Sustaining Leaders Deliberately, not Ignorantly

One of the claims that sets The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints apart from other Christian denominations is that it is led by a prophet and apostles of God who hold the keys of the kingdom just like the church was led in biblical days. One of the expectations of church members (and a requirement for entrance into temples) is that they faithfully sustain these prophets and apostles, as well as their local church leaders.

One thing I believe can help individuals resist the temptation to jump from the boat when flaws seem to stick out frequently within the church is to better and more clearly explain what prophets are and what God expects of members of the church as we strive to sustain the Lord’s authorized servants. If we help children and new members begin with this proper understanding and realistic expectations, disappointment is less likely to occur, and we will be able to more deliberately empathize with and choose to sustain our leaders without having to ignorantly pretend that they or the church are perfect. In contrast, if members begin with the erroneous idea that prophets always speak undiluted and pure truth, they will surely be disappointed and confused when they realize this is not the case.

It is extremely important to acknowledge at the outset that prophets are imperfect humans with incomplete knowledge and understanding who are called and authorized by God to represent Him and speak for Him in His church. These men who are called and authorized do not stop being imperfect or having incomplete knowledge and understanding when they are set apart as a prophet, seer, and revelator. They do not immediately become liberated from the incorrect paradigms that unknowingly embraced throughout their lives prior to arriving to an executive position in the church. Although God will occasionally provide these servants incredible revelatory experiences, He more regularly expects them to act in faith as they strive to seek His will through the whisperings of the Holy Ghost and to apply correct principles. Moreover, He will allow His servants to be mistaken, even when they speak for Him within the church. This always has been, and always will be, true of prophets.

President Brigham Young acknowledged this fact as follows:

Can a Prophet or an Apostle be mistaken?...I will acknowledge that all the time, but I do not acknowledge that I designedly lead this people astray...and I do not knowingly do a wrong, though I may commit many wrongs.” (Saints, Vol. II, Ch. 19).

Similarly, President Harold B. Lee confirmed that:

It is not to be thought that every word spoken by the General Authorities is inspired, or that they are moved upon by the Holy Ghost in everything they write. There have been times when even the President of the Church has not been moved upon by the Holy Ghost…. They may speak their own opinions.” (Harold B. Lee, “Teachings of Harold B. Lee”).

Likewise, Elder Bruce R. McConkie noted that:

With all their inspiration and greatness, prophets are yet mortal men with imperfections common to mankind in general. They have their opinions and prejudices and are left to work out their problems without inspiration in many instances…. Thus the opinions and views, even of a prophet, may contain error. (Bruce R. McConckie, “Are General Authorities Human?”).

Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf also acknowledged the imperfection of church leaders when he taught:

To be perfectly frank, there have been times when...leaders in the Church have simply made mistakes. There may have been things said or done that were not in harmony with our values, principles, or doctrine. I suppose the Church would be perfect only if it were run by perfect beings. God is perfect, and His doctrine is pure. But He works through us--His imperfect children--and imperfect people make mistakes…. This is the way it has always been and will be until the perfect day when Christ Himself reigns personally upon the earth.” (Dieter F. Uchtdorf, October 2013).

An oft-cited example of an apostle / prophet being completely wrong about a doctrinal position is that of Joseph Fielding Smith, who taught that "it is doubtful that man will ever be permitted to make any instrument or ship to travel through space and visit the moon or any distant planet," and later reiterated "we will never get a man into space.... You can write it down in your books that this will never happen."

Of course, within a decade of these statements, multiple countries sent people into space, and Neil Armstrong made "one giant leap for mankind" when he became the first to walk on the moon. When asked about his previous comments regarding space travel at a press conference after being appointed as President of the church, Joseph Fielding Smith simply confirmed, "Well, I was wrong wasn't I?"

Unfortunately, many local leaders in the church are unwilling to acknowledge this reality, insisting instead on trusting blindly that everything "the brethren" say comes from God. In so doing, these leaders ignore the many statements confirming the error of this position (like those shared above) and the many examples of prophets and apostles simply being wrong even when having absolute confidence in their opinions. Rather than acknowledging the errors, these leaders generally claim it is more of a timing thing and that what was said at the time was obviously what God wanted known and said at the time.

Despite the fact that prophets are imperfect and do not have a perfect understanding of the fullness of truth, it is still true that they are authorized to act as agents for Jesus Christ and, accordingly, Christ expects the members of His church to love, sustain, and follow His chosen servants. Regarding Christ’s expectations for the members of the church to sustain His servants, Joseph Smith recorded, “wherefore, meaning the church, thou shalt give heed unto all his words and commandments. . . . For his word ye shall receive, as if from mine own mouth, in all patience and faith.” (D&C 21:4-5). Another commonly quoted passage regarding this topic states, “what I the Lord have spoken, I have spoken, and I excuse not myself; and though the heavens and the earth pass away, my word shall not pass away, but shall all be fulfilled, whether by mine own voice or by the voice of my servants, it is the same.” (D&C 1:38).

It is important to clarify that, although these verses teach that we can trust that God will honor the promises of his prophets as if He had spoken them personally, and that God expects us to give heed to their commandments as if He had personally given them to us, these scriptures do NOT justify or support a belief or assertion that everything a prophet says or teaches is literally what God himself would say or teach.

To suggest that everything spoken by modern-day, living prophets will be exactly consistent with what the Savior himself would say would be to blatantly ignore and disregard much of the history of the church. I do not believe God desires to establish an ignorant people. In contrast, I believe God desires to establish a faithful and obedient people that deliberately and valiantly sustains His servants despite being completely aware of their fallibility and the reality that they will perform every aspect of their calling imperfectly, just like every other member who is called to fulfill any calling in the church.

I sincerely strive to sustain the general and local leaders of the church while simultaneously acknowledging their humanity and imperfections. I encourage all members to faithfully do the same. My experience has been that God does, in fact, fulfill the promises made to those who sustain His servants in 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. (Doctrine & Covenants 21:6)

I would, however, like to clarify what I believe sustaining leaders does and does not mean. I'll first note that I do NOT believe sustaining leaders requires the following:

• Agreeing with everything they say;

• Believing everything they say is actually what God would say if He were actually speaking on the same topic;

• Ignoring their obvious mistakes;

• Believing they understand the scriptures perfectly and are free from flawed gospel paradigms; OR

• Waiting for them to recognize needed improvements in the church or to try to help the church move forward without doing anything to try to expedite the process.

In contrast, I feel God does expect us to do the following in our efforts to sustain His servants:

• Pray for them;

• Study and ponder their teachings;

• Avoid speaking evil about them;

• Follow impressions you receive to strive to help them succeed in their position;

• Faithfully follow their counsel and act upon their invitations in patience and faith even if you don't think they are flawless, trusting that God will recognize your efforts and provide the blessings promised in D&C 21:6; AND

• Fulfill assignments and callings you accept to the best of your ability in your circumstances.

I acknowledge it is much easier to exercise faith in a leader if we believe they are nearly flawless, receive specific instruction from Christ on every single topic, and have magnificent revelatory experiences constantly. Unfortunately, this is not true faith, because it is not based on reality. Remember, "if ye have faith ye hope for things which are not seen, which are true." (Alma 32:21). Hoping for something that is not seen and is not true is simply a vain imagination intended to manufacture a fake, unsustainable faith. My hope is that we can acknowledge the truth about our church leaders and still exercise faith that they are authorized and supported by Jesus Christ despite being completely human and imperfect, and that we will faithfully sustain them in patience and faith as they strive to the best of their imperfect ability to lead the church.