Why do I trust the general leaders in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints?

President Russell M. Nelson

I have been thinking about why people want more "transparency" with the finances or history of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. For one thing, these people seem to have an exaggerated view of their "rights", of their abilities, and of their capacity to make judgements. When you poke into things you know nothing about and haughtily announce "errors", you can certainly get an ego rush, but it seems to be more than that.  

I think that we each see the world through the lenses of our own experience. If we are good, we see the good. If we are selfish, we see others as selfish. This makes me wonder if these people who want to personally review all financial records of the Church are so sure they will find corruption and misuse of funds, because this is all they know. They see the world as corrupt and all the people in it. They can not comprehend good people, nor can they even accept that
there are good people. They know they wouldn't resist the temptation to take funds for their own use and don't believe that anyone else could either, therefore,  based on their own personal experience, the Church leaders must be corrupt. How can they accept that it is otherwise? If other people truly are noble and honest, then these "inquirers" must accept themselves as weak selfish beings. What a conundrum! They must prove that everyone and everything is dishonest and bad, and not only that, everyone must be far worse than their own level of corruption. Only by seeing everyone as "lower" than they are, can they maintain a sense that they are "better" than normal human beings.

Without this need to see corruption and evilness in others, I can perceive the leaders of the Church more clearly. I can look at their lives and records and see people who have sacrificed their time and energies for many years in service to others. They have done this without any financial compensation. I also see people who were all successful in their careers, and who all gave up very good incomes to serve the Lord. They know that their service will last until they die. They know there will be no retirement for them. 

Our current President of the Church, President Russell M. Nelson, at the height of his career, gave up being a world renowned heart surgeon to serve in the Church. He had a huge income.  He certainly didn't give it up, because he thought he would make more money serving in the Church! *

Though some people may be reticent to admit that there are good people in the world, that does not change the fact that they are there. This is why I trust the leaders in the Church. I have seen their character, and examined their life record of service. Of course, I admire and trust people who have proven their integrity. 


*note - only full time leaders of the Church or Church employees receive any salary; their salaries are far less than what they can get in the private sector (I've know computer techs who quit working for the Church, because they could make far more working in private companies); leaders living allowance often includes their traveling expenses which are considerable; leaders are not paid from tithing donations, but from the business investments of the Church 

photo: https://www.lds.org/media-library/images/russell-nelson-official-portrait-2018-2044670?lang=eng