Real Life Answers

By Andrea B.

In our country where religiosity is on the decline (Huffington Post), many seem to celebrate ethereal spirituality but scoff at religious organizations, not recognizing that organized religions exist for the sole purpose of improving spirituality. Dismissing structured religion is like saying, “I like being healthy and though sometimes I get sick, hospitals are for other people, not me.” Others nominally belong to churches, but rarely attend. With mystic Eastern philosophies claiming the limelight in pop culture (e.g., the film Batman Begins) it feels socially outdated to claim membership to an organized church. And yet, my spirituality is best executed through my church; God as the perfect teacher has created out of a religious organization the perfect classroom. This is a classroom full of struggling, imperfect students, but each member comes to class seeking to be better. Through imperfect people we execute God’s perfect system of learning.

Howard Gardner—Professor of Education at Harvard—advocates that students have multiple intelligences such as kinesthetics, logic, interpersonal savvy, etc. As such, educational research recommends that teachers vary instruction techniques to fit the needs of all different intelligences. So too does our perfect Father seek to vary his instruction to meet the strengths and learning styles of his children. Nephi explains in the Book of Mormon that “the Lord God giveth light unto the understanding; for he speaketh unto men according to their language, unto their understanding” (2 Nephi 31:3) or, according to their intelligence. He does this by instructing us in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to access truth through myriad ways: we are to teach one-on-one; to share and learn in small classes; to be instructed as a large congregation; and to receive counsel and revelation as a single body tuned in to a conference twice a year. In addition, God asks us to speak directly to him, and to have independent study every day to commune with him by reflecting on revelation he gave long ago. We have activities, baptisms, service experiences, institute, family home evening, and temple nights all in addition to our church meetings, because God wants us to learn. He wants ALL of his students, with all of our different ways of learning about the world, to come to a knowledge of the Savior as the Redeemer of the world. If I tried to gain spirituality in isolation, I would miss out on the many additional avenues to truth that only come when I participate in my organized religion.

God’s perfect classroom provides access to truth for all learners. But the organization of the church goes beyond a teacher-student knowledge transfer; it allows for participants to apply what we learn towards one another, to form what the apostle Paul calls the “Body of Christ”, or rather a group of people that provides complementary efforts to care for one another. This is not possible without a structure to guide this effort. Paul teaches that “there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit . . . But all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit . . . For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ” (1 Corinthians 12:4, 11–12). God has given a variety of gifts and talents to all of us; it is only as we all both teach AND learn, both serve AND receive service, that our gifts—or our multiple intelligences—can create the body of Christ, and gain a level of spirituality unknown to those who seek it alone. I am grateful for a Father who knows the learning needs of his children. I am grateful for a congregation in which to learn and then apply the principles of the Atonement. I am grateful for the community of people who help me follow Christ. In short, I am grateful for my membership in the restored gospel of Jesus Christ.

Members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints believe that there is one God and that He has, through prophets, taught the truth about the creation of our universe and the divine potential of our eternal souls to many people across many civilizations throughout the world’s history. While over the centuries many of these fundamental truths became corrupted or lost, our message to the world is that God has called a prophet in this modern age and has restored these truths to a degree of completeness that has not existed since the time of Christ and his Apostles.

Admittedly, this is a bold claim. It is audacious because it implies two things. First, that while all other religions may possess varying measures of light, only the Mormon church possess the full spectrum. And second, that all those wishing to receive the fullness of blessings associate with that truth, must join the fold. This claim to monopoly on universal truth is a little hard to buy for a lot of people, simply on account of the numbers. Mormons all over the world currently number roughly 14 million, a mere 0.2% of the world’s current population and taking into account all the future and previous inhabitants of the earth, the number gets even smaller. The numbers beg the question, if God is so particular about which church we go to, how could He be so ineffective at getting people to accept the fullness of his Word over the ages?

This is a question I grappled with more in my past year living in India, than I ever had before. Not only was I an overwhelming minority as a Mormon, but also as Christian. I was one of only 5 Mormons in a state of 50 million people, all of which had likely never even heard of the Mormon religion before. Moreover, the religious traditions of my local colleagues demanded consideration. Where the religions of the ancient Egyptians, Greeks, Romans, and Persians had long since gone by the wayside, theirs had stood the test of time. Theirs was the world’s most ancient surviving civilization, so they must have been doing something right. Sure there was squalor like I’d never before encountered. But while the slums of the predominantly Christian nations of Latin America are seized with drug-related violence and street crime, those of India, in contrast, seem to operate like virtual utopias.

In order to answer this question, to make sense of this concept of India, I found myself hungering and thirsting for spiritual knowledge like never before. I wearied my colleagues at work with questions about their religious traditions, drilling them on the finer points of Hindu, Jain, Sikh, and Muslim doctrine and general Indian history in every idle moment at the office. According to the Bible the Indo-European nations trace their lineage to Noah’s eldest son Japheth, whose descendants God blessed to expand and spread across the Mediterranean and the regions surrounding the Black and Caspian Seas. These were generally righteous people. Many believe the three kings that visited the baby Jesus from the east could have been coming from India. So how did they stray from the truth?

In the Bible and Book of Mormon, we often hear vague references to prophets struggling against their peoples’ tendency toward idolatry. When we think of idolatry, we tend to consider it through a modern, metaphorical lens, comparing it to the worship of wealth and fame and other things that consume our modern attention and ambitions. It is difficult for us to imagine how the worship of a Golden Calf could possibly present any threat to the belief in one true God.

But in earlier eras, idolatrous traditions were indeed formidable opponents to monotheistic religion. This reality became apparent to me from almost my first day in India. I recall riding to my office the first day and being struck by all the cult statues and anthropomorphic effigies I saw lining the streets. Inside the auto-ricksaw I noticed several colorful animal figures lining the dashboard and giant postersized cutouts of Bollywood actors and actresses lining the upholstery of the rickshaw cabin. When I mentioned to my Indian colleague and co-passenger how shocked I was, he smiled and told me that whether Hindu gods or movie stars, Indians have to worship one idol or another.

My point in recounting this story is not to demean the noble, if idiosyncratic piety of my friendly Indian rickshaw drivers. Rather, it is to illustrate how easily humankind can miss the true mark of truth amidst all the glitz and sensationalism of idol worship. The people of the ancient civilization were no less prone to forgoing the fullness of unseen spiritual blessings in favor of something more immediate and tangible than we are today. When considering the fact that many of these eternal truths were passed down orally to a largely illiterate congregations, its no wonder that the quest for truth has always been an uphill battle.

I often hear the argument that organized religion is corrupt, discriminatory, and unnecessary. Some of the arguments supporting this negative view of organized religion are somewhat compelling, especially when looked at in a historical context. In a recent post, Barbara described some of the benefits of organized religion. In this post (and a few in the future), I’d like to explore some of the downsides of organized religion, how the Mormon church has attempted to eliminate them, and why those downsides don’t outweigh the benefits.

First, I want to cite a passage from the Bible that seems to indicate that the original Christian church had a distinct structure:

11 And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;
12 For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:
13 Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:
14 That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive; (Ephesians 4:11-14)

Here, Paul is speaking of Christ’s organization of his church to the Ephesians. It is clear that the structure of the church consisted of different roles assigned to different people. It is also clear that the main purpose of this structure was unity in purpose and in doctrine.

Now, while this passage seems to clearly indicate the existence of a structured church in the time of the apostles, maybe it’s the case that structure is no longer needed. Maybe the proliferation of the Bible and the spread of literacy have combined to make the need for organized religion obsolete. After all, nearly every individual can now read the words of Christ for him or herself and determine how best to apply His teachings to life, so who needs some minister or priest to tell them whether they’re on track for salvation or whether they are forgiven of their sins or what God wants them to do with their lives? This question is especially pertinent if you believe (as Mormons do) that God answers individuals’ prayers and directs individuals’ lives through a process we call personal revelation.

So is organized religion beneficial or unnecessary? As I’ve thought about this question, I’ve come up with the following costs and benefits:

Benefits:

1. Coordination

-Allows for coordination in serving members of the church and the community

-Allows for coordination in doctrine

2. Peer Effects

-Older, more experienced members of a church can have good influence on children and youth

-New adherents can benefit from the advice of life-long members through organized channels

Costs:

1. Potential for Corruption

-Organized religion inevitably involves positions of power which can be used corruptly to benefit the leader at the cost of the congregation

-Doctrine can become corrupted due to the actions of one or a small group of individuals

2. Operating Costs

-A structured organization requires offices, meetinghouses, etc., which all have monetary costs that could be used elsewhere

In my next few posts, I intend to examine these costs and benefits more closely. I will also discuss how they apply to the Mormon church. But, before I do that, I want to ask for your input. In your mind, what are some of the costs and benefits of organized religion? How do these costs and benefits weigh against each other? I’d really love to hear your responses so I can work them into my future posts.