Many churches have ministers or pastors that perform their duties as a career. The congregations of these churches typically benefit from the instruction of a speaker that is eloquent, passionate, and clear. The storytelling skills of these individuals is typically quite impressive. Successful pastors can hold the attention of large and even divers audiences for long periods of time.
Mormons do not have paid clergy. The leadership of the church comes from the membership. Our Bishops and High Priests must typically maintain separate jobs in addition to their ecclesiastical duties in order to support themselves. While there are many advantages to the all-volunteer system, training in and passion for public speaking are not always among them.
Even in cases where leaders are gifted speakers the typical Sunday service provides speaking opportunities to members of the congregation. This means that almost any person could be called upon to give a talk. The result? Mediocrity....
Many congregations will have a youth speaker that will give a 5-minute talk, followed by two adult speakers (often a married couple) that will each give talks between 10 and 15 minutes.
Frequently youth speakers will read a story from a periodical and perhaps a few applicable verses from the scriptures until their assigned time is expired. This is not necessarily a bad technique for public speakers as young as 12, although forming a habit of just reading a few items that are probably related to the assigned subject is not good practice.
The true mediocrity appears more frequently in the adult talks. Many times, the technique and even the content is identical to the youth speakers with the exception of lengthy and largely pointless introductions, and recitals of the moments when a member of the Bishopric contacted the speaker to give them the speaking assignment. These recitals almost always involve the speaker talking about their loathing of public speaking and end with the phrase "but I'm grateful for the opportunity to speak to you today..."
Another popular technique of mediocrity is to share the process of talk preparation. This method usually begins with the phrase "...as I was looking for what to talk about..." The speaker then goes on to talk about how they looked in the dictionary, they searched for talks that other people had given, they looked in the scriptures, or they talked to someone they knew. This type of speaking rarely amounts to little more than stalling. In fact, most of the techniques used in speaking revolve around a central goal of filling the air with words for the requested duration of time.
While it is good to have some sources and quote some scripture, speaking should never exclusively be recycling other peoples thoughts. In between reading quotes from church leaders or other sources, the speaker inserts their "original" commentary of "I really like this quote/story/scripture." This is especially a problem when the assigned talk subject is... a talk. These produce the worst results and the greatest chance that the speaker will just read large portions of someone else's talk, with little passion, insight, and typically with average articulation.
No wonder so many LDS services are mediocre.
Would anyone imagine Jesus speaking to people using these techniques? It might start something like this abbreviated hypothetical version of a sermon (no blasphemy intended):
Hello everyone... I hope you'll bear with me today as I have been asked to speak to you... I thought I would start by introducing myself. I'm Jesus. I've lived most of my life in Nazareth, but I was actually born in Bethlehem and even lived in Egypt for a while while Herod was... well... killing babies. I have a lot of experience in carpentry. So that's me!
I was asked by my Father to talk to you about the gospel... I thought a long time about it. In fact, I've fasted and prayed for a long time, and even been to the temple as I thought about what I would say. I think that this assignment is going to be tough, but I'm grateful for the opportunity to speak to you today.
The hypothetical sermon would then contain mostly quotes from the scriptures followed perhaps by the "I really like this scripture. It means a lot." as the only original material.
The truth is that Jesus spoke boldly, passionately, and persuasively. He wasn't just trying to 'get through' his sermons, or speak so as to fill an assigned interval of time. He was speaking to persuade people to understand and to do what was right. (Matthew 5:17-19) He was incredibly bold and taught ideas that were consistent with the law and the prophets, but with new and original insight. (Matthew 5:38-44) He made it clear that his words were not simply to entertain, but his council was to be followed. (Matthew 7:24-27) When he concluded, his audience was amazed by the power with which he addressed them. Matthew writes "And it came to pass, when Jesus had ended these sayings, the people were astonished at his doctrine: For he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes." (Matthew 7:28-29)
The message of the Mormon church is bold. Its purpose is not to fill a time interval in Sunday services, it is to change the world. It represents the ultimate transforming power that makes bad men good and good men better. There is no need to dilute the core truths with mediocrity.
Jesus Christ is the son of God. He is alive and well, and he is guiding his church. Joseph Smith saw him, and received power from him just as the apostles of old. By his power, the Book of Mormon was translated, that we might have a purely prophetic book by which we can be made to understand faith, penitence, baptism, the Holy Ghost, and all important aspects of his unfailing kingdom. He has given men the power to act in his name to spread his teachings and will to every nation, kindred, tongue, and people.
With so much powerful and profound truth, it is a shame to see mediocrity in talks and lessons. The purpose of any talk should be to persuade men to come to Christ and to do his will. Next to that, the speaker's brief biography, their methods of preparation, their liking of scriptures, quotes, and stories, or any stalling techniques are trivial, boring, and mediocre.
While no one can teach or speak as well as Jesus did, it sure would help if more people tried.
