You may think that this is a strange title for an essay and it
probably is. If you were to look this
up on the Internet you would find that it is used to describe indecisiveness.
This Blog is not about indecisiveness.
It is about a scripture and its application to our lives today. This
scripture is hidden away in a book in the Old Testament that most people do not
even read today. It is still applicable
to the situations we face today. For your reference it is found in the 6th
chapter of the book of Proverbs.
16 These six things doth the Lord
hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him:
17 (1) A proud look, (2) a lying tongue, and (3) hands that
shed innocent blood,
18 (4) An heart that
deviseth wicked imaginations, (5) feet that be swift in running to mischief.
19 (6) A false witness that
speaketh lies, and (7) he that soweth discord among brethren.
I would like to address the seventh; sowing discord among
brethren. To me this means sowing
discord among the members of the church and others if we consider all men to be
our brothers and sisters. Not just men,
but also women and children.
We seem to be having a lot of this recently, but it is not
new. It has happened from the beginning
of the restoration and will continue to escalate. I now raise a warning voice to my posterity, “Hüte Dich” as the
Germans would say. In English that is
protect yourselves.
As you know I answer the phone in the missionary department.
There have been a number of calls from people about immunizations. There is a growing body of opposition to
vaccines and this has permeated into members of the church. I recently received a link to an open letter
to the First Presidency posted on a Blog and widely distributed through social
media urging members of the church to write to the First Presidency in
opposition to their urging people to receive vaccines. This individual is very crafty and
persuasive in his arguments (much like Korihor in the Book of Mormon). He does not believe that the Lord is in
charge. He is sowing discord.
There is recent publicity of a former bishop going on a
hunger strike to force the church to change its policy about bishops doing
their sacred duty to strengthen and fortify the youth of the church. He states that people should not join the
church until the church changes the policy to fit with his ideas. He is sowing
discord.
There are women demonstrating at general conference because
some sisters have decided that it is time for them to receive the priesthood.
They sow discord.
There are others as well, probably too numerous to mention,
so I will not.
This is not a new problem so perhaps a citation from my
personal history will serve to illustrate the point.
“We had a brother who caused us a great deal of concern. I
am sure that he caused the Lord some moments as well. There existed at the time
a movement in the political arena, a rather conservative group, called the John
Birch Society. A few members of the stake belonged to this group and I was oft
accused of being a member, which was news to me. From this arch-conservative
group of members came forth the idea of advocating the nonpayment of taxes.
These people went around the country and convinced many to join them in their
nonpayment of taxes. I will not go into their arguments because they are
ridiculous. One such brother caught the spirit of these people and it so
possessed him that he began to extended this to all phases of his life. He
would over park and not pay his parking tickets. He failed to charge or pay
sales tax to the State on his business income. He failed to file income tax
returns and found himself in court. The court attached his bank account and got
the money due the State. He was constantly in court fighting various legal
battles and always acting as his own attorney. I collected a 1-inch thick file
of newspaper clippings about his various escapades. We finally, after private
council with him, called a High Council court to give him counsel. He did not
take kindly to it and continued in his course. We then called him in and
disfellowshipped him. He appealed the case to the First Presidency and no one
knew what his status was. I was of the opinion that since he was appealing the
case that the decision was set aside until the appeal was acted upon. He felt
that he would get to plead his case before the president of the church. He was
given his chance to air his complaints before a special court held at stake
conference time when a member of the Council of the Twelve was assigned to
visit our stake conference.
Elder Marvin J. Ashton was to come representing the First
Presidency. He said that in order to maintain an attitude of complete
neutrality in the affair he would stay in Riverton at a motel. We met together
and presented the case and when it was all finished we reinstated him in full
fellowship in the church. His attitude had changed enough that it was possible.
He was later given a temple recommend, but continued to have problems and
eventually I heard that he was sent to prison for nonpayment of taxes.
Some years later I gave his son a physical examination to go
on a mission and was informed that his father was now in full fellowship in the
church and had started again to pay taxes and be a good citizen.
I find that many of the people go off on a tangent and get
off the path. Brigham Young says that the devil will lead people off the path
anyway he can and when this spirit occupies the man he is easily deluded into
justifying his position and will not understand when he has been told that he
is off the way.
Many try to ‘steady the ark’ and die spiritually as the man
in the Old Testament died physically when he tried to steady the Ark of the
Covenant.”
If we believe that this is the Lord’s church, then why do we
not let the Lord take care of his church?
It is the Church of Jesus Christ.
Do we not believe he can do his own work without the help of puny
man?
I testify that the Lord is indeed in charge and knows the
end from the beginning. He is over this
work. He knows what to do and will
guide us through his chosen servants. We must really believe and act according
to the Primary song; “Follow the prophet, he knows the way.” We do not need to
counsel the prophet. That is the Lord’s prerogative.
