A common conversation yesterday in Priesthood meeting: What are the roles of the Elders’ Quorum? And a common conclusion: the Elders function as the right hand of the Bishop, watching over the physical and temporal needs of the members of the ward. We, the Elders’ Quorum, need to be more vigilant in caring for the ward, do a better job of helping people when they have work that needs doing, and show more willingness to generally assist in increasing the welfare of the members.
These are noble thoughts, and ubiquitous. Also, they are wrong.
Anyone paying any attention in Sacrament meeting will notice that odd way in which matters pertaining to Elders are handled. New Elders are not submitted for the approval of the ward, but of the stake. New Elders’ Quorum Presidents are not called by the Bishop, but by the Stake President. Why is this?
Because ‘Elder’ is an office of the Melchizedek Priesthood, the Bishop is essentially an Aaronic officer, and the Stake functions as the first authority in matters of Melchizedek Priesthood. Let’s turn together to D&C 20:38-45. The duties of Elders include verbs like baptize, ordain, confirm, lead, conduct, teach, expound, exhort. Although there is some dispute about whether the Mosaic Law commands Elders to help ward members move in and out, the D&C makes no mention of that particular Melchizedek Priesthood duty.
So what happened? How did we take this very elevated, spiritually-oriented Melchizedek office and reduce it to a job for bellboys and valets? I think there are two things at work. First, there is the very beneficial, but ambiguous, practice of home teaching. Home teaching falls primarily on the heads of the High Priests and the Elders, but no one speaks of it in the rigorous terminology of the Priesthood. Yes, we are doing something vaguly Priesthood-related when we home teach, but it’s unclear whether home teaching pertains to either of the two orders of Priesthood, or to any particular office therein.
Now there is no good reason for this, but in today’s church, home teaching is a mostly temporal concern. That is, the average home teacher is much more comfortable offering to shovel the walks than to “teach, expound, and exhort.” Of course most of us will include a little First Presidency message, but a generous reading of the Doctrine and Covenants suggests a much more robust kind of exhortation– a true vigilance over the spiritual behaviors and well-being of one’s families. This rarely happens.
I surmise that we’ve transitioned home teaching from a spiritual duty to a temporal one mostly out of awkwardness. Because I’m not your bishop, and I’m not your leader, I feel sort of stupid “exhorting” you, as your peer. So . . . Is There Anything We Can Do For You Before We Go? Have you de-winterized your A/C yet? The upshot is that home teaching, which is a big part of being an Elder, has become a time to be the eyes and ears of the (Aaronic) Bishop, and give a little service now and then.
Cause number two: The Aaronic Priesthood is mostly a synonym for the boy scouts, a fraternity of kids that are being trained for meaningful service that will take place sometime in the future. Again, this misreads the original revelations. Go back to D&C 20, and you’ll find that Deacons, Teachers and Priests have some pretty important duties, and play a significant role in the function of the church. I am not arguing against our current system of teenage Aaronic ordination. I’m arguing against our unwillingness to give these boys the duties and privileges they deserve once they receive this very sacred and important Priesthood.
So, what’s the solution? First, the Aaronic Priesthood has to step up and do its job. That means that the Priests Quorum, with the Bishop at its head, needs to be the pivot point for helping Mrs. McGillicutty move her stuff into her storage unit on Saturday morning. They’re better equipped to metabolize the after-work donuts anyway. We need to stop taking it easy on our teenage boys. Sure, they’re teenagers, but they’re also Aaronic Priesthood holders, and they need to carry out the duties of their office.
Second, the Elders need to step up to an even more difficult challenge. We need to be the spiritual guardians of the ward. We need to be alert to spiritual needs, and administer in spiritual ordinances. This is immensely more difficult than our current role, and would take a lot of humble re-orienting. But it can start with a willingness to take an interest in the spiritual development of our home teaching families, and the other members of our quorums. True, this may cause awkwardness, but it’s better than letting your higher Priesthood power, the power of God on earth, lay quietly dormant. It’s time to expect our Priests to stop being ‘teenagers’, and it’s time to expect our Elders to stop being Priests.