Jacob 1 - That We Might Persuade Them to Come Unto Christ I'm taking an online economics class right now, which prompted me to think of the definition of economics in the context of the scriptures. Economics is the study of the allocation of scarce resources. In the case of Nephi and his successor Jacob, the plates upon which they engraved their record was a scarce resource. They were costly to make and difficult to engrave, and instilling a tradition of passing them through generations was surely cumbersome. Recognizing the great importance of spiritual things and the challenge of maintaining records, Nephi instructed Jacob to prioritize religious instruction saying, " if there were preaching which was sacred, or revelation which was great, or prophesying, that I should engraven the heads of them upon these plates, and touch upon them as much as it were possible, for Christ’s sake, and for the sake of our people" (Jacob 1:4). This priority was not only reflecte...
After his people had covenanted with God, King Benjamin made a record and set us a system to help support them in their decision. "King Benjamin thought it was expedient ... that he should take the names of all those who had entered into a covenant with God to keep his commandments" (Mosiah 6:1). There are a number of places in the scriptures, particularly in the Old Testament, where prophets list their genealogy. I have always been puzzled by these passages and still am not quite sure what I am supposed to take away from these passages and how they are supposed to help me draw closer to God. The best I have come up with so far is that God is teaching me a meta-lesson about the importance of record keeping.
The church keeps many records, and creates and maintains a record for each member of the church. Surely God knows who we are and does not need our name to be on a list or in a database in order for Him to be mindful of us. So why are membership records important? King Benjamin give a clue in one of the other actions he took after his address. He "also had appointed priests to teach the people, that thereby they might hear and know the commandments of God, and to stir them up in remembrance of the oath which they had made" (Mosiah 6:3). He created an organization of teachers to help instruct and encourage his people.
Not only was King Benjamin leveraging the power of social motivation, he instituted a system that was transformative by design. If I have a running partner and I make plans to meet them on Saturday at 6:30, I am much more likely to exercise on a rainy morning. Similarly, the structure and organization of the church is designed to nudge us to keep the commandments and grow closer to God. Even more than that, as we participate in this organization, we have many opportunities to practice love, forgiveness, patience, communication, and sacrifice. The same is even more true within our marriages and homes. We are meant to learn on each other's time, and the structure of church and family give us opportunities to grow.
Application Questions
How has the organization and sociality of the church helped and changed you? If you do not participate in an organized religion, what do you do in your life to influence others and be influenced by them for good?
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