What is an “ExMormon”?
Simply put, an ExMormon or Ex-Mormon is a person who used to be a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormon Church), but is no longer. However, the term has a connotation of rebellion. Some people who were once affiliated with the Church have simply drifted away and become inactive. They’ve established lifestyles that don’t include Mormon worship. Most of these people do not call themselves ExMormons.
Others have encountered a problem with the Church. This encounter can take several forms: 1) The member has been offended by someone in the local congregation. Since the Church has a lay priesthood, and everyone serves in temporary callings, the offender might have been in a leadership position. The person offended blames the Church and estranges himself. 2) The member begins to live in such a way that his/her behavior is against church standards. This can include drinking or smoking, engaging in gambling or watching pornography, or engaging in sexual sin. The member has two choices — he can go through a process of repentance and reconcile with the Church; or he can abandon the Church and follow the chosen lifestyle. If the former member finds fault with the Church, it can give him an excuse to give in to the chosen lifestyle. 3) The member contrives a philosophy that is contrary to Mormon Doctrine. At this point, nothing happens. A person can believe whatever he wants and still be a member in full fellowship in the Mormon Church. But if the person decides that the Church should change to suit him, and he begins to crusade to that effect, he can be excommunicated as an apostate.
The Mormon Church is different than all other churches in that it is led by a prophet of God. Its doctrines come from Christ through revelation. So its policies can only be changed by the Lord Himself. If a member feels that he knows best what doctrine and policy should be, he should find another church or create his own. Excommunication is meant to be part of the process of repentance, and church leaders are supposed to constantly nurture an excommunicated member towards reconciliation with God and the Church. But some excommunicated members have no desire for reconciliation. They would rather go their own way.
At this point, some ExMormons become anti-Mormon. Much information about the Church that comes from ExMormons is blatantly false and meant to destroy the Church, or at least defame it. In the time the Prophet Joseph Smith was alive, ExMormons spread vile, false claims that brought bitter persecution against church members, to the extent that many lost property and some lost their lives. Joseph Smith said this:
“There is a superior intelligence bestowed upon such as obey the Gospel with full purpose of heart, which, if sinned against, the apostate is left naked and destitute of the Spirit of God, and he is, in truth, nigh unto cursing, and his end is to be burned. When once that light which was in them is taken from them they become as much darkened as they were previously enlightened, and then, no marvel, if all their power should be enlisted against the truth, and they, Judas-like, seek the destruction of those who were their greatest benefactors” (Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Joseph Smith, p321).
Thus, if a person outside the Church wants information about Mormons, it is best not to seek it from an ExMormon. The television series Big Love uses an ExMormon as its “expert,” and that is why so many falsehoods are perpetrated on the show. The biggest is that Mormons practice polygamy. Mormons do not, and have not since 1890. Any Mormon attempting to practice polygamy is excommunicated from the Church. (To read about more errors in the program, click here.) Anyone wanting information about Mormons and the Mormon Church should inquire of a member in full fellowship.
Using Agency Wisely: Setting Priorities
Unless we know what matters most to us, we will spend much of our life doing things that don’t matter to us as much as the things we neglect. To use our agency wisely, we have to know what we want out of life. One question I often ask
Good and Evil Are Polar Opposites--New Era June 2007
myself when faced with a choice to make is this: Is what I’m getting worth more than what I’m giving up?” This question reminds me that each time I choose something, I am giving up the other options. The challenge is to choose the option that gives me what I really want from life—not right this moment, but for eternity.
For instance, I am sometimes asked by church members struggling with the gospel, “Do you think God will really keep me out of the Celestial Kingdom over a cup of coffee?” The church teaches us that coffee is one of the several things God has asked us to avoid, as part of the Word of Wisdom, a Mormon health code. The answer to this question, of course, is, “Are you willing to give up your right to spend eternity in God’s presence for a mere cup of coffee?” It’s important to ask the right question when settling priorities. When deciding what to drink with my breakfast, I can see I have two choices (at least.) If I’m a coffee drinker and a member of the church, or someone who wants to become a member, I will ask myself, “Which do I want most for eternity: Coffee, or God?” Put that way, the choice seems obvious. A cup of coffee this morning is not worth more to me than the opportunity to live with God someday. While it might bring momentary pleasure, it will deny me the eternal joy I’m seeking.
While the questioner might have felt she had the question the right way around, she was simply organizing it to meet her own short-sighted desires. God always knows what is best for us, and one reason we are here is to develop self-control and to set priorities. Just as we teach our young children to forego a candy bar this week so he can save faster for the bicycle he wants, God wants us to learn to put aside immediate pleasures in favor of eternal ones.
When faced with a choice, evaluate the short-term and long-term consequences. When we find ourselves choosing the short-term pleasures even when we know the gospel has taught us otherwise, we can see this as a warning that it is time to evaluate and strengthen our testimonies.
For those who are not Mormons, and are held back from converting due to an unwillingness to give up certain habits, the first step is to pray and find out if the lifestyle choice you’ve made has God’s approval. If it’s something you’re strongly attached to, it can be a challenge (and even an act of courage) to go to God humbly, and completely ready to receive His advice without imposing your own will on it. This is, however, the only way to find the strength and conviction needed to make choices and changes.
Once you know God’s will on the subject, spend time putting it into context of your personal goals and your eternal goals. Is the party you want to attend more important than the test you need to study for in terms of your personal goals? Is the friend whose company you enjoy but who is always baiting you to lower your standards important enough to risk giving in to him at a weak moment?
Is that cup of coffee worth the price of Heaven?
Using Agency Wisely: Consequences
Filed under: For the Strength of the Youth, Life Lessons, Making Decisions, Old Testament
In order to learn to make wise use of our eternal gift of agency, we must understand that each choice we make has consequences. These consequences can affect our entire lives and even our eternities. They also affect others. When we learn to evaluate the consequences of our choices, we are better able to make wise choices and get the most from our agency.
In the past, many Mormons used the term “free agency” to describe our God-given right to choose for ourselves. Today, church leaders discourage that term, because agency is not free, and they want us to understand this. Instead, they encourage the use of the term “moral agency.” Read more
Eternally Safe Choices–Undertanding Agency
Filed under: Becoming More Christlike, Discovering Yourself, Finding joy within the gospel, For the Strength of the Youth, Living the Gospel, Making Decisions, Peer Pressure, Teens & Seminary
The teen years are filled with temptation. The media, peers, even teachers and other adults can try to convince a young person that sin is okay, natural, normal, and fun. For a teenager with high standards and an eye for eternity, it can be a challenge to stay on the right path, when so many people are determined to take her off that path.
Fortunately, God and His servants have outlined effective ways for teens—and adults—to stay safe.
Staying safe is a matter of choices, and to make wise choices, we have to understand the concept of agency. This article will focus on agency, and future articles in this series will walk through the process of using that understanding to make eternally safe choices. Read more
What is Wisdom?
Filed under: Finding Truth, Recognizing Truth, Uncategorized
One day, while reading the Book of Mormon, I was startled by a description of the prophet Ammon that I had not previously noticed, in Alma, chapter 18, verse 22:
Now Ammon being wise, yet harmless, he said unto Lamoni: Wilt thou hearken unto my words, if I tell thee by what power I do these things? And this is the thing that I desire of thee.
Wise, but harmless. This unexpected combination of words has stayed with me since that time and I’ve often thought 
about what they mean. It could mean the historian recording the event had a sense of humor, but it’s likely there is more to the phrase than might initially be obvious. How can you be wise, but harmless? The key lies in understanding the source of wisdom. When we are truly wise, and our wisdom comes from the proper source, we are harmless to others. When we mistake the source of wisdom, we can do great eternal damage to ourselves and to those we teach. Read more
Remembering to Do Right
Most of us want to do the right thing and to keep God’s commandments. However, in the press of everyday life, with rushed schedules, pressure from others, and conflicting desires, it can be difficult to make good choices, or even to remember to do the right thing.
One way to help resolve this problem is to surround ourselves with reminders of who we are and what we stand for. By having our world filled with symbols of our faith, we can stay focused on the eternal goal, even when the immediate demands of life are crowding in.
Mormon children are given a ring to wear on their finger that contains a shield with the letters CTR on it. The lett
ers stand for Choose the Right, and children are taught to look at their ring when they make a decision. If they develop the habit of doing this and remembering what the ring is telling them, in time, it can become a habit, so they’ll make the right choice even without a ring handy. However, even many adults wear CTR rings, because it never hurts to be reminded.
Mormons are counseled to place in their homes items that will remind them of their Savior. Gospel art work is one way to keep minds and hearts focused on God. Having a few inexpensive pictures in your home can help you to contemplate how you use your time when you’re at home. Place the pictures in the places you spend the most time or in the spaces that might create the most temptation. The artwork need not be expensive. I often purchase calendars with religious art, and then frame the pictures I like best when the year ends.
Mormons can also ask the leaders of auxiliary organizations to let them know when they’re planning to throw out old picture packets because too many of the pictures are lost. These often have farmable pictures in them.
LDS.org offers an inexpensive new gospel art book, as well. For only a few dollars, you can receive many colored pictures in a spiral binder. These can be placed on an easel, allowing you to change the picture often.
Keeping the scriptures in easily accessible places can also serve as a reminder to read them and to honor what is contained inside. During times when I expect it to be easy to get distracted, I place my Bible and Book of Mormon on my keyboard before going to bed. Since I am a writer and spend my days at my computer, this served as a clear reminder to me to read before I began my work for the morning.
I also have a framed quote on my desk about how God expects us to use our talents to serve Him. I copied it into a word processing program, and put a light picture behind it. Then I printed it off and framed it. Because it sits right where I work, it reminds me to write appropriately, and not to be tempted by popular culture to write something I should not.
Sometimes the greater challenge comes when we leave our home. This is one reason so many Mormons wear CTR rings. However, any type of religious jewelry can serve the same purpose, but only if you desire to do the right thing anyway. A ring is simply not enough to keep you from doing wrong if you’re determined to do the right thing.
The most important way to remember to do right is to live worthy of help from the Holy Ghost. The Holy Ghost can’t be in unclean environments, so we must be attempting to do the right thing. When we’re tempted to make a poor choice, the Holy Ghost or Spirit of Christ can remind us of the promises we’ve made to God and give us the courage to carry them out. However, it’s then our responsibility to act on that prompting. If we ignore it and continue the sin, the Holy Ghost must flee and we’re left alone to cope with the results.
“The gift of the Holy Ghost, given to us when we are confirmed, gives us the ability to discern the difference between the giving ways of the kingdom of God and the taking practices of the world. The Holy Ghost gives us the strength and courage to conduct our lives in the ways of the kingdom of God and is the source of our testimony of the Father and the Son. As we obey the will of our Father in Heaven, this priceless gift of the Holy Ghost will be with us continually.
We need the Holy Ghost as our constant companion to help us make better choices in the decisions that confront us daily. Our young men and women are bombarded with ugly things of the world. Companionship with the Spirit will give them the strength to resist evil and, when necessary, repent and return to the strait and narrow path. None of us are immune from the temptations of the adversary. We all need the fortification available through the Holy Ghost. Mothers and fathers should prayerfully invite the Holy Spirit to dwell in their dedicated homes. Having the gift of the Holy Ghost helps family members make wise choices-choices that will help them return with their families to their Father in Heaven and His Son, Jesus Christ, to live with Them eternally.” (See Robert D. Hales, “The Covenant of Baptism: To Be in the Kingdom and of the Kingdom,” Ensign, Nov 2000, 6-9.)
The most important part of the process is to develop the desire to do right and the faith to know that what God has asked of us is always the best choice. Once that is in place, the other tools will help us to follow through with what we have chosen to do.
In time, obedience becomes easier. If we decide only once, rather than every time we’re in a decision-making setting, we are more likely to make the right choice. For instance, when I’m offered alcohol, I don’t have to stop and decide what to do. I made my choice when I was ten years old, long before I was LDS. It’s not a temptation, and it’s no longer a decision-it’s an automatic reaction. I simply say no without any thought at all. This takes time, but the more our faith grows, the more decisions will begin to be automatic for us.
How Do Mormons Know the Prophet is Telling the Truth?
Mormons teach that God’s prophets today, like those we read of in the Bible, are authorized to speak on God’s behalf for the entire church. Often, people who are not LDS find this concept amazing or even alarming. They wonder how we know if they’re telling us the truth. We are often asked silly questions like, “If your prophet told you to only wear blue, would you?”
Brigham Young had an answer for this question. He’s said to have told people his greatest fear was that people in the church would start to take what he said as the will of God and not take the time to go to God personally to receive confirmation of it.
Although Mormons are taught to honor their prophets and to follow them, it’s not a blind following. Only God can be completely trusted to always tell you the truth, and only God knows the truth of all things. Mormons are taught even before they join the church to pray and ask God if the current prophet really is God’s prophet. Then, afterwards, at any time, th
ey can return to God and ask about specific teachings the prophet has given.
In the case of the hypothetical situations Mormons are always being asked about, a member who reads an article by a church leader will generally follow the following pattern:
Before reading or listening, they pray for the spirit. This will often tell them what is true while they’re receiving the information. Once they received the counsel, they place it in context of other teachings they’ve received. For instance, if the prophet said to store food away so you’ll have enough to eat if you lose your job, a member would say, “Oh, I’ve heard that many times before and already know it’s true.” He wouldn’t likely take time to pray about this, since it’s repeated often.
If it’s new counsel, he might compare it to see if it fits in with previous teachings. For instance, prophets often tell us to store wheat. If this were the first time we’d been told to store wheat, we might think to ourselves, “Well, that’s the first time wheat’s been mentioned, but we’ve often been told to store food in general, so I’ll just add that to it.” It fits into previously given counsel.
However, if a member heard entirely new counsel, and just couldn’t quite feel comfortable with it-maybe because it would require him to stop doing something he loved-he could then take it to God in prayer. Following the established pattern for prayer, he would study the problem in his mind, come to a decision, probably based on what he already knows about God and the gospel, and then come to a conclusion. He’d then kneel in prayer and ask God if he’s made the right choice.
Spencer W. Kimball, a past prophet, spoke on the subject of blind faith. “When men obey commands of a creator, it is not blind obedience….God’s every command is righteous, every directive purposeful, and all for the good of the governed. …
Is it blind obedience when one regards the sign “High Voltage-Keep Away” or is it the obedience of faith in the judgment of experts who know the hazard?
Is it blind obedience when the air traveler fastens his seat belt as that sign flashes or is it confidence in the experience and wisdom of those who know more of hazards and dangers?
Is it blind obedience when the little child gleefully jumps from the table into the strong arms of its smiling father, or is this implicit trust in a loving parent who feels sure of his catch and who loves the child better than life itself? …
Is it then blind obedience when we, with our limited vision, elementary knowledge, selfish desires, ulterior motives, and carnal urges, accept and follow the guidance and obey the commands of our loving Father who … created a world for us, loves us, and has planned a constructive program for us, wholly without ulterior motive, whose greatest joy and glory is to “bring to pass the immortality and eternal life” of all his children? [See Moses 1:39.]
It is not blind obedience, even without total understanding, to follow a Father who has proved himself. (”Chapter 13: Obedience Born of Faith in God,” Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Spencer W. Kimball, (2006),135-44
In the case of the hot stove, it’s likely a child touched a hot stove against the advice of a parent at some time in his childhood. Having done so, he learned first that stoves can be hot, and secondly, that parents can be trusted. Over time, as his parents continued to be right about physical danger, it’s likely he stopped feeling the need to touch every stove or try out every dangerous thing. Whereas, as a toddler, he might have heard a parent say the stove was hot, but he had to find out for himself. As an eight-year-old, if his parents told him it was too dangerous to go outside in the current weather conditions, he might obey without first testing, having learned his parents were usually right.
In the same way, Mormons learn to trust their prophets, and they learn to trust God. A new member is likely to pray about every individual doctrine, but a later member, having learned that when he does so, God always says yes, the prophet is right, no longer needs to do this. He can spend his limited life doing more important things. He saves his confirmation prayers for those situations which leave him uncertain, or which require greater sacrifice to carry out.
Being able to turn to God is one way God protects his children from unscrupulous leadership. They need never take anyone’s word for any part of the gospel, but can always go directly to the source. The prophet delivers God’s message and guides the church, but each member is individually responsible for confirming the truthfulness of what they’re being told.
Someone just learning about the church through Mormon missionaries will be taught how to pray almost immediately. Then, after each lesson, he will be asked to pray about it privately to know for himself it’s true, rather than taking the word of the missionaries. This is a critical step in the member’s progression, because someone who does this is far less likely to fall away from the church in the future. His testimony will be based on a firm foundation-God.
How to Talk to a Mormon About Mormonism
Mormonism is in the news quite a lot lately, and often people have questions. Although it’s likely you know a Mormon, you may be unsure of how to start a conversation, or may be worried about starting a conversation that leads to debate or pressure. Mormons love to talk about their religion, and most welcome sincere questions. With a few simple tips in mind, you can have an enlightening conversation with your Mormon friends.
The first thing you should know is that Mormons are taught not to “scripture chase.” This is a Mormon term that refers to each party pulling out scriptures to prove their point. Anyone who has tried it knows it’s a useless activity. I once had someone “prove” Martians were secretly living on the earth using the Bible. You can prove almost anything with scriptures if you try hard enough. If you start a scripture chase, your friend will most likely back away from the discussion. It is, however, a reasonable request to ask to be shown a Bible scripture or two the church might use to back up a point. (Mormons believe in and use the Bible.) Seeing the scriptures the way your friend sees them will help you to understand his faith better. Just don’t turn it into a contest.
In the Book of Mormon, we read, “And it came to pass that there was no contention in the land, because of the love of God which did dwell in the hearts of the people.” (4 Nephi 1:15). Mormons are taught not to contend about religion, but to simply answer questions factually and share their testimony of the topic, but not with an argument. Arguments don’t convert, they don’t make friends, and they chase away the Spirit of God. While, of course, Mormons aren’t perfect in this, it is the goal, and arguments really won’t solve anything. Mormons get their testimonies by praying to God, not by intellectual games. When talking to a Mormon, seek information in a non-contentious way.
The second point to remember is that Mormons take sacredness very seriously-both the sacred in their own religions, and the sacred in others. Mormons consider certain parts of their religion sacred-not secret, but not to be talked about lightly or to people who don’t have the background or testimony to understand. (Think of it as being put into an advanced physics class before you’ve even had a beginner’s course.) When people attack their sacred things, they pull away. It’s important to respect the sacredness with which they hold certain aspects of their religion. If they prefer not to talk about certain things, it is because they are taught to “trifle not with sacred things.” (Doctrine and Covenants 6:12). Often they will be willing to answer your questions in general ways, but not in the detail you might seek. Most people of all faiths have certain things in their lives that are too sacred to speak to speak of lightly, and just as you would not want your sacred things brought out into the world, neither do your Mormon friends. Show them the respect you want shown for those things you consider sacred. No one is obligated to share every detail of their personal lives, and while there is nothing shocking in what they consider sacred, it’s not meant to be held up to outside conversation or analysis.
Language sometimes becomes a challenge when speaking to Mormons. They have a unique vocabulary, as does any culture. You may find they use words you’ve never heard, or they use them in different ways. Often, when someone thinks Mormons believe something different than they themselves believe, it turns out that they simply use a different term or use it a little differently. For instance, some people call themselves born-again Christians, meaning that at a single moment in their lives, they took Jesus as their Savior. Mormons don’t often use that term, even though they’ve also accepted Jesus Christ as their Savior. When Mormons talk about being born again, they aren’t referring to a moment in time, but a lifetime of love, commitment, and service to their Savior. So, while they might well be called born again, they don’t use the term. For them, this is a way of life, not a once in a lifetime event. Don’t be afraid to ask your friend for a definition of terms. Often, Mormons forget others don’t “speak the language” or even fail to realize others use the words differently. Figure out what role semantics plays in your misconceptions.
Another important point to keep in mind is that what you read on certain websites, known as anti-Mormon sites, may not be true, or may not be doctrine. One point many outsiders fail to realize is that not everything a Mormon-even a Mormon leader-has ever said is doctrine. Our leaders don’t choose religion as a profession. They come from the private sector and eventually end up serving God full-time. They therefore arrive at their stations with opinions and sometimes they state those opinions publicly. This was especially true in the earlier days of the church, when conferences were less structured and more conversational. If a question was asked, and God had not revealed an answer, sometimes the prophet would express his personal opinion, which was never canonized, but which many have either come to believe is true, or claim is true. It would take a great deal of study for you to understand what is doctrine and what is not. When you tell your friends they believe something, and they say they don’t, take their word for it.
In addition, many things these sites hold up as critical doctrine are really outside the core. Mormons believe that only those things which affect your salvation are important. The rest is just interesting. It doesn’t matter, in terms of our eternal salvation, whether the earth was created in seven twenty-four hour days, seven one-thousand year periods, or some other time frame. It has nothing to do with our eternal lives. What does matter about the creation is who created the earth. That is a core doctrine. When you read what Mormons are supposed to believe, ask yourself if that information would affect the salvation of a Mormon. If not, it’s okay to ask, but don’t make a fuss over it. Mormons don’t.
Essentially, all of this boils down to two very easy to remember words: Be respectful. If you’re respectful and friendly in your conversation, your Mormon friends will be happy to answer your questions and clear up any misconceptions you might have about their interesting but less well-known faith.
Why Prayer Matters
Filed under: Gospel Principles, Practices & Precepts, Making Decisions
Mormon beliefs include the understanding that God answers prayers in one of three ways: Yes, No, and Not Yet. Mormons teach that God will answer the prayer in the way that is best. He evaluates the situation with a longer view than we can possibly have, balancing our desires against what we will need in the near and distant future, and how our request will affect others. Mormons learn to pray that God’s will, not their own, be done.
So why pray at all, if God’s going to do what’s best, anyway?
Letting God choose isn’t the same as not praying-you don’t get the same results. When you don’t pray at all, you don’t invite God into the process. You do all the research, make all the plans, make all the decisions, and then carry them out alone. You also accept the full responsibility for the results, which may affect others, and may include unintended consequences. Eventually, we have to answer to God for the choices we make. Wouldn’t it be better to run them by Him to begin with?
When faced with a problem that doesn’t involve a decision, such as a serious illness, we can also choose to let nature take its course if we want to, or we can ask God to step in and do what’s best. We have agency, we can choose whether or not to seek and receive help.
Praying allows us to do several things. First, when you have to make a choice, you often consult with an expert. For instance, if you’re having trouble getting your toddler to nap, you go to your favorite message board, the experienced mom next door, or your most dependable parenting book. This might be enough when an experiment or two won’t really hurt anything, but often, the choices we need to make are much larger than that. They can change our entire lives, or the lives of others. In those cases, there is only one possible source of advice.
Sometimes a decision may not seem critical, but in the long run, the choice you make can have unexpected consequences or rewards. For instance, when my husband wanted to move here, closer to his job, I balked. I liked it where I was and didn’t want to go. Finally, I took it to God and was told very clearly to go. Now that I’m here, I know why. I’ve had opportunities here I’ve needed and couldn’t have gotten if I’d stayed put. There was no possible way to foresee those opportunities, however, on my own. I could have stayed, and maybe nothing awful would have happened, but later on, when a need arose, I wouldn’t be ready for it because I’d lack some skills I needed.
Sometimes our requests involve the agency of others, and God can only plant ideas in their hearts, but can’t take away their agency. It is still worth praying over, because we do want those ideas planted if they’re what’s best and we’ll know we did the best we could, even if praying was all we could do when the problem concerned the choices of others.
Another purpose in prayer is to give us regular feedback on our choices. We need to learn how to make wise choices for our lives. Sometimes the results of our choices are obvious, but often, they aren’t. When we make decisions about parenting, for instance, the results may not be known for decades. Parenting fads change often and by the time we find out what would have been best, it’s too late. When we regularly go to God for help with our daily choices, we can watch for patterns in His answers, and after a while, our ability to make decisions He approves of improves.
When we put things into God’s hands, we avoid the randomness of the natural world. We have a feeling of peace and security because we know the best choices are being made, even if we can’t possibly understand why God made the choice He did.
We have agency, the right to choose. God won’t force us to turn our problems over to Him. We can choose to do everything ourselves, hoping for the best and trusting our own wisdom, which is limited and usually self-centered, or we can opt to turn our problems and needs over to God and let Him show us the path. The results of either choose-going it alone or turning it over to God-will be very different in most cases, but the choice is yours.
Truth is Absolute
Filed under: Recognizing Truth, Truth Restored
When Joseph Smith was a teenager, he longed to know which church he should join. He found himself confused because each church he looked into had contradictory doctrine. How could they all be right, as some claimed? Rightly so, he sensed that truth was absolute and unchanging.
If God is the source of truth, and God is not a God of confusion, then there can’t be conflicting truths. If baptism is required to enter the kingdom of God, then it’s always required. If children infants shouldn’t be baptized, then they must never be baptized. Saying that baptism both is and is not required can both be true leads to confusion about important issues, and God doesn’t create confusion.
There are those who expect churches to be fashionable and “tolerant.” They feel churches should take no real stand on any issue, even those that affect salvation. There are churches which have done that, have kept up with the times and not worried too much about what the Bible actually says. However, this is not what God has taught us about truth.
And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. John 8: 32
John demonstrates the importance of knowing what is true. In order for us to know what’s true, there must be truth to know. Certain things must be so, whether we like them to be or not. We, as mortal beings, do not get to choose truth. Only God can do this. Our job isn’t to intellectualize truth or judge it, but to know it, live it, share it, and love it. The truth can then make us free.
So, when people accuse your church of being out of touch with the “real” world or the modern world, say it’s out of style or old-fashioned, measure your doctrine against God’s. If you find it’s in tune, then take their criticism as praise. It takes moral courage to stay with truth, and not wander off to the demands of fashion and those who are intolerant of God’s truths.
The Book of Mormon records a vision of the prophet Nephi. In this vision, there was a tree. Lehi understood that the tree had a wonderful fruit, which could bring joy to anyone who partook of it. The tree represented God’s love. Lehi naturally wanted his family to join him at the tree and eat the fruit. His wife and two youngest sons did, but his two oldest were rebellious and refused to come. Lehi watched others set out on the road that led to the tree. One group got sidetracked along the way. The next group found the iron rod that ran alongside the road after a while and held onto it so they wouldn’t get lost, even though a heavy mist had arisen. They stayed on the path, got to the tree, ate the fruit…and then made an eternally fatal error.
This group started looking around to check out how the rest of the world was viewing their wonderful accomplishment. To their surprise, the world wasn’t largely cheering them on. Instead, the people who had not entered the road or who hadn’t stayed on it mocked them, told them they were foolish, and called them names. The people who had successfully navigated the path couldn’t seem to tune out the mocking. They wanted to be loved and accepted, and so, humiliated by the mocking, they rushed off the path to join those who were elegantly dressed and very popular, but who were without truth.
There were other groups, but only one group was successful. Those people chose to take the path. They persevered until they reached the iron rod, which represented God’s word, and then held tight, allowing the rod to guide them to the tree. When they partook of the fruit, they enjoyed the blessings that came from it without taking an opinion poll to see what others thought of them. They didn’t care what others thought. They knew what was right and good, and they were content to have that, regardless of the jeers and persecutions of those less wise.
Today, those who choose to stay on the path and partake of God’s truths are jeered at and mocked. It takes real courage to stay firm and tune out the mockers. However, truth is truth. While it might seem temporarily more provident to follow those who have abandoned God, in the eternal scheme of things, those who honor God will have the best outcomes.
Those who truly know and love God do not expect him to alter truth for their convenience. They understand that truth is unchanging, and that it’s worth the hardships.