Are they servants of the Lord or celebrities?
- posted: 03 July 2007
- scrolllifestyle@byui.edu
Students at BYU-Idaho lined up by the hundreds to shake Elder Oaks’ hand after the Nov. 7, 2006 devotional. Usually, however, BYU-I students do not line up to shake the hands of other devotional speakers.
The apostles are called to be “special witnesses of the name of Christ in all the world,” said L. Tom Perry, member of the Quorm of the Twleve. For this reason, some students may be more prone to listen to them than to other men.
Some students aare concerned that other students are not showing the same amount of respect for all devotional speakers.
“I think that it is important to show a certain amount of respect for the apostles when they come to speak us. However, I feel that it is important that we attend all the devotionals we can and show those speakers respect as well,” said Amber Cook, a sophomore from Brigham City, Utah.
To church members, apostles are special men called of God. Some students are unaware of what would be considered proper conduct in the presence of an apostle of the Lord.
Rob Eaton, a professor of religious education at BYU-I, said what he felt were some of the “do’s and dont’s” of how to act around prophets and apostles.
“We should treat the apostles as servants of the Lord—as prophets, seers and revelators. And that means that we will take their counsel very seriously, pay close attention to what they say, probably pay more attention to what they say than to other people who do not hold that office. Because of the sacred nature of the office we shouldn’t do things like ask them for autographs,” Eaton said.
While waiting in line to shake Elder Oaks hand, one student commented to his company that he was going to ask Elder Oaks a question that only an apostle could answer.
As he approached Elder Oaks, he proceeded to ask him the question. Elder Oaks patiently listened and then told him to pray and listen to the Spirit. “I don’t know the answer, but I know how to get the answer,” Elder Oaks said.
Levi Jaynes, a sophomore from Filer, Idaho, said that one way in which students view apostles as “spiritual celebrities” is by expecting miracles from them due to their callings.
“When we think that they are going to receive individual revelation for us, we sometimes forget that they have already given that authority to your bishops, or your elders quorum presidents, or home teachers. We think we can jump the ranks to get a more direct answer from God if we ask an apostle,” Jaynes said.
According to Truman G. Madsen, in his book, Joseph Smith the Prophet, Joseph Smith seemed to spend half of his time trying to convince men that he was a prophet and the other half alerting the Saints that he was also a “mere mortal,” one capable of making mistakes and having opinions of his own. 
