A Sacred and Protected Place

After attending a stake fireside on pornography put on by family services, and while living in a world where sexual things have become divisive and pervasive, I wanted to write down my thoughts and convictions. 

I’m currently a bishop, a father, and the principal of a seminary. Before any of those though I was a boy, a teenager, and a young man with all of the awkwardness I could handle, and all of the strength of emotion that sometimes I thought I might not be able to. Long before all of that though, I was - I am - a child of God. I now recognize that that last truth is more important to all of this than I had supposed.

The procreative power our Heavenly Father has given to each of His children on this earth through birth and maturity is such an incredible trust! Think of it, of all the possible opportunities to partner with the Father in His Creative work, He extends to us the chance to be co-creators of the physical bodies He gives His very children!

Adding powerful detail to the degrees of glory revealed to Paul, the Lord taught Joseph that, “In the celestial glory there are three heavens or degrees; "And in order to obtain the highest, a man must enter into this order of the priesthood [meaning the new and everlasting covenant of marriage]; And if he does not, he cannot obtain it. He may enter into the other, but that is the end of his kingdom; he cannot have an increase” (D&C 131:2-4). Increase means family. The procreative power will only remain in the eternities with those who will be exalted. It is the privilege and even the very essence of Godhood. 

It is such a privilege to wield procreative power in a lasting manner that no cheat, liar, or even lazy person will. Only those valiant in the testimony of Jesus (D&C 76:79), those who love not their lives even unto death (Rev. 12:11), those who sacrifice after the manner of the Son of God, those who make and keep sacred covenants. For the rest its use is momentary and, in eternity, fleeting.

Why does such a sacred and godly act have such a sordid reputation here on earth then? The answer lies at least partially in the raging jealousy of the devil and his followers.

When Satan and his followers were cast out of the presence of God for rebellion they came disembodied to this earth (see Abraham 3:26). Forever lacking that essential characteristic of godhood, their rebellion halted their progression and stifled their capacity for joy (see D&C 93:33). Their rage directed at sexuality seeks constantly to make something that is inherently Godly and sacred common and profane. Popular music, movies, shows and styles seek to arouse and exploit sacred God-given emotions for profit. These modern moneychangers need to be driven from this sacred space as forcefully as Jesus did it from the temple in Jerusalem.

Society won't do it - individuals and families must protect the sanctity of sexuality. I got a feel for this need as a college student looking for extra credit in my Psychology of Gender class. Without enough thought to look at the guest or the topic, I chose a date to go hear a speaker on campus. Walking in a little bit late, I looked quickly for a seat in a packed combination of ballrooms. I noticed, in passing first, but then more and more, that the audience was predominantly female. I took my seat and quickly found out why as the speaker began to recount her experience with date rape. The air was heavy with shock as we listened motionless to her detailed account. Then at the end she asked the males in attendance to stand. I remember quickly scanning for the exits and wondering if I was going to have to make a break for it. On the heels of such a story, opinions of males had to be at an all time low. The handful of us in attendance stood up slowly -- then she thanked us for coming. She suggested that in case we felt that this topic didn't have much to do with us that we should remember that 1 in 4 women are sexually assaulted in their lifetime. She asked us to think of four - mother, sister, wife, daughter - which one were we willing to let this happen to? I had 4 sisters at the time. I couldn't imagine. If we wanted to change that culture, she encouraged us to do a few things -- not to laugh next time someone told an objectifying joke, maybe even speak up against it. It would take bravery, but given the weight of what we'd all just heard, it wasn't hard to commit.

I heard once that President Nelson refuses to be entertained by the breaking of the commandments. What a powerful, yet difficult position. It sounds like Nephi to me - praying that the Lord would help shape his response - "Wilt thou make me that I may shake at the appearance of sin?" (2 Nephi 4:31). The media would shape my response to the appearance of sin also. What influences will I permit?

One of the strongest - and even surprising - emotions the Savior displayed during His earthly ministry was His response to the presence of the moneychangers in the temple. Those seeking to make money - to desecrate and make common merchandise of the sacred. "Sex sells," the modern moneychangers say - as they seek to stimulate sacred God-given emotions to move their product and attract viewers. Such is the world people say with a shrug of the shoulders. What about those who have taken upon them the name of Christ in this world though? How are they to act?  

Last week we attended the open houses for the Taylorsville and the Layton temples. Neither one had been dedicated yet, that was still to come, but each had a row of people by the entrance to the temple putting white disposable plastic booties over each set of shoes that came by. To be holy means to be different, set apart, sanctified for a specific purpose. Right on the building, etched in stone are the words "Holiness to the Lord," His house is uncommon by nature - even in it's undedicated state - so much so that my shoes need covering before entering. The Lord said to Moses on Sinai - "put off thy shoes from off thy feet for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground (Exodus 3:5). What if we refused to allow the immorality in popular entertainment to be tracked into the sacred temple-topic of sexuality in our hearts and minds? What if the music we allow to play upon our feelings was also similarly guarded. What if we really drove the money-changers out?       

Abinadi's Teaching Audit

 

Brought before the priest of King Noah in bonds, Abinadi offers one of the clearest collections of feedback regarding the role of those entrusted to teach the gospel in holy writ. Because I do it for a living, he has my attention. Here are some highlights I found today:

• Teachers of the gospel must understand (and rely upon) the spirit of prophecy - Trying to trap him, Noah's priests ask him to explain a scripture in Isaiah describing peaceful comforting teachings - probably as a criticism to Abinadi's more cutting words. He had been preaching the need for repentance or imminent destruction would come upon these Nephites. Shouldn't gospel teachers preach pleasing things?? Abinadi answers with a question of his own, "Are you priests, and pretend to teach this people, and to understand the spirit of prophesying, and yet desire to know of me what these things mean?" John taught, "the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy" (Rev. 19:10). Nephi explained, "after ye have recieved the Holy Ghost ye [can] speak with the tongue of angels... [and] they speak the words of Christ" (2 Nephi 32:2-3). The Lord taught Joseph, "the Spirit shall be given unto you by the prayer of faith; and if ye receive not the Spirit ye shall not teach" (D&C 42:14). Jesus' words were not always soothing platitudes. Messages from Him must be obtained from Him.
• Teachers of the gospel must teach students to understand the word of God - Abinadi tells Noah's priests, "if ye understood these things (passages in Isaiah) ye have not taught them; therefore ye have perverted the ways of the Lord." I think it's pretty likely, from this reading, that they were cherry picking the scriptures for teachings they believe validated their choices - no matter how far out of context. Are we teaching in such a way that all things come together in one in Christ, or are our teachings about a specific gospel doctrine imbalanced, distorted, or inflated in a way that students may have difficulty with other truths as they encounter them?
• Wise teachers of the gospel must be diligent students - He then adds, "[Y]e have not applied your hearts to understanding; therefore, ye have not been wise." The gospel of Jesus Christ offers us nearly unlimited learning possibilities, and there are teachers who teach from decades and decades of diligent study and discipleship. There are also teachers whose introduction to the gospel has been incredibly recent. Both are qualified by diligent study. Both hearts applied to understanding open themselves to the teaching of the Master. 

Past-colored glasses

 Reading Mosiah 7 today I got to thinking about the difference all the background things in a person's life make in their present experience. The three Nephite kings placed side by side in this chapter come from very different places. Mosiah is the first. Relatively recently anointed king by his famous father, Mosiah is the beneficiary of the powerful effect that his father's life and final sermon have had on the people. Benjamin's words and the covenant the people made as a result still resonate powerfully. Three years of righteousness, peace, and prosperity free up the collective headspace of the people to wonder now about their brethren who had departed years ago seeking to resettle the land of Lehi-Nephi. A search party of 16 strong men is assembled and they set out to find that which is lost. Firmly footed in this this background, Mosiah's orientation is to reconnect and reunite. 

Mosiah's strong men find the second Nephite king in a much more desperate circumstance. Son of a wicked idolatrous king, Limhi is on edge. When his would be deliverers are found at the city gates, his swirling and overwhelming context keeps him from seeing who they really are. He imprisons them thinking they must be part of a group of former priests to his father who had helped get to them into their present sticky circumstance. Trembling both with fear and anger, oppressed Limhi's oreinetation is revenge - a terribly mistaken one for the reality of his present circumstance, I might add. Yet terribly true to his context.

Limhi's circumstance can be traced back in time to the third Nephite king mentioned in this chapter, his grandfather, Zenniff. Zenniff made a terrible miscalculation of his own situation that started all this trouble for his grandson. Blinded by his own overzealousness, he misreads the motives of the Lamanite king, and places his people in danger. What could have been the cause of his zeal? Could it be nostalgia -- a yearning for the good old days and the way things were back in the land of Lehi-Niphi? If so, Zenniff's orientation may have been to relive the past. Had he been able to see the future his focus provided for generations to come, he would surely have reasoned differently. 

Mosiah, Limhi, and Zenniff - these three Nephite kings are so dramatically influenced by the perspective that their past has created for them, that it couldn't be coincidence to see them set side by side in this chapter, could it? Maybe it's my perspective -- and how my perceptions of my classes, students, ward, and family have been influenced by recent unrelated, yet taxing, events. Maybe it's not understanding the perspectives of some around me - perspectives that seem to hold them back. Why would they not accept the outreached hand of thier Savior to them?

In one of these stories, the middle one, there is a dramatic change in perspective - Limhi sees Ammon for who he really is when he gives him the chance to speak. Oppressor to redeemer, hindrance to help, night to day, because of the chance to explain. What chances to be freed am I (are others) potentially missing due in part to the lack of a clarifying explanation of what reality is? Most importantly though, because Ammon is a Christ type in this story, misunderstood and imprisoned by those who he would deliver from bondage, How can I find Him disguised in my present and help others do the same? I'm not sure of all of the words that should be part of that answer yet, but from Ammon's example, one of them should be "Speak."          

  

Religious Speech in the Public Square??

On earlier occasions He had told others to "tell no man," but it was different now -- and it still is today. 

On Palm Sunday, Jesus entered Jerusalem on the back of a donkey's colt to shouts of "Hosanna" and "Blessed be the King that cometh in the name of the Lord: peace in heaven and glory in the highest." Dismayed by their public praise "some of the Pharisees among the multitude said unto him, Master, rebuke thy disciples."    

His answer: "I tell you that, if these should hold their peace, the stones would immediately cry out." Whether by the voices of believers or by the cry of the stones - His praises would be heard that day in the public square. 

In a world seeking to become more and more tolerant of and welcoming to a great diversity of viewpoints, let this one never be silenced: God loved the world so much that He sent His only Begotten Son to the earth to save all mankind from sin and death if we will follow Him. And let me be at least as willing and excited as the stones on that day years ago to proclaim His incredible goodness. 

Now squint your eyes almost closed and look at the picture -- you'll see it. Others should too :) Happy Palm Sunday!       

Yom Kippur and the fellowship of Christ's sufferings

It was on a Monday this year, two weeks ago today - the 10th day of Tishrei. Tradition holds that the original Yom Kippur or "day of Atonement" took place on Moses' second visit to Mt. Sinai (see Exodus 32). He had been up on the mount communing with the Lord long enough for the Israelites, who had come with him this time, to have given up on him. Their rebellion went far enough to include both building and worshipping a golden calf. The Lord, who had just miraculously delivered them from bondage in Egypt and their pagan gods, had this suggestion for Moses: "Now therefore let me alone, that my wrath may wax hot against them, and that I may consume them: and I will make of thee a great nation." (v 10)

If Moses had wanted an out, this was his shot. These people that had abandoned, reviled and murmured against him over and over - a simple "ok" is all it would have taken. Moses' seed could then have been the Lord's chosen people to inherit the promised land all by themselves. Was it tempting? Would it have been for you or I? 

Moses is up to the test though. Instead of the proposed annihilation, he advocates for the people and heads down the mount knowing that for them repentance is now a matter of life and death. With a decent's worth of planning Moses comes upon the camp in this way. He "cast the tables out of his hands, and brake them beneath the mount. And he took the calf which they had made, and burnt it in the fire, and ground it to powder, and strawed it upon the water, and made the children of Israel drink of it." (v 19-20) He asks "Who is on the Lord's side?" and before nightfall 3000 of the Israelites on the other side have been slain. This is what his advocacy looks like that day.  

Then the morning comes. Before departing to the mountain again, Moses says, "Ye have sinned a great sin: and now I will go up unto the Lord; peradventure I shall make an atonement for your sin. 

And Moses returned unto the Lord, and said, Oh, this people have sinned a great sin, and have made them gods of gold. Yet now, if thou wilt forgive their sin—; and if not, blot me, I pray thee, out of thy book which thou hast written." (v 30-32)

WHAT! Did Moses really just offer his own salvation as a potential sacrifice for the lives of this rebellious people?! This is a complete reversal from the previous "not them but me" scenario the Lord had offered. This one is "not me but them." This unlikely proposition had to have warmed the Lord's own heart. Moses really loved them. He had learned to love them wholly, fully, and deeply - despite their weaknesses and even despite their rebellions. In likeness of the ultimate sacrifice the Lord himself would offer for a world in sin - Moses was now willing - asking even - to be made a sacrifice for the repentant, but ultimately incredibly unworthy Israelites.  They are his people. He's not abandoning this ship. 

Is this not an Abrahamic like test? Moses came to know by experience a little bit of the heart and mind of the Lord through this experience. Is this not the "fellowship of his sufferings" (3:10) that Paul writes to the Philippian saints of. 

Ironically, this year's Yom Kippur happened just shortly after the 200th anniversary of young Joseph Smith's first trip up the Hill Cumorah to retrieve the plates. Joseph likely understood little about the firestorm of suffering that the opening of that stone box would unleash. Ultimately betrayed by some of those closest to him - some of those who he had given most for. He stayed the course. Welcome to the fellowship Joseph.  

What about the invitations each of us receives to such a fellowship within our own circumstances? Will we accept them? Will we join the fellowship? 

The Justification for the Singlet

I bought a singlet online a few months ago because of the direction that a scripture study took for me. Kind of strange, I know. It marries two great loves of mine however. Two admissions should be noted right off the bat. First, it doesn't take too much to get me excited about wrestling, and second, this singlet was purchased for display - not to be worn (except for maybe once when it arrived out of excitement 😬).  Here's the story and the reason it hangs in my seminary office now.

Luke, speaking of the Savior suffering in Gethsemane, records, “And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly…” (22:44). It’s interesting here that it’s “an” agony – used as a noun. In a quick search for the etymology of the word “agony” I found the following in an illustrated etymology dictionary.     

What contest could Luke 22 be referring to then? It’s description is found in the Savior’s prayer only a couple of verses earlier: “Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done (vs. 42). The Lord describes this contest of wills to Joseph Smith almost 1800 years later saying “[This] suffering caused myself, even God, the greatest of all, to tremble because of pain, and to bleed at every pore, and to suffer both body and spirit—and would that I might drink the bitter cup and shrink—Nevertheless, glory be to the Father, and I partook and finished my preparations unto the children of men” (D&C 19:18-19). Certainly there is suffering and pain in his description, but also an internal contest between His will and the will of the Father. He prevails by letting God’s will prevail.

President Nelson taught that "[O]ne of the Hebraic meanings of the word Israel is 'let God prevail.' Thus the very name of Israel refers to a person who is willing to let God prevail in his or her life" ("Let God Prevail," GC Oct 2020). Israel is the name Jacob is given as a result of a great wrestling match also. In the 32nd chapter of Genesis we have the scant account. In verses 9-12 jacob pleads with the Lord to protect him from his brother's wrath. After preparing a gift for his brother, "Jacob was left alone; and there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day... And [the man] said, let me go, for the day breaketh. And he said, I will not let thee go except thou bless me... And he said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel; for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed." (v. 24, 26, 28) Jacob wins like Jesus won in Gethsemane, by letting God prevail. Elder Maxwell taught about such a contest of will saying, "Consecration thus constitutes the only unconditional surrender which is also a total victory" ("Swallowed Up in the Will of the Father," GC Oct 1995).

We're all in that wrestling match too. As the Savior explained the purpose of the creation of the earth He said: "And we will prove [mankind] herewith, to see if they will do all things whatsoever the Lord their God shall command them" (Abraham 3:25). The singlet is a reminder to me of the team we're all all on, the very real contest we're in, how we can win, and Who showed us how.

I love how the Lord allows things that are important to me to point powerfully to Him! 

Only good things

I realize that this one likely stood out to me so I could prepare myself for some chastening. :/ I’m still working on being altogether happy about that. :) Laman and Lemuel famously, and perhaps even humbly, said to their brother, "Thou hast declared unto us hard things, more than we are able to bear.” (1 Nephi 16:1) That might sound something like, “Dude?! That’s harsh!” or even “You can’t say that!” today. 

What if we heard only good things though? What if no one corrected us; no one checked us as we tread dangerous paths? Is that really what we want?

Elder Holland said that some people at least think they do:  

"Sadly enough, my young friends, it is a characteristic of our age that if people want any gods at all, they want them to be gods who do not demand much, comfortable gods, smooth gods who not only don't rock the boat but don't even row it, gods who pat us on the head, make us giggle, then tell us to run along and pick marigolds." (GC April 2014 "The Cost and Blessings of Discipleship").

The ultimate sugar daddy, such a god would spoil his children rotten instead of grow them into gods themselves. Elder D. Todd Christofferson laments:

"[M]uch of of modern Christianity does not acknowledge that God makes any real demands on those who believe in Him, seeing Him rather as a butler "who meets their needs when summoned" or a therapist whose role it is to help people "feel good about themselves ." It is a religious outlook that makes no pretense at changing lives." "By contrast," as one author declares, "the God portrayed in both the Hebrew and Christian Scriptures asks, not just for commitment, but for our very lives. The God of the bible traffics in life and death, not niceness, and calls for sacrificial love, not benign whatever-ism." (GC April 2011, "As many as I Love, I rebuke and chasten").

Joseph Smith taught: 

"A religion that does not require the sacrifice of all things, never has power sufficient to produce the faith necessary unto life and salvation." (Lectures on Faith 6:7) 

One of the things we must sacrifice, Laman and Lemuel are learning, is the deception that we are doing just fine and don't need to change. Sometimes times its a mortal messenger our Father in Heaven uses to break the news to us too.  

Nephi teaches his brothers, "The guilty taketh the truth to be hard, for it cutteth them to the very center." (1 Nephi 16:2) Rigid things often cut more easily. Could hard hearts and fixed mindsets be a big part of their problem? Nephi continues:

"If ye were righteous and were willing to hearken to the truth, and give heed to it... then ye would not murmur because of the truth and say: Thou speakest hard things against" (1 Nephi 16:3).

The word "willing" sounds like a more patient, growth oriented mindset. That great sacramental word can bring a softness to our hearts that allows them to resist the the cutting of sharp correction and grow stronger because of it. Elder Christofferson challenges us not just to receive correction then, but even to seek it. He said: 

"Though it is often difficult to endure, truly we ought to rejoice that God considers us worth the time and trouble to correct" (GC April 2011, "As many as I Love, I rebuke and chasten").

How do you soften yourself to receive hard feedback? How do you seek and even invite correction in your work? How about those you teach - I'm sure sometimes you have to give correction. How do you make sure to give it with great love?