Spread the WORD with Boldness

[theoriginalavatar]

Recently in priesthood, I have been hearing a radically different type of message...

For a long time now, the message to us, regarding missionary work (not full-time missionaries, but your average Joe kind of member) has always been "Talk to your friends and neighbors, kindly invite them to a ward activity or, if you are REALLY brave, invite them to church or to hear have the missionaries over." At the end of the day, however, it was more important that they remain your friends and on good terms with you.

Recently, the message has shifted in an important way. No longer is it "play Mister Nice Guy." No longer is it, "ask them to attend an activity...nicely...and only if it won't offend them too much." Now the message, at least in my ward (and presumably received from higher church authority), is "speak with boldness...invite people to church and to hear from the missionaries..." Gone are the days of meekness and weakness. We are being advised to move forward.

Has anyone else experienced this?

For the Catholics, it was the Bible and the sword. For us, it is the Book of Mormon and the...Glock? I am both frightened as well as excited by this new change. What are your thoughts?

Edited October 27, 2011 by theoriginalavatar

[Dravin]

Maybe you are talking about a longer period of time then I've experienced (I reactivated 7 years ago, and before that I either wasn't in Priesthood or wasn't paying much attention). The recent programs of the Church have made an effort to provide opportunity (the whole I'm a Mormon campaign for example) but I haven't gotten the impression that there has been a shift from timidity to boldness, we've always been taught in the lessons to be bold (but not overbearing). I think though, there has been a bit more of a shift on, "Honestly intended invitations and sharing your religious life are not offensive." So it's not "Only invite if you won't offended." to "Who cares, no holds barred." but rather, "Speak up, honest boldness, as opposed to overbearance, is not offensive."

Edited October 27, 2011 by Dravin

[theoriginalavatar]

I haven't really noticed a shift, but maybe you are talking about a longer period of time then I've experienced (I reactivated 7 years ago, and before that I either wasn't in Priesthood or wasn't paying much attention). The recent programs of the Church have made an effort to provide opportunity (the whole I'm a Mormon campaign for example) but I haven't gotten the impression that there has been a shift from timidity to boldness, we've always been taught in the lessons to be bold (but not overbearing). I think though, there has been a bit more of a shift on, "Honestly intended invitations and sharing your religious life are not offensive." So it's not "Only invite if you won't offended." to "Who cares, no holds barred." but rather, "Speak up, honest boldness, as opposed to overbearance, is not offensive."

Thank you, Dravin. Perhaps it is just our ward. Someting peculiar to Las Vegas.

[LittleWyvern]

As remember the directive to be bold in our words, I think it is also important to remember the second half of that phrase: be without overbearance. My experience has been trying to find a balance between the two. For example, on my mission, I saw lots of different wards, some were not bold enough, and some were too bold. One might be burnt out with missionary work, and one might have had a rather enthusiastic missionary go through and now everybody is trying to be as bold as possible, not caring about being overbearing. Some wards switched between the two extremes, like a pendulum.

This right balance can be hard to find, but I think if we find it we can be bold without abandoning the (very) good idea of keeping friends. I've always thought that the highest form of missionary work is when it is an expression of love, and if done that way the friendship of member and non-member is strengthened regardless of whether or not the non-member is converted.

[NeuroTypical]

I haven't heard that at all in my CO ward. Our Stake Presidency likened missionary work to offering someone a cookie. If they would like the recipe, they're free to ask for it.

[annewandering]

I am going to have to think about the glock. What if my friends have better guns than me?

[QuoththeRaven]

I haven't heard that at all in my CO ward. Our Stake Presidency likened missionary work to offering someone a cookie. If they would like the recipe, they're free to ask for it.

I like this a lot, and I'm glad my LDS friends do not hound me. It would definitely put a kink in our relationship.

[lafrenieredianne1]

Recently in priesthood, I have been hearing a radically different type of message...

For a long time now, the message to us, regarding missionary work (not full-time missionaries, but your average Joe kind of member) has always been "Talk to your friends and neighbors, kindly invite them to a ward activity or, if you are REALLY brave, invite them to church or to hear have the missionaries over." At the end of the day, however, it was more important that they remain your friends and on good terms with you.

Recently, the message has shifted in an important way. No longer is it "play Mister Nice Guy." No longer is it, "ask them to attend an activity...nicely...and only if it won't offend them too much." Now the message, at least in my ward (and presumably received from higher church authority), is "speak with boldness...invite people to church and to hear from the missionaries..." Gone are the days of meekness and weakness. We are being advised to move forward.

Has anyone else experienced this?

For the Catholics, it was the Bible and the sword. For us, it is the Book of Mormon and the...Glock? I am both frightened as well as excited by this new change. What are your thoughts?

Yes, I have certainly experienced this change and I'm excited to see the positive changes that are coming about. I can testify to these changes as they are happening in my home. I was the only active member in my family and kept a low profile because I didn't want to embarrass my husband or children about the joy I felt being a member of the LDS Church. The advise that was always given was to just love them and eventually they might have a change of heart. It's taken many years but dh was baptized last year, and we are going to the Temple to be sealed.

My family is thinking of making a trip with me to BYU next summer and they love the Young Ambassadors (grandchildren love the dancers), so they are excited to see them also. They also have huge respect for the Education and Arts programs in the church and the Humanitarian Services helping others around the world, regardless of religious affiliation.....the good things now outweigh the bad things they have seen or read about. These youth are such a fine example of what we should be as LDS. It does matter how we present ourselves to the world as we are being carefully scrutinized. We know who wins this battle and that's what is important and why we need to speak with boldness.

My dad used to always say "I don't want anyone of you,( his kids) or my friends and family to come to me on the otherside and say 'why didn't you tell me; you had the truth and didn't tell me!"

We don't have to threaten or preach to anyone, we just have to share the message of hope, that God lives, Jesus is His Son, we are all God's children and He wants us to all come home!

[Guest gopecon]

I think that the leaders are trying to find the balance in the message to us. Too casual of a member missionary message and the result can be very little happens. (Maybe this is what was happening with the meek version 1.0). Encourage too much boldness from members and you either A) scare people away from doing anything, or B) you get what you asked for, delivered without thought for timing or tact by some people in a way that is counter productive.

I remember an address by Pres. Hinckley - maybe 10 years ago. He said that if we (church members) were to increase our efforts we would be able to double the number of convert baptisms. Unfortunately the convert baptism number has stayed fairly constant at 300-400,000. I probably haven't done enough myself, and I have to wonder if a lot of us will have to answer for not heeding the prophet's call.

[JudoMinja]

I have gotten the impression that we are "upping the antie", so to speak, from the recent general conference talks, but I don't think that boldness necessarily means "forcefully". I think we are just being counseled to be more straight forward and obvious about our beliefs and to share them openly with everyone we come across- to actively seek out opportunities to share the gospel.

[Guest tbaird22]

I definitely saw a push in missionary work the last couple months i spent in Las Vegas before coming to school. I remember one day in priesthood when they introduced the "testimony rock" which for whoever volunteered to take the rock meant they would bear their testimony to someone that week. It sure as heck worked. Two priest age boys joined the church, one deacon aged, one older gentleman and a middle aged woman all joined before i left for school. A second rock was also introduced before i left. Recently ive heard from my mom that a young woman was baptized (laurel age) and another older gentleman is set to be baptized on 11/11/11. The testimony rock may have started it but its definitely become an entire ward thing. i can only imagine the effect conference had.

[bytebear]

Well, I guess I filled my quota, since I was approached by a young street preacher outside a movie theater. We had a long discussion, but he tended to ramble a lot at a million miles a minute, so there wasn't a lot of exchange of ideas, but I simply left him with the challenge to read the Book of Mormon. I hadn't mentioned what religion I was at that point, and he was kinda thrown. He threw out a few anti-Mormon cliches and I simply said he should find out for himself, rather than listen to the falsehoods of his ministers.

[Spartan117]

I think pairing the Book of Mormon with a gun made out of Tupperware sends the wrong message.

But seriously, I have noticed missionary work being talked about more, my ward just sent out a member missionary packet to each member. It includes a list about setting goals for missionary work, lists of different items to have on hand to help an investigator with questions.