“Neither Shall There Be Disputations Among You…”
This is not intended to be an indictment of any specific blogs, bloggers or of bloggers in general. Rather it is a personal application of three scriptural themes to tendencies that I see in my own scripture study.
Earlier this week, I got a chance to reflect on my own scripture study. This reflection shall be recorded in two parts. One, on the personal aspects of scripture study and other worshipful activities will be addressed in another post. This one reflects on the guidelines of group scripture study, which much of the LDS blogging community (The Bloggernacle) is intended to be.
The first theme I want to explore is found in 3 Nephi 11. The Lord had scarcely shown himself to his people when he began to instruct Nephi and the others present on the manner in which they should baptize that “there shall be no disputations among you.” (3 Nephi 11:22). After a brief explanation of the baptism process, the Lord returns in verse 28 to instructing the people “And there shall be no disputations among you, as there have hitherto been; neither shall there be disputations among you concerning the points of my doctrine as there have hitherto been.” (emphasis added)
Without referring to specific posts or comments, we can all readily think of posts and strings of comments that resulted in lively discussion and a few where civility was ultimately lacking in the discussion. Such behavior is not pleasing to the Lord or conducive to the guidance of His Spirit. I got to tell a friend last year that I was of two minds about the Bloggernacle. So long as it is used as an illustrative forum to present clear doctrines and dispel skewed ideas and theologies, it is a good and productive thing. Outside of that context, it is fraught with a number of dangers, only a couple of which are discussed here. One of those key dangers is that people can get lost in arguing or analyzing trivial points and miss the broader meaning and application that the scriptures are meant to have in our lives. This primarily happens when writers and commenters stray far from the scope of scripture or modern revelation into the realm of things that “just make sense.”
This brings us to our second passage of scripture, which happens to be one of the Lord’s first utterances in another visitation. In the First Vision, the Lord warns Joseph Smith, Jr. of professors who “teach for doctrines the commandments of men, having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof.” (JSH 1:19) A number of discussions in the Bloggernacle wander far out of what is to be found in scriptural canon or even the most obscure records of modern revelation. The rare (sometimes not so rare) gem of a post flies right in the face of established scripture, signifying that its author did not heed the Lord’s counsel in D&C 11:21-22 to “first seek to obtain my word.” (Verse 22 sounds almost abrasive when applied in this context, but it fits.) Peter decries one of the dangers of posts and comments that speculate on doctrines near the end of his second epistle: “As also in [some posts], speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction.” (2 Peter 3:16, sort of) While analysis of scriptures and doctrines is encouraged, such analysis should be made with an eye to the practical consequences that belief in such analysis might have on the author and other readers, including investigators and members who are not yet firmly rooted in the faith.
During his mortal ministry, the Savior posed a question to the Pharisees, who we understand regularly engaged in lively debates on doctrine and thought nothing to scorn anyone who disagreed with their views, no matter how trivial. He asked them: “How can ye believe, which receive honour one of another, and seek not the honour that cometh from God only?” (John 5:44) This dynamic is what propels me (and presumably others) toward Pharisaical tendencies in my participation in the ‘Nacle. When I really want to make a name for myself, more than to edify and uplift my fellow members, am I not more likely to be more aggressive in the tactics and subject matter I pursue? At what point does my expounding on scripture degenerate into spewing the philosophies of man (namely me). In doing so do I not open myself and others up to danger of “looking beyond the mark”? (Jacob 4:14)
In short, it is a given that we are each going to have our favorite subjects and authors within the ‘Nacle. It is natural to want to be well regarded, and being so can certainly help us to share much light and truth in a way that is hopefully uplifting and easy to understand. Is it naïve to think that such a forum as this will not lend itself to infighting, politics and planting seeds of apostasy if we do not watch ourselves to see that our choices of words are made with an eye single to the glory of God? (D&C 4:5)
By Richard
