Paul’s words about judging church leaders

1 Let a man so account of us, as of the ministers of Christ, and stewards of the mysteries of God.

2 Moreover it is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful.

3 But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged of you, or of man’s judgment: yea, I judge not mine own self.

4 For I know nothing by myself; yet am I not hereby justified: but he that judgeth me is the Lord.

5 Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord come, who both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts: and then shall every man have praise of God.

6 And these things, brethren, I have in a figure transferred to myself and to Apollos for your sakes; that ye might learn in us not to think of men above that which is written, that no one of you be puffed up for one against another.

7 For who maketh thee to differ from another? and what hast thou that thou didst not receive? now if thou didst receive it, why dost thou glory, as if thou hadst not received it? (1 Cor. 4:1-7)

I get the sense that Paul was asking the Corinthian saints to consider him (and other church leaders) servants of God. There’s a certain amount of respect that goes with that kind of office. But faithfulness is certainly required, otherwise stewards can be removed from their place.

But he also points out that it isn’t wise to “think of men above that which is written,” by which I think he means idolizing or idealizing.  Paul would be disturbed if infallibility were attributed to church leaders.   (This reminds me of an old joke that Catholics say the pope is infallible, but none of them believe it, while Latter-day Saints say the prophet is fallible, but none of them believe that either.)  

And some leaders look pious, but aren’t really, which is why Paul warns that God would bring to light the hidden things of darkness and make manifest the counsels of the hearts.

It is interesting that Paul says “I judge not mine own self.” It hints that although he had examined his own conscience and felt like he had repented of everything he should, he recognized he might have blind spots about his own spiritual status that would prevent him from making an accurate judgment, and he left that to God.  If Paul can say that, then I suppose those of us who do the best we can are allowed to say it too. 

Finally, I really like verse 7, particularly the question “What hast thou that thou didst not receive?” None of us, no matter how wise or spiritual, can honestly say that we know anything about the gospel without having been taught it through the Spirit. Everything we know, we’ve received from God, so we have nothing to boast of.

-->

KJV versus JST: Luke 12 and the Coming of the Lord

KJV – Luke 12:36-48	JST Luke 12:41–57 (Appendix)	Commentary
35 Let your loins be girded about, and your lights burning; 36 And ye yourselves like unto men that wait for their lord, when he will return from the wedding; that when he cometh and knocketh, they may open unto him immediately.		(This is included to give us some additional context to this parable.)
	41 For, behold, he cometh in the first watch of the night, and he shall also come in the second watch, and again he shall come in the third watch. 42 And verily I say unto you, He hath already come, as it is written of him; and again when he shall come in the second watch, or come in the third watch,	Here we get the interesting information that there are three different visits when Christ would come. He reveals that His mortal ministry is during the first watch, and that there are two other visits still in the future. I personally think that the second watch is Christ’s second coming, and the third watch is His coming at the end of the Millennium. Also, notice the end of JST v42 corresponds to KJV v38, but there is a difference in that in the KJV the visits are ‘iffy’, and in the JST, the visits are certain.
37 Blessed are those servants, whom the lord when he cometh shall find watching: verily I say unto you, that he shall gird himself, and make them to sit down to meat, and will come forth and serve them.	blessed are those servants [] when he cometh, that he shall find so doing; 43 [] For the Lord of those servants shall gird himself, and make them to sit down to meat, and will come forth and serve them.	1 The change of “watching” into “so doing” emphasizes that good servants will be found engaged in activity, and not idle. It is possible that watching was meant to evoke the idea of prophetic gifts and warning. However, the Lord wanted Joseph Smith to emphasize that service is also required of servants who want to be commended when the Lord comes. 2 We also get a change that emphasizes that the Lord Himself will serve His people when he comes. He will make them sit down to meat, meaning He will provide meaty doctrine for all, similar to how He taught the Nephites when He came to the Americas.
38 And if he shall come in the second watch, or come in the third watch, and find them so, blessed are those servants.	[]
	44 And now, verily I say these things unto you, that ye may know this, that the coming of the Lord is as a thief in the night. 45 And it is like unto a man who is an householder, who, if he watcheth not his goods, the thief cometh in an hour of which he is not aware,  and taketh his goods,  and divideth them among his fellows.	Here Joseph Smith sent the parable in a different direction, changing it from “like servants waiting for their lord to return from a wedding” to “like servants guarding their lord’s goods from thieves.” The emphasis changes from watching with joyful anticipation to defensive guarding from unexpected, stealthy attacks. What are the householder’s goods that are being defended? The goods may represent the property of the church that is used to build the kingdom. (And certainly there have been times when outsiders have endeavored to dispossess the church of its property.)  The householder’s goods may also represent rank-and-file members of the church. (And certainly the adversary is always trying to steal members from the church by various means.) While it is true that the members have agency, seeing members as goods that can be stolen is meant to emphasize that leaders must do all they can to guard and warn the members.
39 And this know, that if the goodman of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched, and not have suffered his house to be broken through.	46 []And they said among themselves, If the good man of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched, and not have suffered his house to be broken through and the loss of his goods.	1 Here the change in v 46-47 in the JST shows us that what looked like instruction only from Christ is actually part of a conversational exchange as the disciples think about the parable. The disciples seem to want to use their effort in the most efficient way. They speculate that if the householder just knew when the thief was coming, he would be ready. 2 The JST adds that the thief is not just interested in breaking into the household, but also stealing goods. (That’s why he’s called a ‘thief’ after all.)
40 Be ye therefore ready also: for the Son of man cometh at an hour when ye think not.	47 And he said unto them, Verily I say unto you, be ye therefore ready also; for the Son of man cometh at an hour when ye think not.	Here the JST shows us the Savior responding to the disciples’ wish to know when the thief was coming by turning it back into a metaphor for His own coming.
41 Then Peter said unto him, Lord, speakest thou this parable unto us, or even to all?	48 Then Peter said unto him, Lord, speakest thou this parable unto us, or [] unto all?
42 And the Lord said, Who then is that faithful and wise steward, whom his lord shall make ruler over his household, to give them their portion of meat in due season?	49 And the Lord said, I speak unto those whom the Lord shall make rulers over his household, to give his children their portion of meat in due season. 50 And they said, Who then is that faithful and wise servant? 51 And the Lord said unto them, It is that servant who watcheth, to impart his portion of meat in due season.	Here the JST reveals Christ is directing this warning to church leaders (present and future) who have the responsibility to give portions of meat in due season (meaning, teaching the appropriate principles at the time they are needed.) Of course, then the disciples want to know what would constitute faithful and wise behavior of a servant. So Christ repeats the necessity of watching and imparting meat in due season. The JST makes this interchange obvious, while the KJV makes it seem like Jesus is just asking rhetorical questions and never quite answering.
43 Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing.	52 Blessed be that servant whom his Lord shall find, when he cometh, so doing.
44 Of a truth I say unto you, that he will make him ruler over all that he hath.	53 Of a truth I say unto you, that he will make him ruler over all that he hath.
45 But and if that servant say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming; and shall begin to beat the menservants and maidens, and to eat and drink, and to be drunken;	54 But the evil servant is he who is not found watching. And if that servant is not found watching, he will say in his heart, My Lord delayeth his coming; and shall begin to beat the menservants, and the maidens, and to eat, and drink, and to be drunken.	Here the JST draws a stronger distinction between a faithful servant and an evil servant. Evil servants are those who don’t watch. Not watching will lead them to the notion that the Lord delays his coming, which will in turn lead to abusing the other servants of God and falling into to decadence, excess, and drunken behaviors. (It should be noted that there are more ways of getting drunk than with alcohol. Anger and lust also cause changes in brain chemistry that prevent people from thinking straight.)
46 The lord of that servant will come in a day when he looketh not for him, and at an hour when he is not aware, and will cut him in sunder, and will appoint him his portion with the unbelievers.	55 The Lord of that servant will come in a day [] he looketh not for [], and at an hour when he is not aware, and will cut him down, and will appoint him his portion with the unbelievers.	Here the JST clarifies the language about the punishment visited upon the evil servant. The KJV language makes it sound like the evil servant will be hewn in half with a sword, but if so, then why afterward appoint him his portion with the unbelievers if he no longer lives? The JST language about cutting down the evil servant evokes the idea that their position of authority will be taken away. Then, if they are afterward appointed their portion with the unbelievers, this evokes the additional prospect of excommunication.
47 And that servant, which knew his lord’s will, and prepared not himself, neither did according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes.	56 And that servant who knew his Lord’s will, and prepared not for his Lord’s coming, neither did according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes.	The JST clarifies that the servants’ preparation is to be for the Lord’s coming.
48 But he that knew not, and did commit things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few stripes. For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required: and to whom men have committed much, of him they will ask the more.	57 But he that knew not his Lord’s will, and did commit things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few. For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall much be required; and to whom the Lord has committed much, of him will men ask the more.	1 The JST clarifies that the ignorance here is about knowing the Lord’s will. 2 The JST also clarifies that it is the Lord who commits much privilege and responsibility to his servants, not men. It also shows that men require more from those who have those spiritual privileges and responsibilities. This is a reminder that places of authority in the church are not to be considered cushy places to loll.

To sum up, I think the JST clarifies the danger of not watching, how it leads to abuse and decadence, and what the real penalties are of yielding to those temptations. It is neat to see this interchange between Christ and his disciples clarified and how He answered their questions.

This is another example of how blessed we are to have the Joseph Smith Translation.

Note: I used [] in the JST sections to show where material from the KJV hadn’t been included in the JST.

Gaining Hearts by Fraud

And the army which pursued after them returned, having pursued after them in vain; and thus Amalickiah, by his fraud, gained the hearts of the people. (Alma 47:30)

And it came to pass that Amalickiah sought the favor of the queen, and took her unto him to wife; and thus by his fraud, and by the assistance of his cunning servants, he obtained the kingdom; yea, he was acknowledged king throughout all the land, among all the people of the Lamanites, who were composed of the Lamanites and the Lemuelites and the Ishmaelites, and all the dissenters of the Nephites, from the reign of Nephi down to the present time. (Alma 47:35)

Mormon points out that Amalickiah gained the hearts of the people and the Lamanite kingdom by fraud.

What is fraud? The dictionary has two definitions. One is about wrongful deception for personal or financial gain. The other is about deceiving others by unjustifiably claiming accomplishments or characteristics, or in other words, by claiming to be what you are not or claiming you can do what you can not.

In what ways did Amalickiah gain the hearts of the people by fraud? Lots of ways, but in just the verses above, he arranged for the Lamanite king to be assassinated, blamed the king’s innocent servants for it, and then, in a show of patriotic outrage, instigated a manhunt for those servants. He pretended loyalty to the king when his true actions were anything but.

How did Amalickiah gain the kingdom by fraud? He sought the favor of the queen and married her, and thereby became her consort. He made himself appear to be a fit husband for a queen to help keep the kingdom together. He may have pretended affection for her or served her enough that she thought he’d be faithful. But it is notable that once he marries her, we hear nothing about the queen ever again, and it is always Amalickiah who is in charge. As for keeping the kingdom together, he starts a propaganda campaign of lies against the Nephites and plunges his people into an unsuccessful war. That’s not the actions of a good king.

I think this fraud is an important thing to notice because we may see people trying to gain favor and win our hearts with fraud. How do we keep from being taken in? I think it is important to be observant, to notice the little things people do, to notice how they act when they think nobody is watching, to see what they say when they aren’t “on” in public, to see if they will sincerely help those who can’t do anything for them, to see if they keep confidences or keep small promises or tell the truth kindly even if it is a painful truth. Big public frauds are built on small private frauds.

When Jesus commands Nephi to come forth

At Christ’s appearance to the Nephites, after the multitude has all touched and seen the wounds in the risen Christ’s hands and feet, there is this incident that happens:

And it came to pass that he [Christ] spake unto Nephi (for Nephi was among the multitude) and he commanded him that he should come forth. (3 Nephi 11:18)

This caught my eye recently and my imagination started working on it, visualizing it. Nephi was not up at the front of the crowd; he’s out in the middle, and Jesus spotted him and told him to come forth.

Now, imagine you were Nephi. This is sort of like being pointed out in the crowd at stake conference when you’re sitting in the back. What do you suppose is going through Nephi’s head as he comes up to meet the Savior? He’s already personally seen the wounds in His hands and feet as part of the great witness experience. And now he’s been singled out. What for?

I wonder if he was searching his memory frantically, wondering if there was anything he’d done wrong in his ministry. If he had, and the Savior decided to comment on it, Nephi had to be spiritually ready to take it and learn from it.

I love what Nephi does when he finally reaches Jesus.

And Nephi arose and went forth, and bowed himself before the Lord and did kiss his feet. (3 Nephi 11:19)

That gesture was Nephi’s way of demonstrating that he was ready for whatever Christ chose to say to him, ready for instruction, for reproof, for assignment, for anything. It showed his humility and submission as a servant of God. He’d followed spiritual promptings so often before that he was ready.

Another thing I love about this incident is that even though Nephi was mixed among the crowd of believers, the Lord was able to pick him out. He knew him. And as we can see from what happens next, he knew Nephi’s faithfulness because he gave him power to baptize.

That bestowal of power to baptize must have been a reaffirmation because Nephi had been baptizing people to repentance before, so he wasn’t without authority. There may have been disputations about the way to baptize and so this stuff had to be laid out plainly for everyone. If Nephi had had to work among people who questioned his authority and methods, Jesus’s singling him out and giving him power would be reassuring.

I hope that if I or any of us were ever singled out by Christ or our leaders, that we could be as humble and ready for whatever is asked of us.

Big problems among the Scribes, as Jesus points out

After Jesus answers some questions meant to entrap him, we get this bit:

45 ¶ Then in the audience of all the people he said unto his disciples,

46 Beware of the scribes, which desire to walk in long robes, and love greetings in the markets, and the highest seats in the synagogues, and the chief rooms at feasts;

47 Which devour widows’ houses, and for a shew make long prayers: the same shall receive greater damnation. (Luke 20:45-47)

What exactly is Jesus saying here?

He’s warning the disciples to beware of the scribes who do certain things. It seems to me He’s not telling the disciples to shun them necessarily, but to beware of becoming like them.

So what exactly is wrong with this behavior, and are there modern equivalents that must be avoided?

They desire to walk in long robes – Long robes are not easy to move in, and they get dirty easy. I get the impression that long robes were a sign of status, and hard work was not done in them. People in long robes don’t gird up their loins to serve others; they are usually the ones being served. The modern equivalent might be people who desire to wear suits all day.

They love greetings in the markets – This seems pretty benign at first. Who doesn’t love to run into friends at the market? The problem, I think, is when it becomes a point of pride, when one preens over one’s connectedness and how all those greetings by all one’s acquaintances lead one to say, “Look how important I am! Everyone knows me and loves me! Even people who don’t know me can see I must be special because of all the people who greet me!” It is hard to focus on others, when others are so focused on you.

They love the highest seats in the synagogues and the chief rooms at feasts – High seats in the synagogue are probably leadership seats. They love the best places and aspire to importance and status. They love the visibility more than the opportunity to serve.

They devour widows’ houses – Here’s a sad thing. These scribes will visit widows (thinking they are charitably bestowing their attention and encouraging presence) and then the widows are obligated by the rules of hospitality to feed them a big fancy dinner, so the widows have to spend beyond their means to do it, and of course, those scribes have to do justice to the spread, so they eat it all, and thus the widow is far worse off financially after the scribe’s visit than she was before. The scribe is devouring her house. And she lives at poverty level, anyway, so it is all very bad for her finances. At bottom, this is a lack of awareness of how hospitality is going to affect one’s host. It is inconsiderate, and a lack of charity. If these scribes had any real charity, they would host the widow and not obligate the widow to host them. Or they’d bring a nice big present of grain or something to make up for the burden of their visit.

For a show, they make long prayers – Their prayers aren’t doing them any good if it just a show to impress other people. If there is no real desire or repentance or gratitude behind the words, the prayers mean nothing.

The thing that is the greatest warning is that Jesus says, “the same shall receive the greater damnation.” To me, this is saying these characteristics get disciples more spiritually stuck and stop progression more than some others.

To summarize:

Long robes >> status clothing that precludes service and work

Loving greetings >> status and such connectedness that prevents one from forgetting oneself and focusing on others

Loving high seats and the best rooms at feasts >> obsessed with public shows of status at religious events and gatherings. Preoccupation with position and visibility more than opportunities for service and ministering.

Devouring widow’s houses >> Lack of consideration and charity for those who really need it. Making a show of attention that doesn’t really help and leaves the widow worse off afterward.

Making long prayers for show >> Desire to look holy has overcome any desire to actually be holy.

So, the pattern I see here is that status and show for these scribes has become the most important thing, such that they completely miss the increased opportunities for service and charity and ministering that come with a leadership position. They are stopped in their spiritual progress from becoming more like Christ.

Can we draw any conclusions from what one should do instead?

1)    Wear clothes you can help people in

2)    Focus on others and appreciate the humility of anonymity

3)    Care more for the opportunities to serve than position, status, or visibility

4)    Find ways to give notice and charity without taxing others’ resources to give hospitality

5)    Pray with sincerity

These things tell us that Jesus was strongly aware that if leaders weren’t careful, some of the earthly advantages of status created awful spiritual disadvantages with eternal negative consequences. He wanted His disciples to be aware of those problems and do all they could to avoid those behaviors and attitudes so that their position could be a real blessing to them and to all those around them.

How 1 Nephi 21 (Isaiah 49) pertained to the Nephites, and how it can help us

-->

1 Nephi 21 is a quotation of Isaiah 49. The chapter heading says, “The Messiah will be a light to the Gentiles and will free the prisoners—Israel will be gathered with power in the last days—Kings will be their nursing fathers—Compare Isaiah 49.”

This gives the important points of the chapter from a modern LDS perspective about gathering Israel, but to me it misses the context for why Nephi quoted it and why it would be encouraging to him and his brothers.

I think verse 1 hints at the concerns they had:

And again: Hearken, O ye house of Israel, all ye that are broken off and are driven out because of the wickedness of the pastors of my people; yea, all ye that are broken off, that are scattered abroad, who are of my people, O house of Israel. Listen, O isles, unto me, and hearken ye people from far; the Lord hath called me from the womb; from the bowels of my mother hath he made mention of my name.

Nephi and his family knew they’d been broken off from the house of Israel because of the wickedness of the leaders and the rest of the people too, and there would be this sense of, “Well, now what do we do? Who will lead us?” (By the way, the part of about them being broken off because of “the wickedness of the pastors of my people” is not in the Bible’s version of Isaiah. It doesn’t reflect well on the Jews of that time, so it isn’t surprising that would be redacted.)

What this chapter of Isaiah does is speak to all those of the house of Israel in any age who have been led away by the Lord, who wonder what to do and whether they are forgotten. All the concerns that are associated with that situation are addressed.

To righteous leaders who feel their efforts to gather Israel have been wasted (v4), they are told in v5-6 they will be a light to the Gentiles instead.

To those who wonder who will lead them now, they are told the Lord will give them “my servant for a covenant of the people” (v8), meaning one of their own will be given the power to lead and guide them with revelation to show they are still part of the covenant.

To those who feel like they are now wandering in the wilderness away from the main body of Israel, the Lord promises,

“They shall feed in the ways, and their pastures shall be in all high places. They shall not hunger nor thirst, neither shall the heat nor the sun smite them; for he that hath mercy on them shall lead them, even by the springs of water shall he guide them. And I will make all my mountains a way, and my highways shall be exalted” (v9-11).

So even though these branches of Israel are broken off and it feels like wandering, the Lord will make a way for them and nourish them, and the “wandering” will become a sanctifying and refining experience and benefit not just them, but future generations. (Consider how Nephi’s records of his journeys and experiences benefits us today.)  This is pretty awesome.

To those who feel like the Lord has forgotten them, there is are two great lines to address this. “He will show that hath not” (v14) and “I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands” (v16) It immediately evokes Christ’s crucifixion and the scars as memory aids, but also promises that the Lord will show He has not forgotten us. (Which means we have to look for how He shows us and record it so that we remember.)

And then finally, all these broken off scattered bits of Israel will be gathered together again in a way so surprising that the main part of Israel that wasn’t scattered would wonder, “Where have they been?” (v21)

When I consider the above, I think that makes the chapter a lot more useful and valuable than just as an instance of prophecy of the gathering of Israel that we are a part of.  There’s something about it that speaks to some deep worries we might have today, even if we are part of the Lord’s kingdom.

Righteous leaders still wonder if their efforts are doing any good. At one time or another we may be away from the main body of the Saints, or maybe our life doesn’t look anything like what we imagined it would be and we’re feeling our way trying to figure out what to do, which can seem like we are wandering in the wilderness. Or maybe everything is passing us by and we feel forgotten by the Lord.

Again, I think this chapter does a great job of addressing those concerns.

Meditations on the Creation of the Sun and the Moon

16 And I, God, made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night, and the greater light was the sun, and the lesser light was the moon; and the stars also were made even according to my word.

17 And I, God, set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth,

18 And the sun to rule over the day, and the moon to rule over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness; and I, God, saw that all things which I had made were good; (Moses 2:16-18)

I read this recently and I found myself asking what it meant for a light to rule over a particular portion of the 24-hours—day or night. On the surface it means that one of those lights will be the dominant light over that particular 12-hour period.

And yet the astronomical reality is a lot more complex than this. Happily, we can say that the sun always rules over the day. Where the sun shines, there is light, there is day.

But the moon is different. In some parts of the month the moon does shine at night, but there are other parts of the month—during new moons—when there is no light from the moon. Does the moon really rule then? Not really. It is as if the moon temporarily abdicates its authority and takes a vacation. And only on full moons is its light all the way there. At other times it’s waxing or waning.

It may be this gives us a little insight as to the differences between celestial and terrestial obedience. (I’ve probably talked about this before, but I’m going to talk about it again.) Celestial obedience is like the sun—always there doing its duty, shining at full strength, radiating the light within. But terrestial obedience is rarely at its brightest, shines only reflected light from others more bright, and periodically abdicates its duty.

Something else caught my attention here too. It was this idea of dividing the light from the darkness. What is it that really divides the light from the dark astronomically?  Because if you have light, there is no dark. Light chases the dark away. 

Astronomically, darkness comes from distance from the light, if you’re Pluto out on the margins of the solar system.  And we have darkness on earth because of the earth itself. The earth gets in the way and creates shadow.  If we’re on the part of the earth turned away from the sun, we’re in the darkness.  Applying that to spiritual things, that teaches that in a certain sense we create spiritual darkness in our lives either by our distance from the light, or by turning away from it.

The idea of a lesser or greater light also makes me think of the quality of leader we choose to follow and the type of example we choose for ourselves. If we didn’t have the sun, we might be happy with the moon’s light. But having the sun, we see the moon is not so great after all. Do we choose the best examples to follow? Do we seek for greater light? If we don’t we may be one of those people the Lord describes as “walking in darkness at noonday,” which would be tragic.

What do you think? Are there any additional principles you draw from these verses about the creation of the sun and the moon?

Increase Our Faith

5 And the apostles said unto the Lord, Increase our faith.

6 And the Lord said, If ye had faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye might say unto this sycamine tree, Be thou plucked up by the root, and be thou planted in the sea; and it should obey you. (Luke 17:5-6)

How does this teach us how to increase our faith? In what way does a mustard seed have faith? What principle is being taught with this parable of commanding a tree to plant itself in the sea?

Let’s think about the mustard seed. It’s very small, insignificant even.  But it doesn’t think about how small it is, or the obstacles it faces, like the weight of the soil over it or the hardness of the ground under it. It simply does what it can, does what is told to do, which is grow upward and send roots downward.  

From this, I think the lesson is that no matter how insignificant a person is or how small, if they just follow the Lord’s instructions, their faith will grow.

What about this telling a sycamine tree to plant itself in the ocean?

I think this one is about the faith that apostles have to have. Apostles (and other church leaders) have to give instructions to the church, call them to repentance, etc. according to what the Lord wants them to do.

Without faith, I imagine there would be church leaders who would wonder if talking to the church members does any good, like talking to a tree. Telling people to repent is like telling a tree to uproot itself and replant in the ocean because 1) there is a high chance of being ignored, 2) and if obeyed, the person has to do it themselves. If a leader gets too worried about being ignored, it would be easy to think there is no point giving instructions at all.  But I think Jesus’s message is if they do and say what they are told (like the mustard seed), they will be obeyed.

I like these principles. They are pretty simple. Just do what you’re asked to do. Do the basics, the simple stuff—prayer, scripture study, church attendance, serve where you can, follow the Spirit--and you’ll grow.