What Is The Temporal Gospel?

1998 was an optimistic time.

Economic growth was strong, fueled by the rapid spread of the internet, and with the collapse of communism economic freedom was reaching parts of the world previously left behind.  The future looked bright.

My wife, Alice, and I were in our mid-thirties with four children, the youngest just over a year old.  Alice was a busy full-time mother caring for our children  and being a homemaker.  In addition to working full-time I had recently returned to school to study accounting.  I had a decent job but money was tight and we were both overloaded trying to hold everything together.

It was in this atmosphere that I attended the October 1998 Priesthood Session of General Conference.

In this meeting President Gordon B. Hinckley focused his remarks on temporal matters, stating that while he was not prophesying economic calamity:

“I am suggesting that the time has come to get our houses in order.”

He further stated,

“So many of our people are living on the very edge of their incomes.  In fact, some are living on borrowings.”

He spoke of growing up during the Great Depression and hoped we would never have to go through another such time, but counseled that we needed to prepare ourselves for hard times.

He warned against the dangers of debt and emphasized the joy that comes from avoiding it, declaring:

“What a wonderful feeling it is to be free of debt, to have a little money against a day of emergency put away where it can be retrieved when necessary.”

Then the prophet counseled:

“I urge you…to look to the condition of your finances. I urge you to be modest in your expenditures; discipline yourselves in your purchases to avoid debt to the extent possible. Pay off debt as quickly as you can, and free yourselves from bondage.”

President Hinckley powerfully concluded:

“This is a part of the temporal gospel in which we believe. May the Lord bless you…to set your houses in order. If you have paid your debts, if you have a reserve, even though it be small, then should storms howl about your head, you will have shelter for your wives and children and peace in your hearts. That’s all I have to say about it, but I wish to say it with all the emphasis of which I am capable.”

I went home and talked to Alice, and we resolved to make better decisions with our money.  We determined to avoid further debt, work to pay off the debt we had, and to save for the future.    

Within three years from President Hinckley’s talk the crash of the high-flying technology stocks and the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001 had put the United States in a recession. Within a decade the world had entered the worst recession since the Great Depression President Hinckley had discussed. 

Although I went through a period of unemployment in the early 2000s our family weathered the storm much better than we would have had we not heeded the warning of the prophet. 

I heard President Hinckley give this talk in conference and I have read it, and taught it, many times since.  However, I was so focused on his actual counsel that I didn’t notice until recently that he had given a very interesting and powerful name to the principles he was teaching. 

He had called them “part of the temporal gospel in which we believe.”

So what is the temporal gospel?

From the beginning church leaders have consistently taught a few simple principles to govern us in our temporal affairs.  The principles of the temporal gospel include:

• • Pay an honest tithe and a generous fast offering
  • Work hard and do what is necessary to be self-reliant and meet your family’s temporal needs
  • Use a budget to plan your temporal affairs
  • Be modest in your purchases
  • Avoid debt if possible
  • If you are in debt, pay it off as quickly as you can
  • Save some money for the future
  • Be grateful for what you have and don’t covet what others have
  • If you are blessed temporally, help others

If we do our best to live these principles we are promised help from the Lord in meeting our temporal needs.  We are not promised riches.

Wealth is not a sign of divine favor and poverty is not a sign of divine punishment.  In fact, the scriptures make it clear that wealth is often accompanied by serious spiritual challenges.

So how important are these temporal principles?  In pondering this question I identified six great truths pertaining to the temporal gospel.

All Things Are Spiritual

Doctrine and Covenants 29:34 states:

“Wherefore, verily I say unto you that all things unto me are spiritual, and not at any time have I given unto you a law which was temporal;”

Because the temporal gospel focuses on temporary, material things, as opposed to eternal things, we tend to discount its importance.  This scripture reminds us that it is dangerous to think that way. 

The temporal gospel is not separate from the spiritual gospel, but part of it.  Since all things are spiritual, temporal decisions have spiritual implications.

Just as it is dangerous to put too little emphasis on the temporal gospel, it is also dangerous to put too much emphasis on it.  Temporal principles are part of the gospel, but not central to it.  It is a constant challenge to live in the temporal world while giving top priority to spiritual and eternal principles.

As you try to live the temporal gospel always consider how your financial decisions are affecting you spiritually.  How you manage your money isn’t the most important part of the gospel, but it does affect our happiness on earth and can have spiritual consequences.

Stewardship vs. Ownership

Psalms 24:1 teaches:

“The earth is the Lord’s, and the fullness thereof; the world and they that dwell therein.”

Stewardship is an important gospel principle that recognizes the fundamental truth that God owns everything.  We do not own anything but have been given responsibility – or stewardship – over a small portion of God’s creations.  Stewardship also requires accountability to the one who called you as a steward.    

Financial stewardship implies that we will do our best to manage our temporal possessions in a way that pleases God, and that we will have to account to Him on how we fulfill this responsibility.

Randy Alcorn  forcefully and concisely summed up financial stewardship in his book The Treasure Principle, stating simply:

“God owns everything – I’m his money manager.”

What an awesome responsibility.

Pride vs. Humility

President Ezra Taft Benson warned:

“When pride has a hold on our hearts, we lose our independence of the world and deliver our freedoms to the bondage of men’s judgment. The world shouts louder than the whispering of the Holy Ghost.”

Living the temporal gospel will lead to a degree of financial peace and security.  Sometimes it can lead to abundance and even wealth.  As this happens we become more vulnerable to the sin of pride.

The scriptures repeatedly warn against pride and counsel us to be humble.  This is because, as President Benson warned, pride makes it almost impossible to be sensitive to the promptings of the Holy Ghost.

As you live the temporal gospel it is important to be grateful for your blessings and to guard against pride.  We cannot afford to let temporal matters drown out spiritual guidance.

A great way to stay humble is to remember that you are a steward, not an owner.  The sin of pride cannot thrive in the soil of stewardship.

Place a Premium On the Future

A 2013 Deseret News article asked people to recall the best financial advice they had ever received.  One of those quoted was economist Natalie Gochnour, Associate Dean of the Eccles School of Business at the University of Utah, who recalled her father, physician Merrit H. Egan, teaching his eleven children to:

“Place a substantial premium on the future.”

These seven words are a great summary of the temporal gospel.  When we control our spending, pay off debt, and save we are placing a premium on the future.

Interestingly, the spiritual gospel also requires a willingness to sacrifice today for a future reward, or to “Place a substantial premium on eternity.”

In this way living the temporal gospel is great practice for obeying other commandments.  It takes discipline to live within your means and it takes discipline to become a disciple of Christ.

I also find it interesting that it is possible, both temporally and spiritually, to place a premium on the future without discounting the present.  This is because placing a premium on the future provides purpose, and purpose, more than anything else, promotes happiness.

Opposition In All Things

After reaching the Promised Land Lehi taught his son Jacob:

“For it must needs be, that there is an opposition in all things.  If not so…righteousness could not be brought to pass, neither wickedness, neither holiness nor misery, neither good nor bad (2 Nephi 2:10).”

Opposition is not punishment from God but a central part of His plan.  Life is not supposed to be easy and all of us will have our share of both temporal and spiritual opposition.  This is not only inevitable, but necessary.

One of the purposes of the temporal gospel is to help us prepare for future opposition and adversity before it comes.

The principles of the temporal gospel are simple and easy to understand, but difficult to live due to opposition.  Doing our best to live these principles will help us weather the financial opposition we will surely face.

Wisdom and Order

In Mosiah Chapter 4 King Benjamin is preaching to his people about caring for the poor.  In verse 27 he states:

“And see that all these things are done in wisdom and order; for it is not requisite that a man should run faster than he has strength.  And again, it is expedient that he should be diligent, that thereby he might win the prize; therefore, all things must be done in order.”

I have always found it comforting that we are not expected to do more than we can, but we are expected to be diligent.  As President Russell M. Nelson taught:

“The Lord likes effort…Once you’ve shown you’re willing to do your part, He will help you.”  

This principle applies to both temporal and spiritual endeavors. 

You are not going to be perfect with your money.  No one is.  Living the temporal gospel involves making dozens of decisions a day and we will all make mistakes.  Be patient with yourself but keep trying.  If you have a plan and are diligent you will make progress.

Conclusion

From the beginning Church leaders have been consistent in their counsel on temporal affairs.  The temporal gospel is part of the gospel and we should follow the counsel of prophets in temporal matters just as we do in spiritual matters.

In this blog I will share the counsel of leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints concerning the temporal gospel.  I will also write about scriptures that relate to the temporal gospel and explore other interesting issues relating to money and spirituality.

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