Which Way Do You Face?
Which way do you face? That is the question that was posed to Elder Lynn G. Robbins of the First Quorum of the Seventy by Elder Boyd K. Packer. Without waiting for a response, Elder Packer continued by stating “A Seventy does not represent the people to the prophet, but the prophet to the people. Never forget which way you face.” What do you suppose Elder Packer meant by that question and answer? I suppose the same logic continues in that we do not represent the people to the prophet and the general authorities of the church, but rather, we represent them and the church to the people. Which way do we face?
In 1 Nephi 8:25-28 we read:
25 And after they had partaken of the fruit of the tree they did cast their eyes about as if they were ashamed.
26 And I also cast my eyes round about, and beheld, on the other side of the river of water, a great and spacious building; and it stood as it were in the air, high above the earth.
27 And it was filled with people, both old and young, both male and female; and their manner of dress was exceedingly fine; and they were in the attitude of mocking and pointing their fingers towards those who had come at and were partaking of the fruit.
28 And after they had tasted of the fruit they were ashamed, because of those that were scoffing at them; and they fell away into forbidden paths and were lost.
Why did they fall away? And why were they lost? They were ashamed after they partook of the fruit. The world, over in the great and spacious building, were making fun of them for their beliefs and they forgot which way they faced. They listened to the philosophies and teachings of the world. They listened to their arguments, especially the one that if we expect people to follow the commandments we are showing a lack of compassion. Failure to relax and alter the commandments of God likewise shows a lack of compassion. In fact, not allowing people to do whatever they want to do whenever they want to do it demonstrates a complete lack of compassion. That is the wisdom of the world. Those are the beliefs of those who inhabit the great and spacious building. They believe that it is up to us to accept, tolerate and embrace whatever behavior or lifestyle they adopt. The wisdom of the world and being accepted by the world was more important to those that fell away than the eternal truths of the gospel. Some people will say that they can entertain the world’s views, explore them, study them, and test them for themselves and they will be just fine. That is a dangerous proposition. Let’s look at two examples:
Korihor, in the Book of Mormon illustrates someone who clearly was facing the wrong way. The worst part is that he did believe at one time, but he was deceived by Satan. Before we read a couple verses in Alma 30:52-53, let’s get caught up. Korihor had been teaching the people and leading them astray and he is brought before Alma to be judged for his actions. There is an exchange where Korihor tells Alma what he believes, which is the garbage that is taught in the great and spacious building. Alma then bears witness of the actual truths about God and his teachings. Korihor demands a sign from Alma to prove that God exists and, according the words of Alma, he is struck dumb. Alma then asks him if he is convinced now? And here is Korihor’s response:
52 And Korihor put forth his hand and wrote, saying: I know that I am dumb, for I cannot speak; and I know that nothing save it were the power of God could bring this upon me; yea, and I always knew that there was a God.
53 But behold, the devil hath deceived me; for he appeared unto me in the form of an angel, and said unto me: Go and reclaim this people, for they have all gone astray after an unknown God. And he said unto me: There is no God; yea, and he taught me that which I should say. And I have taught his words; and I taught them because they were pleasing unto the carnal mind; and I taught them, even until I had much success, insomuch that I verily believed that they were true; and for this cause I withstood the truth, even until I have brought this great curse upon me.
By now it was too late for Korihor and he was cast out, left to beg for food and ultimately was trampled to death by the Zoramites. Facing the wrong way cost him his mortal life and his eternal salvation.
Lot is another example of someone who faced the wrong way. We know that after Lot and Abraham split up the land, Lot took the more fertile lands in the plains. The scriptures say that ”Abram dwelled in the land of Canaan, and Lot dwelled in the cities of the plain, and pitched his tent toward Sodom.” We know that over time Lot and his family moved into Sodom and lived there for some time. Initially he woke up to a view of the great and spacious building; ultimately they ended up moving into the great and spacious building. I am sure that Lot did not intend to lose most of his family to the world. I am sure, when they moved from the plains into Sodom he thought they could be there, could tolerate and accept what was going on and not be tainted. As we know, after a time, Lot was told to take his family and leave because Sodom was going to be destroyed because of its great wickedness. Here is how that played out. In Genesis 19 we read:
12 And the men said unto Lot, Hast thou here any besides? son in law, and thy sons, and thy daughters, and whatsoever thou hast in the city, bring them out of this place:
13 For we will destroy this place, because the cry of them is waxen great before the face of the Lord; and the Lord hath sent us to destroy it.
14 And Lot went out, and spake unto his sons in law, which married his daughters, and said, Up, get you out of this place; for the Lord will destroy this city. But he seemed as one that mocked unto his sons in law.
15 And when the morning arose, then the angels hastened Lot, saying, Arise, take thy wife, and thy two daughters, which are here; lest thou be consumed in the iniquity of the city.
16 And while he lingered, the men laid hold upon his hand, and upon the hand of his wife, and upon the hand of his two daughters; the Lord being merciful unto him: and they brought him forth, and set him without the city.
17 And it came to pass, when they had brought them forth abroad, that he said, Escape for thy life; look not behind thee, neither stay thou in all the plain; escape to the mountain, lest thou be consumed.
The destruction began and in verse 26 we read:
26 But his wife looked back from behind him, and she became a pillar of salt.
Lot survived his experience in the great and spacious building, but with the exception of his two daughters, his entire family perished as a result of their experience inside the great and spacious building. Even though his two daughters did physically survive the experience, it is hard to say they came out of that experience unscathed if you read a little further in Genesis. Was it worth it to Lot to have looked out towards the great and spacious building, to have moved into to it, and for most of his family, tolerated, accepted and ultimately embraced the teachings from within the great and spacious building?
We do not need to tolerate, accept, entertain, study, embrace or do anything else with respect to the world’s view. We are not representing the world to the church, the prophet or our Heavenly Father. We are representing the eternal truths of the gospel to the world. How do we do that? We stand up and we don’t apologize for the gospel. We make sure that the flow of information follows Heavenly Father’s plan. Heavenly Father laid out the plan for the flow of information. Too often we feel the need to reverse the proper flow of information, which is clearly a case of facing the wrong way. In Amos it is clearly explained how information flows. It says in Amos 3:7
7 Surely the Lord God will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets.
In seminary, Amos 3:7 is a scripture mastery scripture and one of the ways we remembered it was by holding up three fingers – Amos 3, God, prophet, me. That is the proper flow of information. It never goes me, prophet, God. That is simply not how it works. There are no exceptions to that.
Currently, the crowd from the great and spacious building is applying pressure on those of us who have partaken of the fruit. They want us to sympathize with and accept behavior and beliefs that are unacceptable. They push on members to lobby the brethren for changes. The belief that members can lobby the brethren for changes in the church or doctrines of the church shows a complete lack of understanding who is actually in charge. You can pick your cause:
Gay Marriage, the world wants us to acknowledge and accept it.
Abortion, the world wants us to stop fighting to protect the sanctity of life.
Pornography, immorality, foul language, the world says it’s okay, under the guise of individual liberty and freedom to act however we want, even as the poison of that filth spreads and destroys that which it touches.
Violations of the Word of Wisdom, the world says it is okay. We know by watching TV that all of the pretty people drink alcohol. Even the most interesting man in the world drinks alcohol.
This all must be okay, right?
Attacks on the organization and structure of the church and the priesthood. The world says it’s okay.
Attacks on those women who are somehow less of a woman because they choose to be mothers. The world says it’s okay to denigrate those who chose live by the doctrines clearly delineated in “The Family, A Proclamation To The World.”
Wow, I wish I was as enlightened as the occupants of the great and spacious building. I am obviously missing the big picture. Some might even say I’m a simpleton. That’s okay. For me it is quite simple.
We do not need to give instruction to the brethren or to our Father in Heaven.
We need to listen to their teachings and do our best to live by those teachings.
We need to represent and defend and not apologize for the eternal truths, doctrines and policies of the Lord’s church.
When we begin to sympathize with these ideas that come from the great and spacious building, there is an underlying belief that has to exist. Whether we recognize it or acknowledge it is not relevant, it is still there. The belief in its simplest expression is one of two things.
First. Either Heavenly Father is not paying attention, because if he was, he would surely fix these injustices, this lack of compassion or these misguided doctrines. And, since he is not paying attention, we need to get a message to him, via the brethren and the prophet so he can correct it.
Or, second. Heavenly Father is aware of these injustices, this lack of compassion or these misguided doctrines of the church, but he has lost control over the prophet, the First Presidency, the Quorum of the Twelve and the other general authorities, and he can’t get them to run things the way he wants them to. In essence the church is a run-away train and he has not power to get it under control.
Both of these beliefs really scare me. Both of these beliefs deny the very essence of who our Heavenly Father really is and whether he really is a loving and compassionate God. The gospel is actually quite simple. The church is the organization that was created to facilitate the restoration of the gospel and to allow it to be spread to all of God’s children in the last days. He set it up this way. I am going to assume that he knows what he is doing.
Too many people use the philosophies and teachings of men as the measuring stick for truth. The thinking is that if what is taught by the scriptures and the brethren through modern revelation does not match up the teachings of the world there must be something wrong with what the scriptures and the brethren are teaching. That is the wrong measuring stick.
The gospel, as given to us in the scriptures and through modern day revelation through the prophet, the First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles is the measuring stick. If the world’s views, teachings and philosophies are not in harmony with the gospel, toss them out. It doesn’t matter how logical, rational or compassionate they may appear to be (emphasis on appear). Toss them out. To accept them is to accept one of the underlying assumptions that our Heavenly Father simply doesn’t understand the issues of our day, our Heavenly Father is not a loving and compassionate God, our Heavenly Father is not paying attention or our Heavenly Father has lost control of his church.
My experience and testimony is that he is a loving and compassionate God. He is not confused or out of touch with what is going on here. He is absolutely paying attention to what is going on with his children. He knows each and every one of us and is intimately aware of our struggles and trials. He is there to help us if we will go to him and follow his direction and counsel. And, he is in total control of his kingdom, here on earth. The plan, was to come here and learn the gospel, live the gospel and defend the gospel. We knew the plan and agreed to the plan. It doesn’t really matter that we can’t remember what happened in our pre-mortal life. We heard the plan, the entire plan and we voted for it. We even knew that there would be trials and difficulties and suffering. In Abraham it is spelled out quite clearly:
We were sent here so that he could prove us herewith, to see if we would do all things whatsoever the Lord our God would command us.
We are not supposed to be apologists for the gospel.
We are to stand firm in the testimony of what is truth.
We just need to decide if we will be purveyors of the garbage that is spewed from the great and spacious building or are we defenders of the truth that comes from our Heavenly Father that will lead us back to his presence.
It is my testimony that Heavenly Father loves each and every one of his children. Jesus is our savior. He suffered in Gethsemane and on the cross for us. Joseph Smith was and is a prophet and was responsible for the restoration of the gospel and bringing forth the Book of Mormon. The Book of Mormon is true. Heavenly Father has a plan to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man and we have a part to play in that plan. It is up to us whether we will be true to the promises that we made before we came into this life. We agreed to come here at this time. We knew that we would receive the gospel during our lives and we agreed to live it and defend it. It is my prayer that we will keep the promises that we made and remember which way we face. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
Given: Westlake Village Ward 2/8/2015.