That All May Be Edified Of All

As most of you know, from October 2006 until August 2008, I had the pleasure to work for BYU's Education in Zion Exhibit, an exhibit that seeks to tell the story of the Church's long educational tradition.  That experience shaped--and continues to shape--my life in several different ways.  When I first got the position, it was the cure to constant frustration and an answer to sincere prayers for employment.  After all, since history degrees are a little like aces (they are only useful if you have two or more), what does one really do with a history degree?  When I got that job, however, I had no clue how profoundly it would change my life.

Education in Zion did far more than just give me a thesis topic and provide me with a crash course in actual historical research.  It brought me into contact with some of the finest scholars and best friends I have ever had.  It's hard to describe just what working at the exhibit was like, other than to say that it was a little piece of Zion.  I believe this was the result of both the nature of the topic we were studying and the spirituality and the Christlike attitude of our director, Brother C. Terry Warner.  At every meeting, I felt like I was valued, which caused me to want to work harder so that I would have something to bring to the table.  In of the fact that Terry is a world renowned scholar and one of the most brilliant men that I have ever met, he treated us all as colleagues rather than student employees and cheap labor.

It would be impossible for me to detail all of the things that I learned from working for Education in Zion, but this past week I've been thinking about one particularly important lesson.  Although most of the School of the Prophets research had been conducted long before I arrived at Education in Zion, I still had several opportunities to learn more about that unique institution.  In the process, I began to understand a little about the Lord's message to the Saints in 1832, when He said, "Appoint among yourselves a teacher, and let not all be spokesmen at once; but let one speak at a time and let all listen unto his sayings, that when all have spoken that all may be edified of all, and that every man may have an equal privilege" (D&C 88:122).

I suppose the reason I have been thinking so much about this verse lately is because it runs so contrary to the way of the world.  In my graduate school seminars, I find that I feel a constant need to prove to everyone in the room that I belong there.  On the surface, I think that I am trying to add to the lecture and make a difference in the seminar.  But underneath the surface, my real intent remains self-centered.  Unresolved, such self-centered attitudes creep into every aspect of our lives.  For instance, this past Thursday at Institute and again today at Church, I found myself making comments in my classes in much the same way that I do in my seminars.  Rather than seeking to make comments that had the purpose of edifying others around me and building up the Kingdom of God, I was trying to make comments that made myself sound smart.  

After one such comment, a thought took my mind back to Education in Zion and back to the School of the Prophets.  I instantly remembered how Terry had treated me.  Because he had valued us all equally, Education in Zion had become a work of collaboration rather than competition.  As a result, I felt like we all grew together.  There was no need to try to show off because we all needed one another in order to make the project a success.  Terry had put into practical application the principle that the Lord had given to lay the foundation of the School of the Prophets and ultimately to lay the foundation of Zion.

Today was a clear reminder of these vital principles to me.  We are not here to try and make ourselves look or sound smarter than anyone else.  We are here to uplift, to build, and to edify our brothers and sisters, and in so doing, to build up God's Kingdom.

Brett