‘Do you want to go away as well?’ Will we be offended by ‘hard’ doctrines?
Preface: I’m speaking in an American context of “Left” and “Right,” “Liberal” and “Conservative,” which may have different meanings depending on where you may live, but the message remains generally the same.
In response to controversial doctrine taught by the Saviour, “When many of his disciples heard it, they said, ‘This is a hard saying; who can listen to it?’ But Jesus, knowing in himself that his disciples were grumbling about this, said to them, ‘Do you take offense at this?’ He had just taught them the beautiful, life-giving doctrine that “Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day … The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life.” “After this many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him.” Living under strict Mosaic and Rabbinic laws, these disciples must have been horrified as the consumption of blood and cannibalism was completely un-Kosher. They either failed to understand the doctrine or pridefully refused to accept that Jesus would fulfil the Law and that salvation could only be attained through him. “So Jesus said to the twelve, ‘Do you want to go away as well?’” (John 6:52-67). The Saviour likewise asks all of us whenever our false beliefs and pride are challenged by “hard” truths: “Will you also go away?”
At some point or another, our strongly-held beliefs—whether religious, cultural, or political—will be challenged by truth. How we respond to truth will determine our trajectory; either to eternal progression or eternal damnation. We have the choice whether we will allow our pride to keep us from progressing or whether we will humbly accept truth and seek to receive our own confirmation of its validity.
President Harold B Lee taught: “You may not like what comes from the authority of the Church [or from the Lord]. It may contradict your political views. It may contradict your social views. It may interfere with some of your social life. But if you listen to these things, as if from the mouth of the Lord Himself, with patience and faith, the promise is that ‘the gates of hell shall not prevail against you; yea, and the Lord God will disperse the powers of darkness from before you, and cause the heavens to shake for your good, and his name’s glory’” (Harold B. Lee, iConference Report, Oct. 1970). Many with the Church in America seem to hold the view that Conservative Republicanism is the political view aligned the closest with the Lord and his teachings; but, both self-identified Conservatives and Liberals, Republicans and Democrats must continually reevaluate their political stances to see if they truly align with what the Lord and his servants have truly taught. Both those on the Left and Right espouse some political and social stances that contradict Scriptural teachings, and if left unchecked and unchanged, will ultimately lead to the stalling of the establishment of Zion in the larger society and more dangerously within ourselves. Each one of us needs to regularly check ourselves against what God’s revealed word in ancient and modern holy scripture, as received through his prophets and apostles. No scriptural truth has not been received through his servants the prophets. We must humbly seek to align our lives and actions with those truths rather than the next popular societal or cultural trend or trendy party stance. This most especially includes even our most sincerely-held religious beliefs, which at times, if we’re not extremely careful, can begin to take shape after and/or reflect our flawed cultural, social, or political beliefs. Thus, we begin to subconsciously fashion God in our own image, rather than seeking to submit to his teachings and will, no matter how uncomfortable his teachings and will may be to us at the moment.
I recently posted this meme on my social media accounts, and got quite negative response from both those on the Left and the Right:
Similarly, below are listed several popular, erroneous cultural, societal, or political beliefs that I’ve most commonly heard among the members of the Church and/or that have become increasingly pervasive among the members, and the Scriptural doctrines and passages and/or modern Church clarifications that refute these pernicious notions. Since Beacon primarily focuses on addressing homosexual issues within the Church, here are a couple of the most prevalent notions surrounding the LGBT topic:
Here are several other false notions that are likely to offend members on both the Left and Right:
There are many, many more items that I could add to this list. So what do we do with these things if they contradict our personal views or convictions? Will we choose, in our pride, to be offended and “also go away” like Jesus’ early disciples? Will we choose to believe or affirm only those doctrines that align with our worldviews, conveniently choosing to disregard the more “inconvenient” truths we hear? Will we choose to prioritise cultural or political customs, stances, practices, or policies because they seem more rational and/or emotionally-rousing over Scriptural teachings? Do we hope and pray that these “inconvenient” truths will change eventually so that we don’t need to change to accept and apply them?
No, when the Saviour and his servants ask us our response to “hard” doctrines, “Do you want to go away as well?” I pray that we may, in the humility and brokenness of our hearts respond as Peter did: “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life!” I pray that we will desire put off the natural man, recognise that, “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female” (Galations 3:28)—and I would argue Republican nor Democrat nor gay or straight—“and all are alike unto God” (2 Nephi 26:23), so long as we all strive to be “all one in Christ Jesus,” and not in mortal identities. May we seek to accept with gladness all truth—preeminently God’s truth from Scripture—and truth from “all the best books,” and seek to “circumscribe all truth into one great whole,” seeking to be faithful to God’s truth above all else. The latter is the harder right, and a profoundly more joyful and truly spiritually edifying route to take. The former leads in only one direction: spiritual death; separation from God and damnation in the lesser kingdom of glory. What do we want? The answer is clear for me: I want to return to the presence of my Heavenly Parents to be exalted with them. I will not allow any mortal experience or challenge get in the way of me achieving that destiny.
