Thoughts About Exodus and Why the Pharoah Wouldn’t Let Israel Go

We usually think of the Pharaoh who held the Israelites in bondage in Egypt as a bad guy (not that I’m going to argue he’s good…)  It seems odd that he would be shown all these signs and plagues, and once each one is over, he refuses to let the children of Israel go, after saying he would. Why did he keep hardening his heart?

I think it might be useful to think about what factors might have contributed to his hard heart because they may show us factors that cause us to harden our hearts.

One factor that easily comes to mind is that the Pharaoh saw that once the Israelites were gone, a very profitable source of cheap labor would be gone too. It would be logical to his self-interest and the interest of his kingdom that he would try to prevent that. He would try to intimidate or jolly Moses along in hopes of not losing control of Israelite labor.  Lesson: Loss of material advantages can often prevent us from responding to the Lord’s call if we value the advantage over obedience.

A second factor that might not be so obvious is that God’s actions may have run contrary to Pharaoh’s notions of how a god acts. Pharaoh has his gods, Moses has his God. This conflict could be seen as a cosmic battle between Pharaoh’s gods and Moses’ God. What is Pharaoh going to think of a God that says, “Let my people go”?  He’s going to think Israel’s God is weak. (“A god that asks permission for his people to leave? Right. Make me!”)  However, in the whole story, we see a God that allows people their agency—even hostile rulers—and lets them make decisions to respond to His requests or commands…or not.  And with the plagues that steadily increase in severity, we see that God is long-suffering, willing to wait for people to make the right choice, but ultimately, He can’t be frustrated and He can’t be toyed with.

Another thing we notice about Pharaoh is that when the crisis of a plague is upon him, suddenly he sees the necessity of letting Israel go, or requesting Moses to stop the plague, but as soon as the plague has stopped, he reneges and doesn’t follow through. Once the pain is gone, all thoughts of changing or acting as promised stop. There’s a nice lesson from this—when we’re going through a crisis, it is easy to make all kinds of resolutions that we’re going to change once things get back to normal, but when conditions improve, it is really easy to say, “Oh, I don’t need to do that after all; I’m okay now.” This is the same way Pharaoh hardened his heart.

Let’s review the plagues and see in what ways Pharaoh tries to put Moses off.

1) Moses’ first request is polite, with no plague. Pharaoh, in response, gets tough and makes the Israelite tasks harder by depriving them of ready straw for making bricks while not diminishing their quota they have to provide. In effect, he rewards good with evil, so the Lord has to get tougher. Ever after, Pharaoh can’t do anything to punish the Israelites because of the crisis of plagues.   Lesson: Sometimes we might consider spiritual impressions to change to be some sort of internal rebellion in ourselves or lack of discipline against a comfortable or tolerable status quo, so we tighten the screws and double down on what we’re doing instead of listening.

2) Then there is the miracle of the rods turning to snakes, the water of the river turning to blood, and the frogs. But because Pharaoh’s magicians seem to be able to do the same, Pharaoh hardens his heart. He still things his gods are just as powerful as Israel’s god. We don’t hear anything about the river and waters being healed; we only hear of the request to send away the frogs. (But you can notice that Pharaoh doesn’t actually say he’ll let the Israelites go once the frogs are gone.)  Lesson: Sometimes we refuse to listen to spiritual impressions or signs we need to change or act because we think they are coincidences or something caused by others.

3) Then there is the plague of lice, which the magicians can’t duplicate, so they tell Pharaoh it is Israel’s God at work. Still, Pharaoh hardens his heart, and we don’t see him asking for that to be removed, so maybe he thought it was a small enough problem that everyone could just deal with it.

4) Next comes the plague of flies, and Pharaoh tries to dictate the terms by which the Israelites will act. Moses’ request from the beginning has been that the Israelites be allowed to go out into the wilderness to sacrifice to God (and then not be expected to return.) The Pharaoh says at this point, “Oh, sure you can sacrifice, but do it here in Egypt.” Moses says, “No, we can’t do that, since our sacrifice is abomination to the Egyptians; they will stone us.” (see Ex. 8:26) and he says the Israelites must go at least three days journey into the wilderness. Pharaoh says “That’s fine; just don’t go very far. And pray for me.” So Moses prays for the flies to go away, which they do, and again Pharaoh hardens his heart. 

Pharaoh’s problem here was that he thought that if the intent of letting the Israelites go was sacrifice, then they should be able to do that anywhere. So why not Egypt? He forgot that the Egyptians did not approve of sacrifice, so requiring that would create a hostile, unbelieving environment for what should be a sacred, believing rite.   Lesson: Sometimes we try to dictate the terms of our obedience to the Lord. We try to choose the time and place that is most convenient, when sometimes those very inconveniences we try to ignore are what contribute to the sacredness of the experience.

5) Then there is the plague on the Egyptian cattle, and the boils on man and beast, but Pharaoh’s heart is still hardened. And he doesn’t seem to ask for any reprieve from these. He must have felt that was another thing people could just handle. Lesson: Sometimes we think we can deal with a problem instead of fixing it as we’re prompted to, and it just causes pain for everybody.

6) Then there is the hail, which is mixed with fire. (This may be ball lightning, which still hasn’t been studied much.) It so happens that the Egyptians who believed Moses could save their cattle and servants by bringing them into the house, but apparently Pharaoh didn’t care enough. Still, he asks Moses to stop the hail. Here he tries confession. “I have sinned this time: the LORD is righteous, and I and my people are wicked.” (Ex. 9:27) He promises to let the Israelites go afterward, but when the Lord stops the hail, Pharaoh hardens his heart again. So his confession was fake. You can also see that because he says, “I have sinned this time” (emphasis added). He doesn’t admit that his previous refusals to let them go are also sins. Lesson: Confessing a sin doesn’t do any good unless there is a commitment to act differently and follow-through.

7) The next one is an interesting case. Moses tells Pharaoh that there will be a plague of locusts if the Israelites aren’t let go. Pharaoh responds by telling them that only the men can go (see Ex 10:8-11) and then kicks Moses out so he can’t protest. Pharaoh is trying to hold the Israelite families hostage to ensure the return of the men. Also, he is trying to stop the conversation there so that there is no time for Moses to protest and announce the plague. I notice his servants figuring it out; they know Egypt is in trouble, but Pharaoh doesn’t realize it or refuses to see it.  Lesson: Censoring the Lord’s messenger doesn’t mean you’re off the hook. Also, sometimes it becomes obvious to others around us that we are ignoring the Lord and on the wrong track, while we flail around trying to avoid the inevitable.

Anyway, Moses is in a tricky spot here. Do they take what Pharaoh offers, or do they stick to their guns? The Lord tells Moses to stretch out his hand over Egypt and bring the locusts. And they come.  Lesson: Partial obedience doesn’t fool the Lord. He knows when full obedience is being held back.

After the locusts come, Pharaoh says, “I have sinned against the LORD your God and against you. Now therefore forgive, I pray thee, my sin only this once, and entreat the LORD your God, that he may take away from me this death only.” (Ex. 10:16-17)

Interesting that now Pharaoh admits he sinned against the Lord and against Moses. He has to up his contrition rhetoric to try to get Moses to believe him. (We only see this is rhetoric in hindsight, though, in the moment it could have been sincere, so he has to be believed.) But there are things he says which make us question his sincerity, especially since he says, “Forgive, I pray thee, my sin only this once.” Even though Pharaoh has seen the Lord remove FIVE plagues, he has this idea that he only has to repent once and then everything will be okay after that. (What? Does he think no more plagues are possible and he’s seen the worst?) He doesn’t realize the principle that believers know-- all of us keep transgressing in ways we hadn’t anticipated, so we continue to need repentance. Also there’s another principle that Pharaoh depended upon, but which we sometimes forget (to our torment)—the Lord continues pardon as often as we repent. If the Lord removed plagues at Pharaoh’s request (knowing how hard-hearted Pharaoh was), how much more merciful will He be our complete sincerity and humility? So much more.

The Lord removes the locusts. But then Pharaoh hardens his heart again.

8) The next plague, Moses brings without going to Pharaoh. It is three days of darkness. This time Pharaoh says he will let the Israelites go, but they must leave their cattle in Egypt. He’s still trying to keep hostages, still only trying to get by with 2/3rds obedience.  But since the effect of leaving the cattle means the Israelites would have to go back to Egypt to keep them or stay in the wilderness impoverished, Pharaoh’s agreement is actually not obedience at all, just a complete sham. Lesson: Hypocrisy doesn’t cut it with the Lord either.

Moses holds the line—everyone and everything they own is going with them. Pharaoh does not agree to that and says the next time Moses sees him, Moses will die.

So it has come to threats. Pharaoh seems to think that Moses is the problem and if Moses is gotten rid of, then everything will be okay. The problem is, this has just raised the stakes. Those who dig a pit for others will fall into said pit themselves. So, the Egyptians get the plague of the death of the firstborn.  Lesson:  Getting rid of the leader who transmits the commands of the Lord does not let you off the hook of following those commands.

Let’s sum up what we’ve learned, in a more organized fashion.

Sometimes we have troubles accepting messages from God because:

·      It forces us to sacrifice material advantages

·      It runs counter to our notions of what we think God would tell us.

·      We think it is just self-generated or foolish dissatisfaction.

·      We think it is coincidence or easily duplicated by others.

·      Or we think we can deal with the pain instead of changing.

Once it becomes clear the message really is from God, we still might drag our feet in the following ways:

·      The end of a crisis causes our urgency to fade and our motivation to drop.

·      We might confess our sins of disobedience, but still not change.

·      We might think we can get away with a show of obedience while not actually obeying.

·      We might think we can dictate the terms of the obedience, choosing what’s most convenient.

·      Or we might think that partial obedience is acceptable.

·      We might shorten, edit, re-interpret away the message.

·      Or (the unthinkable) threaten the messenger.

I bet these types of reasons look pretty familiar. But if we recognize ourselves here, recognizing there’s a problem is the first step to fixing it.

What I keep coming back to in this story is how long-suffering and merciful the Lord was with Pharaoh and how that means we can absolutely count on the mercy of the Lord if we repent sincerely and obey completely.

Elder Maxwell on Doubts

Gotta love Elder Neal A. Maxwell.

The following quotes about doubts came from a section in the Neal A. Maxwell Quote Book, which also cites the individual books those quotes came from:

The shouts and barbs from those in doubt are sometimes not criticism at all, but frustration at not yet having found the “iron rod”—something solid in a world of too many marshmallow men and too many chameleon causes. (A Time to Choose, p.6)

Notice at the bottom of this kind of doubt is frustration at a lack of certainty.  From my experience of having had a crisis of faith, that lack of certainty can be very painful. And from that perspective, the results of living the doctrine can seem uncertain too, cloaked, as it seems, in the mist of the future.  How much does one dare to trust it?  Will God make good on His promises?  (Yes, He does, but our faith must be tried.)

Elder Maxwell also notes that this is a world of “too many marshmallow men and too many chameleon causes.”   Acquaintance with too many of these can make us think that the kingdom of God is one of them.  Or if we leave the church for some other cause that seems more weighty, we will find to our sorrow that once we have fully weighed it, it is still found wanting, leaving our own wanting unfulfilled.

To host an if is like hosting an insect that breeds and multiplies in the sun of circumstance. Soon one is crawling with ifs and is thereby overcome. (Even As I Am, p74)

The “if” that Maxwell talks about is more like a “what if.”  I would add that when hosting an if, it may feel as if you are feeding off it, but it is feeding off you and sucking out the vitality of faith. He compares it to hosting an insect because these doubts are parasitic. They don’t add anything or help you do anything. 

There are two ways to deal with them.  1) Forget about them and get to work living the practical gospel. Acting to keep commandments builds faith.  “Tis better far for us to strive, our useless cares from us to drive.” 2) Treat them like ticks and confront them with the tweezers of faith-filled argument: write them down and then eviscerate them on paper. 

Doubters often pool their doubts by associating with like-minded individuals, each bringing his own favorite “dish” as if to a potluck dinner. (That Ye May Believe, p. 191)

Thus, even if you badly want validation when in the midst of doubts, don’t go looking for other doubters to kvetch with. That’s kind of like going to a doctor-less hospital in which sick people go around infecting each other in the name of palliative care.  Instead, you need strong, thinking believers with big hearts.   You need people willing to share their reasons for belief, and who love in such a way that you’ll see there’s room for you in the church.

By not being actively involved in the process of faith, doubters simply do not receive reinforcing rewards. They also resent the lack of sympathetic vibrations from the faithful each time doubters themselves oscillate in response to what they suppose is some “new evidence” to the contrary. (Lord, Increase Our Faith, p.89)

It seems to me that if people find themselves oscillating in response to “new evidence” they think contradicts their faith, it is time to take a careful look at what the foundations of their testimony is and whether they are keeping the commandments as given in the Beatitudes.  Testimony has to be rooted in Christ and the prophets.  It is kept strong by doing the commandments. 

24 ¶Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock:

25 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock.

26 And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand:

27 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it. (Matt. 7:24-27)

Thoughts from Cheryl A. Esplin’s talk “Filling Our Homes with Light and Truth”

I wanted to share a few thoughts about a part of Cheryl A. Esplin’s talk “FillingOur Homes with Light and Truth”

I was impressed by the story she shared about the experience of a member of her ancestor’s family:

Several months ago I read the testimony of my great-grandfather’s sister Elizabeth Staheli Walker. As a child, Elizabeth immigrated to America from Switzerland with her family.

After Elizabeth married, she and her husband and children lived in Utah near the Nevada border, where they ran a mail station. Their home was a stopping place for travelers. All day and all night they had to be ready to cook and serve meals for travelers. It was hard, exhausting work, and they had little rest. But the greatest thing that concerned Elizabeth was the conversation of the people they associated with.

Elizabeth said that up to this time she had always taken for granted that the Book of Mormon was true, that the Prophet Joseph Smith had been authorized of God to do what he did, and that his message was the plan of life and salvation. But the life she was experiencing was anything but what would strengthen such a belief.

Some of the travelers who stopped were well-read, educated, smart men, and always the talk around her table was that Joseph Smith was “a sly fraud” who had written the Book of Mormon himself and then distributed it to make money. They acted as if to think anything else was absurd, claiming “that Mormonism was bunk.”

All this talk made Elizabeth feel isolated and alone. There was no one to talk to, no time to even say her prayers—although she did pray as she worked. She was too frightened to say anything to those who ridiculed her religion. She said she didn’t know but what they were telling the truth, and she felt she could not have defended her belief if she had tried.

Later, Elizabeth and her family moved. Elizabeth said she had more time to think and was not so distracted all the time. She often went down in the cellar and prayed to Heavenly Father about what was troubling her—about the stories those seemingly smart men had told about the gospel being bunk and about Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon.

One night Elizabeth had a dream. She said: “It seemed I was standing by a narrow wagon road, which led around by the foot of a low rolling hill; halfway up the hill I saw a man looking down and speaking, or seemed to be speaking, to a young man who was kneeling and leaning over a hole in the earth. His arms were stretched out, and it looked as if he was reaching for something from in the hole. I could see the lid of stone that seemed to have been taken off from the hole over which the boy was bending. On the road were many people, but none of them seemed to be at all interested in the two men on the hillside. There was something that came along with the dream that impressed me so strangely that I woke right up; … I could not tell my dream to anyone, but I seemed to be satisfied that it meant the angel Moroni [instructed] the boy Joseph at the time he got the plates.”

In the spring of 1893, Elizabeth went to Salt Lake City to the dedication of the temple. She described her experience: “In there I saw the same picture [that] I had seen in my dream; I think it was [a] colored-glass window. I feel satisfied that if I saw the Hill Cumorah itself, it would not look more real. I feel satisfied that I was shown in a dream a picture of the angel Moroni giving Joseph Smith the [gold] plates.”

Many years after having this dream and several months before she died at nearly age 88, Elizabeth received a powerful impression. She said, “The thought came to me as plain … as if someone had said to me, … ‘Do not bury your testimony in the ground.’”⁵

Generations later, Elizabeth’s posterity continues to draw strength from her testimony.

The story of Elizabeth Staheli Walker demonstrates a number of principles.

First, it can be a challenging experience for lifetime members to go from an environment that accords with their belief to an environment that challenges belief.  One is forced to re-examine the foundation of their testimony and ground it more firmly. 

Elizabeth had no one to talk to and no time to say her prayers.  It seems she had to make time to pray by praying during her work, since she didn’t have quiet, alone moments.  (I think she’s a good example of taking the initiative by doing what she could.  What if she had just decided not to pray at all since circumstances weren’t perfect?) 

What other resources might Elizabeth have had to strengthen her?  I personally wonder how daily scripture study might have made a difference.  It would have been difficult to fit that in with her busyness, but I think she could have snatched a few verses here and there, just like she fit prayer in.

The people who thought Mormonism was absurd were at least not violent about it. But they told stories that probably gave a different view of the Restoration, a view of it being a fraud.  It is admirable that even though Elizabeth didn’t have the resources to defend her faith, she at least clung to it the best she could.  And later in her life, she had time to pray about the troubling stories, so she did pray about them.  It shows she had confidence that she could learn the truth from God, rather than letting those stories pull her away.

I love that Heavenly Father gave her a dream. I found this dream very interesting because it is a composite of truth and symbolism.  The truth part of it was of Joseph Smith retrieving the gold plates from the Hill Cumorah under the direction of the angel Moroni.  The symbolic part of it was the road at the foot of the hill with many people on it, none of whom were at all interested in what was happening on the hill.  This perfectly symbolized the situation she’d lived through at the mail station.  She’d met many people on their way to somewhere else who were not at all interested in the events of the Restoration.  And to cover their disinterest, they had pretended a view that it was all absurd and a fraud and not worth their attention.

The fact that Elizabeth was in the dream and on the road showed that Heavenly Father knew she’d been influenced a bit by the people who were disinterested, but she could still see and recognize the importance of what was happening on the hill.   And later, when she saw that very scene represented in a colored-glass window at the Salt Lake Temple, she had yet another confirmation that Heavenly Father had shown her something special.

She didn’t tell her dream to anyone, but she did write it down and that meant that this experience of spiritual witness was not lost forever.  The dream was just for her; it addressed her doubts and concerns.   It is also valuable for us today because it shows us another way that Heavenly Father may speak peace to our doubts and help strengthen our testimonies. It also shows us the importance of recording the dreams we have that teach spiritual principles.  Some day those records will be appreciated by our descendants, or even wider.

I know Heavenly Father still can speak to us in dreams.  I occasionally have dreams that show me where I am spiritually in life and often they suggest to me what I need to do to improve. One of those dreams is like having an experience without actually living it, so the truths penetrate deeper.

The spiritual experiences Heavenly Father gives us and the ways we seek His guidance help fill us up so that we will be able to withstand the challenges to our faith, whether they come from people who are disinterested, or from people who are outright hostile.  I think that is the major message from Sister Esplin’s talk.

Some thoughts on Elder Nelson’s talk “Let Your Faith Show” from April 2014 conference

Here’s a part of Elder Nelson’s talk that stuck out to me recently:

“Problems abound in this world because it is populated by imperfect people. Their objectives and desires are heavily influenced by their faith or lack of it. Many put other priorities ahead of God. Some challenge the relevance of religion in modern life. As in every age, so today there are those who mock or decry the free exercise of religion. Some even blame religion for any number of the world’s ills. Admittedly, there have been times when atrocities have been committed in the name of religion. But living the Lord’s pure religion, which means striving to become a true disciple of Jesus Christ, is a way of life and a daily commitment that will provide divine guidance. As you practice your religion, you are exercising your faith. You are letting your faith show.”

Elder Nelson describes a number of ways that problems occur because of imperfect people with imperfect faith.  It is easy to just brush over these types of people and tsk-tsk over them, but I think it is worth looking closer and think about what caused those states in the first place. 

It is possible to see that they may be well-intentioned but hampered by ignorance, or confusion, or uncertainty, or overwhelm, feelings of inadequacy, or exposure to zeal without knowledge.  Understanding them can help us feel greater charity and find ways of speaking to their spiritual needs rather than to salve our own defensiveness.

“Many put other priorities ahead of God.” -- God’s influence isn’t noisy or flashy, and to the natural man God’s wisdom is foolishness, so some simply gravitate to the where they think the excitement is.   They need to hear people who are enthusiastic about what true religion has to offer.   Some have never learned to make decisions in a way that gives God priority.  The best age to learn to put God at highest priority is while young when habits for life are being formed, so change in the adult years is a struggle and a miracle.  They need to hear how believers have made sacrifices to put God first and what blessings have come from that.

“Some challenge the relevance of religion in modern life.”  -- If talking of angels seemed odd in the age of steam engines and railways, it may seem more so in the age of cell phones.  Many think the unexplainable doesn’t fit in the days of science and logical explanation of natural laws.  Happily, if our lives have been improved by a few scientists discovering and harnessing natural laws, the benefits can be just as great if not more if we can only learn to live by the spiritual laws God has laid down.  If GPS systems have made it easy to navigate road systems we’ve never been over before, divine revelation is still needed to help us navigate and make sense of life experiences. 

Also, modern life doesn’t yet have satisfying answers to match those that true religion provides to the deep questions of “Why are we here?” “Where did I come from?” and “Where am I going after this life?”  The answers to those questions and what they demand of us are profoundly relevant to modern life and actually help us order our lives well.

People who don’t see that relevance need people to share how true religion has affected their lives and made it better.

“There are those who mock…the free exercise of religion” – The mocking might come from those who do not have enough experience with expression of the sacred to be comfortable with it.  They may be afraid of what they might feel or do if they let themselves respond to it, so mockery is their way of defending themselves against something they sense is powerful but which they don’t understand.  

These people need it explained to them what they are feeling and need space to make the choice to respond.  They can’t be pressured.  They need to they are not alone, and I think deep down they want to know what they can expect and that it will be okay to be moved by the sacred.

Mockery may also come from those whose exposure to religious practice has been to wild, maybe indecorous, or seemingly irrational displays.  They need to hear about religious experiences that are orderly, reverent, and to know how the Lord works through the mind as well as the heart.

There are those who…decry the free exercise of religion” -- Decrying free exercise of religion usually happens because someone has seen some religious practice harm or infringe on someone else or perceives it as harmful or infringing.  Elder Nelson points out that there have been times that atrocities have been committed in the name of religion, but implies that living the Lord’s pure religion will make us disciples of Christ and thus we will not be guilty if accused of harm or infringement. 

People who decry the free exercise of religion may not understand where the boundaries of free exercise are.  They need to have explained to them how a particular free exercise of religion is beneficial.  If there is an instance where they are right, then that can have a corrective influence. 

One of the best responses we can make is to teach about Jesus’ parable of the wheat and the tears. 

24 ¶Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field:

25 But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way.

26 But when the blade was sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also.

27 So the servants of the householder came and said unto him, Sir, didst not thou sow good seed in thy field? from whence then hath it tares?

28 He said unto them, An enemy hath done this. The servants said unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up?

29 But he said, Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them.

30 Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn….

37 He answered and said unto them, He that soweth the good seed is the Son of man;

38 The field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked one;

39 The enemy that sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the angels.

40 As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so shall it be in the end of this world.

41 The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity;

42 And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.

43 Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.  (Matt. 13:24-30)

It is natural to wonder where the atrocities come from if what was sowed was good religion and good doctrine.   Jesus wanted the disciples to know that false doctrine would be sowed by Satan and there would also be people claiming to be wheat but who would exhibit the worthlessness of tears and who would do evil things under a cover of religion and doctrine.  He assured his disciples (and all of us) that their deceptions would not protect the tears in the eternities.  

Also important in the parable to the discussion of free exercise of religion is the question about how to deal with the tears-- “Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up?”  It is tempting to think that the solution to bad religion is to root it out and outlaw it and suppress it, but Jesus’s answer is, “Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them.”  Trying to destroy false religion with violence is notoriously hard to do, hard to judge, gives too many false positives, and leads to a hollow appearances-only fear-driven religion devoid of saving power.  It is better to allow both true and false to exist together until the harvest.   We all have to take on faith that there will be a harvest when the Lord will separate the two.

“Some even blame religion for any number of the world’s ills.” – This comes from people who have thought about various society problems and try to trace the causes.  When they find that it leads them to a religion or church practice, they stop their search and declare that religion is the cause.  The problem is they don’t keep going and look for what beliefs cause those problems and behavior and try to find out the origin of that thing.  It may not be religion.  It may be traditions that have been folded into religion.  And religion isn’t a homogeneous thing; it has variety and shades and flavors, so to condemn all religion because of one religion is to pre-judge.  Also, to blame it for the world’s ills is to look only at the negative and to miss the number of world blessings that come from it.   These people need to learn the good religion has done for the world, and to be able to share that, we need to know about it ourselves.

For all these different types of people who Elder Nelson lists, I think we can learn to deal with them according to their spiritual needs.  Also, we’ve all had points in our life where we ourselves have been a part of these groups.  Remembering those experiences and how we changed will be very helpful as we share our faith.  It will allow us to show our faith in a way that blesses others and leads them closer to Christ.

Some thoughts on Faith Crisis

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Real Intent asked the question about whether faith crisis is a problem de jour, a fad coming out of the everything-posted-online movement, or a necessary step in our spiritual development.

Others had better articulated answers to that than I, but having been through a few faith crises myself, I do have a lot of compassion for members and nonmembers who go through faith crisis.  Having come through so far, I think I have learned a few things that I can share in order to cast some light on the matter.  Perhaps what I share can give hope to some poor soul who is struggling

First, the crisis of faith can be seen as a crucible in which one has to decide which propositions one has previously taken unquestioned are worth really trusting one’s existence to.   Sometimes we base our faith on foundations that are not as solid as Christ and having those foundations shaken a bit can help us find our true foundation.

Is my faith based in the church’s positive image?  What if the church is smeared in the media?  

Do I have faith because my life is going according to my plan?  What if something happens outside my control that totally diverts my life plan?

Do I trust because I’m safe and secure?  What if I’m suddenly in danger because of my beliefs?

Do I have faith because I believe church history demonstrates the goodness of the church?  What if I find some unsavory things in church history?

Do I have faith because church doctrine can explain everything?  What if I find things that doctrine can’t explain?

There are all kinds of ways to phrase these questions, but asking a question like one of these that is tailored to the crisis can help us determine where the unsteadiness is coming from.

Second, the crisis of faith isn’t something that is fixed with platitudes or browbeating from others.  People struggling in this kind of thing have to be treated with the same care as though it were a physical illness, with gentleness, with understanding for their weakness, with reassurances that they will pull through, with prayers and fasting, etc.  When you’re in it, you have to feed your faith with study and prayer and keep going through the motions even when it is difficult.  It feels like a bottomless pit sometimes that you throw everything in it that you can to try to fill it up, and it can get discouraging when the hole isn’t filled up immediately, but you have to be patient and keep reading and studying, keep trying..  Sooner or later you find something that helps.  You may not even understand fully why it helps as it does.   During one of my faith crises, I happened to be at my husband’s parents’ home and I voraciously read their church books in hopes of finding something, anything that could help me.  I found it, though I still can’t explain why it helped, so I’m refraining from repeating it here, lest it be considered another mere platitude.

What looks like a crisis of faith may be experimentation with a skeptical perspective.  For instance, reading the scriptures so many times, one has to seek new ways of looking at them in order to keep learning, and a skeptical perspective is just one way of many different ways.  People who study literature will have learned about Marxist, feminist, historical, psychological, racial, and other perspectives as ways to read a text, but skepticism is yet another.  People experiment with this perspective to see if there is something useful to be learned while using it.   It is useful to the extent that it allows a person to see through overly simplistic explanations or misrepresentation of the truth.  But when applied too broadly, one becomes conscious that one is losing more than one is gaining.  That is where the crisis can happen, when one discovers that a perspective has become a habit of thought that is no longer useful or when one finds oneself questioning values that were previously held sacred.  I don’t know if you can “come back” to faith if that means never being skeptical again.  However, it IS possible to learn to move through skepticism to a deeper faith, though it can be hard.  It requires much deeper inquiry and study to find solid footing again.  It is done with many conscious decisions throughout the day—hearing and believing, then being skeptical, then making the decision to believe again and act on that belief in the face of some uncertainty.   

We live in an era when information is so plentiful that it is incredibly easy to find information that challenges our beliefs and our faith.  Are we willing to put in the work to find information that will build our faith?  Are we willing to share what builds our faith so that others may benefit? 

These are my experiences, so I don’t know that I can speak for other kinds of faith crisis, but I’ll end with this--crisis need not be a final destination.  With study and inquiry it can be temporary.

Book Review: The Power of Everyday Missionaries

The cover of The Power of Everyday Missionaries by Clay Christensen is not one that will jump off the shelf and grab you, but it is most definitely an excellent read, so pleeeeeeeeease don't judge this book by its cover!  I don’t think I would have picked it up, except for the fact that I had previously seen a few videos online of Clay Christensen and had been impressed by his personality and the way he tries to share his best insights.  (One was on his ideas for how to reform the healthcare system, and it was amazing to see how he was able to break down some of the complexities of the system and give some very simple ways to fix it.)  Christensen has a way of densely packing his thoughts and going to the root of the matter in a simple-to-understand manner that delights.

Soooo, when I saw this book with his name on it, I thought to myself, I need help finding ways to be a better missionary.  I bet this guy has some excellent perspective on it. And I picked it up and started reading. 

Now, you know and I know that there are right ways and wrong ways to try to motivate people to do missionary work.  Wrong ways tend to fill you with guilt without actually addressing your deepest concerns.  Wrong ways tend to assume that we somehow want to keep the gospel to ourselves.  Wrong ways assume that there are no obstacles (cultural/political/social/psychological) facing us, so they don’t even begin to give you techniques to cope with these internal or external obstacles.  Wrong ways leave you feeling defeated before you’ve even tried.

Very soon after I started reading, I found Christensen’s book to be one of the right ways to motivate.  It was full of ways we can change our thinking, principles to act by, and so many inspiring stories of how Christensen had used those principles to share the gospel with others.  In short, it is a major game-changer.  

Can I just say that again? 

MAJOR GAME-CHANGER!! 

Yes, I am yelling, and this is worth yelling about!

The first helpful thing Christensen does is show that changing our idea of what member missionary success is can help us get involved.  We tend to think we have succeeded when someone we have invited and referred to the missionaries decides to get baptized.  However, this is not a good measure of our missionary success because it is dependent upon someone else’s choices, which we can’t (and shouldn’t) control.  Christensen instead suggests that we see ourselves as successful member missionaries when we invite others to come to church or take the missionary discussions.  He says that if we invite we succeed, whether others accept our invitation or not.

Christensen also explodes some mistaken notions that we may have such as:

·      Supposing that religious discussions aren’t allowed at work

·      Supposing that we must be friends with someone before we invite them to church or to hear the missionaries in some way. 

·      Supposing that we can predict or judge who is most likely to accept an invitation to meet with the missionaries and thereby accurately refer the best candidates

·      Supposing that there is something wrong with us if we have experienced a rejection, which may cause us to think there is no point in trying to invite more people.

Christensen shows that religious discussions can’t be prohibited at work any more than can discussions of politics and sports, which can get pretty heated.  He asserts that in 20 years of member missionary work he has observed no correlation between depth of a relationship and probability that a person will be interested in learning about the gospel.  He also says that we should not alter our relationship with others in order to invite them, as it will keep our interactions genuine.  While it may seem like a problem to find out that we can’t predict who would be the best people to refer to the missionaries, it actually widens the field considerably.  (Christensen's discussions of these different points are detailed and very helpful, so read the book to get the full beneficial effect!)

Christensen knows that to be member missionaries, we want to know how to do it:

·      We want to know how we can talk about the church to others in a way that is natural and invites them to talk to us about religion or faith.  We want to encourage further conversation without being blatant.

·      We want to know how to phrase our invitations in a way that will be friendly and not put pressure on our friends, neighbors, and coworkers or scare them away from ever talking to us again.

·      We want to know how we can engage with people uninterested in organized religion in a way that will address their concerns and help them grow without feeling uncomfortable ourselves or getting defensive.

·      We want to know how to interest people in the church who are well off, satisfied, and don’t think they need God.  

Christensen addresses all these needs with inspiring stories and even shares conversation templates that will help us invite naturally, with love, based on the needs of those we talk to.   For me as a reader, this had the effect of building substantial confidence and faith that I can do this!  I didn’t see the conversation templates as something I had to say, but as an example of how to dial down the pressure significantly and how to make a conversation open-ended and driven by the needs of the other person.

Who is this book for?  This book is for those of us who want to be better missionaries but feel intimidated or stymied by worry about how to do it in a natural and loving way.  It is for those of us who have been demoralized or de-motivated from missionary work, and it is for those of us who feel lacking in opportunities to share the gospel or who feel isolated.  It is a perfect gift for bishops, for ward mission leaders, for auxiliary leaders..  heck, just about everyone in the church could benefit from this book!

How has this book helped me?  It, along with the worldwide missionary broadcast, galvanized me to action and that’s what led to my efforts to introduce the missionaries to my neighbors, which I described in my post “In which I confront my fears about introducing the missionaries to my neighbors”  This experience boosted my courage appreciably.  Also, since then, I have felt more confident and have been able to talk naturally about the church, mentioning it in everyday conversations with nonmembers.

See?  Game-changer, people!

If you are budget-conscious, the paperback edition will save you $15 or so.  (My link at the top of this post goes to Deseret Book's paperback edition)

Disclosure of Material Connection: I have not received any compensation for writing this post. I have no material connection to the brands, products, or services that I have mentioned. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

When we feel estranged from the Lord, 2 Nephi 7:1-3

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There are some days or times in our life, when we may wonder if the Lord still cares, whether He is still working in our lives.  There are some really nice verses of Isaiah quoted in 2 Nephi that address these feelings:

1 Yea, for thus saith the Lord:

Have I put thee away,

or have I cast thee off forever?

For thus saith the Lord:

Where is the bill of your mother’s divorcement?

To whom have I put thee away,

or to which of my creditors have I sold you?

Yea, to whom have I sold you?

Behold, for your iniquities have ye sold yourselves,

and for your transgressions is your mother put away.

2 Wherefore, when I came, there was no man;

when I called, yea, there was none to answer.

O house of Israel, is my hand shortened at all that it cannot redeem,

or have I no power to deliver?

Behold, at my rebuke I dry up the sea,

I make their rivers a wilderness

and their fish to stink because the waters are dried up,

and they die because of thirst.

3 I clothe the heavens with blackness,

and I make sackcloth their covering. (2 Nephi 7:1-3)

The Lord wants us to know that if we feel like the Lord has “divorced” us or sold us to our enemies, it is because we have divorced ourselves from Him because of our sins.  Our sins cause us to be estranged from God. (Simple concept, but worth repeating.)

“when I came, there was no man; when I called, yea, there was none to answer” – Here the Lord is speaking as a husband who went through His house looking for His family and found everyone had deserted the place.  It is as if He called His wife’s name and no one responded.  In short, Israel deserts the Lord; the Lord doesn’t desert Israel.  The Lord calls us and looks for us in the places where we should be, and we don’t answer because we’d rather be doing other things.

When we’ve deserted the Lord, there is a tendency to begin to doubt His power to help us.  Isaiah speaks from the Lord’s point of view to question us about this—“is my hand shortened at all that it cannot redeem, or have I no power to deliver?”

Then, the Lord reminds us of the miracles that attended His deliverance of Israel from bondage in Egypt to prove His power.  “[A]t my rebuke I dry up the sea, I make their rivers a wilderness and their fish to stink because the waters are dried up, and they die because of thirst.”  This is a reference to how the Lord parted the Red Sea so the Israelites could escape the pursuing Egyptians.  It is meant to remind us that the Lord makes a way for us to escape where there wasn’t one before, which is exactly what a powerful Redeemer does.  Also, when we think of how the water parted, acting contrary to gravity, we can see that the Lord has a way of exerting an influence that can cause things and people act differently, to act contrary to their “fallen” nature.  This is a subtle testimony to the transformation that can occur under the influence of the Spirit.  This is what helps us escape our fallen nature.

“I clothe the heavens with blackness, and I make sackcloth their covering.” – This is a reference to the plagues of Egypt of darkness for three days, which, combined with the other nine plagues, were instrumental in convincing Pharaoh to let the Israelites leave Egypt.  It is a reminder that the Lord has power to afflict our enemies and convince them to let us go or leave us alone or whatever.

The Lord will act on our behalf in His time to save us once we repent and are no longer estranged from Him.

These principles are a great reminder for me today.  I feel like I need them.