What I learned from Wiz Khalifa...

"No keys--push the start!
Uh-huh. You know what it is.
Everything I do, I do it big."
- Wiz Khalifa in "Black and Yellow"

In Sunday School today we talked about Peter, one of the original Apostles. Specifically we talked about Peter's humanity and his penchant for passionate, almost impulsive, discipleship coupled with imperfection and moments of weakness.

Some of Peter's most memorable flubs include:

• Trying to walk upon the water and then falling into it (Matthew 14:28)
• Trying to encourage the Lord not to complete His mission (Matthew 16:23)
• Becoming overwhelmed at the Mount of Transfiguration and mumbling something about building 3 tabernacles there (Matthew 17:4)
• Telling Jesus not to wash his (Peter's) feet (John 13:8)
• Falling asleep at the Garden of Gethsemane (Matthew 26:40)
• Denying his association with Jesus (Matthew 26:75)

I guess we talk about Peter's weaknesses so much because we know about his great accomplishments while leading the early Church in the wake of the Ascension. It makes us feel good that such a great leader had such glaring imperfections. It's like a reminder that even we can achieve greatness despite our shortcomings. I mean, if one of the Church's leaders can have such weaknesses and still be the leader, the Church's followers can't be expected to be much better, can they? Maybe not.

But I think that's where I disagree.

While we traditionally think of the Prophet, or President, of the Church as the leader of the organization in the current absence of Jesus, I actually think it's the body of the Church which generally dictates the position the President takes.

Example:

"God Appears to Moses in Burning Bush" - St. Isaac's Cathedral, St. Petersburg

 The Israelites celebrated Spring Break while Moses was on Mount Sinai and, though he advocated for them, they made themselves unworthy of the blessings Moses wanted to bring them (Exodus 32:11-19). As a result, Moses brought down a lower law after having broken the tablets containing the higher law (JST Exodus 34:1-2). The Israelites then wandered in the wilderness for several years until all the wicked Israelites had passed away and the people were worthy to cross into the Promised Land.

And that's exactly the point; it doesn't matter who is at the helm of the organization. What matters is the attitude and condition of the followers. If the body of the Church is ready, the Lord will reveal wonderful things. If we're not ready, then we will have to wait until He decides upon a better time to reveal it. So while it's cool that Peter and the successive Presidents of the Church were all given the Keys of the Kingdom, and we normally think of those with the keys as drivers of the cause, in reality the thing that will help jump start the cause of the Lord and help it advance most quickly upon the earth is His regular, everyday, key-less followers.

No keys? Push the start!