All too frequently on my mission I saw both missionaries and investigators alike mistake one of the fundamental requirements for becoming a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints: baptism. Areas on my mission that hadn’t seen success in over a year always came with two problems. First was the temptation to believe that it wasn’t possible to baptize in that area. This led to trunky missionaries who had mentally checked out, but felt guilty enough to complete all the visible steps to finish their mission “honorably.” The second problem was that some missionaries viewed themselves as a sort of savior who had come to break the bonds of the baptizing curse. This second group often concerned me more than the first, because although their mission experience was good for them, the work they were doing was often not good for the mission. Frequently when the means of baptism were mistaken for the end goal of coming to Christ the new member was excommunicated within one year of his or her baptism (I know of two specific instances).
One particular companionship comes to mind. They were doing everything they could to force a little girl through the baptismal interview process as a way of padding statistics. The girl was from a family who was very much inactive. The missionaries found out that she wasn’t a member at the age of 9, and knew how easy it would be to try to exploit the situation for the sake of getting someone into the waters of baptism. As the district leader I remember distinctly having to talk to them about our purpose as missionaries. I reminded them that our purpose is to invite others to come to Christ, not to get them in the waters of baptism. We discussed how anyone coming to Christ must be baptized, but that not everyone who is baptized is necessarily coming to Christ. After much pondering and prayer we decided that it would be best to get the local branch leadership involved since they could help baptism become a long-term, covenant event, and not just a short splash in the pool.
I view leadership, service, and time management in a similar way. Both leadership and time management are means to giving service. Just because we are leaders, or just because we are able to manage out time well, does not mean that we are giving service. These are two tools for us to use in accomplishing greater goals. If we are not careful we can get in trouble for trying to lead, or manage our time, for the sake of leading and managing time. I believe that these activities should increase our ability and opportunity to give service. If they are unattached to service, however, they could very easily be talents that we bury in the sand.
Tim, I think you are exactly right. I liked you analogy. You are exactly right about remembering the end when we learn how to use our time. Learning how to use our time effectively at something is important. It is more important to use our time effectively doing things that really are the most important. Isn't this the constant complaint of children, that Dad is never home to play with them even when the father thinks he is doing what is best for his children? I kind of think life is about learning how to decide what is best. Great insight
ReplyDeleteTim,I liked your insight into the two ways people can miss the mark with their goals. Both extremes, in the examples you gave of the missionaries, I think are a result of doubt and fear. Someone fears that they'll never baptize and that trying will only make it more difficult to bear. The other extreme fears that there aren't really and prepared people to baptize, but fear looking incompetant. Both examples lack faith. I think the key to time management, service, and leadership are a strong and unwavering faith that things will turn out the way that they should.
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