A Faith Beyond: The Gospel's Least-Understood Principle (Part 11)

Part 1:  A Faith Beyond
Part 2: A Faith Beyond
Part 3: A Faith Beyond
Part 4: A Faith Beyond
Part 5: A Faith Beyond
Part 6: A Faith Beyond
Part 7: A Faith Beyond
Part 8: A Faith Beyond
Part 9: A Faith Beyond
Part 10: A Faith Beyond
Part 10.5: On Occasion of My 45th Birthday

​Mind Over Matter

Faith is often replaced with (and mistaken for) sincerity and earnestness and effort.

But in the concluding part of The Lectures on Faith ― when they pulled together all of faith's threads, as in the final chapter of a detective novel ― we are thrown a plot-twist:

"When a man works by faith, he works by mental exertion instead of physical force" (Lecture 7:3).

"Mental exertion."  Really?  I thought Adam, when he was tossed out of the Garden, was told:

   By the sweat of thy face
   shalt thou eat bread.

(Moses 4:25)

"Sweat" is decidedly physical.  And isn't it true that faith is demonstrated by our works (James 2:18), which are also physical?

So if faith is a faculty of the mind (our spiritual muscle) ― as opposed to the physical body ― how do we account for the "sweat" President Nelson extols when he claims "the Lord loves effort"?  Does that make you picture lots of sweaty men and women with pickaxes under a hot sun, digging irrigation ditches and hewing granite for the temple, one block at a time?  Is that a good representation of our faith, the old pioneer spirit?

Well yes, for many of us that is exactly what we think of when we think of faith.  Effort.  Sacrifice.  Suffering and persecution for our beliefs.
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I want to offer an alternative perspective.  Effort is generally a sign of faith's absence ― a sign we're relying upon the flesh and not trusting in God's word alone, trying to jerry-rig blessings from a rock that is not cooperating by striking it rather than speaking to it.

If you're unfamiliar with that last allusion, please read Numbers 20:8-11.  You see, the Lord told Moses to "speak unto the rock," promising him water would flow out of it so the Israelites and their animals could rehydrate.

Simple, short, and sweet.  "Speak!"  But apparently that was not good enough for Moses, who added his own flair when the time came.  "And Moses lifted up his hand, and with his rod he smote the rock twice" (Numbers 20:11).  Not once, but twice!  Just for good measure.

Now, that may not seem like a big deal to you and me; after all, it was only a minor deviation from what the Lord had said.  But by small and simple deviations does the devil bring to pass (thanks to the Butterfly Effect) great and marvelous apostasy.

Moses' little stunt was enough to have the Lord forbid him from entering into the Promised Land.  Oof.

So next time we get an itch to add a bit of "effort" to what the Lord has spoken, remember Moses.

"Let There Be Light"

We find an interesting example of "mental exertion" in Lecture 7 of the Lectures on Faith, which cites Genesis 1 to illustrate what faith actually looks like:

   God said,
   Let there be light:
   and there was light.

(Genesis 1:3)

I think this is a bit confusing.  How does God speaking demonstrate faith?  And how can that be considered a "mental exertion"?

Does this mean we just need to know the proper incantation, like reading words from a spell book, and we will get the desired result?

I fear many of us have the idea that if we just believe something "hard" enough, that faith will flourish.  "Don't doubt!  Doubt your doubts!"

See the problem?  Where is our focus?  Is it on our "effort" to believe, or on the object of our faith?

How often do we approach desired blessings like Luke Skywalker trying to use the Force to raise his X-Wing from the swamp on Dagobah, thinking if we only exert enough "faith" and squint long enough, it will somehow do the trick?  "God, can you see my sweat?  Now you know I'm really serious about wanting this.  You've got to grant my desire now or it wouldn't be fair, after all the effort I've put into it."

This ignores the law of the harvest; for we cannot gather figs from thistles, which is what we try to do whenever we think that, if we just have enough faith, we can turn this tomato plant into a giraffe ― when God never promised us a herd of giraffes in the first place.

That's the sticking point: we will not reap the promises of God by trusting in something other than Him and His actual words.

"Difficult to see.  Always in motion is the future."  ― Yoda.

Faith is not the Force; faith is not performing spiritual magic.  Faith is not a way to trap God in our genie-bottle.

What "Stiff-Necked" Looks Like

Practice Pointer:  The secret of faith lies in whether the thing we believe is actually God's word ― and not in the fierceness with which we cling to it.

In other words, we can "believe" any number of things sincerely and earnestly, but our attachment is meaningless and useless unless it is anchored to God's own word.

I would guess that 85% of the things we "have faith" in are not actually God's unfailing word.  Maybe I'm being generous.  But I suspect the majority of our faith is in following the commandments of men and/or in believing the doctrines and precepts of men (mistaking them for God's) (D&C 46:7).

It's easy to see this when we place the magnifying glass at other religions' faith: at suicide-bombers and zealots whose "faith" is foreign to the one Christ preached.  A Christian has no problem critiquing the beliefs of Islam or Judaism, painting them as misguided.

But we need to cleanse the inner vessel; let us put aside the beam in our own eye, first.  Because it's harder to see the ways our own faith has become unmoored from God's word, being replaced with cultural standards and customs and traditions.

In the Church, we have our own version of the Houris (the virgins rewarded to faithful Muslim men in paradise); or the Catholic doctrine of celibacy; or the Calvinist penchant for predestination.  I could go on, but each religion develops a corpus of beliefs, doctrines, and practices that are errant.

And yet, once the error becomes entrenched, it is difficult to admit we (or Joseph Smith) (Pope Clement VII) (Brigham Young) (Moses) (Mohammad) (Martin Luther) took a wrong turn, and acknowledge we now need to repent and forsake our error, turning back to God.

It is easier to try to save face by creating apologetic defenses for our error, seeking to justify our collective sins as if they were God-sanctioned.  Our faith becomes dead-in-the-water, covered in so many barnacles. 

The LDS faith is no different, but is surprisingly resistant to the fact that (like everyone else) we must repent and turn back to God by abandoning our false traditions and foolish doctrines.

   In many instances
   they do err
   because they are taught
   by the precepts of men.

(2 Nephi 28:14)

We would be wise to ask God which of our policies and doctrines are the interpolations of men, mingled with scripture, so we don't waste another moment on them.

The angels rejoice when we unbarnacle our faith from the detritus of men's umbriferous precepts.

What "Faith in Christ" Really Means

I want to suggest that faith is simply the power by which men and women obtain the word of God (His promises).  Securing a promise from God is a big deal.  Since He cannot break His promises, and because God's word cannot fail ― though the heavens and the earth pass away ― this is the way our faith becomes "unshakeable," when it is tied to God's specific utterances.

This explains, I think, something we find in the Lectures on Faith, which comes to a very plain conclusion: "Faith, then, works by words" (Lecture 7:3).

But it's not our words; not the words we speak.  This is talking about faith in ― and arising from ― God's word.

"But Tim!" someone objects.  "Having faith in 'God's word' sounds so impersonal.  I thought we were supposed to have faith in Christ!"

That's a very good point.  Having faith in God's word IS what it means to have "faith in Christ" ― who IS the Word of God (John 1:1), and who IS the fulfilment of all of God's promises as His Messenger (Malachi 3:1).  Because God speaks only truth, in Jesus we find "the truth of the world" (Ether 4:12). 

This is why the best definition I have found in scripture for "faith" does not even mention the word:

   For you shall live
   by every word
   that proceedeth forth
   from the mouth of God.

(D&C 84:44)

The last line is very important.  Whose mouth?  In whose lips is the truth of life found?  Not mine (like Isaiah, I am a man of unclean lips). 

Christ's lips contain the kiss of eternal life.  (How else would we be sealed, but with a kiss?)  Not just Christ, but all those of you who speak by the power of the Holy Ghost the words of Christ, as with the tongue of angels (2 Nephi 32:3).  I call that a French kiss.

Just to be clear, it does absolutely no good to have "faith" in anything other than in what God has spoken.  God's word instills life.  Why would we place our faith in that which is lifeless?
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I hear all the time the old notion, "Just do what your priesthood leaders say, even if they are wrong, and God will bless you for it."  I've written before about this spiritual fallacy; please don't expect to use the Nuremberg defense at the last day.

Where is God's Word?

Those who are seeking greater faith know the million-dollar question: Where is God's word found?  It all depends on this!

Did you answer, "The scriptures"?  That's a good start, but watch out.  We mustn't assume everything we read in the scriptures is "God's word."  Just look at how many churches believe in the Bible, and yet can't agree on what it means.  Even the LDS faith has splintered into more than 40 separate churches who cannot see eye-to-eye on latter-day doctrine.  We can't even resolve simple differences between the Community of Christ, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and the Restoration movement (the sticking point, by the way, always comes to down to who has authority, which is the modern Golden Calf we worship).  How are we going to bring all of Christianity together, if we can't even share the keys to the ward library? 

This troubles me, especially considering the fact that the Lord has been emphatic that His children need to:

   be established in one;
   for there is one God
   and one Shepherd
   over all the earth.

(1 Nephi 13:41)

So while the scriptures are useful for getting us to turn unto God, they haven't succeeded in bringing us into a unity of the faith.

The scriptures contain many valuable principles and prophecies, but always remember, they cannot save us ― as Jesus pointedly told the Scribes (John 5:39-40).

Our only hope is found in Christ; in other words, in the "words of eternal life" (D&C 84:43) He uniquely possesses ― not in a book.

Now, this may sound outlandish, but I am going to say it: the words of eternal life come to us personally by the power of the Holy Ghost, and no other way.

   For the word of the Lord is truth,
   and whatsoever is truth is light,
   and whatsoever is light is Spirit,
   even the Spirit of Jesus Christ.

(D&C 84:45)

When God speaks His word into our minds and hearts ― not with paper and pen and ink, but with power and fire and blood ― then His word is found in us.

   Behold I say unto you:
   This is the plan of salvation
   unto all men, through the blood
   of mine Only Begotten.

   Therefore, it is given
   to abide IN YOU;
   the record of heaven;
   the Comforter.

(Moses 6:62, 61) 

In the end, we "come unto Christ" not through attending Church or studying the scriptures or fasting or making temple covenants (although all of these things can be helpful), but through receiving His word into our souls (recall what we just read: "word" = (1) truth, (2) light, (3) Spirit, (4) Christ).

This is what the gospel is all about; this is the "good news" Christ brings, bearing God's word; this is what it means to "receive" the gospel.

   He that receiveth my gospel
   receiveth me.

(D&C 39:5)

And strangely, this "good news" is something "the world cannot receive" (John 14:17).  Why?  Why is the world incapable of receiving it?

   Because the world
   seeth him [the Spirit of truth] not,
   neither knoweth him: 
   but ye know him;
   for he dwelleth with you,
   and shall be IN YOU.

(John 14:17)

This is why it always makes me laugh, the way we speak about Judgment Day, like it's going to be some big production (I wonder if Cecil B. DeMille is available to direct).  I expect the whole thing will be undramatic because there's no "big reveal."  The only question will be: Is God found "in us"?  You can answer that right now.  Today.

As I've read people's near death experiences over the years, I am always intrigued by the pageantry they often describe, testifying, "Yup, you need to know the handshakes to get past the Sentinels; it's just like the temple!"

No.  Please don't worry about the secret handshakes.  We aren't saved because we know the keywords; we are saved because we know Him Crucified.

And how do we know if we know Him?  
Of Jesus it was written:​

  The Father was with him,
  for he dwelt in him.

(D&C 93:17)

Lost in Translation: Faith

I hope this post explains, partly, why there are so many disappointed and disillusioned Christians.  I think one reason people are "losing faith" in the Church and in Christianity as a whole is because they were told to "have faith" in things God did not speak.  And that is why we have not observed the fruit we were promised.

In other words, they tried to believe.  But we were taught to believe in something that was not given by God.  We placed our faith in the things preached by pastors and prophets who flattered our faith, and thereby choked it.

As Nephi predicted, the churches in Christendom have failed to make our faith fertile ― I speak of the way our churches have fallen victim to the deceitfulness of riches and the cares of the world, creating stony soil (Matt. 13:5) and hard hearts ― who have fed the flock with "the leaven of the Pharisees" (Matt. 16:12) in order to build bigger barns and finer sanctuaries, as Ezekiel warned (Ezek. 34:2-3).
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Worst of all is the rampant spirit of sectarianism that has gripped the world ― yes, even those of us in the LDS Church ― who cry, "I am the Lord's" (2 Nephi 28:3), and who equate faith with belonging to the "right" religion and in holding the "correct" beliefs, rather than in doing justly, and loving mercy, and walking humbly.

And so we have witnessed the crumbling foundations of Babylon, seeing the mischief caused by people following "hearsay" rather than getting their truth straight from the Lord.  Cultural standards replace God's word.  Traditions squeeze out and quench His Spirit.  Authoritarianism spreads through the body of Christ as a disease, and churches resemble a worn-out hand-me-down that looks nothing like the original garment.

And God doesn't have time, apparently, to play the Telephone Game and iron out all of the confusion (i.e., He doesn't put new wine in old bottles).  Instead, God speaks anew.

"Speak Lord, we are listening."

[Pause; taking a breath.]  Now, I have said some pretty bold things, but I hope I have not been over-bearing.  There are some in my family who wish I would tone-down my rhetoric.  But what good is the Book of Mormon as a voice of warning, if we heed not the warning?

And so, watch in the following verses for how the Lord describe His vision for "faith" in our day:

   That man should NOT counsel
   his fellow man,
   neither trust in the arm of flesh―
   But that every man
   might speak in the name of God...
   That faith also might increase
   in the earth.

(D&C 1:19-21)

If we reverse it upside-down, it becomes even clearer:

   That faith also might increase
   in the earth:
   [here's the divine formula]
   [Let] every man speak
   in the name of God,
   That man should NOT counsel
   his fellow man,
   neither trust in the arm of flesh.

Okay, third time's the charm.  What I am going to do now is rephrase this in the negative.  Let's see what happens:

   The reason faith has decreased
   in the earth is because
   select men believe they are
   authorized to speak
   in the name of God
   more than every man,
   And those men counsel 
   their fellow men
   to trust in the arm of flesh.

(D&C 1:19-21, upside down and inside-out)
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Now, don't worry.  Faith, like hope, springs eternal whenever it hears the word of God.  Faith may have long been dormant, or even dead ― but at the sound of God's voice she springs alive in an instant.

   Just ask Lazarus!​