D&C 53 — Algernon Sidney Gilbert Called to Forsake the World and Serve as Agent

I have a piece of cherry wood on my bench that I stripped down to bare wood last week. It had three layers of old varnish on it, dark and cracked. I spent an afternoon with a scraper and some sandpaper taking it all off. Underneath was the grain I had been looking for. The varnish was not part of the wood. It was something that had been added, and it had to go before the wood could be used for anything.

D&C 53 is about stripping away the varnish. The Lord called a man named Algernon Sidney Gilbert and told him to forsake the world. Not to adjust it or manage it or find a comfortable balance with it. To forsake it. Then He gave him a specific job.

Who Was Algernon Sidney Gilbert in D&C 53

Algernon Sidney Gilbert was an early convert to the Church. He had a strong desire to serve, and the Lord responded with a direct revelation. The section is short, only six verses, but it covers everything Gilbert needed to know. The call and the qualification, along with the office and the warning.

The Lord starts by telling Gilbert to forsake the world.

Behold, I say unto you, my servant Algernon Sidney Gilbert, that I have heard your prayers; and you shall be ordained unto the office of an elder, and shall be an agent unto the church for the land of Missouri.

— D&C 53:3

That is the first thing. Before the ordination, before the assignment, before anything else, Gilbert had to let go of whatever held him to the world. The Lord does not define what that meant for Gilbert specifically. He leaves it open. But the command is absolute.

I have thought about that word, forsake, for a long time. It is a strong word. It does not mean reduce or moderate or keep at a safe distance. It means leave behind. In the shop, when I strip a piece of wood, I do not stop when most of the varnish is gone. I keep going until the bare wood shows. A little bit of old finish left behind will ruin the new coat.

What Does It Mean to Forsake the World in D&C 53

After the call to forsake the world, the Lord tells Gilbert to be ordained an elder and to serve as an agent for the Church. An agent in the early Church was someone trusted to handle the temporal affairs. Collecting funds and purchasing land, plus coordinating supplies. The kind of work that does not make it into the sermons but keeps the church running.

I find that combination interesting. Forsake the world, then manage the Church's money. The Lord was not asking Gilbert to retreat from all contact with the world. He was asking him to change his relationship to it. The money and the logistics were not the problem. The attachment was.

I wrote about the pattern of order in the early Church in an earlier article on D&C 52, and the same principle shows up here. The Lord calls specific people for specific tasks. Gilbert was not called to preach but to manage, and both were needed.

Meaning of Serving as an Agent for the Church

The Lord also gives Gilbert a warning about pride, and that warning sits right next to the call to be an agent. I do not think the placement is accidental. Handling money and logistics for the Church comes with a specific kind of temptation. The temptation to think that the resources are yours to direct. The temptation to believe that your judgment about temporal matters is more important than spiritual direction.

The Lord addresses that directly. He tells Gilbert to beware of pride and not to seek the praise of the world. The job was not about Gilbert. It was about the work.

I have seen that principle play out in my own life. I work in payments infrastructure, which is not glamorous. The systems I build sit underneath other people's products. When they work, nobody notices, but when they break, everyone notices. That is the nature of supporting work, necessary and invisible. Gilbert's role was the same, and he was the infrastructure. The preaching and the baptizing got the attention. The agent made sure there was money to buy the land and food to feed the missionaries. Both were essential but only one was visible.

D&C 53 Lessons on Humility and Calling

If Gilbert is faithful and humble, the Lord will be with him. That is the pattern in almost every early revelation. The call comes with a condition. The condition is faithfulness, and the promise is the Lord's presence.

I keep a jar of stripped varnish on a shelf in the shop. It is a reminder that the old finish has to come off before the new one can go on. The wood underneath is the same wood it always was. The varnish was just covering it.

Gilbert had to strip away the world to find out what he was really made of. The same is true for anyone who takes a calling seriously. The calling does not add anything to you. It removes what does not belong.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who was Algernon Sidney Gilbert

Algernon Sidney Gilbert was an early convert to the Church who received a revelation in D&C 53. The Lord called him to be an elder and to serve as an agent for the Church's temporal affairs.

What does the Lord mean by telling Gilbert to forsake the world

In this context, it means to let go of worldly ambitions and materialistic desires that conflict with the requirements of the gospel. The command is absolute and comes before the assignment.

What was the role of an agent in the early Church

An agent was someone trusted to manage the financial and temporal logistics of the Church. This included collecting funds and purchasing land, plus coordinating supplies. The role was essential but largely invisible.

Why does the Lord warn Gilbert about pride

Handling the Church's temporal affairs comes with the temptation to think the resources are yours to direct. The warning about pride is a reminder that the work belongs to the Lord, not to the agent.

How does D&C 53 apply to modern church callings

The same pattern applies. Every calling requires stripping away whatever holds you to the world. The calling does not add status. It removes distractions and reveals what you are made of.

The jar of stripped varnish is still on the shelf. I look at it sometimes and remember that the wood was there the whole time. It just needed to be uncovered.

-- D.