Whom the Lord Calls, the Lord Qualifies

It is one of the unique characteristics of the Lord's true and living Church that every member is called upon to serve in specific assignments for the edification of the Kingdom. Paul said, "And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists (patriarchs); and some, pastors (bishops) and teachers; for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ" (Ephesian 4:11-12). No calling is more important to the Lord than another. He loves no more a Bishop or a Stake President or a Seventy than a Nursery leader or a Primary teacher or a Greeter. All callings have a place in Christ's church, and all will be blessed by magnifying such callings.

"For the body is not one member, but many...Now hath God set the members every one of them in the body, as it pleased him...And the eye cannot say unto the hand, I have no need of thee; nor again the head to the feet, I have no need of you. Nay, much more those members of the body, which seem to be more feeble, are necessary" (1 Corinthians 12:14,18,21-22).

Receiving a calling in the Church is a great responsibility, no matter what calling it may be. It is easy to feel inadequate when a call is extended to us, especially when it is something that we are unfamiliar with, or requires us to go outside of our comfort zones. Even when we are given calls in areas of apparent expertise, it is easy to feel that we can never live up to that call. The Lord, however, has promised that He will be right there with us as we serve. President Henry Eyring said the following on receiving callings, and being able to magnify them:

"To everyone, man or woman, girl or boy, who has been called or who will yet be, I give you my counsel. There are a few things you must come to know are true. I will try to put them in words. Only the Lord through the Holy Ghost can put them deep in your heart. Here they are: First, you are called of God...[second,] you are called to represent the Savior....[and third,] just as God called you and will guide you, He will magnify you." (I invite you to study his full talk, found here.) The Lord has desires to see us succeed. And for more reason than one.

As one studies the book of Doctrine & Covenants, especially the first quarter of sections, he or she quickly comes to the realization that the Lord in the early days of the Church first set about to call laborers to the vineyard. He called a fourteen year old boy named Joseph Smith, groomed him, and set him up as a prophet. He called a school teacher named Oliver Cowdery, guided him to Joseph's door, and he became one of the witnesses of the Book of Mormon; he later was present with Joseph when the Savior, and prophets of old appeared to them in the Kirtland Temple. He called a local minister named Sidney Rigdon, led him to the saints, and set him up to be a powerful teacher in the Church. The list goes on and on. In a revelation given through the prophet Joseph Smith to Sidney, the Lord said the following:

"Behold, verily, verily, I say unto my servant Sidney, I have looked upon thee and thy works. I have heard they prayers, and prepared thee for a greater work. Thou art blessed, for thou shalt do great things" (D&C 35:3-4). 

Sidney, indeed, accomplished great things, helping the Kingdom of God to be fortified in its infancy, allowing it to be nurtured and grow to what it is today. (Full disclosure: Sidney eventually fell away from the Church, falling into apostasy following the death of the Prophet, claiming that he was most deserving of being his successor as President of the Church. Scholars attribute this to brain damage from an act of persecution. His merits prior to that, however, are remarkable.) Each and every one of us has been called as well. There is not a single member that has not been guided in some way or another to the Church. Some of us may have been born into the gospel. I myself fall into that category, and it was the faith of my parents and the promptings of the Spirit which nurtured my own faith and has led me to a full conviction of the veracity of the Gospel. Others may be converts to the Church, having come to learn of its principles through friends, family members, and/or the full-time missionaries, and come to know of its truth through faithful action. However you have come to be a participant in the Lord's gospel, you have been led to it for 2 primary reasons:

1) The Lord has prepared for you to be challenged through service in the Church to grow and proceed toward exaltation, and 2) You have something unique to offer that will make you a key cog in the machine which goes forward building up the Kingdom. The bottomline: callings are for our own personal benefit and growth, and for the benefit and growth of the Church.


Personal Growth

It is ever important that we remember that it is our Savior, Jesus Christ, who has called us. He said to his apostles, "Ye have not chose me, but I have chose you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain; that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it to you" (John 15:16). Knowing that He has called us helps in providing the motivation to accomplish what He would have us accomplish. We often think that when we are promised or called upon to bring forth fruit, we are being promised that others will be brought into the gospel or into greater gospel participation. But that fruit also includes our own growth in the gospel. 

In one of the most powerful MTC Devotionals I have ever heard, Elder Jeffrey Holland spoke of the introduction of the missionary handbook Preach My Gospel. The change came in the early 2000's as the Brethren saw a disturbing number of returned missionaries who were falling away from the Church. Elder Holland notes the following in the devotional:

"With this fundamental proposition...the message of Preach My Gospel to you tonight is, that the fundamental change that was made and how we Missionary work is, that we need to convert you, and then you figure out how to convert investigators." (Again, I suggest you read over the whole thing, as its application goes far beyond just missionary work. Find it here.)

Callings allow us incredible opportunities to grow personally. How can we not grow our testimony when we are called upon to be Sunday School teachers, and are to teach fellowmembers the pure doctrines from the scriptures and the words of the prophets on a weekly basis? How can we not grow our faith when we are called upon to serve as Ward Missionaries, and see miracles as we work with the full-time missionaries and aid in building the faith of investigators and less actives? How can we not improve our patience as we are called to serve in the nursery, or even worse still, the Young Men's organization? How can we not feel the love of our Savior and improve our capacity to love as He loves as we serve diligently as Home and Visiting Teachers, entering the homes of our fellowmembers and offering up our time to them? Surely our testimonies will grow, our faith will be strengthened, our patience and longsuffering will be fortified, and our ability to love everyone unconditionally will be developed as we strive to magnify our callings, and be of service to our fellowman. I have held numerous callings (which is by no means a sign of personal worthiness on my part, course), and have seen how each one brings new challenges. But each challenge is an opportunity to grow.

Paul spoke of these moments, and what it means to us and our relationship with our Father. "Despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou are rebuked of him: for who the Lord loveth he chasteneth....He [chasteneth] for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness" (Hebrews 12:5-6, 10). We can change that word chasten to calls. Some, indeed may think that a give calling feels like a punishment or at least a cruel joke. The Lord always has his reasons for giving us a calling. That last verse has certain power as we make that change, however.

"He [calls us] for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness."


Building up the Kingdom

It was the prophet Alma who cried out, "O that I were an angel, and could have the wish of mine heart, that I might go forth and speak with the trump of God...and cry repentance unto every people." With that poetic cry, the prophet quickly realizes the error in such thinking, though we may praise he zeal. He goes on,

"But behold, I am a man, and do sin in my wish; for I ought to be content with the things which the Lord hath allotted unto me....Seeing that I know these things, why should I desire more than to perform the work to which I have been called? I know that which the Lord hath commanded me, and I glory in it. I do not glory of myself, but I glory in that which he Lord hath commanded me; yea, and this is my glory, that perhaps I may be an instrument in the hands of God to bring some soul to repentance; and this is my joy" (Alma 29:1,3,6,9).

Is it our desire to be instruments in the hands of God? What does that mean? Having been blessed with at least a limited capacity in music, I often think of musical instruments. The guitar cannot pluck its own strings to make music. The piano cannot manipulate its own keys. It is the man holding the guitar--the woman seated before the piano with her gentle fingers on those keys which allows notes to be sounded, and music to be made. If we are to be the instruments, we cannot try to do that which we truly cannot do. We can't make the music of the work. It is only Christ that can do that. All we can do is put ourselves in a position to make that music sound clearly--our strings have to be taut, our pianos in tune. Only then can our music adequately sound as the Lord would have it sound. We must be obedient, and we must be diligent in order to adequately reflect the Light which comes from the Lord.

Each of us has been given certain abilities and talents. It would be very difficult for someone unfamiliar with music to serve successfully as a music director, or the ward organist (though I'm sure miracles have occurred allowing some person to succeed without such talents). Some may be given the ability to convey the principles of the gospel they've learned. They are well-suited to be a teacher in any class. Some may be given the ability to recognize when somebody needs help. These are the people who are usually called to be in Relief Society and Elder's Quorum Presidencies. Surely there are too many examples to list, but we may be given a calling which corresponds with those gifts. And we all have them: "For there are many gifts, and to every man [and woman] is given a gift by the Spirit of God" (D&C 46:11). We have peace that the Lord knows which gifts he has given us, and will put us into a position where we can best become a blessing in the lives of those around us.

It is also important to note that we need not feel inadequate when it seems that our talents don't match up with the rigors of an extended calling. Similar to what President Eyring said, President Monson has said powerfully and simply, "Whom the Lord calls, the Lord qualifies."

"If ye have desires to serve God, ye are called to the work. For lo, the field is white, already to harvest, and lo, he that thrusteth in his sickle with his might, the same layeth up in store that he perisheth not, but bringeth salvation to his soul" (D&C 4:3-4).

We have have been so blessed to know of the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ, therefore, have a great responsibility to do our part in building up the Kingdom. Though daunting, the Lord is working right by our side.