This week, there was a firestorm over a policy clarification by the LDS church.
Due to the legalization of Gay Marriage in the US and other countries, new
situations have arisen that the church needed to answer enough that leaders
needed to make a blanket policy to keep the will of the Lord very clear. In
fine, gay marriage was defined as apostasy, and children of gay couples have
been given the privilege of choosing baptism for themselves after they are
legally able at the age of 18, so they don't have to ask their
"apostate" parents for consent. The reaction has been polarizing to
say the least. Most have acted as Nephi, humbly taking the revealed amendments
as God's will. Yet, many members have questioned, been angered, or felt ashamed
by giving ear to those who have pointed the finger of blame at the church!
Also, there are those who have been downright mean about it. I encountered a
few of these treasured souls on my Facebook post over the weekend. The gray areas
have faded to black. Which side of the line are you on? Here's my
admonishment to all those looking for answers:
THE BOOK OF MORMON: a guide for our time
Do you
think it is by chance that the Book begins with the story of a Prophet (Lehi)
receiving a hard revelation (to move his family from Jerusalem), and his
family's subsequent polar opposite reactions to that revelation? Nephi, humbly
submissive and trusting in the prophet, not only obeyed, but risked his life
numerous times for that revelation. Laman, full of pride, disagreed. He thought
he had a better plan, that Lehi was a visionary man. How, oh how, could
Jerusalem, that great city be destroyed? Well Lehi left Jerusalem in 600 BC, Jerusalem was plundered in 597 BC,
Nephi arrived in the Americas in 592 BC, and in 587 BC Solomon's Temple was
destroyed. Its quite possible Nephi had a temple constructed in the Americas
before Solomon's temple was ruined. Had Lehi listened to those pointing their
fingers and mocking, staying in Jerusalem, we wouldn't have the Book of Mormon.
As the
story goes, Nephi continued this habit of humility, and God helped him and his
progenitors through the 1000-year history, as long as they humbly sought God's
guidance. When deferring to God's will, they were blessed with peace, success,
clarity, revelation above their mind's origination and God made up for their
weaknesses by adding strength. When pride set in, as it did in the beginning
for Laman, they were left to their own human reasoning, without the vision and
eternal perspective. They became carnal, savage, cold, hateful and even blood-thirsty.
Laman leaves the safe haven of the gospel every chance he gets and he always
gets stung! How clear do the words need to be? Don't leave!!!
Like I
said I was bombarded today with haters. I was called every swearword in the
book for standing up for agreeing and voicing my support for the prophet...
wait... that kind of sounds familiar...
OH
YEAH! Lehi! Continuing on with the first story in the Book of Mormon, Lehi
speaks of a vision he received regarding the Tree of Life (1 Ne 8). In that vision Lehi,
guided by Christ, finds a tree with the most sensational fruit! After trying
it, he wants everyone he loves to try it as well! He looks for them and sees
a rod of iron along a strait and narrow path through the mists of darkness that
enshroud men. He sees his family and beckons them to come. Much of his family
arrives at the tree at eats the fruit, but the ever prideful Laman and Lemuel
refuse. His family, filled with joy, ushers in multitudes of others to come and
partake of the fruit and they do! Then (v. 27-28), in the distance, a great and
spacious building is described. "It was filled with people... in
the attitude of mocking, pointing their fingers towards those
who had come and partaken." I kind of imagine the Wynn in Las Vegas, with
Electronic Dance Music blaring out of it (that would get my attention for
sure). Some, after they had arrived AND partaken were "ashamed",
because they turned their eyes from the tree (which notably represents the Love
of God), quickly forget the sweetness of the fruit and are mesmerized by those
that are scoffing at them; and tragically, they fall
away into forbidden paths and are lost while seeking their way to that
floating building. How clear is this parallel?
Is it
by mistake that the first few pages of the Book of Mormon are there to remind
us that there are mists of darkness that will cloud our view to make it to
the tree, only to be defeated by the continuous grasping of the Rod of Iron
(The word of God)? Or that the Great and Spacious building (The World)
will always be there to mock those partaking weekly of God's love?
Thus, regarding the children who everyone is up in
arms about, let us notice (V. 23) "they who had commenced in the path did
lose their way, that they wandered off and were lost". Does this not
parallel the theoretical situation of an 8-year-old kid who has gay parents,
who outwardly oppose the prophet's counsel against their marriage; yes that
very prophet he will say he believes in during his interview before the
baptism. The day he "commences his path" in baptism, he will also go
home to a mist of confusion. Every single week for 10+ years, that child will
spend 165 hours in a home with parents who have acted in opposition to follow
the prophet (a commitment he made at baptism) and will spend 3 hours partaking
of eternal doctrines that oppose his gay parent's union. No matter the
faithfulness of his leaders, family and especially his parents, the odds of
such a child "holding to the rod" are nearly insurmountable. The
vision says this child would be "Ashamed" and "Lost in forbidden
paths." Is this new policy not a merciful one that would keep such torture
out of the life of an 8-year-old child?
How
wonderful is the Book of Mormon, translated by the miracle of a 3rd grade
education, with the depth of Deity. Is it not God that gave that humble
14-year-old boy Joseph an answer, because he trusted in the most recent
scripture given to him? How gracious is God to the humble who ask for help? In
contrast, how abandoned do the prideful feel when things don't go the way they
think they should.
Are you going to question the Prophet? From the depths of my
soul, I urge anyone who has any question whether the LDS church's policies are
"discriminatory, unfair, or uninspired" to crack open the Book of
Mormon (grab hold of the Rod), get on your knees (arrive at the tree), and
HUMBLY ask God if LDS leadership is inspired. Partake of the Fruit, I urge you!
You'll feel God's love wash over you, and you'll know. Keep
eating! And by all means, don't leave!
A TALE
OF PRIDE: 2 sisters and their fate
The topic of Apostasy hits close to home for me. I won't bore you with the personal details. I will however share what I have learned from a couple of personal experiences in dealing with apostate Mormons. I've learned to recognize the causes and effects, and how the choices of prideful parents can ripple through generations harming dozens.
First, is a true story about the beautiful families of two dynamic sisters and how pride affected one, and humility the other. To keep things anonymous, one was brunette (we'll represent the pride side with her) and one was blonde (lets represent the humble side with her). Get it? Dark Side vs. Light Side?
Both of these beautiful sisters were raised with high expectations and lived up to these expectations throughout their formative years. The brunette fell in love with a brilliant man. This man was so smart, he found he could smart his way through life without asking much help from God. A genius, he can tell you where every single scripture is on the page and quote it from memory. Prideful, this bright mind became self-dependent, needless of the opinions of others and thinking he himself knew the will of God. His way was the right way. He always sought positions and wanted everyone to know just how smart he was. His beautiful brunette wife and he began to raise a family. Money and appearance was always important to he and his children. They piled on the debt to try to appear wealthy before they had the means.
Right next door lived the blonde sister and the humble, hard working man she fell in love with. This man, in contrast, loved and trusted in God more than himself. His genius was based on his ability to pray and seek God's direction for his family. He gave no ear to those who questioned his faith or mocked his humble beginnings. He had a quiet confidence about him and raised his family to love God, the Prophet, the Church and to trust that Christ led His church. This man and his stalwart wife knew and recognized they had weaknesses and humbly depended on God to make up the difference for them. Through hard determined work, they slowly started putting money away. They never lived beyond their means, not caring what the outside world thought of their appearance.
Lets fast forward 30 or so years from the time these sisters were next-door neighbors. Both sisters had homes full of kids. Both families had talented children born to them. Both families continued in their habits to live by pride, or humility as aforementioned. As you could easily foresee, the brunette's family struggled through life. Although they had the big houses in the nicest neighborhoods, drove the nicest cars and had the nicest attire, the truth is, they had nothing! The prideful husband had to turn to illegal means to provide for his family. He was called to leadership positions in the church and taught his opinions from the pulpit. Having been reprimanded by his stake president, he continued to preach his own philosophies mingled with scripture. Unrepentant, he earned himself a church disciplinary council. What's worse, his pride told him not to attend. Kids, if there's one thing you can't do, its not show up to your disciplinary council. He was excommunicated. Of course from his view, and the view of his family, HE was the victim. They hold to the story that he was sought out and has a gift. Today he lives in hiding. Only his immediate family knows his address. In fact he has separated himself from his birth family all together! Sadly, He has forced the brunette and his children into his cavern with him, living by his strange laws. They are forbidden from conventional medicine, as well as relationships with her sister and parents. His children are filled with hate and envy for their cousins. He pays everything with cash and coupon cards, to keep him anonymous. His children are ashamed of his story, yet too set in the cycle of pride to do anything about it. His children have struggled through their own marred relationships with failed relationships of all kinds. A true tragedy that even Shakespeare couldn't write: The product of pride!
The blonde's family has enjoyed success that can only be attained by divine intervention. Their worthy trust in God has allowed them to ascertain wealth enjoyed by very few. Of course, they share that wealth with open hands. Charitable donations a plenty, children with professional degrees, happy marriages, and bright-eyed grandchildren. Their home's hard earned walls show state championships, awards, accomplishments, and hundred of smiling memories as a family. He has been is leadership positions, teaching and holding to doctrines that Christ taught. They both maintain a close relationship with their honey-sweet parents, children and grandchildren. Paramount is their relationship with God. The community holds them both in highest regard for all that they have accomplished in life. Yet they still humbly return to their knees each night, pleading for God to heal their ailments and weaknesses. God blesses them with his grace for trusting him to make up the difference for what they lack. Over time, they've accomplished more using humility than the brunette's family could ever imagine using their pride.
NEXT GENERATION UP: setting straight what their parents did not
Finally, is a quick explanation of two children who came from homes where their fathers were excommunicated. Again, I speak from the perspective of a personal witness to this.
There was a wonderfully intellectual man with a supportive wife. They had 6 gorgeous children. He studied and worked at universities and companies across the country and had the ideas of the world bombarding him non-stop. He loved his daughters with all his heart. One of his daughters had a run in with officials at Ricks College (Now BYU-Idaho, in Rexburg, a church owned school). He, with pride in his daughter and acceptance of everyone in his profession, wouldn't accept that the officials could possibly have merit. His anger festered so much that he decided to leave the church (there's more to it, but pride is the main thing to focus on here). He went so far as to not allow his daughters to attend seminary, and wouldn't let those turning 8 to be baptized! The mother did her very best to raise her family in the gospel and give her children the very basics, but the conflict in the home over religion left lasting questions and confusions in his daughter's minds.
One of those daughters went off to college and found a humble, hard working, worthy husband (who came from a family with a repentant father who had committed egregious mistakes and made his way back). After a year, they were married. This young husband would get up every day, study scriptures, pray, and go to church solo on Sundays. In the beginning, his wife, the daughter of the apostate father, didn't really see those basic things with much importance. However, over time, his goodness of this penitent father's son began to awaken his wife's spirit. The vacuum that had been created by her father's pride was filled as she humbly dove into full activity in the church. The false teachings she had been brainwashed with were healed by her new understanding and a new eternal perspective. 35 years later, they are the worlds happiest parents and grandparents. She grew into the biggest fish in her pond, but don't tell her that. She lives humbly, having served weekly in the temple for years. He has had a successful career in his field and continues humbly working and serving the Lord. They are currently serving a mission together and weekly report about the successes they see in the lives of those they are teaching. Oh the blessings of humility!
TRUST IN A MERCIFUL GOD
Bottom line: God loves us. He wants to bless us all. We have to ask for it! We are all affected by our parent's actions, yes. But what really matters is how we encounter life and how we play the cards we've been dealt. We all have weaknesses and strengths. If we act as the humble husbands above, those weaknesses become strengths by grace and we can truly accomplish anything! If we look at life through prideful, know-it-all eyes, we'll stay right where we are. Our progression would stop with our pride. Those children born to sinful parents are not "punished" by their parent's prideful actions. The 2nd Article of Faith was written with eternity in mind.
As Elder Christofferson stated: "Nothing is lost for them in the end".
"Where much is given, much is required." Therefore, If nothing is given, nothing is required! If a child from a gay marriage home dies without baptism, Christ would make up the difference the same way He makes up the difference for children who die before 8. The child didn't choose its fate (the gay parents did), and we're only accountable for our own choices. The church just added a new policy. Do you humbly accept it? If you're questioning, are you trusting God to make up the difference? I hope so! Because, trust me. You don't want to be like that poor prideful apostate old man in a dark cave, abandoned by the adversary.
The topic of Apostasy hits close to home for me. I won't bore you with the personal details. I will however share what I have learned from a couple of personal experiences in dealing with apostate Mormons. I've learned to recognize the causes and effects, and how the choices of prideful parents can ripple through generations harming dozens.
First, is a true story about the beautiful families of two dynamic sisters and how pride affected one, and humility the other. To keep things anonymous, one was brunette (we'll represent the pride side with her) and one was blonde (lets represent the humble side with her). Get it? Dark Side vs. Light Side?
Both of these beautiful sisters were raised with high expectations and lived up to these expectations throughout their formative years. The brunette fell in love with a brilliant man. This man was so smart, he found he could smart his way through life without asking much help from God. A genius, he can tell you where every single scripture is on the page and quote it from memory. Prideful, this bright mind became self-dependent, needless of the opinions of others and thinking he himself knew the will of God. His way was the right way. He always sought positions and wanted everyone to know just how smart he was. His beautiful brunette wife and he began to raise a family. Money and appearance was always important to he and his children. They piled on the debt to try to appear wealthy before they had the means.
Right next door lived the blonde sister and the humble, hard working man she fell in love with. This man, in contrast, loved and trusted in God more than himself. His genius was based on his ability to pray and seek God's direction for his family. He gave no ear to those who questioned his faith or mocked his humble beginnings. He had a quiet confidence about him and raised his family to love God, the Prophet, the Church and to trust that Christ led His church. This man and his stalwart wife knew and recognized they had weaknesses and humbly depended on God to make up the difference for them. Through hard determined work, they slowly started putting money away. They never lived beyond their means, not caring what the outside world thought of their appearance.
Lets fast forward 30 or so years from the time these sisters were next-door neighbors. Both sisters had homes full of kids. Both families had talented children born to them. Both families continued in their habits to live by pride, or humility as aforementioned. As you could easily foresee, the brunette's family struggled through life. Although they had the big houses in the nicest neighborhoods, drove the nicest cars and had the nicest attire, the truth is, they had nothing! The prideful husband had to turn to illegal means to provide for his family. He was called to leadership positions in the church and taught his opinions from the pulpit. Having been reprimanded by his stake president, he continued to preach his own philosophies mingled with scripture. Unrepentant, he earned himself a church disciplinary council. What's worse, his pride told him not to attend. Kids, if there's one thing you can't do, its not show up to your disciplinary council. He was excommunicated. Of course from his view, and the view of his family, HE was the victim. They hold to the story that he was sought out and has a gift. Today he lives in hiding. Only his immediate family knows his address. In fact he has separated himself from his birth family all together! Sadly, He has forced the brunette and his children into his cavern with him, living by his strange laws. They are forbidden from conventional medicine, as well as relationships with her sister and parents. His children are filled with hate and envy for their cousins. He pays everything with cash and coupon cards, to keep him anonymous. His children are ashamed of his story, yet too set in the cycle of pride to do anything about it. His children have struggled through their own marred relationships with failed relationships of all kinds. A true tragedy that even Shakespeare couldn't write: The product of pride!
The blonde's family has enjoyed success that can only be attained by divine intervention. Their worthy trust in God has allowed them to ascertain wealth enjoyed by very few. Of course, they share that wealth with open hands. Charitable donations a plenty, children with professional degrees, happy marriages, and bright-eyed grandchildren. Their home's hard earned walls show state championships, awards, accomplishments, and hundred of smiling memories as a family. He has been is leadership positions, teaching and holding to doctrines that Christ taught. They both maintain a close relationship with their honey-sweet parents, children and grandchildren. Paramount is their relationship with God. The community holds them both in highest regard for all that they have accomplished in life. Yet they still humbly return to their knees each night, pleading for God to heal their ailments and weaknesses. God blesses them with his grace for trusting him to make up the difference for what they lack. Over time, they've accomplished more using humility than the brunette's family could ever imagine using their pride.
NEXT GENERATION UP: setting straight what their parents did not
Finally, is a quick explanation of two children who came from homes where their fathers were excommunicated. Again, I speak from the perspective of a personal witness to this.
There was a wonderfully intellectual man with a supportive wife. They had 6 gorgeous children. He studied and worked at universities and companies across the country and had the ideas of the world bombarding him non-stop. He loved his daughters with all his heart. One of his daughters had a run in with officials at Ricks College (Now BYU-Idaho, in Rexburg, a church owned school). He, with pride in his daughter and acceptance of everyone in his profession, wouldn't accept that the officials could possibly have merit. His anger festered so much that he decided to leave the church (there's more to it, but pride is the main thing to focus on here). He went so far as to not allow his daughters to attend seminary, and wouldn't let those turning 8 to be baptized! The mother did her very best to raise her family in the gospel and give her children the very basics, but the conflict in the home over religion left lasting questions and confusions in his daughter's minds.
One of those daughters went off to college and found a humble, hard working, worthy husband (who came from a family with a repentant father who had committed egregious mistakes and made his way back). After a year, they were married. This young husband would get up every day, study scriptures, pray, and go to church solo on Sundays. In the beginning, his wife, the daughter of the apostate father, didn't really see those basic things with much importance. However, over time, his goodness of this penitent father's son began to awaken his wife's spirit. The vacuum that had been created by her father's pride was filled as she humbly dove into full activity in the church. The false teachings she had been brainwashed with were healed by her new understanding and a new eternal perspective. 35 years later, they are the worlds happiest parents and grandparents. She grew into the biggest fish in her pond, but don't tell her that. She lives humbly, having served weekly in the temple for years. He has had a successful career in his field and continues humbly working and serving the Lord. They are currently serving a mission together and weekly report about the successes they see in the lives of those they are teaching. Oh the blessings of humility!
TRUST IN A MERCIFUL GOD
Bottom line: God loves us. He wants to bless us all. We have to ask for it! We are all affected by our parent's actions, yes. But what really matters is how we encounter life and how we play the cards we've been dealt. We all have weaknesses and strengths. If we act as the humble husbands above, those weaknesses become strengths by grace and we can truly accomplish anything! If we look at life through prideful, know-it-all eyes, we'll stay right where we are. Our progression would stop with our pride. Those children born to sinful parents are not "punished" by their parent's prideful actions. The 2nd Article of Faith was written with eternity in mind.
As Elder Christofferson stated: "Nothing is lost for them in the end".
"Where much is given, much is required." Therefore, If nothing is given, nothing is required! If a child from a gay marriage home dies without baptism, Christ would make up the difference the same way He makes up the difference for children who die before 8. The child didn't choose its fate (the gay parents did), and we're only accountable for our own choices. The church just added a new policy. Do you humbly accept it? If you're questioning, are you trusting God to make up the difference? I hope so! Because, trust me. You don't want to be like that poor prideful apostate old man in a dark cave, abandoned by the adversary.
Here's
Elder Christofferson's (who has a gay brother that he loves very much) explanation
of the updated policy if you haven't seen it yet:
If you're having doubts, doubt your doubts. If you're not having doubts, do what you can to understand where those advocating gay marriage are coming from. Be firm and assertive, but respectful of their views and ask for respect for your own. I bear testimony that Christ is the head of the LDS church, the it is led by a true prophet, that the Book of Mormon is a guide to our time, that through humble application of the gospel we can overcome our weaknesses, and that through prayer, we can receive comforting answers to the problems and questions we encounter in life.
Additional Study:
https://clarityforall.wordpress.com/2015/11/06/lets-set-a-few-things-straight/
https://www.lds.org
