A person of action…

During our Sunday School discussion today, someone remarked that they’d been sitting there, listening to people who had “all this knowledge about the scriptures”, which she didn’t, but thinking to herself that at least she was a “woman of action”. It was a little bit funny, because the teacher had been saying that Judaism is focused more on action than spirituality, and that this was, perhaps, one reason why Stephen told the Pharisees/other Jewish leaders that they “did always resist the Holy Ghost”. I think Stephen meant something else, but it’s an interesting idea.

So, this sister had been thinking that seeing herself as a “woman of action” was a good thing – it could stand in for a lack of scriptural knowledge – and then someone was saying that being too focused on action, and not enough on inner spirituality, as he interpreted not “resisting the Holy Ghost” to mean, was a reason for their inability to recognise or accept the truth. So now she had nothing…. 🤭

Her comment/perspective bothered me, though. ‘Knowing things’ about the scriptures isn’t just a gift that some lucky people have, showered down upon them from heaven, and she just happens not to have it – like a personality trait. Anyone who knows anything ‘extra’ about the scriptures knows it because they’ve gone looking for it. They’ve read articles, or researched the footnotes, or looked up talks from Church leaders. They’ve watched videos or read books. They’ve prayed and received understanding. They’re interested, so they go and find out.

This woman could also do that, if she chose to. I’m not sure what she means by being a “woman of action”, but it sounded like she considered it a replacement for having scriptural/spiritual knowledge. What is ‘acting’, as opposed to knowing or seeking? What is she acting in? Perhaps she means she gives service to others, or likes to organise things. Perhaps she means that she does all the daily things that we all do. Is this a replacement for seeking spiritual knowledge? Is that seeking, the spending of time and effort on that, not acting? And can you only do one of them? Do you have to choose between ‘action’ and seeking understanding?

I know that there are people who look down on those who care about seeking this sort of knowledge, as though it shows a lack of practical application, and is a form of self-righteousness and work of the mind only, not of the hands. That ‘practical’ action is more worthy/noble. I think this comes from both pride and misunderstanding. A major reason that I love the Gospel is because it is both magnificent and grand in its spiritual implications, and wonderfully practical. It fills both needs – it’s complete. That’s because it is of God, and God is perfect – complete, whole – so everything He does is also perfect.

There’s no need to try to separate spiritual and ‘practical’ action. We must do them both. Failure to do either one results in an incomplete Christianity. As Joseph Smith said, we cannot be saved in ignorance. But we must also learn to love – and love is active. So, we need to be both spiritually – including scripturally – knowledgeable, and actively loving. Ultimately, when each is done correctly, they’re inseparable and naturally lead into the other.