Leadership
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your position. But you greatly err in giving to one man’s mind and
judgment that authority and influence which God has invested in His
church in the judgment and voice of the General Conference.
When this power which God has placed in the church is accredited
to one man, and he is invested with the authority to be judgment for
other minds, then the true Bible order is changed. Satan’s efforts upon
such a man’s mind will be most subtle and sometimes overpowering,
because through this mind he thinks he can affect many others. Your
position on leadership is correct, if you give to the highest organized
authority in the church what you have given to one man. God never
designed that His work should bear the stamp of one man’s mind and
one man’s judgment.
The great reason why Brethren B and C are at this time deficient
in the experience they should now have is because they have not been
self-reliant. They have shunned responsibilities because in assuming
them their deficiencies would be brought to the light. They have been
too willing to have my husband lead out and bear responsibilities,
and have allowed him to be mind and judgment for them. These
brethren are weak where they should be strong. They have not dared
to follow their own independent judgment, lest they should make
mistakes and be blamed for it, while they have stood ready to be
tempted and to make my husband responsible if they thought they
could see mistakes in his course. They have not lifted the burdens with
him. They have referred continually to my husband, making him bear
the responsibilities which they should have shared with him, until they
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are weak in those qualifications wherein they should be strong. They
are weak in moral power when they might be giants, qualified to stand
as pillars in the cause of God.
These brethren have not self-reliance, or confidence that God will
indeed lead them if they follow the light He has given them. God never
intended that strong, independent men of superior intellect should cling
to others for support as the ivy clings to the oak. All the difficulties,
the backsets, the hardships, and the disappointments which God’s
servants will meet in active labor will only strengthen them in the
formation of correct characters. By putting their own energies of mind
to use, the obstacles they meet will prove to them positive blessings.
They will gain mental and spiritual muscle to be used upon important
occasions with the very best results. They will learn self-reliance and