Recommending to God

Behold, thou knowest the wickedness of this people; thou knowest that they are without principle, and past feeling. . . Behold, my son, I cannot recommend them unto God lest he should smite me. But behold, my son, I recommend thee unto God, and I trust in Christ that thou wilt be saved; and I pray unto God that he will spare thy life, to witness the return of his people unto him, or their utter destruction; for I know that they must perish except they repent and return unto him. - Moroni 9:20-22

I happened to read this verse as part of my daily scripture study the other night, and it reminded me of a thought I had a while ago. This is an epistle from Mormon to his son Moroni, and he uses the word recommend rather curiously. This is a bit of speculation on my behalf, but I find it pretty interesting that Mormon seems to be judging the worthiness of people -- both the Nephites in general and his son Moroni in particular.

Of course, being a prophet Mormon was the presiding priesthood leader of his day. I draw a parallel with our presiding local priesthood leaders -- bishops, who also judge the worthiness of the people of their jurisdiction and issue them recommends to enter the temple. Notice the parallel I'm noticing?

With this in mind, Mormon's words should bring us new understanding of what it really means to hold a temple recommend. It isn't a "ticket" to enter the temple. It's our priesthood leader literally recommending us to God as worthy candidates of the blessings of the Lord. I suppose that's one reason why it's important to be worthy of temple recommends even if we can't actually attend the temple for a particular reason, such as if physical distress prevents us from leaving the house or if we live too far away from the temple to actually attend (which thankfully doesn't apply to nearly as many people in the world anymore). I hope we all remember the sacredness not just of the temple but of our temple recommends.