Category Archives: Commandments

The standards are very high

Posted on by

I love the story that President Packer related in General Conference in Oct of 1974 about a man who was contemplating joining the LDS church until he learned of the requirement of tithing. The local presiding authority of the church in that area met with the man and told him about a few other requirements of time and money that the missionaries had neglected to mention.

As he departed he said, “If you are turned away by a little thing like tithing, it is obvious you’re not ready for this Church. Perhaps you have made the right decision and you should not join. Have you ever wondered why people will do all of these things willingly? I have never received a bill for tithing. No one has ever called to collect it. But we pay it and count it a great privilege.”

He said that the church represented the pearl of great price, which the Lord said the merchant man was willing to sell all he had that he might obtain it. He invited the man to pray about his decision. A few days later the man asked to schedule the baptism of his family. They had been fervently praying. He and his family were attracted by the high standards, not repelled by them.

A way of life

Being a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is not an easy thing. It is so much more than a Sunday Church. It is a way of life. For those who join as adults, it can be a major change of lifestyle to become a new convert. It can be a sacrifice to give up some habits and attitudes that are not consistent with the gospel teachings. Much is required of us.

Sunday meetings consist of three meetings over three hours. If you are asked to serve in a leadership position there are additional meetings beyond that. If you are asked to be the Bishop of the local congregation there are individual counseling meetings that consume many, many hours beyond that. No local leaders are paid for their time given to serve in the church.

Besides the time and money we contribute, we spend hours commuting to and participating in temple worship. We prepare and teach lessons for the youth during the week. We abstain from coffee, tea, alcohol and harmful drugs. We are asked not to shop or participate in recreational activities on Sundays. We are encouraged to do all we can to share the gospel with others.

The moral standards

Perhaps the greatest area in which we differ from the world is in moral conduct. We teach the ideals of a pure and chaste life. That means no sexual relations before marriage and complete fidelity to one’s spouse after marriage. It sounds simple but the spirit of sexual purity involves so much more. We strive to ensure that our thoughts, words and deeds are clean and pure.

Some have suggested that this high moral standard is not realistic or even repressive and only results in unnecessary frustration or a double standard. I disagree. We teach the ideal. We strive for the ideal. We do all within our power to achieve the ideal. The closer we come to meeting that standard, the more we feel blessed with peace of mind and a clear conscience.

We believe that we can be perfect in some, if not many areas. There are those who are perfect in paying tithing. Some are perfect in keeping the Sabbath Day holy. Some are perfect in making their monthly assigned home teaching visits to other members. Many are perfect in keeping the law of chastity. For them it never has been a problem. For some it is an ongoing struggle.

The law of chastity

God has commanded that the sacred power and privilege of sexual relations be exercised only between a man and woman who are legally married. God delights in chastity and hates sexual sin. Obedience to this law brings peace, self-respect, and strength from self-control. As you obey the law of chastity, you will enjoy more fully the influence of the Holy Ghost in your life.

Satan tempts us to rationalize that sexual intimacy before marriage is acceptable when two people are in love. That is not true. Those who break this law are subject to a lasting sense of shame and guilt that burdens their lives. However, through sincere repentance and application of the Atonement, they can find forgiveness which brings a peace of conscience and Joy.

No matter how strong temptations seem, the Lord will help us withstand them if we choose to follow Him. For some, it may mean a lifetime of effort to control passion. Even within marriage, passion should be expressed in a loving, kind and tender manner. Some are tempted to break marital vows because of a loveless or sexless marriage. The Lord will help us keep covenants.

The standards help us grow

The Lord gives us commandments because he wants us to grow. He knows our potential. He also knows how frustrating it can be when we find it difficult to be perfect in keeping those commandments. There is no way we can be perfect in this life. We grow as we try harder each day and each week to keep the commandments and live up to the standards the Lord has set.

Much has been written about the perceived high level of depression in Utah. Many attributed that to the impossibly high standards and cultural pressure to be the perfect model Mormon. How I wish people understood better the power of the Savior to heal us and to help us deal with this growth process. The Lord expects great things of us but we must trust Him to help us.

I am grateful for the commandments. I didn’t feel this way when I was younger. I only saw them as a restriction. Now I see them as safe boundaries. I do not feel restricted or repressed as I strive to live up to the ideals that the Lord has set for me. Perhaps it comes with age, but I also do not feel overwhelmed by these high standards. The Lord has helped me accept them.

Summary and conclusion

Yes, the LDS Church has high standards and expectations of our members. Some suggest that they are not realistic or possible. They continually demand of the leaders that the standards be lowered in conformance with the way things are in the world. Most who complain are those who have left the church because they felt they could not measure up. We are sad that they leave.

For some reason, Boyd K Packer has often been singled out as being the source of the problem of having unrealistic and unrelenting demands. I have never felt that President Packer’s words were any less kind or tolerant than any other apostle. I love him as a defender of the faith and for being clear about where the Lord has set the boundaries. He is truly an Apostle of the Lord.

It sometimes perplexes me to read the writings of those who criticize the church or the leaders of the church. What do they hope to accomplish? Perhaps they expect the prophet to say, “Oh, I’m glad you made us aware of that issue. We will change that requirement right away.” It is obvious that those who think this way have no clue that this is not the church of man or men.

Rules, religion and society

Posted on by

Some people hate rules. I love them. I like to know what the boundaries are. You may ask yourself, “Who has the right to set rules or boundaries in my life?” Of course, you really can’t have a discussion about rules without reaching to the ultimate source of rules. For me, that source of boundaries and rules is God.

My faith provides safe boundaries

I was raised in an environment of faith. I won’t say it was a religious environment because it wasn’t like I was living in a monastery or a church. It was the home of my parents. I lived with four sisters and one brother. Mother read Bible stories to us many evenings as we were growing up. We also had family prayer in our home.

Besides reading the Bible together, we went to church each week. I was familiar with the story of the Ten Commandments in the Old Testament, and the golden rule as taught by Jesus in the New Testament. The idea of commandments or rules for living has never been foreign to me. They have always been a part of my life.

The rules of society

Society is based on rules. We have the rules of the road, of course. The rules of living in a city include taking out your trash, keeping your music quiet after ten o’clock at night and picking up poop left behind by your dog in the park. Without rules, we have no reasonable expectations of common courtesy or social order.

There are those who advocate no rules. They believe in chaos. They also promote civic disobedience as a way of protesting something that bothers them. They call themselves activists or anarchists. Sometimes they define themselves simply as contrarians. For the most part, they strongly protest rules in acceptable behavior.

The rule of law

Governments are established by the people to create laws and enforce them. Here in the United States we are both a democracy and a republic. We, the people have a say in the laws that are passed. We get to vote on them. If we don’t like a law, we can vote to have it repealed. We are also represented by others in government.

Because our society is long entrenched and established, anarchists, many activists and some contrarians do not feel that their voice is heard. They do not like the way things are going. They do not like the corruption they see in government and feel like they have lost and are losing more and more of their individual freedoms.

Am I becoming a Libertarian?

Knowing my religious upbringing, you may be surprised to learn that I agree with many of these contrarians and activists. I do not agree with the methods of the anarchist but I do agree with their objections to the amount of power and control we have given to our government. It has simply grown too big and intrusive.

I am beginning to think that I must be a libertarian. Can I be a libertarian and still be a Republican and a conservative? Does this mean I should vote for Ron Paul? With Mitt Romney out of the running I’m kind of lost. I don’t think John McCain represents my conservative views. And what if Mitt becomes John McCain’s running mate?

A fragile economy

I believe that conditions are coming about that will soon cause a breakdown in the fabric of our society. I do not know if the catalyst of that breakdown will be the increase in food prices and food rationing that has recently started. It is clear that we are in the midst of a rapid increase in the rate of inflation in the United States.

The economy seems very fragile, as if it is being pumped up by a government that is not thinking long term. I do not pretend to understand how national debt can be a good thing. Watching it grow makes me wonder if it will ever end. Tax rebate checks are fine but wouldn’t a reduction in the size of our government be better?

I have read recently that over 30% of our grain production is being used to make Ethanol. Does this have anything to do with the increase of the price of food? Is our dependence on foreign oil not the real cause of the price of gas increasing at the pump? What is the cause of the shortage and rationing of rice at Wal-Mart?

The promise of a Theocracy

Our society is teetering on a precarious precipice. I believe we are out of balance and perhaps on the slippery slope to being out of control. There are rules to peace and prosperity, but are we following them as a society? Our descent into chaos may soon be inevitable. Perhaps the only thing that will keep us from destroying ourselves is the rule of Theocracy. Think about it. I know I have.

Standards make so much more sense now

Posted on by

When I was much younger and first heard the word ‘standards’ used in the church I confess that it sometimes had a negative connotation for me. It used to be that when I thought of standards I would think of commandments and then I would think of ‘things I can’t do’.

In Mutual we had ‘standards night’ in which we were reminded again of the need to watch the way we talk, the kind of music we listen to, the movies we went to see, our language, hemlines, necklines, tight-fitting sweaters, pornography and of course strict observance of the Word of Wisdom.

I never used to associate standards with safety, security, confidence and happiness, all words that come to mind today. Perhaps I can provide an example that will help explain how living certain standards contributes to true happiness. It has to do with my personal experience in listening to a certain kind of music when I was a teenager. I hope it is not offensive to anyone.

When I was about 11 years old, my brother went in the Marines. I think the discipline of the military helped him a lot in his life and allowed him to succeed in areas which he needed help. One of the things he enjoyed for the first time in his life is a regular paycheck and no major expenses. So my brother invested in cameras, stereos and a large collection of music.

When he went overseas he needed a place to store all his stuff and it ended up in my room. So I inherited an eclectic collection of music that was way beyond my own limited exposure at that point in my life. One of the types of music he had that I began to listen to was heavy metal, now a standard part of rock but new in that day (late 1960′s and early 1970′s).

My family did not like the music so I began to listen to it on headphones. I can tell you from personal experience that it is not good for a 13 year old boy to listen with headphones to Black Sabbath songs like War Pigs, Paranoid and Iron Man. It does weird things to the spirit. It’s difficult enough that the hormones of puberty were setting in at that age.

I was too young to recognize it but my family did. I began to be depressed and angry at the same time. I was no longer the sweet young boy I used to be and I couldn’t figure out why. It’s easy to see now in hindsight that the music I listened to then played a big part in my misery. I wish I had heard and understood Boyd K Packer’s talk on worthy music and worthy thoughts.

“Young people, you cannot afford to fill your minds with the unworthy music of our day. It is not harmless. It can welcome onto the stage of your mind unworthy thoughts and set a tempo to which they dance and to which you may act. You degrade yourself when you identify with those things that at times surround extremes in music – the shabbiness, the irreverence, the immorality, the addictions. Such music is not worthy of you.”

Today we are blessed with clear and concise direction from prophets and apostles on the standards we should use to guide our lives. The booklet, For the Strength of Youth, give sage advice, “Choose carefully the music you listen to. Pay attention to how you feel when you are listening. Don’t listen to music that drives away the Spirit, encourages immorality, glorifies violence, uses foul or offensive language, or promotes Satanism or other evil practices.”

Sometimes I wish I could give my learning experience to young people who I see going down the same road I did with the wrong kind of music. But I guess some people just have to learn for themselves after sad experience. But will it be too late when they finally recognize and accept what the prophets have taught us and what so many of us, now older and wiser, understand? There is no doubt in my mind that doom metal and death metal are not helpful to our purpose.

What do you think? Is there anything you can do to help a young person who doesn’t believe or accept prophets and apostles understand how such music can affect their spirit?