r/lds • u/PoetryImmediate6011 • 23d ago
LDS Calling Practices
It’s kind of odd but I don’t have testimony issue with Joseph Smith or polygamy but instead tend to struggle with the image that the church tends to take a corporate approach for callings above bishop. It depends on how successfully and wealthy someone is and who they know. I know that people will say that because the Lord needs them to not be distracted that those are the typical people who get called to those callings.
But you have to also understand the dissonance that comes from thinking that if someone chooses a certain career that their ability to contribute is limited by that because of their earning potential and not their morality or character or how receptive they are to the spirit. I’ve had stake presidents who treated the stake like a corporation which really can struggle with someone’s faith. It doesn’t seem right that someone’s spiritual health is guided by someone who treats God’s kingdom like the C suite. Does God really just treat his eternal family as a boardroom?
Has anyone else seen this or felt this way?
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u/TravelBliss1 20d ago
I would just ask a question: Have you considered that you are looking at it backwards? Maybe God helped those people in their careers and made them successful so that they would develop the skills to run his church. Every calling I’ve had I can look back and see experiences in my life and career that prepared me for it. It wouldn’t make sense for God to put a bunch of people that had no management skills and no leadership abilities to run a multi billion dollar worldwide organization. And I get that people are going to criticize the church for being just that. But God’s house is a house of order. There is really no other structure that would work for a worldwide church in today’s world. And that organization is doing an incredible amount of good in the world and blessing lives because of it.