Mormonism LIVE: 095: A Chat w/Elder Bednar

Somewhere in your discussion you hit on the central paradox. If the apostles are privileged to meet Jesus than (1) They would absolutely possess a greater claim on truth. (2) We would expect the policies and decisions made by the apostles / church to be uniform and united, clear and consistent. (3) Decisions would be announced with the absolute authority of “Jesus said to us ….”

From the behavior of the apostles and the whimsy of church policy we can infer they are not meeting with Jesus. There is disagreement among the church leadership precisely because they each are thinking for themselves and trying to reach an enlightened understanding.

There is nothing wrong with this struggle to understand. It is how all good people live their lives. Furthermore, time and again the apostles have related their decision-making is the “hard way” – through discussion and deliberation, and not via intervention of angels or God himself.

But the apostles enjoy the prestige and reverence that comes from the perception they are spirituallly superior beings. And so rather than clarify that their view of Jesus is spiritual, as it can be with us, they allow members to believe there is more than what is there. Then the same apostles have the audacity to observe that too often members extrapolate unintended meaning from their messages. Do they not understand why this happens?

I want the Church to succeed. I want the leadership to be successful in teaching truth as they understand it and helping members to be successful in their quest for enlightenment. Key to effective leadership, especially in a spiritual role, is to be genuine. This requires an unnatural level of honesty and humility. I believe the church leadership aspires these virtues but various demands make doing so extremely challenging. Time and again they find a rational to be a little less transparent and a little more authoritative.