Priestcraft and Idolatry

The LDS Church has a rather unique definition of the term 'priestcraft'. A Book of Mormon prophet named Nephi tells us, "priestcrafts are that men preach and set themselves up for a light unto the world, that they may get gain and praise of the world" (2 Nephi 26:29). Sometimes people with good intentions see the value they can offer to others with their wisdom, faith, or other gifts God has given them, allow pride to creep in, and begin to set themselves up as a light to others. Rather than walk by the light of God, they begin to walk after their own light and fulfill the words of Isaiah: "Behold, all ye that kindle a fire, that compass yourselves about with sparks: walk in the light of your fire, and in the sparks that ye have kindled. This shall ye have of mine hand; ye shall lie down in sorrow." (Isaiah 50:11).

On the flip side, we may look up to leaders, whether political, religious, or whatever, and allow their influence to displace the influence of God as the primary influence in our lives. If we look up to someone so much that we become dependent on them in a moral, religious, intellectual, or other similar way, we may be in danger of allowing our regard for them to displace our worship of God. If anyone becomes more important to us than God, we have probably fallen into the trap of idolatry. God told Moses: "Thou shalt have no other gods before me" (Exodus 20:3). God didn't say that because He needs our worship to feel validated. He said it for our benefit. We need to look to Him in order to find truth, joy, and all that good stuff He offers us.

It occurred to me recently that priestcraft and idolatry are two sides of the same coin. On the one side, priestcraft is setting yourself up to be a god to someone else. On the other side, idolatry is looking up to someone as if they were God. Either one of these is harmful to all parties involved. Priestcraft may exist without idolatry (in which case, the priestcraft is unsuccessful and the would-be 'priest' probably ends up frustrated or clueless) and idolatry may exist without priestcraft (maybe a more common occurrence), but when they are combined, I think they tend to reinforce each other and all parties involved may go down in a spiral of pride and destruction.

I'm afraid both priestcraft and idolatry are alive and well in our world today. Though we don't bow down before statues of stone, golden calves, or other man-made deities, many of us do worship the works of our own hands (or the works of others). We may worship cars, jewelry, fancy clothes, or other status symbols. We may worship wealth, power, fame, prestige, praise, honor, etc. Or we may feel a sense of comfortable pride that we avoid all these things and yet still fail to keep our focus on the one Being who can teach us all truth and guide us into happiness and joy. Perhaps we worship leaders, whether political, religious, scientific, or otherwise. If our number one priority isn't God, we have probably fallen into the trap of idolatry. And if we seek to displace God in the life of someone else, perhaps someone who looks up to us, even our spouse or our own children, we are doing them and ourselves no favors. Idolatry and priestcraft sever us from the most important relationship in our lives. They can kill us spiritually. And yet I am convinced that they are very common.