In a March 2003 Ensign article “Looking Beyond the Mark,” Elder Quentin L. Cook, then of the Quorum of the Seventy shared:
“Elder Bruce R. McConkie (1915–85) of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles pointed out that Jacob’s teachings with respect to looking beyond mark applied to the Jews of Jesus’ day:
“They took the plain and simple things of pure religion and added to them a host of their own interpretations; they embellished them with added rites and performances; and they took a happy, joyous way of worship and turned it into a restrictive, curtailing, depressive system of rituals and performances. The living spirit of the Lord’s law became in their hands the dead letter of Jewish ritualism.”(6 below)
Doctrine usually answers the question “why?” Principles usually answer the question “what?” Whenever we emphasize how to do something without reference to why we do it or what we do, we risk looking beyond the mark. At the very least, we fall into the trap Paul described to the Corinthians: “For the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life” (2 Cor. 3:6).
Elder Dallin H. Oaks of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles has used the example of teaching our Aaronic Priesthood deacons the doctrines and principles of sacrament meeting so they will understand that the rules they follow (such as dressing appropriately and passing the sacrament in a nondistracting way) support what the Lord would have us accomplish in sacrament meeting (renewing our covenants and remembering the Atonement in a reverent manner).7 In many areas we are guided only by doctrines and principles rather than rules. The Prophet Joseph Smith taught, “I teach them correct principles, and they govern themselves.”(8 below) We are responsible to the Lord for how we respond in such situations.
Those who are committed to following rules without reference to doctrine and principle are particularly susceptible to looking beyond the mark. Equally dangerous are those who get mired in rules and are thus less willing to accept change resulting from continuous revelation.
The “Mark” Is Christ
When we look beyond the mark, we are looking beyond Christ, the only name under heaven whereby we might be saved. Elder Jeffrey R. Holland of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles said, “Jacob saw that the Jews would look ‘beyond the mark’ and stumble in their search for the Holy One of Israel, this literal Son of God to be known as Jesus Christ: ‘By the stumbling of the Jews they will reject the stone upon which they might build and have safe foundation.’”(9 below)
One of the great tragedies of our day is that many so-called Christian scholars refuse to accept the divinity of Jesus Christ. To some He is merely a great teacher. This is the ultimate example of looking beyond the mark. It happened in Jacob’s day, it happened in the meridian of time when the Savior was on the earth, and it is happening today when the gospel has been restored to the earth.
One of the great challenges of this life is to accept Christ for who He is: the resurrected Savior of the world, our Redeemer, our Lord and Master, our Advocate with the Father. When He is the foundation for all that we do and are, we avoid the theological blindness that results from looking beyond the mark, and we reap the glorious blessings He has promised us. “Come unto me, ye blessed,” He tells those who follow Him; “there is a place prepared for you in the mansions of my Father” (Enos 1:27). ~Elder Quentin L. Cook, ‘Looking Beyond the Mark.’
references
6. The Mortal Messiah, 4 vols. (1979–81), 1:238.
8. As quoted by John Taylor in Millennial Star, 15 Nov. 1851, 339.
9. Christ and the New Covenant: The Messianic Message of the Book of Mormon (1997), 72.
From the 2020 Come Follow Me Sunday School Manual for March 9-15, p. 42-44.
