The Future of the Faith

One Big, Happy Fold?

We've discussed aspects of individual faith; but no man (or woman) is an island.  The Lord intends His children to live in communities of charity and consecration.

As social creatures, our destiny is to spend eternity as part of a heavenly society.  We're here to learn how to "get along" with each other.  That's what mortality is primarily for: to be a nursery school where we learn to not pull ponytails and give wedgies.

The difference between Babylon and Zion is that of wolves and lambs.  Wolves hunt in packs and follow an Alpha Male (what we would call the man with the most "keys" ― or in Brigham's case, wives).

Lambs, by contrast, do not hunt.  They do not follow one of their own.  There is no 'head sheep' when a Shepherd leads them.

But let's be real: Christianity is a mess.  The sheep are a mess.  Wolves are everywhere.  We really need that Shepherd!

The history of Christianity has been marred by discord, contention, and unrighteous dominion.  Lots and lots of wolves.  Yes, there have been exceptions, where we find shining examples of Christlike discipleship (looking at you, Francis of Assisi and Mormon and Jean Valjean and Mother Teresa ― and Mom, hi!).

But for the most part, the story of Christianity is one marked by in-fighting, burning of heretics, schisms, accumulation of wealth, political intrigue, and peacocking (and that's just Girls' Camp).

If we take a good-hard-look at our Churches, we'll find they have more in common with the novels of Alexandre Dumas than they do the New Testament.

Imagine how the Lord must feel seeing His legacy ― all the fractured branches of Christianity spitting at each other.  We're like a beautiful stained-glass window that has smashed itself to smithereens.  It's hard to see the original design when we lay in so many pieces.

The vision of the Restoration was to restore the stained glass window to its former glory.  Zion was going to raise an Ensign to the nations, undertaking the reunification of Christianity.  Our blueprint was contained in the Book of Mormon, which promised God would:

   gather his children
   from the four quarters
   of the earth . . . and there
   shall be one fold
   and one shepherd.

(1 Nephi 22:25) 

But our ecumenical dreams were dashed upon the shoals of sectarianism.  One fold?  No way.  Each church boasts a narrative that makes it better than its brothers; each sect feels superior to its sisters.

How will the Lord heal the schisms among His children when every Church is so certain it is the "right" one?

The great irony is that the Restoration was born from a boy's desire to get away from the religious jarrings and warrings of his day ― when now, 200 years later, we have joined the fracas like a Pro WWE Wrestler.

Alas, the Latter-day Saints have become one of the worst offenders: for do we not cite D&C 1 to claim God likes us best, being the "only true and living church" upon the face of the whole earth?  "Body slam, bro!"

Hulk Hogan would be proud.

The Lord's Pattern: Raise Up Prophets in the Land

A reader messaged me recently on Facebook, after reading my post The Last Charge Meeting, and it got me thinking about the wasted potential of this dispensation.

Whatever happened at the Last Charge meeting in 1844 ― and whatever Joseph told the attendees (this was all verbal; there was no bestowal of priesthood authority by the laying on of hands) ― it was all given to the Council of Fifty to whom Joseph was speaking.

Since the Council of 50 went extinct 100 years ago, whatever authority it held from Joseph has long-since vanished from the earth.

So what authority, exactly, do our churches possess today, if any?  Let me suggest an answer that no one seems to like.  Forget about angels for a moment; forget about Peter, James and John and supernatural priesthood rendezvous and back-dated ordinations; forget the narratives we've heard in Church and the apologetics.

Ask yourself: how did Brigham Young and Joseph III (and the leaders of all the other Latter-day branches) obtain their authority?

I have concluded that the church possesses the authority that is derived from the consent of the governed.  And make no mistake, there IS authority found in that ― for common consent IS a just and holy principle for the governance of the kingdom, and God honors the choices we make, even if it turns out badly.

In other words, God grants authority to the Sauls of the world whom the people wanted, even when accompanied by the condemnation of Samuel (1 Sam. 8:10-19).

This is true in the realm of religion as well as politics (and we would be wise to apply Samuel's prophecy to our churches as well as to our nations).

And what did the Lord do during Saul's reign, and David's, and Solomon's, and all of their descendants, down to the present day?  The Lord raised up prophets in the land, like Nathan.  And Ahijah and Iddo (bet you haven't heard of them), and Johnny Appleseed and Emily Dickinson and Charles Spurgeon and Walt Whitman and Confucius and C. S. Lewis and countless others, whom He raised up to help lift our eyes to Him (and when people knew not His name, to resonate with the light within them).

And it's still going on: every generation, one after another, the Lord is the same, yesterday, today and forever.  He continues to call upon us through the mouths of mothers and prophets and poets and madmen who are crazy enough to hope in a better world.

   The Lord doth grant
   unto all nations,
   of their own nation
   and tongue,
   to teach his word, yea,
   in wisdom, all that he seeth fit
   that they should have.

(Alma 29:8)

For God has lambs everywhere, among all peoples, nations, and churches.  His lambs are scattered throughout all of Christendom and beyond.

How will the Lord gather them in one?  And where is He going to gather them to?  There must be "places of safety" (and I am not just talking about geographic refuges, but spiritual ones).

Well, chances are you're thinking, "The Lord will lead those little lambs to [insert your institutional affiliation].  We have the truth!  Olly Olly Oxen Free!"

But what if your [insert institutional affiliation] was not the Ark you think it is?

​Because Nephi plainly taught there will come an end to "all churches which are built up to get gain, and all those who are built up to get power over the flesh, and those who are built up to become popular in the eyes of the world" (1 Nephi 22:23).  This includes, in my opinion, most (if not all) of the institutions we find on earth today.

At the same time, the Lord must make provision for His lambs during the coming floods and famines.  He's not going to leave them high-and-dry.  That is why the Lord is raising up prophets, right now, who are preparing His lambs for what is to come.

(I hear there are a lot of them on YouTube.  Seriously!  I don't watch YouTube much, so I can't say, but I don't doubt it.  To paraphrase William Tyndale, "The TikTok star shall know more of the word of God than the leaders of institutionalized religion.)

God is no respecter of sheep.  He is about to do a marvelous work and a wonder that shall, in particular, see our institutions "brought low in the dust" and be "consumed as stubble" (1 Nephi 22:23).  Those words were spoken directly about our churches.

So the question is: what is the Lord up to?  What is He planning?  And how will His lambs be gathered before the end?  The time is far spent; things are heating up.

The answer, of course, is writ-large across the scriptures so that no one can miss or mistake it; it looms as a bright shining billboard over the straight and narrow way, with blinking neon lights and blaring trumpets.

Simply, the Lord will draw His lambs to the Church of the Lamb (we also call it the Church of the Firstborn, but it doesn't matter what it's called).

This is the main message of Biblical prophecy ― and Book of Mormon prophecy, too, and the Doctrine and Covenants.  God is working, now, among us: He is gathering out from the fields and farms and faiths, into His barn, a motley crew of misfits I call Owls, but He calls Zion.

​But Zion is not a creature of this world; it will descend from above and we shall rise to greet Her (yes, even this ragtag bunch that we are).

Wedding Planner

The Lord's got it all planned.  The Big Day, I mean.  For if there's one thing the Lord knows, it's how to plan (have you heard of the Plan of Salvation?  Plan of Redemption?  Plan of Happiness?  Lots of plans within plans within plans).  He is the ultimate Wedding Planner.

   Blessed are they
   which are called
   unto the marriage supper
   of the Lamb.

(Revelation 19:9)

So let's take a deep breath and remember the Lord is not "winging it."  There's a plan!  But you might be skeptical, from how things are going, and the sketchy-sorts on the invite-list.

In fact, the whole thing is bound to look mighty strange to us.  In the parable of the wedding supper, Jesus explained:

   Go out quickly
   into the streets and lanes
   of the city, and bring in hither
   the poor, and the maimed,
   and the halt, and the blind.

(Luke 14:21)

   1.  Well, right away we're off to a bad start.  The servants (angels) are told to go out among the "streets and lanes of the city" (Luke 14:21).

That is, honestly, the very worst place to go!  it's the last place on earth we'd expect to find respectable religious folk.  After all, who lives in the streets?  Well, the unhoused, the homeless, the outcasts and lepers.

We're talking about the spiritually-unsheltered.  These are they who have not treated with Babylon, who refused the Beast's mark, and who have experienced the "fellowship of His suffering" (Phil. 3:10).

   2.  Now, take a good look them.  Does the guest list include the "saints" we would expect?  Not by my estimation: no, the angels swoop down to the rat-infested squalor of skid row, among the hungry and hallow-boned, searching the alleys for waifs and lost souls who are (shall we put it politely) in rough shape.

These are they whom the Lord loves, and whom He calls to His Wedding.  They are the misfortunate; the misunderstood; those who have been rejected and shunned, as He was.

Look at how the Lord categorizes them:

   a.  The poor
   b.  The maimed
   c.  The halt
   d.  The blind

These are the blemished lambs whom He carries upon His shoulders like VIPs, setting them at His side at the wedding table, in the place of honor.

And what a feast it will be!  Whilst those who were well-fed, who failed to open their doors to the starving and shivering lambs, who ate the fat-offering and persecuted His saints, shall be invited to an altogether different supper that the scriptures call "the Supper of the Great God" (Revelations 19:18).

There is a great contrast between the Wedding Supper of the Lamb and the Supper of the Great God, so it's best not to confuse them; they could not be more different.

The Supper of the Great God is when the angels (the fowls who nested in the mustard bush, Matt. 13:32) now become vultures, carrion birds, who devour the "flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men" (Revelation 19:18).  We're talking Horse-Bridle-Levels of blood (Rev. 14:20).

Who do those peoples represent?

   a. Kings
   b. Captains
   c.  Mighty men

Conflicts of Faith

During the winding up scenes, things are going to get a bit crazy (yes, even more than they currently are).  Faith will help us to not panic when "all things shall be in commotion (D&C 88:91).

As part of this upheaval, we're going to see increasing instances of conflict, especially between our faith in Christ coming into conflict with our faith in the Church.

We've lived in peacetime and have been able to split-the-baby, like King Solomon; we've been able to "render unto Caesar" his coin while remaining faithful to the Lord.  But in the coming days, it may become harder to reconcile the growing disparity between the gospel and the church.

I'm not talking about little quibbles ― not the quirks of church culture that can be chalked up to the foibles of human imperfection, or the indignities of dealing with an untrained ministry.  We can throw a cloak of charity over all that.

No, I'm talking about systemic, structural error ― like when the Church enacts a formal policy that is contrary to the gospel (the 2015 Policy of Exclusion) ― or teaches rubbish that firmly takes root.

It will not be easy, navigating the conflicts that will invariably arise between our conscience and our institutional loyalty.  For my part, I generally try to follow the Savior's (oft-ignored) teaching to "resist not evil" (Matt. 5:39), and not worry too much, knowing the Lord may call upon us in an instant, warning us to "flee out of the land" (Omni 1:12).

For its part, the Church's answer to the growing disaffection has been: "Stay in the boat and hold on!"  That was literally the title of Elder Ballard's talk, and is the sort of rhetoric I grew up with.  I've heard many talks about the importance of remaining "true" to the Church and becoming "converted" ― to the Church.

You can see this in the way the Church measures "conversion"; its metrics are tied to a person's institutional loyalty and activity.

Elder Donald L. Hallstrom said it explicitly in the General Conference talk, "Converted to His Gospel Through His Church" (April 2012) ― the title says it all.

Elder Hallstrom encouraged members to "focus on the ordinances and covenants" administered exclusively by the Church in order to "unite the gospel with the Church" (emphasis added).

But there is a definite hierarchy between the two, and the gospel is on bottom.  This means that, as the Church evolves and changes, so must the gospel with it.

But supposing the gospel to be eternal and unchanging, at what point would a deviation become so serious that we could not tolerate it?

Conversion vs. Faith

At the end of the Savior's life, there was a touching exchange between Him and Simon Peter.  The Lord said, "When thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren" (Luke 22:32).

What did Jesus mean?  Didn't Peter already believe Jesus was the Christ; wasn’t Peter "converted" by the time we reach Luke Chapter 22 ― after his feet had been washed and he had declared his willingness to die for his Lord (Luke 22:33)?  Sounds like Peter was converted to me.  So what's going on?

The context for the Savior's saying is found in the first half of the verse:
 
   But I have prayed for thee,
   that thy faith fail not.

(Luke 22:32)

Ah!  The Lord was talking about faith.  Of course.  This was not about being "converted" to a specific church or creed or institution (at the time, there were none).  Peter's faith was the issue, and always seemed to be a sore spot, the way Jesus kept commenting on it (Matt. 14:31).

The New Living Translation renders this verse differently; it says nothing about being ‘converted’ but uses the word 'repent':
 
   But I have pleaded
   in prayer for you, Simon,
   that your faith should not fail.
   So when you have repented
   and turned to me again,
   strengthen your brothers.

(Luke 22:32, NLT)
 
Not to disappoint all the General Conference talks we've sat through about being "converted," which quote this verse, but the word "converted" is not found in the Greek.

The word is "turned back" (ἐπιστρέψας), epistrepsas, which means to "return."  Christ is literally saying, "When you return to me, help your brothers."  Help them do what?

Well, those who are going through faith crises need our shoulders to lean on; they could use our prayers and encouragement and compassion as they reconstruct their faith.
​
As I've always said, we're not having a crisis of faith, we're experiencing a crisis of love.  The Savior expressed His love to Peter ("I have pleaded in prayer for you"), and He loves us just as much as He does Simon.

I want to suggest in all seriousness that Jesus is praying for you, by name, right now.  Christ's heart is drawn out in prayer continually before His Father in our behalf, pleading our cause and advocating for you and me.  He's truly our Shepherd (D&C 45:3-5).

Why does Christ want us to turn to Him?  He avoids the limelight; He has no ego needing flattering.  It is because He wants us to witness Him praying for us, speaking words of redemption in our behalf, beholding the glory of Him petitioning the Father for us (3 Nephi 19:31-36).  If your faith needs a boost, listen to Jesus pray.  It is the voice of mercy all the day long.

He whispers to us, "My little one, my bowels are moved with compassion because of you.  Listen to Him who calls the stars by name and gives them light to shine upon the world: I am Jesus, the Son of God, and you are my child.  I love you, see the Token?  Who am I?  I am He who pleads your cause before the Father.  You are a precious stone in my crown forever."

I love the symbolism of the crown; it is something that sits on our head, and what better way to represent the fact that we are kept near the Lord’s mind, never far from His thoughts?

This is the crown our Lord wears: not a gentile crown to rule, but a Crown of thorns with which to remember His love for us always.

This is the crown our faith bears.  Not the crown of belonging to the one true Church, but of belonging to the One True God and His Christ.