Jed Moody resides in South Jordan, Utah. Jed is a husband, father to three active boys, and works as a corporate attorney in the legal department of a healthcare company. He looks forward to serving in his new calling as a priests quorum advisor.
Enter Jed…
In a recent Elders Quorum meeting, our instructor asked a compelling question:
“Should you always follow the prophet, even if you disagree?”
What followed was a robust discussion with some quorum members taking a hard-lined stance (“Yes, you should always follow the prophet”) and others leaving more room for personal disagreement with the prophet. Some even shared instances where they chose not to follow the prophet, as they personally felt that in that particular instance in which they chose not to comply, the prophet was speaking in his personal capacity and not his prophetic capacity.
The Wrestle is Real
Most every member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at some point in time likely wrestles to one degree or another with some Church policy or prophetic teaching. (I know I have!) In those moments, it can be tempting to justify resisting prophetic counsel by making oft-repeated arguments such as:
- Prophets are fallible and subject to error.
- Ultimately, we follow Jesus, not men.
- Members of the Church should follow their conscience and not just blindly obey.
- Church policy changes and some prior teachings are later seen as outdated, and this policy or teaching may change, too.
To a certain degree, each of these arguments is true. Despite that fact, I believe there are important reasons to follow the prophet, even when our personal views conflict with the prophet’s teachings.
In the end, each member of the Church must decide for themselves how they will respond when their personal views conflict with Church policy or prophetic teachings. But for me personally, for the reasons outlined below, I do my best (albeit imperfectly) to follow the prophet.
Safety
The scriptures are replete with examples and teachings that underscore the spiritual and sometimes physical safety that comes from following the prophet. The Lord revealed in Doctrine and Covenants 21:4-6 that:
“Wherefore, meaning the church, thou shalt give heed unto all [the prophet’s] words and commandments which he shall give unto you as he receiveth them, walking in all holiness before me; For his word ye shall receive, as if from mine own mouth, in all patience and faith. For by doing these things the gates of hell shall not prevail against you; yea, and the Lord God will disperse the powers of darkness from before you, and cause the heavens to shake for your good, and his name’s glory.”
President Henry B. Eyring taught,
“The best time to have decided to help Noah build the ark was the first time he asked. Each time he asked after that, each failure to respond would have lessened sensitivity to the Spirit. And so each time his request would have seemed more foolish, until the rain came. And then it was too late.”
Perhaps most importantly, Jesus Christ made clear that we gather to Him by following His prophets, when He lamented the House of Israel’s rejection of the prophets He had sent:
“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!” (Matthew 23:37)
This seems, to me, to weaken attempts to disassociate Jesus Christ from His prophets. There is safety in following Jesus Christ and His prophets, and I choose to do my best to gather to His safety as we witness the unfolding of the commotion and perplexities of the latter days preceding His Second Coming.
Becoming
As I understand the Plan of Salvation, one of the key purposes of that Plan is for us to develop the qualities and characteristics our Heavenly Father possesses. When our personal views diverge from the teachings of the prophet, it can be very, very difficult—even heart-wrenching for some. And in sharing my perspective, I do not wish to trivialize the pain and difficulty individuals may face when confronting difficult teachings. Nonetheless, when we have those moments where our personal views are at odds with the teachings of prophets, it gives us an opportunity to turn to Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ, to wrestle with those teachings and to stretch and expand our souls. Even as we seek answers from the scriptures, podcasts, social media, scholars, friends, family, or local leaders, we must not forget that the most critical seeking we will do will be in sincere prayer. And it’s worth asking ourselves, to whom are we giving most of our attention as we seek for answers? This wrestle is an opportunity for us to strengthen our relationship with Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ.
As we faithfully work through this process—and it is often real work—we will have an opportunity to further develop Christlike attributes. For example, I turn again to Doctrine and Covenants 21:5, as it makes clear that patience and faith will be required to follow the prophet.
“For his word ye shall receive, as if from mine own mouth, in all patience and faith.”
What is Divine and What is Human
As we develop a relationship with Jesus Christ, He asks us to come to Him with a broken heart and a contrite spirit. This requires us to develop and demonstrate humility in our devotion. Like Naaman in the Old Testament, who resisted prophetic guidance to wash in the Jordan River seven times but ultimately relented and received a miraculous healing of his leprosy, we sometimes have to let go of personal pride when the prophet’s guidance doesn’t make sense to us.
Through the prophet Isaiah, the Lord taught us,
“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways…. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.” (Isaiah 55:8-9)
The scriptures also teach us,
“Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding….Be not wise in thine own eyes…” (Proverbs 3:5, 7)
When confronting prophetic direction that is difficult to accept, I’m personally not confident enough with my own weaknesses and biases and cultural influences to trust that my own judgment is always correct to be able to discern what is divine and what is human.
Order
Very early in this dispensation, when Hiram Page claimed to be receiving revelations for the Church through a seer stone, the Lord established that
“all things must be done in order.” (D&C 28:13)
As such, the Lord established then and in other revelations that there is one authorized prophetic mouthpiece on the earth at a time. And, similarly, it has been well established that to the extent that there are conflicts between the teachings of more modern prophets and earlier prophets, the teachings of the more current prophets should be followed.
If we begin making exceptions to the order God has established, and we each follow our “conscience” when we feel to reject a teaching of the prophet, then that established order breaks down. The logical outcome of that position at the extreme is a world in which we all come to different conclusions, and it is essentially the same as having no prophet at all.
Yes, I believe we should follow our conscience, but in following our conscience, the teachings of prophets serve as a check and an anchor to ensure that we are not “tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine” (Ephesians 4:14) and interpreting scripture incorrectly.
So, what do we make of the reality, readily admitted by Church leaders, that prophets and leaders of the Church are fallible and subject to error? It certainly creates a paradox. I believe, however, that the infinite atonement of Jesus Christ resolves all paradoxes. Looking once again at Doctrine and Covenants 21:5, where the Lord commanded:
”For his word ye shall receive, as if from mine own mouth, in all patience and faith.”
“Patience,” here suggests that there may be times when we will have to exercise patience in receiving God’s word through a mortal mouthpiece, but it also says we must exercise “faith.” Faith in prophets? I do not think so. I believe that “faith” in the scriptures should be read as faith in Jesus Christ! His atoning sacrifice will make up for any mistakes made by me or by prophets.
Indeed, Elder M. Russell Ballard taught,
“Too many people think Church leaders and members should be perfect or nearly perfect. They forget that the Lord’s grace is sufficient to accomplish His work through mortals. Our leaders have the best intentions, but sometimes we make mistakes…. Looking for human weakness in others is rather easy. However, we make a serious mistake by noticing only the human nature of one another and then failing to see God’s hand working through those He has called.”
And Elder Jeffrey R. Holland taught,
“Except in the case of His only perfect Begotten Son, imperfect people are all God has ever had to work with. That must be terribly frustrating to Him, but He deals with it. So should we. And when you see imperfection, remember that the limitation is not in the divinity of the work.”
In This There is Safety
In saying all of this, I do think it’s ok to ask questions. It’s ok to appropriately state that we don’t fully understand a policy or prophetic teaching. And we may even leave room in our hearts to believe or even hope that positions and policies change in the future. But in my opinion, we must also leave room in our hearts for the possibility that positions and policies will not change. And in the meantime, whatever the outcome, we should do our best to support, sustain, and pray for our prophet and other Church leaders.
In this there is safety, peace, order, and an opportunity to develop attributes God intends for us to develop.
