher law revealed on the first set of tablets, God gave Moses a second set. This included a detailed law of ceremonies, rituals, symbols, and instructions better adapted to those in a state of spiritual immaturity. Many of the rules regarding sacrifices and other ceremonies seem quaint to us today. But for a people with no experience in receiving personal revelation and no understanding of the spirit behind the law, it provided religious activity that ideally might eventually prepare them for greater spiritual independence.
When Jesus Christ came, He tried to teach the Israelites of His day a higher law. He eliminated much of the “spiritual busy work” of the law of Moses and taught His followers to love each other and serve each other. He taught that each could and should receive personal inspiration through the Holy Ghost to guide his life.
The early church did have its spiritual giants, such as Peter, John, and Paul. But before long the church as a whole had abandoned central elements of the gospel as taught by the Savior. Divinely appointed apostles suffered martyrdom. Unauthorized successors significantly changed both doctrines and ordinances. The “falling away” which Paul promised would occur before Christ came again was complete. (2 Thessalonians 2:3.)
But just as the New Testament prophesied an apostasy, or falling away, of the Lord’s church, so did it promise a latter-day restoration. Peter, for example, promised there would be a time “of restitution of all things” preceding Christ’s Second Coming. (Acts 3:21.) Latter-day Saints testify that this restoration began in 1820, when the Father and the Son appeared to the boy prophet Joseph Smith. That first vision was followed by other angelic visitations, the coming forth of additional scripture in the form of The Book of Mormon—Another Testament of Jesus Christ, and the restoration of the priesthood, or divine authority to act in the name of God. By divine direction, Joseph Smith formally organized The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints on April 6, 1830. God’s Church was once again upon the earth.
Modern Training Wheels Are Installed
But the new Church was in some respects like ancient Israel. Not all members were spiritually mature. It was necessary to have significant organizational structure and sometimes detailed prescriptions of what constituted Church “activity” or “faithfulness.” Some of the “training wheels” installed through the years included:
Three hours or more of Sunday meetings
As many members likely wouldn’t study the gospel on their own, the Church provided opportunities for them to study together. In decades past, members went to Sunday School in the morning and then returned in the evening for an hour and a half sacrament meeting. Part of the idea could have been to keep members busy enough on Sunday that they wouldn’t have time to break the Sabbath.
Home teaching and visiting teaching
Theoretically, male “home teachers” would visit each assigned family once a month. Additionally, female “visiting teachers” would visit each adult woman. Though leaders always hoped that those assigned would do more than the minimum, the very reporting system promoted the belief that if one had made any kind of visit to his families during the month, he could consider his home teaching “done.” There was much discussion as to what could “count” as a visit for reporting purposes. Some wards went to great lengths to get “100% home teaching” or “visiting teaching.” Others recognized the sheer impracticality of getting unwilling home teachers to make visits every month to every family, regardless of a family’s needs or desires to be visited. Outside of a few wards and stakes in Utah, too many came to regard home teaching and visiting teaching as something of a joke. And because the focus seemed to be on reporting visits, few priesthood leaders conducted regular interviews with the home teachers under their direction.
Family home evening
Hoping to get parents to make a serious effort to teach their children, the Church formalized a Family Home Evening program. They ultimately designated Monday night as the time every family should gather. For some years they even published an annual family home evening manual with lessons parents could teach in such gatherings.
Missionary lessons
Years ago, missionary lessons included detailed dialogue which the missionary was expected to memorize. It even included the response the non-member was expected to give to each question.
Temple attendance quotas
Though these were abandoned during the ministry of President Spencer W. Kimball, there was a time when wards would set “goals” or “quotas” for how often a member should attend the temple.
We could give other examples, but these may suffice. We mention these not to criticize the Church–far from it. But they do reflect on the level of spirituality of the average Church member at the time. When first introduced, each of these approaches was no doubt useful, just as the law of Moses was when first revealed–or as training wheels or water wings can be useful for children. Each program or practice was intended to help believers mature to the point where they could eventually internalize the underlying principles and apply them with less organizational structure.
The training wheels come off
Our living prophet seems to be telling us that the time has now come! More than ever before in our history, the “training wheels” are coming off. For example:
Only two hours of Sunday meetings.
Rather than three hours of church meetings each Sunday, beginning in January 2019 we’ll have just two. The Lord evidently has confidence that substantial numbers of Latter-day Saints will not use the extra hour simply to nap or to watch Sunday football. He knows many will use that hour—and ideally additional time–to teach the gospel in the home. A new resource called Come, Follow Me—For Individuals and Families: New Testament 2019 is available as a resource. But details of how to use it and what to teach are left to the discretion and inspiration of each family.
Ministering
As of last April, “ministering” has replaced home teaching and visiting teaching. The difference goes far beyond the name. Ministering elders and ministering sisters now focus their efforts where they prayerfully consider the need is greatest. They do not report individual visits or contacts. But they do meet quarterly in a ministering interview with a member of the elders quorum presidency or Relief Society presidency. There they report not their visits but the status and needs of the families under their stewardship. They share plans and goals with their quorum or Relief Society supervisor and receive counsel and instruction. These ministering interviews, not the ministering contacts themselves, are what are reported to the Church. For the first time, 100% “ministering” is a practical goal in each unit. And each ministering elder or sister is trusted to seek personal inspiration to know how best to meet the needs of those in their care.
Family home evening
The Church still highly encourages Family home evening. But there is no suggestion that it need be confined to Monday night. Teaching can occur in the home any time the family determines works best for them. And other family activities can be held whenever they are most convenient for each family. To protect those who wish to use Monday from having competing Church activities, there will be no formal ward or stake events that evening. But families are left to determine for themselves just when and how they will meet the spiritual and recreational needs of their own families.
Missionary lessons
Missionary lessons, since 2004, have been based on the Preach My Gospel manual. This gives unprecedented flexibility to missionaries to seek inspiration to know what to teach in each lesson and how to teach it. No longer do they memorize a canned dialogue. Many now teach with “power and authority” as did the Lord whom they represent.
Temple attendance
Temple attendance was the major emphasis of President Nelson’s concluding remarks on Sunday afternoon. But while he urged that our attendance be “regular,” he didn’t give a hint as to how any given member should define that term. Retired members living near a temple may attend weekly more easily than a working couple living three hours from a temple could attend quarterly. President Nelson has urged each of us to consider what sacrifice we could make to spend more time in the temple. But the answer to how to do that is a matter for personal inspiration, not Church direction.
Will It Work?
What will be the effect of the training wheels coming off? Some of those riding a bike for the first time without training wheels may well crash into a tree.
But most will find it exhilarating to be free from artificial supports and constraints. They will go farther and enjoy it more than they ever did before.
Similarly, some will probably abuse the new two-hour meeting schedule and not use the extra hour at home for any religious purpose. Some ministering elders and sisters, freed from the need to report monthly visits, may visit less than they did before. With less emphasis on having family home evening on Monday evenings, some families may not have it at all. Some missionaries may simply make up something on the spur of the moment and call it “teaching by the Spirit.” Without temple attendance quotas, some may never attend the temple.
But the Lord seems to be suggesting that those who make such poor choices will be in the minority. At least there is now an opportunity for members to seek and receive personal revelation on a scale that previously may have seemed less necessary. They can now have inspired family instruction and discussions with children not already worn out from three straight hours of meetings. Ministering elders and sisters can seek and receive guidance as to how to really love and help meet the needs of their families. Parents and families can receive divine direction as to how to have meaningful family activities in addition to the formal gospel instruction.
Missionaries will be more authentic in their teaching and more responsive to the concerns of those they teach. They will return home having learned how to live and teach by the Spirit. And they will be prepared to offer a new level of spiritually mature leadership in their respective wards and stakes.
Members will increasingly go to the temple because they find it a place of peace and inspiration. With the marvelous new online tools available, they will be ever more effective in finding essential information about their departed relatives. They will find deep joy in being able to serve as proxies for temple ordinances on their behalf. They will attend the temple as often as their personal circumstances permit. And they will do it because they want to—not because of pressure or feelings of guilt.
Perhaps Paul had something like this in mind when he said: “When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things.” (1 Corinthians 13:11.) The scriptures are clear that every one of us at some point needs to be “born again.” (Mosiah 27:25.) But in Doctrine and Covenants 109:15, Joseph Smith prayed to the Lord that the saints “may grow up in thee, and receive a fulness of the Holy Ghost.” It is marvelous to live in a time when the training wheels have been removed and we are invited to “grow up” spiritually as never before.
So wise, please keep writing. I’m sharing this with every LDS member I know! It also looks like a FHE discussion topic to me. Please keep writing!!!!!!