Paul’s words about judging church leaders

1 Let a man so account of us, as of the ministers of Christ, and stewards of the mysteries of God.

2 Moreover it is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful.

3 But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged of you, or of man’s judgment: yea, I judge not mine own self.

4 For I know nothing by myself; yet am I not hereby justified: but he that judgeth me is the Lord.

5 Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord come, who both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts: and then shall every man have praise of God.

6 And these things, brethren, I have in a figure transferred to myself and to Apollos for your sakes; that ye might learn in us not to think of men above that which is written, that no one of you be puffed up for one against another.

7 For who maketh thee to differ from another? and what hast thou that thou didst not receive? now if thou didst receive it, why dost thou glory, as if thou hadst not received it? (1 Cor. 4:1-7)

I get the sense that Paul was asking the Corinthian saints to consider him (and other church leaders) servants of God. There’s a certain amount of respect that goes with that kind of office. But faithfulness is certainly required, otherwise stewards can be removed from their place.

But he also points out that it isn’t wise to “think of men above that which is written,” by which I think he means idolizing or idealizing.  Paul would be disturbed if infallibility were attributed to church leaders.   (This reminds me of an old joke that Catholics say the pope is infallible, but none of them believe it, while Latter-day Saints say the prophet is fallible, but none of them believe that either.)  

And some leaders look pious, but aren’t really, which is why Paul warns that God would bring to light the hidden things of darkness and make manifest the counsels of the hearts.

It is interesting that Paul says “I judge not mine own self.” It hints that although he had examined his own conscience and felt like he had repented of everything he should, he recognized he might have blind spots about his own spiritual status that would prevent him from making an accurate judgment, and he left that to God.  If Paul can say that, then I suppose those of us who do the best we can are allowed to say it too. 

Finally, I really like verse 7, particularly the question “What hast thou that thou didst not receive?” None of us, no matter how wise or spiritual, can honestly say that we know anything about the gospel without having been taught it through the Spirit. Everything we know, we’ve received from God, so we have nothing to boast of.

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Big problems among the Scribes, as Jesus points out

After Jesus answers some questions meant to entrap him, we get this bit:

45 ¶ Then in the audience of all the people he said unto his disciples,

46 Beware of the scribes, which desire to walk in long robes, and love greetings in the markets, and the highest seats in the synagogues, and the chief rooms at feasts;

47 Which devour widows’ houses, and for a shew make long prayers: the same shall receive greater damnation. (Luke 20:45-47)

What exactly is Jesus saying here?

He’s warning the disciples to beware of the scribes who do certain things. It seems to me He’s not telling the disciples to shun them necessarily, but to beware of becoming like them.

So what exactly is wrong with this behavior, and are there modern equivalents that must be avoided?

They desire to walk in long robes – Long robes are not easy to move in, and they get dirty easy. I get the impression that long robes were a sign of status, and hard work was not done in them. People in long robes don’t gird up their loins to serve others; they are usually the ones being served. The modern equivalent might be people who desire to wear suits all day.

They love greetings in the markets – This seems pretty benign at first. Who doesn’t love to run into friends at the market? The problem, I think, is when it becomes a point of pride, when one preens over one’s connectedness and how all those greetings by all one’s acquaintances lead one to say, “Look how important I am! Everyone knows me and loves me! Even people who don’t know me can see I must be special because of all the people who greet me!” It is hard to focus on others, when others are so focused on you.

They love the highest seats in the synagogues and the chief rooms at feasts – High seats in the synagogue are probably leadership seats. They love the best places and aspire to importance and status. They love the visibility more than the opportunity to serve.

They devour widows’ houses – Here’s a sad thing. These scribes will visit widows (thinking they are charitably bestowing their attention and encouraging presence) and then the widows are obligated by the rules of hospitality to feed them a big fancy dinner, so the widows have to spend beyond their means to do it, and of course, those scribes have to do justice to the spread, so they eat it all, and thus the widow is far worse off financially after the scribe’s visit than she was before. The scribe is devouring her house. And she lives at poverty level, anyway, so it is all very bad for her finances. At bottom, this is a lack of awareness of how hospitality is going to affect one’s host. It is inconsiderate, and a lack of charity. If these scribes had any real charity, they would host the widow and not obligate the widow to host them. Or they’d bring a nice big present of grain or something to make up for the burden of their visit.

For a show, they make long prayers – Their prayers aren’t doing them any good if it just a show to impress other people. If there is no real desire or repentance or gratitude behind the words, the prayers mean nothing.

The thing that is the greatest warning is that Jesus says, “the same shall receive the greater damnation.” To me, this is saying these characteristics get disciples more spiritually stuck and stop progression more than some others.

To summarize:

Long robes >> status clothing that precludes service and work

Loving greetings >> status and such connectedness that prevents one from forgetting oneself and focusing on others

Loving high seats and the best rooms at feasts >> obsessed with public shows of status at religious events and gatherings. Preoccupation with position and visibility more than opportunities for service and ministering.

Devouring widow’s houses >> Lack of consideration and charity for those who really need it. Making a show of attention that doesn’t really help and leaves the widow worse off afterward.

Making long prayers for show >> Desire to look holy has overcome any desire to actually be holy.

So, the pattern I see here is that status and show for these scribes has become the most important thing, such that they completely miss the increased opportunities for service and charity and ministering that come with a leadership position. They are stopped in their spiritual progress from becoming more like Christ.

Can we draw any conclusions from what one should do instead?

1)    Wear clothes you can help people in

2)    Focus on others and appreciate the humility of anonymity

3)    Care more for the opportunities to serve than position, status, or visibility

4)    Find ways to give notice and charity without taxing others’ resources to give hospitality

5)    Pray with sincerity

These things tell us that Jesus was strongly aware that if leaders weren’t careful, some of the earthly advantages of status created awful spiritual disadvantages with eternal negative consequences. He wanted His disciples to be aware of those problems and do all they could to avoid those behaviors and attitudes so that their position could be a real blessing to them and to all those around them.

Diagnosing Problems with the Corrupted Trees in Jacob 5

In Zeno’s allegory of the olive trees that Jacob quotes, there comes a point when the Lord of the vineyard finds all the trees are corrupted and giving bad fruit. It is interesting to see his and his servant’s diagnosis of the problem.

First the servant tries to find the silver lining in the cloud:

And the servant said unto his master: Behold, because thou didst graft in the branches of the wild olive tree they have nourished the roots, that they are alive and they have not perished; wherefore thou beholdest that they are yet good. (Jacob 5:34)

The servant observes the roots are still good, but notice—it is a bit backward to think that the branches are nourishing the roots. It is supposed to be the other way around.

In verse 37, the Lord of the vineyard has a different take on it:

But behold, the wild branches have grown and have overrun the roots thereof; and because that the wild branches have overcome the roots thereof it hath brought forth much evil fruit; and because that it hath brought forth so much evil fruit thou beholdest that it beginneth to perish; and it will soon become ripened, that it may be cast into the fire, except we should do something for it to preserve it.

The Lord of the vineyard says the branches have overrun the roots and overcome them. (So the branches may have thought they were nourishing the roots, but they were overrunning them instead.)

Then the servant gets a brainwave in verse 48:

And it came to pass that the servant said unto his master: Is it not the loftiness of thy vineyard—have not the branches thereof overcome the roots which are good? And because the branches have overcome the roots thereof, behold they grew faster than the strength of the roots, taking strength unto themselves. Behold, I say, is not this the cause that the trees of thy vineyard have become corrupted?

Loftiness of the vineyard is a great way of describing pride. Also, I notice it says when the branches overcame the roots, they grew faster than the roots and took strength to themselves. This is what happens in individuals too. When a person with no authority gets a notion they can nourish the rest of the church, they are actually overrunning it. But they think the overrun means they are stronger and better than everyone else (taking strength to themselves) and corruption follows.

I think there’s a hint of what to look out for in ourselves. If we think we are growing faster or are spiritually stronger than others around us, we may have a problem with pride. (I had this issue some years ago. It makes me shudder to think about it. I am so grateful for the Lord's mercy that He brought me to recognize my error. Because of that experience, my blogging is more to benefit me than for anyone else because the writing I do helps me learn. If anyone else benefits, that is icing on the cake.)

If we have the problem of loftiness and pride, it might be good to open our ears and see what nourishment we are missing while we think we have the answer to everything. It might be good to just focus on the basic principles and practices of the gospel for a long while to make sure we are doing all we can.

There are a few more warnings I notice in this chapter that are part of the diagnoses of the corrupted trees.

In verse 40:

And the wild fruit of the last had overcome that part of the tree which brought forth good fruit, even that the branch had withered away and died.

We might easily apply this to the Nephite civilization and point to how the Lamanites eventually overcame the righteous Nephites. However, it is true in individual life as well. If we have both good fruit and bad fruit in our lives, the bad tends to take over. It’s invasive, so we need to remove the bad branches, otherwise the good branches will wither away.

In verse 46:

…the trees thereof have become corrupted, that they bring forth no good fruit…But, behold, they have become like unto the wild olive tree…

Without good fruit, the good olive tree is just like the wild olive tree. We can’t be like other people who don’t have the gospel. We have to be different. With good fruit.

The Cunning Plan of the Evil One

27 But wo unto him that has the law given, yea, that has all the commandments of God, like unto us, and that transgresseth them, and that wasteth the days of his probation, for awful is his state!

28 O that cunning plan of the evil one! O the vainness, and the frailties, and the foolishness of men! When they are learned they think they are wise, and they hearken not unto the counsel of God, for they set it aside, supposing they know of themselves, wherefore, their wisdom is foolishness and it profiteth them not. And they shall perish.

29 But to be learned is good if they hearken unto the counsels of God. (2 Nephi 27-29)

It’s a well-known scripture, memorized by many seminary students over the years.

Recently I was reading it over, and I noticed some things.

I noticed Jacob observes on the cunning plan of the evil one, but he doesn’t seem to elaborate on what that cunning plan is, but goes on talk about “the vainness, and the frailties, and the foolishness of men.”

I realized that we have to infer some things. We have to realize it is the devil who tries to use those things. He also tries to make us think our learning makes us wise enough that we don’t have to listen to the counsels of God.

Learning doesn’t automatically translate into wisdom, as I’m sure many of my readers know. “Learning” in the gospel is like knowing in your head that stealing is a sin, but “wisdom” could be represented as the point where you can realize when you’re being tempted to steal and you can resist it successfully once and for the rest of your life.

Jacob mourns over the vainness, frailties, and foolishness of men. It hit me this time reading that after having had a number of temptations recently targeted specifically at my vanity, frailties, and foolishness.  Satan really does try to use those things against us.

Vainness is our pride.  Because of our divine nature, we know we have the potential to become something so much greater…  But Satan tries to use that against us, twisting it into a desire for ascendency, hostility toward authority, notions that we are better than others.  He tries to use it to destroy any notion that we need to be humble. He wants to keep us from achieving the meekness that we need to turn to Christ, to repent, and to grow, and to learn from anyone else. 

Frailties represent our mortal weaknesses and limitations. We can’t live long without discovering we have these, yet Satan will try to conceal them from us.  Or he will try to make us think that we can’t overcome them, to make them into our prison. Or he will stress us in moments of weakness (hunger, loneliness, fatigue, discomfort) to get us to sin.

Foolishness.  Today we think this means “stupidity,” but it had a different meaning before, evoking the tendency to backslide, to err, to go apostate, to wander from the truth, or even to rebel.  Mormon observed on man’s falseness and unsteadiness, quickness to do iniquity and slowness to do good, how quick to be proud and slow to be humble. (see Helaman 12:1,4-5)  We all have a tendency to wander or divert, which we have to recognize and curtail whenever we notice it starting to take over. Satan tries to use it and exacerbate it.

Our best weapons against vanity, frailty, and foolishness are probably humility, grace, and repentance.

Why did the Nephites have confidence in Mormon as a commander?

And it came to pass that I did go forth among the Nephites, and did repent of the oath which I had made that I would no more assist them; and they gave me command again of their armies, for they looked upon me as though I could deliver them from their afflictions. (Mormon 5:1)

It is interesting that the Nephites thought Mormon could deliver them from their afflictions. It is hard to know whether they thought he could make everything better, or whether they thought military victory was the be-all-end-all of success, or whether they hoped victory could give them breathing room they needed to fix other things.

Another question came to me too here: What evidence is there that the Nephites’ confidence in Mormon’s military leadership was well-placed? There is so much written about Captain Moroni in the Book of Alma, so what record is there of Mormon’s skill as a commander? The Nephites would not have resorted to him if he didn’t have some skills.

As I looked for the answer to this question, I realized that Mormon really downplays his own role as a military leader and any credit in Nephite victories. While he went into great detail as a historian on the clever tactics and practical hows of Captain Moroni and Helaman and Teancum in the past, he is very self-effacing about his own victories. Here and there he might drop a few words about fortifying or gathering or protecting key points or hint at a motivating speech, but otherwise he’s very brief, saying simply, “we beat them” or “we withstood them” or something of that sort, preferring to wrap his efforts in with the army at large.  And usually at the same time that he notes a victory, he also makes mournful spiritual observations about the wickedness of the people.

Considering the pride of the Nephites, Mormon’s style of leadership would have been hard to take. They probably felt he was a bit of a downer. It is extraordinary he was given command by these people in the first place; he wasn’t the type to draw attention by tooting his own horn.

Now here’s an odd thought: Mormon observed the Nephites put him in charge of the armies at the beginning because he was “large in stature” (Mormon 2:1) in his sixteenth year. The way he puts it, we get the sense that the Nephites were incredibly shallow to put that much trust in Mormon’s callow youth just because he was a big guy.  You also get the idea that Mormon wasn’t qualified for the position, but did his best anyway. This angle takes a dim view of both Mormon and the Nephites.

But if we take into account Mormon’s humility, it might be he was downplaying it. Turn it around and we could easily imagine a proud Mormon saying, “The Nephites cleverly chose me to lead their armies when I was only 16 years old—younger than Captain Moroni—because my observations suggested I would be excellent at military strategy and my large stature made me a poster child for men of war.”

It is probable that Mormon downplayed himself deliberately to keep himself humble when he could have let his position go to his head.  In the end, his humility allowed him to see the impending doom of the Nephites coming closer, even while that doom may have seemed sometimes on occasion to be masquerading as triumphant victory.

This suggested me that humility is a skill to practice even in victory or opportunity. Mormon’s life essentially proves to me it is necessary to spiritual survival. It will enable us to see the truth, piercing the comfortable illusions of society. It will also put us out-of-step with those around us, and we have to accept that.

Lehi’s Dream: Three Tools of Satan, Three Tools of God

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16 And the angel spake unto me, saying: Behold the fountain of filthy water which thy father saw; yea, even the river of which he spake; and the depths thereof are the depths of hell.

17 And the mists of darkness are the temptations of the devil, which blindeth the eyes, and hardeneth the hearts of the children of men, and leadeth them away into broad roads, that they perish and are lost.

18 And the large and spacious building, which thy father saw, is vain imaginations and the pride of the children of men. And a great and a terrible gulf divideth them; yea, even the word of the justice of the Eternal God…. (1 Nephi 12:16-18)

I notice that in Lehi’s dream (or as it is interpreted to Nephi by the angel), there are three elements that Satan uses as his tools.

1) The filthy river of water.  This is not a clear river. It’s carrying a ton of silt. I think the river can express sinfulness that is immersive and addicting, the kinds of sins that can make one think everything is dirty.  It is aptly described as the depths of hell.  This is not the kind of river a person can just wade in a little and walk out of. It’s worse than quicksand. It’s called “the depths of hell” for a reason.

2) The mists of darkness. Mists are nebulous and insubstantial, but they make things look different and hazy. I think mists are a great way to express how Satan’s temptations mess with our perceptions and try to make us think that things are different than what they really are.

3) The large and spacious building. Manmade, yet unstable, since it eventually falls. It looks like it would provide shelter from the elements, like it would be comfortable. But it is inherently unsafe. (I have to wonder if we make our own great and spacious buildings.) It looks like it would be a better, more interesting destination than that tree over there. A fancy-but-unsafe building is an excellent symbol for pride. Also, the way it gathers a judgmental, scornful crowd captures pride’s workings in larger society. Even if it feels like it is safe to go with the crowd, wrong is still wrong, and eventually it will be proven so.

So, we’re not just to beware of the mists of temptation, but also pride and filthiness.

Compare these things to the instruments of God, which are the path, the rod, and the tree with its fruit.

1) The path.  It’s the only safe way with sure footing and a desirable destination. There aren’t rocks or obstacles or holes in it. (Only Satan tries to make us think there are.) To me the way we walk in the path teaches that God gives us things to do that help us progress.

2) The rod. It’s a fail-safe for the path and works in tandem with it.  If you can’t see the way to go, you can feel it through the rod. For every place you are on the path, there is rod there to guide you.  Also, anyone who honestly grabs and holds the rod will get on the path.  The rod is guidance that God gives us through revelation and the scriptures. 

3) The fruit. The fruit seems to me to be both the goal and nourishment along the way.  God’s love nourishes us with sweet tastes that point us to a future hope of exalted bliss, and isn’t the fullness is also the reward?  (This is perhaps the place where it seems like the dream breaks down for me as an allegory.)

So, I see that God uses gospel progression, revelation, and love as His tools during this life.

If we can just choose more of God’s tools and reject Satan’s tools!

Be not ashamed, but be admonished

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Be not ashamed, neither confounded;

but be admonished in all your high-mindedness and pride,

for it bringeth a snare upon your souls.

(D&C 90:17)

This verse is interesting to me because it shows that while the Lord does not want us to be proud, He also doesn’t want us to go off in the weeds the other direction and be ashamed or confounded. This implies to me that being ashamed and confounded are counterfeits of humility.

I like that it says, “be admonished in all your high-mindedness and pride.” It is as though the Lord means for that rebuke to work for all time, or for us to work at humility.

Of course, I have found in my life that my pride doesn’t stay admonished for long. It takes every excuse it can to pop up again. I’ve had to learn to admonish myself, and I’m not as good at that as I could or should be.

Sometimes when I think I’m sitting pretty, I have to remind myself that Heavenly Father could change my life in an instant if He decided I needed some special difficulty.  I could be given a handicap. We could suffer financial reverses. We could have an unexpected disaster. In short, our stable life could be up-ended in a second. He might do it to humble me, or He might do it in order to stretch me in some new direction. In both instances, I would need to be prepared to accept His will. This reminds me that I am still dependent upon God.

Sometimes I have to admonish myself that God knows all the thoughts and intents of my heart. I can’t hide anything from Him. He sees through any posturing and parading and self-back-patting. He knows when my motives are selfish or when I’m gratifying my ego. So if I notice my interior life is amiss, I am just as in need of repenting as if I sinned in public.   Sometimes when I pray I find myself saying to Heavenly Father, “You see everything inside of me. Look at this obnoxious pride I have. Just look at it!” And I go on to describe the thing I happen to be extra proud of at the time. Weirdly enough, pointing it out to the Lord helps shrink it. I’m not sure why.

Also, for some reason, I find myself fantasizing about comparing myself to others and finding that I’m superior.  Which is ridiculous.  Because it is just as likely that I might be found inferior instead.  I’ve read studies that show we tend to overestimate our own performance. So consciously correcting my estimations of myself to take that into account is probably a good idea.

Another thing I use to admonish myself is to remember that everyone is the star of their own life, so to others I am just a bit player. I can co-star in my husband’s life, but not everyone is looking at me.  (I think social media tends to build that perception that everyone is looking at oneself.)

Another thing I know is that Satan loves to flatter me when I’m trying to instruct others in humility.  Any time I think I’ve got it figured out, I become vulnerable and start making mistakes.  I anticipate that after this post I will probably get hit with it, and if I don’t get into trouble with pride immediately, I will probably flatter myself that I do have this figured out and then get into trouble later. (Yes, prone to wander, Lord, I feel it.)

One question I had about the above verse was “How does high-mindedness and pride bring a snare on our souls?”

Pride causes us to act in certain ways, to scorn and feel contempt, to contend, in short, into a number of hostile attitudes that lead us to sin in our interactions with others.

It can be compared to a snare in that it lures us with comfortable feelings of superiority, and then it is hard to get out of because so often we start to feel we are justified and comforted by it. 

But I’m sure you can immediately see that if we enjoy feeling justified and comforted by our pride, then we can’t be justified and comforted by the Spirit of the Lord.

Hmmm…that last statement feels very important so I think I will repeat it.

If we enjoy feeling justified and comforted by our pride, then we can’t be justified and comforted by the Spirit of the Lord.

Will you share some of the healthy ways that you admonish yourself when you notice you are getting proud?  We all need more ammunition to shoot it down!

The Pride of Ephraim and an Economic Lesson about Trust

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1 Woe to the crown of pride, to the drunkards of Ephraim, whose glorious beauty is a fading flower, which are on the head of the fat valleys of them that are overcome with wine!

2 Behold, the Lord hath a mighty and strong one, which as a tempest of hail and a destroying storm, as a flood of mighty waters overflowing, shall cast down to the earth with the hand.

3 The crown of pride, the drunkards of Ephraim, shall be trodden under feet:

4 And the glorious beauty, which is on the head of the fat valley, shall be a fading flower, and as the hasty fruit before the summer; which when he that looketh upon it seeth, while it is yet in his hand he eateth it up.

5 ¶In that day shall the Lord of hosts be for a crown of glory, and for a diadem of beauty, unto the residue of his people,

6 And for a spirit of judgment to him that sitteth in judgment, and for strength to them that turn the battle to the gate. (Isaiah 28:1-6)

Reading verses 1-4, it is pretty clear to me that Isaiah must have been disgusted with the pride of Ephraim in his day. It seems the land of Ephraim was a beautiful land with beautiful people—“glorious beauty on the head of the fat valleys”—so much so that they were drunk with it. And you get the idea that they had a problem with wine and drunkenness as well.

Isaiah warned them that the Lord could humble them with disaster—hail, storm, flood—which would throw down their pride. He also said that their glorious beauty would fade like a withering flower and like the first-ripe fruit that is eaten immediately.

The way Isaiah calls Ephraim “fat valleys of them that are overcome with wine” makes me wonder what he was seeing.  What makes a valley “fat”?  And why call Ephraim drunkards at the same time he credits them with glorious beauty? Is he calling attention to how drunkenness is unattractive, or is there something deeper going on here?    

Reading this over and over, I wondered if there was a growing problem in Ephraim’s economy that Isaiah was very concerned about and calling attention to.  It is possible that the land of Ephraim was full of vineyards for wine. 

Isaiah may have looked at all those vineyards and wondered, “Who is going to drink all that wine that they make?”  If the place is booming with grapes, then the demand has to come from somewhere to absorb the supply, otherwise some of that supply was foolishly produced.  Isaiah must have reasoned that either Ephraim was drinking it all themselves (in which case they were drunkards), or they were going to try to sell it elsewhere, which meant that the people were chasing high profits, and everyone was piling into the business.  And you can kind of see there is a problem if there is only one crop in an area. The whole place depended upon the crop of grapes. If natural disaster hits and destroyed the crop, everyone there would be affected. 

In verses 5-6, Isaiah anticipates a future day when the people would depend on the Lord instead.

5 ¶In that day shall the Lord of hosts be for a crown of glory, and for a diadem of beauty, unto the residue of his people,

6 And for a spirit of judgment to him that sitteth in judgment, and for strength to them that turn the battle to the gate.

Isaiah anticipated that some day, instead of pride, the people would be humble and give the Lord the glory for their success, instead of whatever cash crop made the money roll in.  He wanted the people to trust the Lord instead of their vineyards that were at the mercy of weather patterns that could be capricious and occasionally devastating.

It is instructive to see that ancient Israel seems to have had boom-and-bust periods somewhat like we do, when people would pile into a high-yielding industry.  Embedded in Isaiah’s warning to the Ephraimites is the implied principle that high-yielding industries can be destroyed and can’t be depended upon, but the Lord can be depended upon.

Thoughts on President Eyring’s April 2016 talk :Where Two or Three Are Gathered

When I read through President Eyring’s talk “Where Two orThree Are Gathered,” my heart went out to the two individuals whose problem he described of wanting to feel nearer to God:

I know of at least two people listening today who want that blessing with all their hearts. They will try earnestly to draw nearer to the Lord during this conference. They each wrote to me—their letters arriving at my office in the same week—pleading for the same kind of help.

Both of them are converts to the Church and have previously received clear testimonies of the love of God the Father and of His Son, Jesus Christ, the Savior of the world. They knew that the Prophet Joseph Smith organized the Church by direct revelation from God and that the keys of the holy priesthood were restored. Each felt a witness that keys are in place in the Church today. They bore to me their solemn testimony in writing.

Yet both lamented that feelings of love for the Lord and His love for them were lessening. They both wanted, with full heart, for me to help them regain the joy and the feeling of being loved that was theirs as they came into the kingdom of God. Both expressed a fear that if they could not regain in full those feelings of love for the Savior and His Church, the trials and tests they faced would finally overcome their faith.

They are not alone in their concern, nor is their test a new one.

I noticed that President Eyring’s talk is full of helpful doctrine and admonitions for those who might be going through this same difficulty.

Note that he says they are not alone in their concern and their test isn’t a new one.  I would almost say the problem is endemic to the fallen mortal condition. We are prone to wander and leave the God we love. Even as members of the church we are still liable to relax and forget the Lord.  And on top of that, we have the challenges of mortality, as President Eyring lists elsewhere in his talk:

All of us have had our faith tested by precious blessings delayed, vicious attacks of those who wanted to destroy our faith, temptations to sin, and selfish interests that reduced our efforts to cultivate and soften the spiritual depths of our hearts.

--Blessings delayed (These can make us feel forgotten by God. Our resentment can rise and it takes faith and patience to overcome this.)

--Vicious attacks (These can make us feel unsupported by God. We want God prove we are right or defend us. Or we might wonder where we can find answers to sudden questions.  It takes courage and trust and patience to overcome this.)

--Temptations (These can make us feel like God’s way is unattractive or not enticing. It takes trust and the capacity to sacrificially mortify the flesh to overcome this.)

--selfish interests  (These can make us feel like God doesn’t want us to have our way or that He doesn’t care about our individuality. It takes humility and sacrifice to overcome this.)

Probably the main point President Erying wanted to make about how we can overcome the tendency to stray and lose our connection to our Heavenly Father comes even before he mentions the problem:

Where and when we feel the closeness of the Savior depend on each of us. He gave this instruction:

“And again, verily I say unto you, my friends, I leave these sayings with you to ponder in your hearts, with this commandment which I give unto you, that ye shall call upon me while I am near—

“Draw near unto me and I will draw near unto you; seek me diligently and ye shall find me; ask, and ye shall receive; knock, and it shall be opened unto you” (D&C 88:62–63).

President Eyring included a quotation from Christ’s parable of the sower about the four different types of ground receiving seed. The seed is the same; it is the ground that is ready to receive it or not.  Likewise, the word is the same, it is our hearts that are ready to receive it or not.

What I really liked was that in his talk he outlined some very quick and immediate steps that everyone could take during conference to soften our hearts and receive and nourish the word.  He suggested we pray throughout conference:

--Pray with those who are praying

--Pray as a speaker approaches the pulpit to receive the Spirit of truth

--Pray as the choir is about to sing

--As speakers are about to end talks, pray that God would give them of right words of testimony to lift everyone

I remember when he suggested this I was very touched, and I tried to do that throughout conference. It did help me feel increased closeness to God.  It also helped me pay extra attention to the speakers’ ending testimonies, and I appreciated them much more than I had done before.

I learned through this experience how important prayer is to increasing our closeness to God.  I extrapolate that this practice of personal, silent prayer can be used not just during general conference, but at all our church meetings as well.

But prayer isn’t the only way that we can do our part to draw near to the Lord. While I was reading this talk, I ended up making a quick list of things I have found help me draw nearer to the Lord:

--Taking the sacrament

--Remembering Christ at various times and places

--Daily scripture study

--Diligent service to others

--Temple worship

--Fasting

Drawing closer to God takes effort on our part. We can’t just drift and wish He were closer. We have to take action and move closer ourselves.

At a very young age (in late elementary school) I noticed the pride cycle pattern in my life, though I didn’t know enough to call it that. I noticed that after a period of trying hard to be good, I would start slacking off and then my spiritual life would go downhill.  With that slacking off would come a feeling of apathy that made church activity annoying.  I didn’t like being in that spiritual condition. 

Each time I noticed this, I had to make a choice to try to live right again.  When I did, I felt closer to the Lord, I felt I was progressing, I felt better about life, I felt happier.

As I got older, this cycle continued in my life, and I began to look for ways to avoid falling into the negative part of the cycle.  When I was in high school, I stumbled across a scripture that said “Weary not in well-doing” and I knew that was the key to escaping the pride cycle and staying on the good side.

President Eyring says something really insightful about our condition when we notice we’re feeling distanced from the Lord:

Those who are saddened by the loss of the joy they once had are the blessed ones. Some do not see the withering of faith within themselves. Satan is clever. He tells those he wishes to be miserable that the joy they once felt was childish self-delusion.

Satan tries to make us think that losing that closeness to God is irreversible. Or he tries to make us think that we’re progressing beyond the need for it.  Both of those messages are lies.

If we notice we’ve lost what we once had, we’re blessed because seeing the problem is the first step toward fixing it.  But to fix it, we have to do our part seeking after the Lord.

We’re more in trouble if we don’t see our own faith withering or if we think we’ve outgrown faith or joy from the gospel. 

1)   The only way we outgrow faith is if we know for certain the truth of the things we once simply believed. 

2)   Since the eternal destiny of Heavenly Father’s righteous children is eternal joy, it is not possible to outgrow joy.  A fullness of joy is our coveted end, not a temporary waystation.  There is nothing childish or self-delusive about true joy.

This talk has been a good reminder for me how much I need prayer in addition to the other practices for drawing closer to God.

Suggestions for teaching:

Read class members the account of the two members writing letters to President Eyring.  Ask them if they have ever gone through that kind of challenge.  Ask them what they would advise those two members if they had been in President Eyring’s position.

Ask class members to brainstorm lies that Satan tells us about our lessening feelings of love from the Lord.  What is false about those thoughts, and what is the truth?

Ask class members what life experiences or circumstances have challenged their faith or made it more difficult for them to feel the love of the Lord in their lives.

Have class members look up the scriptures that Elder Eyring quoted in his talk. What do those scriptures teach that can help with the problem of feeling distanced from the Lord and His love?

Ask class members to share what things they do that help them draw closer to the Lord.  How do these things help?

Ask class members if they followed President Eyring’s counsel to pray for those speaking, singing, praying, or testifying in conference.  Ask them to share what they felt when they did.  Challenge them to try praying at other church meetings similarly.

Some thoughts about Amalickiah’s flattery and the dangers of “awesome”

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4 And Amalickiah was desirous to be a king; and those people who were wroth were also desirous that he should be their king; and they were the greater part of them the lower judges of the land, and they were seeking for power.

5 And they had been led by the flatteries of Amalickiah, that if they would support him and establish him to be their king that he would make them rulers over the people. (Alma 46:4-5)

This bit about Amalickiah flattering the lower judges struck me recently after I had gone in for jury duty and seen some of the court proceedings involved.  The point that suddenly stuck out to me in the above verses was that these lower judges were there to settle petty disputes in particular regions. Cases they could not settle would have to be sent to higher judges.

So here we essentially have a group of judges who were aspiring for position beyond their expertise, hoping to acquire it by appointment rather than by gradual accumulation of experience and skill.  By promising them future ruling positions, Amalickiah implicitly flattered them into thinking they were ready for the big time, ready to deal with the hard cases when they most likely weren’t.  But in their unprepared state, they would have made a mess of the Nephite justice system.

I think this tells us something about flattery. It is the voice that suggests we possess skills we don’t really have and are ready for greater responsibility when we really aren’t.  Those who follow the flattery and pursue where the rewards aren’t deserved are set up for humiliating, soul-destroying failure.  That’s what Satan wants. He wants to humiliate and crush us by using our ambitions and aspirations against us.  Flattery is how he starts that, so we have to watch out for flattery.

Here’s a question for you to think about—in the context of the above, what do you think is the spiritual difference between humility and humiliation?

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Also connected with this, I want to say a word about the dangers of “awesome” as an overused compliment when we want to say we approve in some manner.

The problem is when messaging of “you are awesome” is thrown around, it becomes increasingly easy to internalize it and believe that not only was the performance awesome, but oneself is awesome in every way, and there is no need for repentance or improvement.  In short, it is too easy for it to feed vanity and pride.  

For us to see past this messaging, we need to have a pretty conscious awareness of all the ways we still need to improve, and we have to have a clear-eyed view of what good was actually done that brought out the approval or admiration.  But if we don’t have that in the first place, how are we to get it without more detailed feedback?  When we need real encouragement, detailed proportionate praise is much more useful.

Suppose I do my duty and then someone tells me I am awesome.  How can I take that at face value?  I know I did just my duty.  Am I to understand that doing one’s duty is so rarely seen that it must be commented on and praised?  I sure hope not.  But if doing one’s duty is widespread, then how were my actions extraordinary?  I have no way of knowing unless more detailed feedback is given.  It would be much more in proportion and helpful to say, “It makes me happy to see you do your duty” or “You’re doing a good job” or even “You’ve been diligent.”

“You are awesome” may seem like a harmless verbal tic of a compliment, but when we remember Nephite history and the trouble that flattering words caused by leading people astray, we see the long-term effects. Consider that pride ultimately was what led to the Nephites’ final destruction, and then these overstated compliments and affirmations can be seen for what they are—a gateway drug.

Since it is likely that this trend of overstating the awesome will not end soon, we need to be aware of it and put in place mental safeguards to keep perspective. We can remind ourselves we are doing our duty. We can remember that we or others may not be in the best position to judge our performance; if it were looked at more closely it might be barely adequate instead of “awesome.”  We can remind ourselves that others may be gushing or flattering us.

So don’t reflexively call people awesome. Use your creativity and fashion more precise ways to express your approval and compliments. Your words will actually mean more to people.

The importance of sincerity to conversion

Helaman 3:24-26 describes how thousands of people decided to unite themselves to the church and the record even calls it tens of thousands.  The church prospered exceedingly and the priests and teachers were astonished beyond measure.

Only two years later (v33), pride begins to enter the church and Mormon uses interesting language—“ not into the church of God, but into the hearts of the people who professed to belong to the church of God” (emphasis added).  That indicates he is a little skeptical of the level of conversion of some of the people who joined the church in such great numbers.

In v34, we learn the proud members begin persecuting their humble brethren in the church.

By Helaman 4:1—five years after so many people joined the church—there were many dissentions in the church and a contention among the people with lots of bloodshed.  So those who were not sincere in the church could not maintain the façade.  Mormon does not state this, but it is easy to see that joining the church for any other reason than true conversion and commitment to Christ is not a firm foundation.

I think Mormon’s observation of the mass conversions is telling: 

Thus we may see that the Lord is merciful unto all who will, in the sincerity of their hearts, call upon his holy name.  (Helaman 3:27)

Sincerity is the key work there.  Some among the number of converts may not have been sincere, and they would not be the ones receiving the Lord’s mercy. The Lord is not fooled by empty profession and vain posturing and parading.

For those who have to go through persecution from the proud and insincere, Mormon says,

Yea, we see that whosoever will may lay hold upon the word of God, which is quick and powerful, which shall divide asunder all the cunning and the snares and the wiles of the devil, and lead the man of Christ in a strait and narrow course across that everlasting gulf of misery which is prepared to engulf the wicked  (Helaman 3:29)

For those who are sincerely converted, it is like taking a strait path through a gulf of misery to be surrounded by hypocrites in the true church and to suffer at their hands. The only way they can stay steadfast is to lay hold on the word of God and keep going.  

I hope we never fall into pride and hypocrisy and persecution of our fellow members.  Also, in every church ward I have been in I have been blessed to be around sincere members who are doing their best.  I hope that if we ever find ourselves in a ward where members are not so sincere we can hold on our way and stay the course.