Doctrine and Covenants 163
Commentary Series

The Way of the Living Christ
by Don H. Compier

Scripture, prophetic guidance, knowledge, and discernment in the faith community must walk hand in hand to reveal the true will of God. Follow this pathway, which is the way of the Living Christ, and you will discover more than sufficient light for the journey ahead. —Doctrine and Covenants 163:7d

In the concluding lines of the seventh paragraph of Section 163 we, the church, are called to continually seek the true will of God. Human beings always tend to erroneously conclude that our facile judgments represent the divine mind. Many today proclaim that “the Bible says it, I believe it, and that settles it.” But discernment of our loving Creator’s genuine intent is never that easy or straightforward. We have to work at it together.

Moreover, we shouldn’t aim to establish right belief as if our mental assent were an end in itself. Truly knowing God means walking together in the pathway disclosed to us. God’s will is a communal way of life definitively marked out for us by Jesus Christ. And our ongoing discernment is a journey, not a destination.

Throughout our life the circle of action and reflection, the search for greater faithfulness to God’s enacted purposes, never ends. Sometimes we grow weary and wonder if we’ve made any progress at all. But we should rely on the promise: we will always have “more than sufficient light” to keep moving ahead as we follow Jesus.

So how do we discover God’s will? Theologians like me have long debated this question. We talk about “sources” or “authorities.” In recent years, classes in our denomination have often referred to the “Wesleyan Quadrilateral”: scripture, tradition, reason, and experience. Teachers may imply that these four are somehow equal and that everyone in theology accepts this schema nowadays. Actually, many don’t, and John Wesley himself demurred. For him scripture was always the principal authority for Christians. Paragraph 7 implies the same by devoting most of its attention to scripture and by placing it first on the list of places to go when seeking God’s will.

Previous articles in this series have already given us wonderful insights about this indispensable witness. But the counsel to the church further stirs the pot up by positing a whole different set of additional sources to contemplate: “prophetic guidance, knowledge, and discernment in the faith community.” Very intriguing! What fresh meanings might these rich words convey?

Prophetic Guidance
The Old Testament stories about prophets show that they received a powerful call to act as spokespeople for the Holy One. God urges them to denounce social injustice. Yahweh demands that they always speak up for the marginalized: the poor, the widows and orphans, the strangers. Prophets are too concerned about the present plight of the people to worry much about developments in the distant future. They do remind their listeners that unless they stop following false gods that lead them to oppress others, there will be serious consequences.

Yet beyond judgment, spokespeople for the Divine always glimpse the promise of God’s peaceable reign. Prophetic guidance given to the church, then, will always connect God’s will with our call to be a people committed to peace and justice for the whole creation. Luke’s Gospel repeatedly reminds us that Jesus himself shared a strong sense of prophetic mission. In the Community of Christ, we call the leader of our movement a prophet. How wonderful that we use a title with such rich biblical associations! Whatever name we might employ, however, Section 163:7d reminds us that any healthy community must respect its leadership. We must carefully consider the insights gained by those carrying the great burden of seeking the welfare of the whole body of Christ.

In highly individualistic modern society, we do well to remember that while we don’t need authoritarianism, we certainly do benefit from the exercise of genuine authority. This emphasis, not found in the Wesleyan Quadrilateral, encourages us to think first of all of God’s will as something for all of us bound together in community, not just for individuals. This was Jesus’ way. In a famous phrase, German theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer called him “the man for others.”

Knowledge
What a wonderfully inclusive term! It brings together insights gleaned from traditions, the exercise of human reason in all fields of inquiry, and individual and corporate experiences. Moreover, it can encompass the wisdom of the earth’s diverse cultures and expressions of human faith. Faith is a living, spiritual relationship with God. Faith seeks understanding and finds expression in concepts, but also remains a nonverbal language of the heart and the body.

The Community of Christ has long recognized that knowledge comes through study and faith (Doctrine and Covenants 85:36a)— the two are not incompatible! I have learned that knowledge always walks hand in hand with humility. I define this latter virtue as the realization that we always have more to learn. In the words of the familiar hymn (Hymns of the Saints #309), “The Lord has yet more light and truth to break forth from his word!” We must always be a community that welcomes and nurtures curiosity. We encourage one another to listen to all the voices of people, who are all made in God’s image. If we remain humble, we may come to hear God’s voice in surprising places and accents. Jesus had studied the traditions of his people. He had learned to read the Hebrew Bible and often referred to its stories and teachings. He keenly understood the situation of his people under Roman occupation. He had heard the plight of the marginalized, touching lepers to restore them to the bonds of community, and defending the rights of women subject to summary dismissal by their husbands. And he had taken much time to develop a strong personal relationship with the one he called abba, or “daddy.” Yet Jesus remained ever open to new insights. When he encountered a Canaanite woman from the coastal regions, at first he demonstrated suspicion of this idol worshiper, part of a trading people who were exploiting the farmers of Galilee. But when she showed tremendous devotion to her sick daughter, enduring humiliation with grace for her sake, Jesus realized this mother possessed an exemplary faith. He was willing to change his perspective and affirm the great wisdom imparted by a former enemy (see Matthew 15:21–28; 15:20–27 IV).

Discernment in the Faith Community
We seek to know God’s will for us as a people. So we study and interpret scripture. We consider the prophetic guidance of our church leadership. We respectfully attend to the knowledge derived from multiple sources. We always remain open to new insights, wherever they might come from. How do we bring it all together to find the path we should walk on? As used in Christian spiritual traditions, discernment refers to finding God’s will through prayer, meditation, and thorough deliberation with others in community. We must reason and converse and pray and struggle together. Even if an individual hits upon a profound insight, vetting it with fellow Saints will sharpen and refine the idea. And of course we often learn that what appeared so obvious to us just doesn’t fly once others consider it critically!

Our movement has always held up the value of common consent. Jesus immediately sought to bring together a close group of friends, both women and men. He knew that, although he was their teacher, he needed their companionship and support.

When I teach theology, I tell my students that listening is far more important than speaking. We develop our views only after carefully considering the perspectives of valued companions in the way, past and present. And I remind them that people who have studied theology don’t become experts with all the answers. Instead we gain skills in facilitating good conversation. We serve the church as all of us together strive to articulate our public, shared sense of the path we should pursue. At a time when our movement has become truly global, encompassing a great variety of cultures, we must strive to respectfully listen to one another more than ever before. Our direction must be “the way of the Living Christ.” Recently I instructed a group of church leaders who had been taught that the Bible contains no errors. They wrestled with passages that seemed to endorse genocide (Joshua) and the inferiority of women (I Timothy 2). Inspired by the spirit of Section 163, I gave them this bit of advice: “When in doubt, follow Jesus!”

Jesus always treated women as equals. Jesus affirmed God’s universal love for all people. On the difficult journey we are on as a prophetic people seeking God’s reign, Jesus is our guide. And Jesus shows us that ultimately our actions, our very way of living, count more than anything else.

The quest for common consent is messy and time-consuming. This process demands the active engagement of all of us. Discernment is labor intensive! No wonder we are tempted to settle for simplistic answers. We just want the Bible or church authorities to tell us what to do. But in the Community of Christ we have always upheld the importance of agency. Agency is more than free will, far more than simply saying yes or no to propositions. The Spirit calls us to become responsible agents making history with God.

We embrace the Christian call to spiritual maturity. As accountable adults we strive with others to make difficult decisions and to act on them. We accept the fact that in human affairs, even spiritual ones, room for ambiguity and diverse interpretation always remains. We embrace the promise of assurance, but absolute certainty eludes us in this life. Faith involves trust and the courageous decision to time and again walk in the difficult path marked out by Jesus. Let us not forget that for him that path led to the Cross.

Section 163 once again calls us to embark on an adventure. We don’t quite know where this path will lead or all that it may come to demand of us. Yet we have enough for the journey, and indeed surplus to share with others. We have the company of Jesus Christ. We have the support and companionship of his disciples from every part of the globe. And we have the glorious promise of Zion, a renewed earth with abundance and joy for all. Let us find the path together. It’s time to hit the road!