Come Follow Me Manual - Mormon 8

They were distributing the new 2020 Come Follow Me Manual a few weeks ago at Church.  This year study is focusing on the Book of Mormon.  I randomly flipped through and stumbled upon page 171. 

I thought I would take the manual's advice and go see what Moroni's bold warning for our day was.

It said to ponder whether there are any signs of these attitudes and actions in my life and gave references.  My life of course refers to me personally but my life also includes my Church and what I see and hear around me.  And it asks what I could do differently.  I took this seriously.  

I read some of the verses and in green I have included some musings, as suggested by the manual.

Moroni: 8 35 Behold, I speak unto you (Ok so he's talking to the reader, people who are reading the book.  He's not talking to someone who's not reading his stuff) as if ye were present, and yet ye are not. But behold, Jesus Christ hath shown you unto me, and I know your doing.  (Christ showed "us" to "him".  He knows full well what we're up to and what goes on behind corporate closed doors.  Christ of all people showed him.  So whatever he says I accept as representing Christ's view of our day, rather than any other alternative view of our day. He says he's talking to US)  

36 And I know that ye do walk in the pride of your hearts; and there are none save a few only who do not lift themselves up in the pride of their hearts, (ok, we all know pride is a very common issue warned about in all scripture, but he's saying his readers are proud and lifted up.  That would be the Mormons.  Meaning his readers see themselves above others, or that they are religiously superior, or think the scriptures apply to everyone else except them.  Only a few don't participate in this) unto the wearing of very fine apparel, (so our clothing is an issue apparently.... the way we dress (most likely referring to our Sunday dress) is causing us to have pride. Clothing does have a way of establishing social classes and you're looked down upon if not dressed nice enough.  But there are many other non physical "clothes" one can wear.  We can be clothed with pride, or envy or any manner of things) unto envying, and strifes, and malice, and persecutions, and all manner of iniquities; and your churches (Ok, so he's no longer talking about personal behavior, now he's talking macro level, he's talking "Church" level, this is "systemic", institutional level stuff,), yea, even every one, (Ok, no exceptions, got it.) have become polluted because of the pride of your hearts.  ("every one" of our churches has become polluted! Because of pride of the heart.  It's our hearts, the seat of our understanding, our feelings are puffed up).  Dang, this is a bold message.  Now I'm really concerned, because that would include us since he saw us, is talking to us, and it's Christ who showed him this.  If you want Christ's point of view, Moroni gives us some insight.  Our "Churches" are among those that have become polluted.  That's awful news, and makes me feel terrible, and yet, there it is.  Having now been warned, I need to see if this glove fits.) 

37 For behold, ye do love money, and your substance, and your fine apparel, and the adorning of your churches, more than ye love the poor and the needy, the sick and the afflicted.  (Ok, now he's giving bold examples, and not holding back.  He says we love money more than the poor.  It's a proportion.  He didn't say you don't do anything for the poor, he said you love money MORE than the poor.  Preferring to hold on to the money than help the poor, needy, sick and afflicted with it.  Preferring to spend instead on all the adornments we put on our Churches.  Taking care of all those buildings and the grounds is a very legitimate, enormous, and ongoing cost.  I mean Mormon properties do look very nice.  Those statues made of marble at the temple visitors center in Rome Italy I understand cost many many millions of dollars.  Moroni says we love these types of things more than the poor and needy and afflicted.  That money could be used for the needy if the priorities were different.  But Moroni suggests the priorities are all out of whack.  The world has a lot of poor, the Church itself has a lot of poor and sick members inside it.  The Wall Street Journal recently reported again on the Churches previously hidden fund of  $100B dollars and reported an account executive as saying the fund was kept hidden for fear of tithing contributions slowing down.  It was among the best kept secrets in the investment world.  That fund alone could keep the church running indefinitely without another contribution ever.  As of this writing, that fund is one of the largest financial funds on the planet.  A BYU ethics professor commenting on this even said the Church lacks the infrastructure to even spend this amount.   

The only way to accumulate $100 Billion dollars of excesses is to value it's accumulation more than disbursing to those in need.  Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also Jesus taught (Matthew 6:21).  The Church publishes and was very public about quantities donated over the years.  The Church reported 2 Billion since 1985.  The proportions are very clear.  This 100B was reported to be what was leftover and accumulated after operating expenses had all been taken care of.  These are excesses by any definition.  Said be a rainy day fund for the last days).  

James 5:1-3 had something to say about amassing wealth for the last days:
Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you. Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are motheaten. Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire. Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days.

38 O ye pollutions, (Is he talking about smog?  Or industrial waste?  Or is he talking about people and pollution inside Christ's Church that amount to errors and false teachings that pollute the Gospel? ye hypocrites, (How rude..... he claims we say one thing, but do another.  What on earth could he be talking about? Do we as a Church say one thing, but do another?  Has this been a pattern in LDS Church history?  To publicly say one thing but do another?)  ye teachers, (ok, so it's the people who are in positions to teach that are now being referred to, apparently not everything taught is true, even if the teaching is received "very well".  The people are misled by what is being taught, so it's not just the low level members who are to blame for all this pollution, it's teachers doing the teaching who inject the pollution) who sell yourselves for that which will canker, why have ye polluted the holy church of God? (Wait what?  There are teacher in these Churches that sell themselves for that which will canker? And this pollutes the holy church of God?  So what did these teachers sell themselves for?  We know from other scriptures the big hitters that canker are: Money. Popularity. Prestige. Honors of men. Wealth.  Does this ever happen inside our Church?  Do any of the high level teachers make money?  Or get popularity?  Or prestige? Or Honorary degrees?) Why are ye ashamed to take upon you the name of Christ? Why do ye not think that greater is the value of an endless happiness than that misery which never dies—because of the praise of the world?  (We take upon ourselves the name of Christ at baptism so surely this isn't referring to us right?  What does it mean to take upon ourselves the name of Christ anyway?  Is it possible our traditions assure us we have done this at baptism but in reality we think little of it other than to attend church on Sundays?  Is it possible that instead of seeking Christ and His ways, we as a Church seek for praise or popularity with the world?  Do Mormons seek popularity?  Do we seek a positive public image and hire enormous PR and legal firms to accomplish it?  And call all of this preaching the Gospel? I cannot be prideful after reading these verses because they strip the pride away.  I honestly believe Christ did show our day to Moroni)    

39 Why do ye adorn yourselves with that which hath no life, and yet suffer the hungry, and the needy, and the naked, and the sick and the afflicted to pass by you, and notice them not?   (He asks a good question, why do we adorn ourselves and Churches with lifeless stuff while the living people in need go without and go unnoticed?  This is a particularly nasty assessment and the question is heart pricking.

After seeing a homeless man downtown one time, the friends I was with said that we didn't need to give to him because the Church will.  All we need to do is give to the Church and the Church will take care of the poor was the general idea.  And besides if the poor would just go to their local leader they could get help, and they passed by the person in need and didn't pay them any notice.  I remember the scene and have pondered it ever since.  I disagree, I believe we should help the beggar and not turn our disciple responsibility over to a Church.  When we donate direct, 100% of it goes to the recipient.  When you give to an organization, they often keep some of it.  The Church won't allow you to see or know what happens to your donation after that.  They take ownership of it, and provide no transparency.) 

The manual wasn't kidding, this IS a bold message.  The manual asked what could I do differently.  Wow.  I think what I could do as a result of these verses is succor the poor, and not ingest false and polluted teachings from cankered religious teachers.  I also want to learn more about what it means to take upon me the name of Christ and go do that.  I bet there are levels of coming to Christ and I'd very much like to take Christ up on his invitation to fully come to Him. 

Other things I can do are not let any shaming fingers pointed at me distract my focus away from Christ and the fruit of the tree of life He offers.  I can avoid praise of the world and seek for Christ rather than popularity.  I can notice the sick and the afflicted and the needy.  Rather than relying on some big religion to take care of them.  I can notice them myself.  I can repent.  There is something deeply satisfying about turning away from pollution and towards the breath of fresh air Christ offers.