According to Jacob 5, the Church is going to continue to need pruning by the servants right up until the end.
I can assist in that pruning if I stay in the vineyard and help wield a precise, careful scalpel - especially if those on my own tree aren't scared of the instrument I yield. I can't do it if I wield a machete wildly - or if I leave the vineyard altogether.
I'm not saying everyone has to stay and help in the pruning process. Only those who are willing to prune cautiously and with direction can do so properly. I'm just saying the Church needs help in that process from as many "servants" as possible. If someone can't do it now (or ever), I understand and am not going to condemn them. However, if someone can do it now (or at some point in the future), I'll join hands and share the task.
I'm going to do it regardless of how many others are helping (because it's my tree), but I'm going to be grateful for those who want to try to work with me - even if they are operating on different branches in different parts of the vineyard in different ways with different instruments.
Cries and Dolls
4 weeks ago
4 comments:
And what gives you the right to decide where to prune? Are you a bishop or stake president?
If by pruning you mean helping to shape it, I agree. But if it means to cull out the "bad" branches, I think that work will be done by the Master of the vineyard or a few select servants who are specifically guided to do so. I agree that we need to stay in the vineyard in order to help with the process (and not be one of those who gets pruned!)
I read the allegory as relating to both individuals and to philosophies / understanding. In that light, there are specific servants who are in charge of pruning people, but there are many others who participate in the pruning of "bad fruit" that is not people.
I think all of us need to be aware of the possibility of that type of fruit growing in the vineyard (and, especially, in local areas within the vineyard) and be willing to assit in that type of pruning.
I would see it as more pruning out the bad parts within ourselves, not letting the weeds or false doctrines come up in the soil that should be feeding us and our testimonies, and making sure there is room for us to grow in ways that The Lord desires.
Most of the time that is a fairly internal process, but it does require us to refuse the seeds of weeds, offered as false doctrine, even if it comes from other members, and it requires us to have enough fertilizer and nutrients to help feed the testimonies of others, after they have had to rip out large parts of their own trees or orchard, when they realize that false doctrine has invaded and they ask for help.
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