The Sacrifice of All Things

Since last week's announcement about the handbook update and the new policy regarding same-sex couples and their children, social media is ablaze once again. Quite understandably, there are some very strong feelings about this matter on both sides of the issue. I don't really need to go into the details, because I'm sure you know them by now, but in case you were pearl diving in the South Pacific and somehow missed it, Elder Christofferson explains the change and the rationale behind it in this interview here.

I have pondered a great deal about what to write about on this subject. The more I have studied it, the more I see the wisdom in the change and the great deal of thought, prayer, and inspiration that are behind it.

Nevertheless, I fully realize that, for others, including many members of the Church, the reaction is the polar opposite. The announcement has really thrown them for a loop and has caused confusion, doubt, and anger.

The scriptures and events from Church history are replete with heart-wrenching, defining moments in which people were asked to do things that shook the very ground they walked on. Consider Abraham's commandment to sacrifice his only son, Isaac; Daniel facing the lion's den; Alma and Amulek being forced to watch their converts being burned alive; the commandment for some latter-day leaders to obey the law of polygamy (which caused Brigham Young to look at a funeral casket and wish he were in it); and many others.

The greatest, most important example, of course, was our Savior, who plead in agony: "Remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done" (Luke 22:42).

Each was tested to core but, at the same time, each obeyed because they clung to a vital truth that was taught by the Prophet Joseph Smith:

"A religion that does not require the sacrifice of all things never has the power sufficient to produce the faith necessary unto life and salvation."

The sacrifices we make and will have to make are likely not going to be on such a grand scale as the aforementioned examples, though there are those among us who live under very difficult circumstances, be they mental, emotional, spiritual, or physical. Certainly, no one can know the extent of the Savior's infinite sacrifice for us all nor will have to endure that kind of suffering.

However, my point is that, sometimes, what it all boils down to is that the most important thing we are asked to sacrifice is the only thing that is really ours to give: our will. We are asked to sacrifice our pride, our natural man instincts, or our inclination to disbelieve, criticize, or murmur. We are asked to believe, or to plant to seed to believe even if we can't believe right now. We are asked to support and sustain even when we don't fully understand the reasons why as we see through our natural eyes. Our father Adam sacrificed because he didn't know the reasons but he knew that he had been commanded by the Lord.

In a 1978 speech, Elder Neal A. Maxwell taught: "In the months and years ahead, events will require of each member that he or she decide whether or not he or she will follow the First Presidency. Members will find it more difficult to halt longer between two opinions."

I believe that this is one of those moments of decision for some among us.

Having said all that, I am also troubled by comments from a few Church members about the policy change. To those who are struggling with this news, they have said: "If you don't like it, leave."

This sentiment should not exist among those who profess to follow Christ. Our Savior invited all who were burdened all to come unto Him and to find rest to their souls.

To any reading this who may be considering leaving the Church, whatever the reasons, I plead with you: Stay. The Church needs you. I need you. And you need the Church. If you have concerns or worries, it is okay to have them, and there is a way to resolve them. Pray. Read the scriptures. Meditate. Re-read a conference talk. Counsel with your bishop. If not him, talk to someone else you trust. Talk to me, and I will listen. Ponderize. Or tenderize. Do whatever you need to do to figure things out, and take the time you need to do so.

After all, the reason we have this church is because a young man had doubts, agonized over them, and prayed about them.

Remember this counsel of President Hinckley: "Be believing, be happy, don't get discouraged. Things will work out."

If we seek out the Lord's will and have the courage to act upon the answers, I believe that things will, indeed, work out.

Understanding the Plan

Two Sundays ago, Elder Marcus B. Nash of the Seventy visited the Island of Misfit Toys and even took an entire hour (a combined Relief Society/elders quorum meeting) to answer our questions about Church policies and gospel topics. It was an enlightening hour in which we were free, as a congregation, to ask him whatever question we wished.

Before taking our inquiries, he instructed us on the purpose of asking questions (I'm largely paraphrasing, as this is now 10 days in the past, but here you go for those who asked me what Elder Nash taught us):

1) There is no such thing as a bad question, though some are better than others.

2) It is exercising faith to ask questions; you learn so much by doing so.

3) Questions should be genuine and sincere and should not be made to show what you know.

4) Ask yourself: Is this the kind of question that lifts us spiritually?

5) You'll know how sincere your question is by your willingness to act on the answer.

Elder Nash ended up taking about four questions only over the course of that hour, but that is not to say that the time was in any way misspent nor were we shortchanged. On the contrary, it was a very good thing, for his answers were detailed, and he bore testimony of the rationale behind each one, sharing scriptures and teachings of prophets and Apostles in doing so.

One of the more poignant questions came from a member of the congregation who inquired: "How do we draw the line between loving others and standing up for what we believe in?"

Elder Nash asked a follow-up question, asking whether this was about the issue of gay marriage in particular, i.e. "condoning things we don't condone."

The short answer: It's all about understanding the plan of salvation.

He opened Moses 1:39 to us and spoke about God's work and His glory, "to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man." He taught us that "the plan is the greatest expression of love ever made. The plan is to live God's life." The Savior said, "Here am I; send me." We accepted the Plan, and the evidence of that is that we are here on Earth.

Because of the plan, the Church does not teach "free" agency, but, rather, moral agency. Because of our acceptance of the plan, we agreed that we would be responsible for our choices.

In the October 2015 Ensign, Elder Robert D. Hales of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles talks in detail about the plan of happiness and why understanding it is so vital to our comprehension of what we are doing here in this mortal realm. Elder Nash recommended that we read it.

One of my favorite lines from it reads: "Those who wonder if their current circumstance or condition cuts them off from eternal life should remember that 'no one is predestined to receive less than all that the Father has for His children.'" That applies to every "circumstance" or "condition."

Also:

"My invitation is that together we stand again in support of the Father's plan. This we do with love for all, for the plan itself is an expression of the love of God."

Again, Elder Nash reiterated that we must understand the plan and the vital importance of recognizing it as being the greatest expression of love ever made.

To achieve exaltation is not only to live with God but to live as God. He is married to a woman, our mother, and He has a large family consisting of many, many children.

In this life, though, the key is the same as it was in the premortal existence: Support the Father's Plan. Do it in love. Don't ever get angry. If someone chooses less than following, we will be kind, love them, and lift them up. Share the doctrine and your knowledge of it.

I'm not doing this enough justice here with my summary. I know that. You very much had to be there to fully feel the Spirit of what he taught us. I recommend Elder Hales's Ensign article, just as Elder Nash recommended it to us, for further reading. It is phenomenal.

So was our hour with Elder Nash.

Lost Causes

What a whirlwind these past few days have been. Unless you've been living in self-imposed exile in the Jundland Wastes of Tattooine, by now you've heard, no fewer than 10,000 times, that the United States Supreme Court issued its verdict June 26, and the inevitable has occurred. Gay marriage is now the law of the land.

I don't need to go over the details. You all know them by now. And I won't delve too deeply into the matter tonight except to share three brief thoughts.

First is simply this: I remember Elder Dallin H. Oaks's general conference talk about temporary judgments vs. final judgments. Ultimately, the final judgment remains in our all-knowing Heavenly Father's hands. Until then, I am grateful for the guidance of prophets, seers, and revelators who guide the Church in these latter days.

"Now it is better that a man should be judged of God than of man, for the judgments of God are always just, but the judgments of man are not always just" (Mosiah 29:12). 

Secondly, the word love. This word has appeared all over the place on social media, in the form of hashtags such as #LoveIsLove and statements like "everyone is now free to marry the person they love."

Regarding love, the scripture has come to my mind, time and again:

"Jesus saith to Simon Peter, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me more than these?" (John 21:15; emphasis added).

Love has been thrown around a lot, but love for the Savior, "more than these"—more than love for any other person or thing in this world—seems largely to be forgotten or ignored. And how do we show Him our love?

"If ye love me, keep my commandments" (John 14:15).


Keeping the commandments remains one of the greatest tests of life for us all.

Thirdly, this quote from Jimmy Stewart's character, Jefferson Smith, in Mr. Smith Goes to Washington sums up just how I feel right now:

"I guess this is just another lost cause, Mr. Paine. All you people don't know about lost causes. Mr. Paine does. He said once they were the only causes worth fighting for and he fought for them once. For the only reason any man ever fights for them. Because of just one plain simple rule: Love thy neighbor. And in this world today of great hatred a man who knows that rule has a great trust. You know that rule, Mr. Paine, and I loved you for it, just as my father did. And you know that you fight harder for the lost causes than for any others. Yes, you'd even die for them. Like a man we both knew, Mr. Paine. You think I'm licked. You all think I'm licked. Well I'm not licked. And I'm gonna stay right here and fight for this lost cause. Even if this room gets filled with lies like these. And the Taylors and all their armies come marching into this place. Somebody will listen to me."

There are battles that remain to be fought. One of the most important is the one to preserve religious liberty, as outlined by the First Amendment to the Constitution.

The honorable junior senator from Utah, Mike Lee, whom I'm proud to say I voted for, has introduced the First Amendment Defense Act to ensure that people who are motivated by sincerely held religious beliefs are not punished nor retaliated against for holding fast to those beliefs by the federal and local government. It needs to be passed as soon as possible.

Other battles will be more subtle, such as turning the other cheek when we are called horrible, vile, inflammatory names for promoting those truths we are taught in the Church. Nevertheless, I'm grateful to stand with President Monson, the First Presidency, and the Twelve in this effort.

"Shall we not go on in so great a cause? Go forward and not backward. Courage, brethren; and on, on to the victory! Let your hearts rejoice, and be exceedingly glad" (D&C 128:22).

Given This Land . . .

Have you seen this video yet?

If you have not already tuned in, I invite you to do so now.

This is a message recently delivered by Jewish Rabbi Jonathan Cahn at the U.S. Capitol the day after the Supreme Court of the United States began to hear arguments on whether or not to legalize gay marriage across the country. (It is already legal in over 30 states—largely due to judicial fiat.)

Yes, this very important issue is now not in the hands of the states or of the millions of American voters but instead in the hands of nine judges.

On a related topic: I'm one who believes that some of the most powerful sermons of the LDS faith are contained in the Primary songs we've known, sung, and loved for decades.

"Given this land
If they live
Righteously"

What a powerful reminder is given in these words from "Book of Mormon Stories," and they rang through my head as I watched this powerful, fearless, unforgettable speech by Rabbi Cahn. Though he has not, I imagine, read the Book of Mormon, he hits on a vitally important teaching contained in its pages.

This was and is a land of promise—as long as we who inhabit it live righteously.

The Ever-Changing Narrative

Have you noticed how the narrative is changing, and it is changing very subtly?

In the early days of the same-sex marriage debate, proponents of SSM used to argue that "if you don't want gay marriage, then don't get one" or "who people choose to love is none of your business," and also that "it doesn't affect you."

With SSM now spreading across the country—albeit mostly through judicial fiat and not the voice of the people—these advocates are no longer saying these things. They want more, and they want you to be forced to accept their point-of-view.

I loved today's press conference given by Elders Christofferson, Holland, and Oaks of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, along with Sister Marriott of the Young Women General Presidency, calling for nondiscrimination laws for all while also emphasizing the importance of maintaining religious freedom.

"Accusations of bigotry toward people simply because they are motivated by their religious faith and conscience have a chilling effect on freedom of speech and public debate," Elder Oaks said. "When religious people are publicly intimidated, retaliated against, forced from employment or made to suffer personal loss because they have raised their voice in the public square, donated to a cause or participated in an election, our democracy is the loser. Such tactics are every bit as wrong as denying access to employment, housing or public services because of race or gender."

Sadly, the reaction from many of the naysayers to this press conference was predictable, and it shows that their narrative is indeed changing.

A New York Times editorial written in response to the press conference argued that the Church was merely seeking "legal permission to use their religion as an excuse to discriminate." Another Facebook post proclaimed, "I'm for liberty, but I don't see why church owned businesses shouldn't play by the same rules as everyone else."

In other words: That whole claim that SSM "doesn't affect you"? We didn't really mean that. It fit into our narrative for what we wanted at the time, but not now. We are not content anymore to say that it doesn't affect you, because we are going to make sure it affects you, like it or not. It's not enough that SSM is fast becoming legal across the 50 States (and, let's admit, inevitably will be legal in all 50 once the Supreme Court, in all of its wisdom, gets done with the issue this June); we will force you not only to participate in same-sex weddings whether you want to or not, neener neener, you hateful, bigoted, ignorant, knuckle-dragging prudes who cling to your religion and guns.

It's a disappointing because it's a view that is both dishonest and, ironically, demands tolerance while not showing tolerance in return. It is also, as I said, predictable.

The same old rhetoric keeps on pouring forth, and I suppose it will for the foreseeable future. "You can't force your religious beliefs on other people, blah blah blah." Very true; you can't. Yet these are the same people who, ironically, believe that you can, by contrast, in the so-called name of equal treatment, force private business owners who do not agree with SSM to bake cakes, provide flowers, officiate weddings, etc. for SSM ceremonies, or otherwise they will face fines, jail time, loss of business, public flogging, etc.

It all seems to be about revenge and/or retaliation rather than equality, doesn't it?

Unbelievable.

In addition, I'm saddened to see self-proclaimed temple recommend-holding, faithful members of the Church openly criticize what three Apostles said today. As Elder Lynn G. Robbins said at the last general conference, "Thinking one can please God and at the same time condone the disobedience of men isn't neutrality but duplicity, or being two-faced or trying to 'serve two masters.'"

I feel "grieved because of the hardness of their hearts, and also, because of the things which I had seen, and knew they must unavoidably come to pass because of the great wickedness of the children of men" (1 Nephi 15:4).

At the same time, I feel immensely grateful to belong to a church that doesn't budge on the eternal truths of God's Plan of Happiness in the face of critics, detractors, and the ever-changing tide of popular opinion. The straight and narrow can appear to be very narrow at times, but it remains the only way nonetheless.