“Sometimes we hear someone refer to a division in the Church. In reality, the Church is not divided. It simply means that there are some who, for the time being at least, are members of the Church but not in harmony with it. These people have a temporary membership and influence in the Church; but unless they repent, they will be missing when the final membership records are recorded.” Ezra Taft Benson, April 1969 General Conference
Every time a General Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints rolls around, there are some predictable occurrences. The apostles (and other general leaders of the Church) will stand and deliver inspired messages setting forth the will of the Lord at this time. Faithful members of the Church esteem the apostles as prophets, seers and revelators, and so their words are giving considerable weight in their ears.
And yet, it doesn’t take long in this interconnected world of ours to find murmuring, anger, and disappointment being expressed by some. A quick scan of certain meeting places finds that some found the words of the apostles (and one in particular) “hard.” I saw this over and over again this afternoon in described some of the teachings shared this weekend. I can’t help but be reminded of the words of Jacob from 2 Nephi 9:40, wherein he declares “that the words of truth are hard against all uncleaness.” Not unlike how the wicked Nephites treated Samuel the Lamanite, there are many today who “are angry” and “seek to destroy” those apostles.[1]
I suspect that this has been the case from the very beginning of the Church in these latter days. There always have been, and I suspect (more or less) there always will be, those who are “members of the Church” but aren’t “in harmony with it.”
More and more, online discussions among those not in harmony with the Church center on the desirability of tolerating, or even encouraging, differences in beliefs and practices among the membership of the Church. There are those who by reason of the pioneer genealogy or their years of membership in the Church proclaim that they have as much right to declare and interpret what is true as anyone else, including the apostles. It is not uncommon to hear people say that they only attend church on Sundays in order to give voice to their heterodox beliefs in some misguided effort to have an effect on the doctrines of the Church, or the more sinister motive of seeking to draw others after their own thoughts and away from the revealed teachings of the Lord.
A new fad seems to be to take the stand during Fast and Testimony meeting, usually accompanied by a small clandestine film crew, to testify to “their truth,” as if such a thing should get equal time. They trumpet their “lived experience,” as if such a thing can or should trump the words of God from the scriptures and from his prophets. These look down their noses at the supposedly benighted though humble followers of Christ who withstand their provocations and sophistries.
For all their hubris and fury, these efforts cannot change objective truth. Those who take their lead from God will never follow those insurrectionists down their twisted paths into the fog of worldly philosophy. For all their claims of enlightenment, these voices only offer actual darkness. For all their claims of freedom, these voices lead one only to shackle themselves to the base and the mundane.
Far from being due equal time and respect, these competing voices should be recognized for what they are: unfaithful voices who find themselves in need of repentance, or “they will be missing when the final membership records are recorded.”