This week we received the following question through www.ldswhy.com:
Question: “Why do the same people get leadership callings over and over and others that are just as capable, if not more, do not get the chance to servive like that! …[T]his question bothers me alot and I do not understand it.”
This is a very good question. Many times, when someone receives a prominent church calling we might wonder why we (or other people who are just as capable) weren’t called. We know that it is through inspiration that people are called to leadership positions, but what if we are never called? Does that mean there is something wrong with us?
At the heart of these questions there seems to be an assumption that might be causing the frustration. Some of the following rhetorical questions might reveal if we are being negatively affected by these assumptions: Do we feel that church leadership callings are equivalent to or reflect our level of righteousness? or, Do we feel that church leadership callings determine our ability or opportunity to have spiritual experiences? If we answered “yes” to either of those questions, we might need to adjust our thinking.
President Boyd K. Packer related this great story on the subject: “When I was a young man, I was a home teacher to a very old sister. She taught me from her life experience.
When she was a little girl, President Brigham Young came to Brigham City, a great event in the town named after him. To honor him, the Primary children, all dressed in white, were lined up along the road coming into town, each with a basket of flowers to spread before the carriage of the President of the Church.
Something displeased her. Instead of throwing her blossoms, she kicked a rock in front of the carriage, saying, ‘He ain’t one bit better than my Grandpa Lovelund.’ That was overheard, and she was severely scolded.
I am very sure that President Brigham Young would be the first to agree with little Janie Steed. He would not consider himself to be worth more than Grandpa Lovelund or any other worthy member of the Church. …There is the natural tendency to look at those who are sustained to presiding positions, to consider them to be higher and of more value in the Church or to their families than an ordinary member. Somehow we feel they are worth more to the Lord than are we. It just does not work that way!” (Boyd K. Packer, “The Weak and the Simple of the Church,” Ensign, Nov 2007, 6–9).
Truly, the Lord does not work that way. Remember, our spiritual experiences are primarily based soley on one factor: our connection to the Holy Ghost. Visions, prophecy, revelation, healing, etc. are not determined or confined to particular callings. Those are gifts of the Spirit–gifts that every righteous member of the Church can enjoy and receive, regardless of callings or position (see Moroni 10). The parent as well as the patriarch can prophesy, the mother as well as the missionary can perform miracles, the home techer as well as the High Priests group leader can heal.
Similarly, we also know that our worth, and our potential for a celestial inheritace, is not determined by the level of our church callings. The faithful primary teacher will go to heaven just as fast as the faithful prophet. As President J. Reuben Clark Jr. (1871–1961) of the First Presidency taught: “In the service of the Lord, it is not where you serve but how” (as cited in, “In the Service of the Lord,” Ensign, Aug 2006, 12–15). This truth was evident by the Lord’s semi-rebuke to his apostles when they asked Him which one of them would be the greatest in heaven (presumably because they thought their callings made them great). Imagine their dismay with the Lord’s answer in Luke 9:46-48:
“Then there arose a reasoning among them, which of them should be greatest. And Jesus, perceiving the thought of their heart, took a child, and set him by him, And said unto them, Whosoever shall receive this child in my name receiveth me: and whosoever shall receive me receiveth him that sent me: for he that is least among you all, the same shall be great.”
In other words, “Hey, your calling doesn’t matter to me. I care about your heart. I want you to become converted, like a little child, and then you will be great. But your callings don’t determine spiritual greatness…your heart does.”
After understanding and believing these principles–that our callings don’t determine spiritual experiences or our spiritual greatness–if we still want a high profile calling, then we might do well to check our hearts for some hidden pride. Perhaps we just want some recognition, or to feel important. Those are natural feelings of course, but that is the problem: they are part of the natural man (see Mosiah 3:19). In a world that tries to determine our worth based on our titles and position in society, it is hard to not carry that thinking into the Kingdom. But the ways of the Lord and the ways of the world are different (see Isaiah 55:8-9). This little poem that President Monson often quotes has been helpful in setting some misaligned hearts back in tune:
Father, where shall I work today?
And my love flowed warm and free.
Then He pointed out a tiny spot
And said, “Tend that for me.”
I answered quickly, “Oh no; not that!
Why, no one would ever see,
No matter how well my work was done;
Not that little place for me.”
And the word He spoke, it was not stern;
He answered me tenderly:
“Ah, little one, search that heart of thine.
Art thou working for them or for me?
Nazareth was a little place,
And so was Galilee.”
(Meade McGuire.)
Let us, as President Monson is also apt to say, simply accept our callings we are given and go “do our duty, that is best. Leave unto the Lord the rest.”
I’ve never really understood why some people want difficult leadership callings. As the executive secretary to a severely overworked bishop, I can tell you that it is no picnick. He works extremely long hours at his job then comes home long enough to change his clothes and go to his second job as Bishop of our ward. I have seen him endure great emotional hardship as he has counselled and worried about members of the ward. He spends countless hours visiting ward members and trying to help people, time I’m sure he would rather spend at home with his wife and four young children. I’ve often joked that Bishops must have done something very bad in the pre-existence to have to go through all that they go through. I’m certain the same could be jokingly said of faithful Elder’s Quorum Presidents, High Priests Group Leader, Relief Society Presidents, Stake Presidencies, High Councilmen, and other church leaders who spend countless hours tirelessly serving the Lord.
Who would want to do that? Who wants to come home from church on Sunday in the evening completely exhausted. Most folks see the Bishopric on the stand for one hour during sacrament and maybe sporadically throughout the other two hours of church. What they don’t realize is that he and his counsellors probably got there very early that morning when most ward members were still in bed to meet about the needs of the ward. When everyone else goes home after church to eat lunch, they are still there counselling with members, setting apart people for callings, conducting interviews, counting tithes and fast offerings, and visiting members of the ward and others in need. Then they might get to grab a bite to eat before heading off to a convert baptism or fireside that night. Week after week the cycle continues, yet those who serve never complain over the pulpit but push onward.
There was actually a sister in our ward that had the gall to tell the Bishop’s wife that had her husband been around instead of being overseas for his career that he would have been bishop. The bishop’s wife responded that she could have it! I have not ever seen anyone in a leadership position who did not seem relieved after being released and allowed to have the simple primary calling. There is nothing to aspire to there or want when you see the whole story. Even though I am just a secretary, I will be very happy to be released someday and go back to a simple calling where I can sleep in on Sundays again, ride in the same car with my wife to and from church, eat breakfast and lunch with my family again, and have a less intense, less time involved calling.
It is the Lord who when prayerfully asked will affirm who is to be called, but from my convert eyes it is the sisters and brothers who go out of their way to do things for others who are in the top of the minds of those who are asking who should fill what calling.
I too would not wish for a “higher” calling as I’ve had the callings where I could sleep in, not have evening meetings etc. Having a higher calling means more work. And, while that work may be rewarding, it can also be stressful as not everyone will appreciate all the work that you have done, people won’t agree with you and well . . . it hurts my feet!
So, be greatful for whatever calling you get and if you want more responsibility for people in your ward – go about doing good – not asking for anything in return. If you are called to a higher calling then it is right – if not – keep doing good and the Lord will judge you in the end.
Each day we should think back on our lives – what would the Lord think? What will be said at my funeral. Will it be said I was a good daughter, sister, mother, aunt, etc.? If not, change it.
Now on the otherside, I have never served in a presidency(I am a woman) and my Husband has served in presidencies for very short time. we are truly happy with our callings and they have always been very fulfilling. Then we moved to Utah, all the conversations that take place at enrichment nights, or any ward functions are all about their callings they hold, and the callings of their husbands. I actually sat at a baseball game where a woman who walked over to the bleachers and sat behind me only to recognize a friends she hadn’t seen in 20 years…within 15 min she related tohim all of the “High profile positions her husband has held in the church’ and how he is recently our Bishop. Then all her callings in the stake…never ever asking him what he does……i was so disgusted I got up and walked off. Where is the humility of people. people in my ward seriously place their callings as their Status….its horrible. I sat at a table of women at an enrichment night and all they could talk about was there yw callings and how the worst callings they ever had was in the scouts and scouting calling and how if they were ever called to that again they would say no…..this is what I am taling about…I never thought callings were a status position I believe in serving and serving the best you can…and Primary is NOT a simple calling and if it is then your not serving right…It takes just as much effort to prepare for that calling and lessons then anything ese….and if you look at it as a “simple calling’ well then shame on you…because in my opinion The Lord constantly had to chastise the adults for their thinking I am positive he would much rather spend his days with Children…….
These are great comments, but maybe it’s me. I don’t feel most of these callings are from the Lord, But people and little cliques that go on. just to keep it simple. Sounds like you’ve all had callings. Most of you probably make 40k or more, (this is just research I’ve done). For you see in my experience in 5 wards i’ve been in since moving to utah and different cities. All the same people get the callings—EQ Pres. becomes YM pres. and the R.S. becomes YW pres. and they in turn become bishops and stake high counsels—THE SAME 12+ people over and over. So no-one else needs callings or blessings that come from these callings. Yes I’m hurting, but to the fact it makes my wife cry well that makes me mad. Please tell me where it says that only rich people can do callings? Been here 12 years and no callings!!! and then i hear people whining about time they don’t have because of their callings, must be nice. I never heard Pres. Hinkley of Monson whine about being busy. And we know that they are probably way more busy than anyone in the church. By the way ( not John) sorry, about this rant but it’s getting really hard to go to church.
The bishops and Relief Society presidents, etc. should not be as busy as they are. Ward members are to be agents for the bishop, who is ultimately responsible for the duties of welfare. Imagine a ward in which every member followed the bishop’s spiritual counsel and served to the best of their abilities, in their callings and also in reaching out to serve in other areas of need. If every member was the kind of visiting teacher or home teacher they should be, all the EQ Pres, High Priest Group Leader and RS Pres would have to do is organize them. I feel that the people who are called to leadership positions are simply gifted at leadership, and they are expected by the Lord to use their time and talents to build up the kingdom, just as we all are. Excellent article. Thank you.