Schoolmasters

Paul told church members in Galatia that the Law of Moses couldn’t save them. Only Jesus could do that. But that doesn’t mean that the law had served no purpose. “The law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ,” he wrote (Galatians 3:24).

This comports with Nephi’s approach to the law:

We speak concerning the law that our children may know the deadness of the law; and they, by knowing the deadness of the law, may look forward unto that life which is in Christ, and know for what end the law was given. And after the law is fulfilled in Christ, that they need not harden their hearts against him when the law ought to be done away.

2 Nephi 25:27

For Nephi and for Paul, the Law of Moses was a good thing which served an important purpose. But it was a means to an end, not an end itself. There was some danger that people would become so comfortable with the scaffolding that they would be unwilling to let it go when Jesus replaced some parts of it, which Book of Mormon prophets called “performances and ordinances,” with a higher law.

Can we fall into a similar trap? Can we become so committed to organized programs and measurable achievements that we forget the purpose of those structures in our lives? Are we inflexible when those structures outlive their purpose and must be replaced by something new?

Listen to the way modern prophets have announced changes to the structure of church programs in recent years:

• President Russell M. Nelson: “For months we have been seeking a better way to minister to the spiritual and temporal needs of our people in the Savior’s way. We have made the decision to retire home teaching and visiting teaching as we have known them. Instead, we will implement a newer, holier approach to caring for and ministering to others” (“Ministering,” General Conference, April 2018).
• President Russell M. Nelson: “As Latter-day Saints, we have become accustomed to thinking of ‘church’ as something that happens in our meetinghouses, supported by what happens at home. We need an adjustment to this pattern. It is time for a home-centered Church, supported by what takes place inside our branch, ward, and stake buildings…. This morning we will announce a new balance and connection between gospel instruction in the home and in the Church” (“Opening Remarks,” General Conference, October 2018).
• Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf: “For over 50 years, For the Strength of Youth has been a guide for generations of Latter-day Saint youth. I always keep a copy in my pocket, and I share it with people who are curious about our standards. It has been updated and refreshed to better cope with the challenges and temptations of our day…. To be very clear, the best guide you can possibly have for making choices is Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is the strength of youth. So the purpose of For the Strength of Youth is to point you to Him” (“Jesus Christ Is the Strength of Youth,” General Conference, October 2022).

In each of these cases, church leaders are focused on the heart of the gospel—bringing people to Jesus Christ—and have been willing to adjust or replace even long-standing programs in order to better achieve that goal.

This blog is a schoolmaster to me. For nearly nine years, I have written every day about what I learned in my scripture study that day. My study has been enhanced immeasurably by the discipline of making public what I’ve learned and what I intend to do about it.

But it would be a shame if I were so committed to this specific way of accomplishing those goals that I became unwilling to replace it. I’m not planning to stop blogging any time soon, but the blog is not the main thing. Growing closer to the Savior and sharing His gospel is the main thing. Like the other schoolmasters highlighted above, this blog helps me accomplish those goals in a structured way, but it’s just one method to accomplish those goals.

Here are two other observations about the “schoolmasters” in our lives:

1. Don’t allow your good habits to prevent you from hearing and following the Spirit. Be willing to adapt in the moment when there is something else you should be doing.
2. Don’t let the schoolmasters in your life become “check the box” exercises. Mindlessly fulfilling an obligation, even a self-imposed one, will likely not help you achieve meaningful goals.

Today, I will be grateful for the schoolmasters in my life, the habits and patterns which bring me closer to the Savior. I will follow them while keeping them in perspective. I will not allow structure to replace the Spirit. I will not confuse the schoolmaster for the Savior.