From the book: SUSTAINING AND DEFENDING THE FAITH, by Joseph Fielding McConkie and Robert L. Millet (both teach at BYU and at Education Weeks).
p. 9 The Discerning of Spirits:
Since the organization
of the Church in 1830, literally millions of people have left the various
churches of Christendom to join The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day
Saints.
In so doing they have shared a common feeling of joy and excitement
about what they have found in the restored gospel. By the tens and
hundreds of thousands, they and their children have served as missionaries.
They have gone first to family and then to friends to share
what they have found. In the countless times that this drama
has been enacted, we know
of no instances in which these converts have been impelled to vilify
and attack the churches they left.
We know of no books written
for that purpose, no movies made to that end, and in
the thousands of meetings we have attended we have never heard a single
sermon in which
that was done. In contrast, many members of the Church have had
experiences with those
who have chosen to leave Mormonism but who cannot leave it alone.
The preoccupation
of their lives becomes barbs, attacks, misrepresentations, and the
like. We simply suggest
that we discern the spirit of their actions and words. What is
the source of bitterness,
ugliness, meanness? Is this of God or of some other source, and
if of another, what?
As teachers at the Church
university, the authors have had in their classes scores of
young people who have joined the Church despite considerable opposition
on the part of
friends and family. Stories of parental bitterness, of being
disinherited or disowned are not uncommon. And again we would ask
the question, What is the source of such feelings?
When young men or young women say
to their parents, "We have decided to join The Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints," this means they will commit themselves to
being morally clean, to keeping the Sabbath holy, to being honest and
upright in their dealings with their fellowmen, to refraining from the
use of drugs (except for medical purposes),
alcohol, and tobacco. It means they will give of their own time
to the service of others and
that when they marry they will do so with a commitment that is not
only for time but for
eternity and they will seek to raise a good family. It means
they will not only seek to honor
their parents, but to honor and obey the laws of the land. When
children choose this and
their parents become bitter and angry, again we would suggest we ought
to "discern the
spirits" and ask from whence comes the opposition.
A mission president overseas was
invited by a group of the nation's leading ministers to speak to them on
the subject "What right do Mormons have in our country?" He accepted
their invitation and introduced his remarks by suggesting that, as
he understood it, everything
that was virtuous, lovely, or of good report came from one source,
that being God, while
those things that represented bitterness, ugliness, rancor, and so
forth came from an opposite source, that being the devil. He asked
them if that was according to their understanding.
All agreed. He then said, "Now if any of you have any of those
feelings of meanness in
your heart toward me or my church, where did you get them?" His
audience sat appropriately silent, for in the weeks previous each had done
and said much about the missionaries and
the Church that evidenced the spirit which they were serving.
Conclusion:
One does not approach God without
the adversary's opposition. The opposition of
darkness and evil is a sure sign that the path being followed is offensive
to the prince of darkness and thus pleasing to the God of heaven.
We repeat the great lesson learned from
the Prophet: "The nearer a person approaches the Lord, a greater
power will be manifested
by the adversary to prevent the accomplishment of His purposes."
To this we add the admonition of Elisha to his servant, who feared because
of the greatness of the army that surrounded Israel. "Fear not,"
he said, "for they that be with us are more than they that be
with them." Then he implored the Lord to open his servant's eyes
so that he might see the legions of heaven's army standing in readiness.
(See 2 Kings 6:15-18).
As Moroni said of the Church, "it will
increase the more opposed," so it can appropriately
be said of its members. Even in opposition there is that which
strengthens and edifies. We have two witnesses of the divine mission
of the Prophet Joseph Smith and the Church he restored: first, that
born of the Holy Ghost quietly conveyed through the spirit of peace; and
second, that born of the spirit of the adversary, loud in railing accusation.
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