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Revelation
Busting Myths about the Family Proclamation
Thirty years ago, in a meeting most of the world ignored, fourteen Apostles and a Prophet of God presented a proclamation. That proclamation would become one of the most quoted, debated, and misunderstood documents in modern religious history. When President Gordon B. Hinckley read "The Family: A Proclamation to the World" on Sept 23, 1995, few could have predicted the intense controversy and cultural battles that would hit us during the next 30 years, nor that this uncontroversial nine-paragraph statement would become the great divider of the Church. Yet the apostles who crafted it knew exactly what they were doing. And three decades later, their prophetic foresight has been vindicated. As the Church has made its stand, Satan has responded from both without and within the Church. One tactic he utilizes within the Church is to spread myths and misconceptions about the Proclamation itself, hoping to undermine its authority and the confidence of members in its teachings. Let's separate the truth from the myths.
Do We Proclaim the Proclamation?
I’ve always been an odd duck. Most kids played soccer during recess; I preferred reading and discussing theology. As a young adult, I discovered FAIR (a leading organization for Latter-day Saint scholarship and apologetics). Now, my annual pilgrimage to Utah for their conference is a highlight of my year. But Latter-day Saint apologetics is a niche hobby-- one my friends have always found uninteresting... until now. Over the past two weeks, many have reached out, saying they watched the FAIR presentations and want to attend next year’s conference. What sparked this newfound curiosity? The old adage: “There’s no such thing as bad publicity.”
You sure you want to say that?
A few years ago, I saw a Twitter post asking how a Latter-day Saint might respond to a situation involving family and same-sex marriage. It was a great question, so I reposted it with my brief thoughts about the tricky balance of love and faith and how I might respond, and then I happily went to bed. I had no idea what was about to happen.
More holiness give me... even if I'm not sure I want it
Last week, I had the privilege of working a baptismal session in the Temple with our wonderful Spanish branch-- most of them recent converts doing this work for the first time. They were untrained and nervous, so there were many do-overs. As I watched these humble brethren intently struggle through the ordinance, I thought back to my own first time doing baptisms for the dead, and how I managed to fumble things in my own unique way. When I was twelve, only endowed Melchizedek Priesthood holders could perform the ordinances, so the responsibility for all the baptisms often fell on a single young men's leader for the entire session. I could see this good brother's arms growing tired, so when it was my turn to be baptized, I tried to lighten his load by leaning myself into and out of the water. I guess I overdid it. After just two names, he laughed and said, "Matthew, you're trying to baptize yourself; that's not how this works. Just let go a bit and let me do the work. I've got you." I didn't know how important those words would become to me later in life.
Why our resolutions fail
I'm writing this post from the cafe of the YMCA (I come here regularly, but I'm no gym rat-- I drop the kids at the daycare while I work). Right now, this place is absolutely packed! I shouldn't be surprised-- it always fills up during the first month of the year as people try to meet their resolution to lose weight and get in shape. I looked it up just now-- the word "resolution" only occurs once in the entire Book of Mormon. Alma 47 tells of a group of people "fixed in their minds with a determined resolution" to break out of a rut and make some wonderful changes in their way of living. How did their resolution go? They started very strong. Then old temptations started to wear them down a bit. Then they started to cheat and compromise. And within a few weeks, they were right back where they started. Sound familiar?
"Efficiency" isn't that important to God
As a software engineer, it's my job to find the optimal way to do things. I'm constantly looking for the most efficient method to sort a list, store stuff in a database, and speed up a program. And once my brain is set to "optimization mode," it's hard to turn it off. For example, recently, as I waited for a temple session to start, I found myself mentally inventing ways to increase the throughput of proxy ordinance work. I came up with a way we could do ten times the number of names per endowment session with just a few minor tweaks and no degradation of the experience. But the Spirit interrupted my silent design session with a gentle rebuke: "This is the Temple. Look around. What gave you the idea that 'efficiency' is what's most important here?" As I pondered this experience later, many stories and insights from ancient and latter-day scripture flooded my mind. What did I learn? That by mortal standards, God operates very inefficiently, because He's working with a completely different set of priorities. Here are several seeming "inefficiencies" I'm grateful for.
When God redirects us
The converts of Ammon never cease to amaze me. These remarkable individuals, who "never did fall away," exemplified quiet yet determined discipleship. When the Lamanite armies came to exterminate them, they did the unexpected.
A new Title of Liberty
It was a time of social and political upheaval. Some of the population claimed they were born with a certain characteristic that the rest of society either ignored or even disparaged. These individuals chose to let this particular characteristic define their identities and soon insisted that the rest of society acknowledge and even celebrate them for this identity. Although it started at the fringes, this radical movement was supported by social and political elites. Soon, the movement grew in volume and popularity until it became inescapably loud. Those who dared to speak against it were labeled and attacked, accused of denying the natural rights of individuals who were "born that way." Eventually, some well-intentioned individuals, dissatisfied with injustices in society, began to support their agenda as well.
Sorry Lord, could you repeat that?
This past week in Come, Follow Me, we read "the crowning event recorded in the Book of Mormon," the "personal ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ among the Nephites soon after His resurrection." After 600 years, the Nephites were finally privileged to stand in the presence of their Lord and Savior. You would think that Christ would be met with joyful, anticipated celebration. But that's not what happened at all. In fact, when the time came, it just really didn't click at first.
10 blockers to scripture study
In a previous post, I talked about our responsibility to learn to truly "treasure" the word of God like the Nephites did-- specifically, that we need to do better at prioritizing our study of the Book of Mormon. We need to "level up" our study so that we're not just reading the words on the page like a novel, but truly study and dig deep. This is all easier said than done, of course. Most of us find it really difficult to dig in and "delight" in the Book of Mormon like we ought to. Why is that? I asked my Sunday School class this question recently. They're 16 and 17 years old, so you know they are world-class experts on all the reasons to not do something. They identified 10 obstacles they face when trying to dig deep in the Book of Mormon. Just like the defensive plays in the Super Bowl going on right now, these "blockers" can really get in the way of our scripture study:
The Three Degrees of Scripture Study
The other day as I read in Mormon, I saw some really interesting wording that I thought would make a good blog post. But as I started writing about it, I realized that the only way to see the neat connection I saw was if you read the selection without regard to the verse markings. So I went on a tangent in my original post about how the verse markings can often get into our way. My thoughts and feelings kept flowing and that tangent became this whole post which I'm calling "The Three Degrees of Scripture Study."
Don't try to follow all the Lord's counsel at once
There are many things in our day to day, secular lives that we "ought" to do. Like putting the junk mail in the recycling bin instead of the trash can. Or opting for the salad over the meat lover's pizza. But we often don't do what we know we should. Why? Because we're lazy? Maybe. But I think it's mostly because we see these "suggestions" as optional—like "extra credit" in life. They are something to strive for when time permits, but not something so important we should bend over backward trying to make it work. Trying out all the little "suggestions" in life all at once is impossible, and we know it. So we accept the fact that we simply can't lose 50 pounds and reduce our carbon footprint and double-pay our mortgage and get that promotion and spend more time with family and learn a new language and write that novel all at the same time. Not everything is worth the effort right now. We have to focus on what's most important (provide for our families, etc.) and then decide which "suggestions" we want to focus on with our remaining attention. In other words, when it comes to secular matters, we are realistic and we prioritize. But wait. We are faced with the same deluge of suggestions about the spiritual matters of our lives, too.
The restoration was messy (and that's OK)
Years ago, I heard a Bishop say: "Brothers and sisters, the restoration was messy." I didn't think much about his wording at the time. But over the few years following (including my mission), I encountered a lot of people wanting to "educate" me about early Church history. Joseph Smith was the most common target, of course. They cited all sorts of stories about him that seemingly "proved" he was a lying, womanizing con man. I mostly brushed off these claims during my mission. Those critics were not historians. I knew their agenda. I figured they were mostly lies, or at least huge distortions of the history. So, when I got home from my mission, I bought an 800-page history of Joseph Smith. It was written by an active stake patriarch and Church historian who worked on the Joseph Smith Papers project, so I figured his book would blow away all those false accusations with the fiery testimony of truth. But I was surprised to find that instead of tearing down all the stories the critics had told me, history largely confirmed them. And you know what? That's OK!
Asking questions when we already know the answer
I read the Book of Enos again the other night and realized something: Enos's wrestle with God in the woods doesn't seem to have told him anything he didn't already know. Let me explain.
I could really use a sign right about now
There's a gloom in my house right now. A family friend in our ward passed away this past week after a short but vigorous battle with cancer. He leaves behind an amazing family with kids ranging from Primary age through missionary age. Our hearts break for his wonderful family and we will miss the cheery smile and spirit he always brought into the room. He was the kind of guy that always made you feel like you were important when you talked to him. As another ward member said when they heard of his death, "Heaven just leveled up."
The whisper that shakes the earth
Nephi and Lehi were an amazingly powerful missionary brother duo. They preached "with such great power and authority" that they not only converted thousands of Lamanites but also a lot of hardened Nephite defectors. But this success also came with a lot of hardship. Like that one time they were tossed into prison and were about to be killed. But the Lord is always there for His missionaries. He shrouded the prison in darkness and spoke to the Lamanites in the prison directly, calling them to repent in a "mild," quiet voice. But this still, small voice still packed a punch:
Signs and Spiritual Eclipses
Tomorrow, many of us in the United States are going to be privileged to get a few extra minutes of afternoon shade. The moon is going to pass above us in such a way that its path will cast a shadow in a large swath of the country and temporarily bathe the land in darkness. It's going to be pretty neat. Coincidentally, I have reached the point in my personal study of the Book of Mormon where another amazing astronomical event occurred: the night without darkness and the appearance of the new star that were to be a sign unto the Nephites of the birth of the Savior of the World. This event was preceded by angelic ministrations, many more signs and wonders in heaven, and the appearance of a new star. And just in time, too! The Nephites were in a pretty dark place spiritually when this sign was given. They had largely rejected the Gospel and were actively plotting to kill all the believers the very night the sign was given. They needed a good wake-up call.
Many revelations daily
When is the last time you received revelation? The other night in my studies, I came across this verse:And in the seventy and ninth year there began to be much strife. But it came to pass that Nephi and Lehi, and many of their brethren who knew concerning the true points of doctrine, having many revelations daily, therefore they did preach unto the people, insomuch that they did put an end to their strife in that same year. -- Hel. 11:23That phrase, "many revelations daily" struck me. It reminded me of a story Elder Hales shared:
Lessons on revelation from the five Nephite runners
Who were the Nephite runners? Remember that time the Nephite chief judge was murdered? No, I'm not talking about the murder of chief judge Pahoran. Or his brother Pacumeni. Or Cezoram. Or Cezoram's son. Or Lachoneus. I'm talking about Seezoram.
Just men and women are just men and women
WARNING: SCRIPTURES TAKEN OUT OF CONTEXT AHEAD. Do not attempt at home. One of the obstacles missionaries run into when teaching the Gospel is the fact that the general population is largely unfamiliar with the old "King's English." Since most of our Standard Works are written in the English of the King James Bible, this becomes a problem when trying to teach the Gospel as missionaries. Investigators often read "ye" and "yea" as just alternate spellings of "yeah" or "yay." "Hath," "wist," "wot," and "listeth" are stumbling blocks when trying to use the Book of Mormon or the Bible to teach important doctrines. But sometimes that stumbling block can help us see another meaning to the Scriptures, too.
Not to trifle with the words
Shortly before his death, the righteous prophet/king Benjamin gathered together all his people to give them the instructions he had received from God. As I read through the account of this Nephite General Conference, I was impressed by the similarities to our own General Conference.
Pre-revelatory Interviews
Alma is about to mysteriously disappear off the face of the earth, leaving the struggling Nephite Christian Church in the hands of his son Helaman. Before he transfers ownership of the scriptural records to Helaman, he holds a bit of an interview with him, grilling him a bit about his beliefs