D. Todd Christofferson on the blessings of the Lord's Church

Elder D. Todd Christofferson (1945- ) was called to the Seventy in 1993, and as a member of the Quorum of Twelve Apostles in 2008.

"How does His Church accomplish the Lord's purposes? It is important to recognize that God's ultimate purpose is our progress. His desire is that we continue 'from grace to grace, until [we receive] a fulness' (D&C 93:13) of all He can give. That requires more than simply being nice or feeling spiritual. It requires faith in Jesus Christ, repentance, baptism of water and of the Spirit, and enduring in faith to the end (see 2 Nephi 31:17–20). One cannot fully achieve this in isolation, so a major reason the Lord has a church is to create a community of Saints that will sustain one another in the 'strait and narrow path which leads to eternal life' (2 Nephi 31:18) ....

"In the Church we not only learn divine doctrine; we also experience its application. As the body of Christ, the members of the Church minister to one another in the reality of day-to-day life. All of us are imperfect; we may offend and be offended. We often test one another with our personal idiosyncrasies. In the body of Christ, we have to go beyond concepts and exalted words and have a real 'hands-on' experience as we learn to 'live together in love' (D&C 42:45).

"This religion is not concerned only with self; rather, we are all called to serve. We are the eyes, hands, head, feet, and other members of the body of Christ, and even 'those members... which seem to be more feeble, are necessary' (1 Corinthians 12:22). We need these callings, and we need to serve."

- D. Todd Christofferson, "Why the Church," General Conference, October 2015, Sunday afternoon session
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Elder Christofferson's message responds to many in our time who question the necessity of a formal, organized church. They claim they can follow Christ's teachings (or other moral or ethical values) and live good and worthwhile lives without the structure of a formal organization. While that is true to some extent, it neglects an important aspect of religion: the application of the teachings, some of which are facilitated and enabled in the formalized setting of the church organization.

It's not just about "self" — it's about "serve." And that kind of service, Elder Christofferson teaches, is facilitated by the Church in ways that don't exist outside of it. What a blessing to be able to take advantage of that privilege!