Social/Political Groups and Opinions Contrary to the CHurch
The topics that have arisen over the last few years, brought on by world events, have been thrown in our faces repeatedly by all forms of media life and have set some of the most controversial topics known to man spinning out of control. In this storm of words I remember the story of Joseph Smith and his troubles when he was facing a very similar world; “I often said to myself what is to be done? Who of all these sects is right and how shall I know it?” Unlike Joseph who found himself in a world without direct connection to God (a living prophet and a living church) members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints do not have to suffer from the same confusion if they have testimonies born of the Spirit of God of the truthfulness and fullness of the gospel as was restored through the prophet Joseph Smith.
But where has the church been during all of this?
Many will pipe in and declare that “the church should be separate from the State (government) and that the church doesn’t have opinions or doctrine concerning ‘the State’ and therefore stays out of it!” and they would be half correct. The church does stand by its independence from the State, declaring to be ruled by God and God alone and that the Government should take no part in that- also that the church should not by the same power rule over the lives of men and women but that the individual should. This however does not mean that there is no “doctrine” pertaining to these topics-only that the church will not force (key word) its members to enforce said doctrine in ‘the State’. Rather the church ‘expects’ even ‘hopes’ that every member who claims ownership to said church to carry forth from that church embodied with the ideals and teaching of the church, and thus effect change through the individual. These many topics of concern can have many different viewpoints, many different opinions, many variants, but The Church of Jesus
Christ of Latter-Day Saints has but one- as we know, there is “one Lord, one faith, one baptism.” You can argue amongst yourself till you are blue in the face, yell and scream and even go to war with each other over these ideals, but that doesn’t change the fact that if you are a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and desire to uphold the doctrines of Christ there is only one right answer. The church doesn’t feel (and shouldn’t feel) like it has to “force members to comply” and it never will. The philosophy of “teach men correct principles and let them govern themselves” is still in effect today. The real sad truth about this doctrine is that there will be many who listen to the doctrine and decide“that they know better” and make the choice to uphold in speech, living, and common play these “other doctrines”- and the church will quietly allow it. Why is this a sad truth? Well that part wasn’t, the sad truth
in fact comes later in that person’s life when they are brought to the judgment bar of Christ and they think that they are in “good standings” with the Lord because no one has really told them otherwise during their lives. And the Lords warnings come to fruition:
“Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity. 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: 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. 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. 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.”
Who else other than Christians that live their own lives according to their own doctrines and philosophies rather than living their lives
according to His doctrines and philosophies would fit this description? That is what makes this such a sad truth.
Can the world bicker and fight about these controversial topics? Can people have intelligence disagreements about these topics? Absolutely, and they should hopefully all be done politely and respectfully. But should members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints be having these debates amongst themselves? Should members of the church openly on Facebook and other media outlets proclaim their independence from “church doctrine” and debate one with another? The answer is most assuredly no. The church does not base its doctrine (nor should it ever do so; or it can be immediately ruled to be a church not run by God but by man, in which case you can stop going to that church all together as a church that is run by man and not God will have no power to save you) on popular belief or on some sort of backwater media meshwork democracy, it is run by God. If you don’t like the doctrine you are free to ‘take your chances’ out in the world or in another faith; but picking and choosing doctrines of the church to “agree or disagree with”, like a smorgasbord of food while claiming to be a full-fledged member of that faith will only in fact make things worse for you.
“I know thy works,that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spew thee out of my mouth”
It is time to wake up members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and be ‘hot’ and stop being ‘lukewarm’ or the Lord will spew us from out of His mouth. It is time to stop arguing amongst ourselves over these topics, or much much worse- promoting doctrines that are contraire to that of the church while claiming to represent it. Wake up and represent your church or shut up and find another, this is not and will never be a faith run on the whims of bickering children; if you don’t like it we have exits on either side of the pews.
If you support, affiliate with or agree with any group or individual whose teachings are contrary to those accepted by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints then this should keep any honest Mormon from getting a temple recommend. This is why Ashley and I have taken it upon ourselves to find out the Church's stand on controversial topics so we can make sure we are not affiliating with these groups!
But where has the church been during all of this?
Many will pipe in and declare that “the church should be separate from the State (government) and that the church doesn’t have opinions or doctrine concerning ‘the State’ and therefore stays out of it!” and they would be half correct. The church does stand by its independence from the State, declaring to be ruled by God and God alone and that the Government should take no part in that- also that the church should not by the same power rule over the lives of men and women but that the individual should. This however does not mean that there is no “doctrine” pertaining to these topics-only that the church will not force (key word) its members to enforce said doctrine in ‘the State’. Rather the church ‘expects’ even ‘hopes’ that every member who claims ownership to said church to carry forth from that church embodied with the ideals and teaching of the church, and thus effect change through the individual. These many topics of concern can have many different viewpoints, many different opinions, many variants, but The Church of Jesus
Christ of Latter-Day Saints has but one- as we know, there is “one Lord, one faith, one baptism.” You can argue amongst yourself till you are blue in the face, yell and scream and even go to war with each other over these ideals, but that doesn’t change the fact that if you are a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and desire to uphold the doctrines of Christ there is only one right answer. The church doesn’t feel (and shouldn’t feel) like it has to “force members to comply” and it never will. The philosophy of “teach men correct principles and let them govern themselves” is still in effect today. The real sad truth about this doctrine is that there will be many who listen to the doctrine and decide“that they know better” and make the choice to uphold in speech, living, and common play these “other doctrines”- and the church will quietly allow it. Why is this a sad truth? Well that part wasn’t, the sad truth
in fact comes later in that person’s life when they are brought to the judgment bar of Christ and they think that they are in “good standings” with the Lord because no one has really told them otherwise during their lives. And the Lords warnings come to fruition:
“Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity. 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: 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. 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. 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.”
Who else other than Christians that live their own lives according to their own doctrines and philosophies rather than living their lives
according to His doctrines and philosophies would fit this description? That is what makes this such a sad truth.
Can the world bicker and fight about these controversial topics? Can people have intelligence disagreements about these topics? Absolutely, and they should hopefully all be done politely and respectfully. But should members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints be having these debates amongst themselves? Should members of the church openly on Facebook and other media outlets proclaim their independence from “church doctrine” and debate one with another? The answer is most assuredly no. The church does not base its doctrine (nor should it ever do so; or it can be immediately ruled to be a church not run by God but by man, in which case you can stop going to that church all together as a church that is run by man and not God will have no power to save you) on popular belief or on some sort of backwater media meshwork democracy, it is run by God. If you don’t like the doctrine you are free to ‘take your chances’ out in the world or in another faith; but picking and choosing doctrines of the church to “agree or disagree with”, like a smorgasbord of food while claiming to be a full-fledged member of that faith will only in fact make things worse for you.
“I know thy works,that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spew thee out of my mouth”
It is time to wake up members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and be ‘hot’ and stop being ‘lukewarm’ or the Lord will spew us from out of His mouth. It is time to stop arguing amongst ourselves over these topics, or much much worse- promoting doctrines that are contraire to that of the church while claiming to represent it. Wake up and represent your church or shut up and find another, this is not and will never be a faith run on the whims of bickering children; if you don’t like it we have exits on either side of the pews.
If you support, affiliate with or agree with any group or individual whose teachings are contrary to those accepted by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints then this should keep any honest Mormon from getting a temple recommend. This is why Ashley and I have taken it upon ourselves to find out the Church's stand on controversial topics so we can make sure we are not affiliating with these groups!