Quarterback of the Church
(Warning: Long Mormon thing.)
I’m a football fan. I like to watch baseball and ice hockey, sure. I’m not a big follower of basketball; I only care about basketball for about three weeks in March and April. (I attribute this to the fact that growing up in Colorado, we didn’t really have a great pro team to follow. We just had the Nuggets.) I like to watch a lot of the Olympic sports, too: track & field, skiing, figure skating, even curling. I’ll watch just about any sport if it’s on TV. But football is my favorite.
I have two favorite NFL teams: The Denver Broncos and whoever’s playing the Raiders this week. The Broncos are coming off their worst season in my lifetime, largely because of their inconsistent (to put it generously) quarterback play. The team has since signed an expensive free agent to help solve the problem, but the conventional wisdom seems to be that they’re going to draft a quarterback next week as well. *
So I’ve been reading predictions and mock drafts and analyses of quarterbacks available in the upcoming draft. The consensus seems to be that four quarterbacks will be drafted in the first ten picks next Thursday. The strengths, weaknesses, and other minutiae of these four young men have been analyzed ad infinitum by anyone with expertise (or even an opinion). The guy from USC seems to be the top prospect, although some scouts apparently worry about his ‘locker room presence’, whatever that means. The guy from UCLA is seems to have all the necessary skills, but some critics question his ability to lead an NFL team. They guy from Wyoming has the physical tools, the height, and the arm strength, but not the accuracy, that some of the teams are looking for. He’s widely considered a ‘project’ who will need to sit and learn for a year or two before becoming an NFL starter. And the guy from Oklahoma has the passion and the winning record, but some people question his maturity.
And so the debate goes on and on.
Can you imagine, when President Monson died in January, if the Church tried to select a new leader the way NFL teams select a new quarterback? † I can just imagine the scouting reports:
Russell M. Nelson: “Clearly the most experienced. Has had a great apostolic run, but at the age of 93, you have to wonder how much he still has left in the tank.”
Henry B. Eyring: “Solid leader. Doctrinally sound, and a great administrator. Lacks the ‘wow factor’. He’ll get the job done, but will probably never be a superstar.”
Dieter F. Uchtdorf: “Intelligent, engaging, inspiring, and charismatic. Great storyteller. Sets the sisters’ hearts fluttering when he takes the pulpit. Probably the runaway popular favorite.”
Jeffrey R. Holland: “Vast knowledge and experience. Can really command an audience. Has the ability to elicit laughter, tears, and deep thought from those who listen to him. Has almost no stories involving airplanes, however.”
That would never happen, of course, because leadership in the Church doesn’t work the way leadership in the world, or even on a football team, works. (Matthew 20:25-28) Church leaders are not chosen by committee or by election campaigns. Leaders in the Church, from the President of the Church through the Quorum of the Twelve and Quorums of the Seventy, through Stake presidencies and Bishoprics and ward leaders, are called by revelation. Uncomfortable as it may sound, especially to those unfamiliar with Church operations, the Church is not a democracy. It is, as described by the Lord Himself, a Kingdom, with Jesus Christ as King. Leadership in the Church is very much top-down—and the top isn’t in Salt Lake City.
When President Nelson was officially recognized in General Conference as the Prophet, Seer, and Revelator for our day, all Church members had the opportunity to sustain him as such. We do this for all our Church leaders. When we are asked to raise our hands, we are not voting on whether or not we accept this person in the position. We are revealing our willingness to accept the call as divinely inspired and to support them as they serve.
No, we don’t get to pick who the next Bishop or Relief Society president or Sunday School teacher will be—because we believe that decision ultimately rests with the Lord. (For the same reason, we don’t lobby for these positions, either. ‡ ) Christ ultimately reveals who is to serve in those positions. We may not understand (or agree with) the calling, nor like with person called to serve therein, but we are expected to exercise faith in the Lord’s inspiration and to sustain those called by proper authority. And we (rightly) expect others to do the same for us when our turn comes, because one day it will. There are no spectators in this Church. Everyone serves.
Most of us will never be quarterbacks—and that’s okay. There’s a place in this Church for anyone with the desire to serve.
--
* I, for one, have exactly zero confidence in the Broncos’ ability to fix the problem via the draft. Of the three quarterbacks that have led the Broncos to the Super Bowl, none of them were drafted by Denver. The best quarterback the Broncos have ever drafted is arguably Jay Cutler.
† Not that anyone else in the league is good at drafting a quarterback, either. Tom Brady, considered by some to be the greatest quarterback in the history of the NFL (*cough* Joe Montana *cough*) was drafted 199th overall in the 6th round of the 2000 NFL draft. That means that every single team in the league passed on multiple opportunities to draft him. Oops.
‡ In his epistle to Timothy, Paul said, “If a man desire the office of a bishop, he desireth a good work.” (1 Timothy 3:1) I can’t help but think this is a mistranslation. I think what Paul meant to say was, “If a man desire the office of a bishop, he’s out of his ever-loving mind.” Nobody who really understands the responsibilities of a Bishop would ask for that.
I’m a football fan. I like to watch baseball and ice hockey, sure. I’m not a big follower of basketball; I only care about basketball for about three weeks in March and April. (I attribute this to the fact that growing up in Colorado, we didn’t really have a great pro team to follow. We just had the Nuggets.) I like to watch a lot of the Olympic sports, too: track & field, skiing, figure skating, even curling. I’ll watch just about any sport if it’s on TV. But football is my favorite.
I have two favorite NFL teams: The Denver Broncos and whoever’s playing the Raiders this week. The Broncos are coming off their worst season in my lifetime, largely because of their inconsistent (to put it generously) quarterback play. The team has since signed an expensive free agent to help solve the problem, but the conventional wisdom seems to be that they’re going to draft a quarterback next week as well. *
So I’ve been reading predictions and mock drafts and analyses of quarterbacks available in the upcoming draft. The consensus seems to be that four quarterbacks will be drafted in the first ten picks next Thursday. The strengths, weaknesses, and other minutiae of these four young men have been analyzed ad infinitum by anyone with expertise (or even an opinion). The guy from USC seems to be the top prospect, although some scouts apparently worry about his ‘locker room presence’, whatever that means. The guy from UCLA is seems to have all the necessary skills, but some critics question his ability to lead an NFL team. They guy from Wyoming has the physical tools, the height, and the arm strength, but not the accuracy, that some of the teams are looking for. He’s widely considered a ‘project’ who will need to sit and learn for a year or two before becoming an NFL starter. And the guy from Oklahoma has the passion and the winning record, but some people question his maturity.
And so the debate goes on and on.
Can you imagine, when President Monson died in January, if the Church tried to select a new leader the way NFL teams select a new quarterback? † I can just imagine the scouting reports:
Russell M. Nelson: “Clearly the most experienced. Has had a great apostolic run, but at the age of 93, you have to wonder how much he still has left in the tank.”
Henry B. Eyring: “Solid leader. Doctrinally sound, and a great administrator. Lacks the ‘wow factor’. He’ll get the job done, but will probably never be a superstar.”
Dieter F. Uchtdorf: “Intelligent, engaging, inspiring, and charismatic. Great storyteller. Sets the sisters’ hearts fluttering when he takes the pulpit. Probably the runaway popular favorite.”
Jeffrey R. Holland: “Vast knowledge and experience. Can really command an audience. Has the ability to elicit laughter, tears, and deep thought from those who listen to him. Has almost no stories involving airplanes, however.”
That would never happen, of course, because leadership in the Church doesn’t work the way leadership in the world, or even on a football team, works. (Matthew 20:25-28) Church leaders are not chosen by committee or by election campaigns. Leaders in the Church, from the President of the Church through the Quorum of the Twelve and Quorums of the Seventy, through Stake presidencies and Bishoprics and ward leaders, are called by revelation. Uncomfortable as it may sound, especially to those unfamiliar with Church operations, the Church is not a democracy. It is, as described by the Lord Himself, a Kingdom, with Jesus Christ as King. Leadership in the Church is very much top-down—and the top isn’t in Salt Lake City.
When President Nelson was officially recognized in General Conference as the Prophet, Seer, and Revelator for our day, all Church members had the opportunity to sustain him as such. We do this for all our Church leaders. When we are asked to raise our hands, we are not voting on whether or not we accept this person in the position. We are revealing our willingness to accept the call as divinely inspired and to support them as they serve.
No, we don’t get to pick who the next Bishop or Relief Society president or Sunday School teacher will be—because we believe that decision ultimately rests with the Lord. (For the same reason, we don’t lobby for these positions, either. ‡ ) Christ ultimately reveals who is to serve in those positions. We may not understand (or agree with) the calling, nor like with person called to serve therein, but we are expected to exercise faith in the Lord’s inspiration and to sustain those called by proper authority. And we (rightly) expect others to do the same for us when our turn comes, because one day it will. There are no spectators in this Church. Everyone serves.
Most of us will never be quarterbacks—and that’s okay. There’s a place in this Church for anyone with the desire to serve.
--
* I, for one, have exactly zero confidence in the Broncos’ ability to fix the problem via the draft. Of the three quarterbacks that have led the Broncos to the Super Bowl, none of them were drafted by Denver. The best quarterback the Broncos have ever drafted is arguably Jay Cutler.
† Not that anyone else in the league is good at drafting a quarterback, either. Tom Brady, considered by some to be the greatest quarterback in the history of the NFL (*cough* Joe Montana *cough*) was drafted 199th overall in the 6th round of the 2000 NFL draft. That means that every single team in the league passed on multiple opportunities to draft him. Oops.
‡ In his epistle to Timothy, Paul said, “If a man desire the office of a bishop, he desireth a good work.” (1 Timothy 3:1) I can’t help but think this is a mistranslation. I think what Paul meant to say was, “If a man desire the office of a bishop, he’s out of his ever-loving mind.” Nobody who really understands the responsibilities of a Bishop would ask for that.
posted by Michael at
1:25 PM
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