The Church is True Everywhere

Scott, Soren, and I are still visiting family in Illinois and yesterday we attended church at my in-laws ward.

It was a wonderful meeting. I was comforted to find that, even while away from my usual routine and predictable surroundings, my church meetings are pretty much the same: rejuvinating.

While some people may joke that the church is more true in Utah, that's just not the case. We really can rely on the presentation of true doctrine and exactness of sacred ordinances wherever we go.

And, while trying to figure out why this amazed me so much, I realized that it hasn't always been the case.

In the years following the death of Christ, His church was definitely more true in some places than others. Or at least, some doctrines were better preserved in some places than others. In fact, the epistles seem to suggest that nearly everywhere had major doctrinal issues. Even before world-wide apostacy, some congregations twisted the doctrine of Christ and then disceminated their warped teaches. Sometimes they went uncorrected for long stretches of time. Paul was constantly trying to correct funny ideas people had allowed to corrupt the church in their area.

In the early days of the restored church, the saints were commanded to gather in one place, which helped to keep the gospel standard. It wasn't until communication and travel improved that we were admonished to build up Zion where we were.

And now, with near-instantaneous communication and ease of world-wide travel, we can have a church of God that is consistent throughout the world. Our doctrines are no longer subject to regional boundaries and the whims of misguided Christians. The truth can be uniformly presented the entire world over and the same Spirit can touch hearts in many tongues and lands.

And I can't tell the difference between a meeting in Utah and one in Illinois. That's amazing! Surely the Lord's hand is in this work.