The Confounding Duties of Mormon Deacons

03 July

Ephesians 4:14; “That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive;

Sacrament 3Mormon Doctrine, p. 183; “Deacons are “appointed to watch over the church, to be standing ministers unto the church.” (D. & C. 84:111.) They are to assist the teachers in all their duties… although they can neither “baptize, administer the sacrament, or lay on hands.” (D. & C. 20:57-60.) Among other things, it is the practice of the Church to assign them to pass the sacrament…Many of their assigned functions are comparable to those performed by the Levites of old. (Doctrines of Salvation, vol. 3, pp. 111-114.)” – Bruce R. McConkie

This must have been a pretty important rule if Smith thought enough of it to make it “scripture”, so we’re asking the proverbial “why” on this one…

Why does it seem like the Church talks out of both sides of its mouth? They’re contradicting themselves before their next breath!

Everything is much easier when we follow God’s guidelines in His word, which makes one wonder why the Church doesn’t utilize the very thing they profess a belief in!

Acts 6:2-4; “Then the twelve called the multitude of the disciples unto them, and said, It is not reason that we should leave the word of God, and serve tables. 3 Wherefore, brethren, look ye out among you seven men of honest report, full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business. 4 But we will give ourselves continually to prayer, and to the ministry of the word.”

From its onset, the early  church was growing fast and needed a cohesive plan whereby membership would enjoy seeing continued success. To that end, men who volunteered to be deacons were set apart to care for various needs.

While the apostles went out to feed the flock with God’s word, deacons were assigned in groups of seven to meet the physical needs of the Church in Jerusalem. In the book of Acts we see how they began implementing plans to meet the rudimentary needs of food distribution, shelter, clothing, and taking care of those with no ambulatory skills.

Further into the life of the church, Paul gave the guidelines of the deacon’s duties and their roles. 1 Timothy 3:8-13 Today, the body of Christ is run in much the same way as it was 2,000 years ago. While it sounds busy, everything was designed to keep things running smoothly, preventing the mass confusion found the LDS Church!

On the extreme other side of this scenario, actions of the LDS Church have provided a sad visual of what not to do. The following synopsis speaks to the confusion we see in their church.

Encyclopedia of Mormonism, p. 361; “Twelve-year-old LDS males usually receive the Aaronic Priesthood and are ordained deacons, continuing in that priesthood office until age fourteen. Deacons receive assignments from their bishops that may include distributing the Sacrament to the congregation…” – Author: Ronald L. Bramble

Are the twelve year old boys spiritually qualified to fulfill the biblical standard of a deacon?

Why is the Church giving so much authority to these boys who are barely out of elementary school?

Why are they given the position to “…watch over the church’? Specifically, what are they watching/looking over? Are they trained and qualified to notice any irregularities that may arise in a classroom, or Sacrament Meeting?

As stated earlier, Smith must have felt this was an important matter, and even went so far as to claim God told him to write scripture concerning it. The following prophecy was issued in the summer of 1829.

D&C 20:58; “But neither teachers nor deacons have authority to baptize, administer the sacrament, or lay on hands.”

One must ask a few questions –

Does any of this sound biblical?

Why is a 12 year old boy given this much spiritual authority?

Are they, or are they not, allowed to serve the Sacrament?

Why has the Church contradicted themselves in this?

If these young boys didn’t pick up on the fact that little kids shouldn’t be taking communion, just how well equipped are they in fulfilling the duties of overseeing other things in the Church? BTW – in Christianity, the overseers are elders.

We want to be clear in this – we’re not here to dog on, or bash the Mormon people! We’re very concerned for their spiritual welfare and praying they come to a true saving knowledge of the real Jesus!

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