{"id":2678,"date":"2020-04-17T15:06:14","date_gmt":"2020-04-17T21:06:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/publicsquaremag.org\/?p=2678"},"modified":"2023-08-08T21:23:17","modified_gmt":"2023-08-09T03:23:17","slug":"should-humanitarian-service-always-trump-devotional-worship","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/publicsquaremag.org\/faith\/should-humanitarian-service-always-trump-devotional-worship\/","title":{"rendered":"Pitting Christian Ministry and Devotion Against Each Other"},"content":{"rendered":"
This article was previously published in The Deseret News April 15, 2020<\/div>\n

Complaints that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints\u00a0wasn\u2019t<\/a>\u00a0doing<\/a>\u00a0enough<\/a>\u00a0to combat COVID-19 seem premature in the wake of Tuesday\u2019s\u00a0letter from the faith\u2019s First Presidency<\/a>\u00a0indicating that the church has undertaken some 110 global humanitarian projects related to COVID-19.<\/p>\n

And other suggestions that the church should have forgone or curbed certain devotional elements of its recent general conference \u2014 e.g. the \u201cHosanna Shout,\u201d revealing a new proclamation or an invitation to fast \u2014 fail to appreciate the full breadth and scope of Christian worship.<\/p>\n

Indeed, gospel accounts of the Lord\u2019s own life suggest that healing the sick (humanitarian acts) and worshipping God (devotional acts) are not mutually exclusive either-or propositions, but rather interwoven and reciprocal Christian imperatives.<\/p>\n

In the gospel of John, we read that six days before the Passover, during the last week of Jesus\u2019 life, he sat at dinner with Mary, Martha, Lazarus and some of his apostles. During the meal,\u00a0Mary took a pound<\/a>\u00a0of expensive, fragrant oil and anointed Christ\u2019s feet, wiping them with her hair. In light of all that had happened \u2014 and all that was about to transpire \u2014 this act of great humility and devotion no doubt would have touched others present who may well have intuited its sacred significance.<\/p>\n

Judas, however, was bothered: \u201cWhy was not this ointment sold for three hundred silver coins, and given to the poor?\u201d<\/p>\n

It would seem the height of sacrilege to question whether Christ spent sufficient time healing the leprous.<\/p><\/blockquote><\/div>\n

(In the other gospel accounts, the objection is raised by the pharisees, or, simply, Christ\u2019s disciples).<\/p>\n

For some the question may seem fair. After all, throughout his ministry, Christ had underscored the importance of giving to the poor \u2014 instructing one rich man to give away all that he had and to follow him.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not hard to understand the concern, given the cost of the ointment. Some might have genuinely wondered what good might have come had the ointment been sold and given to the poor.<\/p>\n

But Jesus did not agree. \u201cLet her alone<\/a>; she has kept this for the day of my burial.\u201d Or, as recorded in another gospel account, \u201cWhy trouble ye her? She hath wrought a good work on me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Christ, in other words, accepted this sincere \u2014 and perhaps even plethoric \u2014 outpouring of devotion. Previously, he had taught that the first great commandment was to \u201clove the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.\u201d Surely, Mary\u2019s gesture was an expression of such all-encompassing love and devotion.<\/p>\n

Of course, it\u2019s true that Christ fed the hungry and healed the sick \u2014 something all Christians can and should do more often and in more ways. But this was not everything Christ did during his ministry.<\/p>\n

He preached sermons, visited synagogues, attended feasts, fasted, prayed, cleansed the temple, walked on water, traveled by foot and donkey, administered the sacrament, washed feet, got baptized, suffered in the garden and rose from the tomb.<\/p>\n

To the Christian, then, it would seem the height of sacrilege to question whether Christ spent sufficient time healing the leprous, for example.<\/p>\n

Now, there is a difference between second-guessing elements of Christ\u2019s ministry and critiquing the institutional actions of the contemporary church.<\/p>\n

Religious institutions of all stripes should be held to high standards, and this is particularly true for a church which bears Christ\u2019s name. But, given the scope of Jesus\u2019 life and ministry, it\u2019s quite strange to encounter complaints implying that the general conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints focused too much on worship, devotion or doctrinal exposition at the expense of humanitarian overtures.<\/p>\n