FAMILIES AND THE
CHURCH IN GOD’S PLAN
A.
Introduction
Down the street
from my home in San Bernardino, CA, a small non-denominational church has a light-up marquee out in front. On this marquee are posted cute, usually
inspirational, quotes about topics relating to Christianity and faith. Despite the differences in our understanding
of the gospel, I have always enjoyed the cleverness which so often
characterizes the expressions posted
thereon. Just before we left San
Bernardino last year, I noticed that the sign read: (quote) “Lost??? Use your
GPS (God’s Plan of Salvation).”(unquote).
As
I have thought about the cleverness of this particular expression, I have
realized that there is a great deal of truth embedded in the concept of a
GPS. Many of us today, particularly
those with smart phones, utilize a GPS in our cars. But what it is about a GPS, or Global
Positioning System, that makes it so useful?
B.
Usefulness
of a GPS
a.
System of Satellites Above
The
first thing that a GPS needs in order to be useful is a system of
satellites. No matter how great the
particular device or program, without being able to receive information from
satellites located high above the earth, and an antennae with which to connect
to the satellites, the GPS is far
less useful. When I have tried to use my GPS indoors or in
an underground parking garage, it will bring up an error message which will say
that it is “Unable to Connect to Satellites!”
Only when I am in a place where the satellite signals can reach my
device is the device operable.
b.
Ability to Update Information
Another feature of
a GPS that is fundamental to its utility is the ability to dynamically update
the road and address information as it is made available. The GPS is my car is an independent device
which costs an exorbitant amount of money to update. I, as someone who refuses to pay the
exorbitant amount, have never updated the GPS.
While driving on the Interstate 210 near my home town, I glanced at my
GPS and realized that the highway was finished after my GPS programming was last updated. Hence, although I was clearly driving on a
finished highway, my GPS indicated that I was off-roading across mostly empty
fields. Fortunately, however, I knew the
direction I was heading and this outdated information offered me few problems. A truly
useful GPS device allows the user to access new maps when roads are built and
new developments erected.
c.
Route-Finding and Correction
Yet another
feature of a GPS that is important is that
it not only tells us where we are, but also contains mapping software which enables us to input an address and
find the quickest route from where we are to where we want to be. Although our man-made GPS devices will
occasionally take us on completely inexplicable routes, such as once when my brother-in-law’s
device recommended he drive over the mountain instead of on the highway going around it, they
most often get us from point A to point B in the most logical manner possible. Even if we miss a required turn, a GPS device
will recalculate and adjust our travel directions to ensure that we get where
we want to go.
d.
Need to Follow Directions
Having a GPS,
however, is not what ensures that we get to our desired destination, rather it
is our ability to follow the directions that are given us that are the means by
which we can reach our goal. Our GPS can
tell us where we need to go and the best way of getting there, but it cannot
force us to get there. Only our willing
acquiescence to its instructions enables us to arrive at our goal.
C.
The
Plan of Salvation
As the marquee at
a church in my hometown noted, we have spiritual GPS that is even more useful
than the electronic device in my car at
helping us when we are lost. That
GPS is our Heavenly Father’s Plan of Salvation.
Section 1.1 of the new Handbook of Instructions 2 provides an excellent
explanation of this plan. It reads:
Because of God’s love for us, He
prepared a plan that included our coming to the earth, where we would receive
bodies and be tested so that we could progress and become more like Him. This
plan is called “the plan of salvation” (Alma 24:14), “the great plan of
happiness” (Alma 42:8), and “the plan of redemption” (Alma 12:25; see
also verses 26–33).
The purpose of God’s plan is to
lead us to eternal life. God declared, “This is my work and my glory—to bring
to pass the immortality and eternal life of man” (Moses 1:39). Eternal life is
God’s greatest gift to His children (see D&C 14:7). It is exaltation in the highest degree
of the celestial kingdom. Through the plan of salvation, we can receive this
blessing of returning to God’s presence and receiving a fulness of joy.
(Handbook
of Instructions 2: Administering the Church; 1.1.2).
So,
how do the features of this GPS, the Plan of Salvation, compare with the
features of an electronic GPS?
a.
System of Satellites Above (Heavenly
Father/Prayer)
Although we do not
have a system of satellites high above the earth which tell us how to reach our
destination of “eternal life”, we do have a Heavenly Father with whom, at a
level of existence high above our own, we are able to connect. Through the powers of prayer and inspiration
we are both able to send and to receive information from our Heavenly
Father. Just as our GPS will not work if
it is not able to connect to the satellites, the Plan of Salvation will not
work in our lives if we do not take advantage of the connectivity we share with
our Heavenly Father.
Our Heavenly
Father is the father of our spirits and as his children, he wants us to return
and live with him, just as we did before we came to Earth. Through the use of prayer, we can stay in
constant contact with our Father and show our willingness to receive what he
would have us receive.
The main conduit
for this inspiration from our Heavenly Father is the gift of the Holy
Ghost. And it works much like the
antennae of a GPS. Although we will
always possess this gift, just as a GPS will retain an antennae, it is of
little use when we are not “where” we need to be. When we are not living the gospel, we are
spiritually cut off from the inspiration that is promised via the gift of the
Holy Ghost. We must turn away from sin
and enter holy places in order to once again be in tune with that spirit.
Spencer W.
Kimball, as a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, once said:
“I find that when I get casual in
my relationships with divinity and when it seems that no divine ear is
listening and no divine voice is peaking, that I am far, far away. If I immerse myself in the scriptures the distance
narrows and the spirituality returns.”
(“What
I Hope You Will Teach My Grandchildren and All Others of the Youth of Zion,”
address to Seminary and Institute personnel, Brigham Young University, 11 July
1966, p. 6).
When we place ourselves in a
spiritual position in which we offer prayers and can receive inspiration from
our Heavenly Father, we take advantage of some of the blessings that God’s Plan
of Salvation has to offer.
b.
Ability to Update Information
(Prophets/Revelation)
Just like the
electronic GPS of which I spoke earlier, our Heavenly Father’s Plan of
Salvation also has the ability to update regularly, without the exorbitant
rates that my GPS charges. Prophets and
revelation allow us, as his children, to ensure that our Heavenly Father will
be able to inform all of his children on earth, of the most recent and relevant
information needed.
President Wilford
Woodruff said:
The Lord will never permit me or
any other man who stands as President of this Church to lead you astray. It is
not in the programme. It is not in the mind of God. If I were to attempt that,
the Lord would remove me out of my place.
I hope we may all pursue the course laid down
for us by the servants of the Lord, for if we do this I know that we shall be
safe in this world, and secure happiness and exaltation in the world to come. …
If we are faithful they will lead us in the way of life, and in as much as we
have faith to believe in their instructions, in the teachings of the Holy
Spirit through them, we are always in the safe path, and shall be sure of our reward.
("Chapter
19: Following the Living Prophet," Teachings of Presidents of the
Church: Wilford Woodruff, (2004)).
With prophets standing at the
head of this church, we need not worry that the world will change faster than
the church can adapt. With the power of
revelation, this church is the most dynamic institution on the face of the
earth.
c.
Route-Finding and Correction
(Repentance/Atonement)
The third feature
of a GPS which we noted was its ability to give us directions, and correct our
path when we make a wrong turn. Although
my brother-in-law needed to go around a mountain to get where he wanted to go,
we face different obstacles. Handbook 2
explains that:
In
order to gain exaltation in the kingdom of God, we must overcome two obstacles
of mortality: death and sin. Because we cannot overcome either obstacle by
ourselves, Heavenly Father sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to be our Savior and
Redeemer. The Savior’s atoning sacrifice made it possible for all of God’s
children to overcome physical death, be resurrected, and gain immortality. The
Atonement also made it possible for those who repent and follow Him to overcome
spiritual death, return to God’s presence to dwell with Him, and obtain eternal
life (see D&C 45:3–5).
(Handbook
of Instructions 2: Administering the Church; 1.1.3).
In
order to get to our destination of exaltation and eternal life, the Savior has
not only cleared the road, but he is road.
He is “the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father,
but by [him]” (John 14:6). So long as we
follow him, we will not be lead astray.
Yet, we all make wrong turns on a regular basis. Just as a GPS will recalculate to get us back
on track, even if it takes us a little longer, repentance is a way in which we
can get back on track and continue or progression to become like the
Savior. In a recent Conference address,
President Thomas S. Monson declared:
We have all made incorrect choices.
If we have not already corrected such choices, I assure you that there is a way
to do so. The process is called repentance. I plead with you to correct your
mistakes. Our Savior died to provide you and me that blessed gift. Although the
path is not easy, the promise is real: “Though your sins be as scarlet, they
shall be as white as snow.” “And I, the Lord, remember them no
more.” Don’t put your eternal life at risk. If you have sinned, the sooner
you begin to make your way back, the sooner you will find the sweet peace and
joy that come with the miracle of forgiveness.
(“The
Three Rs of Choice”, October 2010 General Conference).
d.
Need to Follow Directions (Obedience)
Finally, just as
the utility of a GPS device is contingent on our willingness to follow its
directions, so it is with the Plan of Salvation. The Third Article of Faith affirms that “[w]e
believe that through the Atonement of Christ all mankind may be saved by obedience to the laws and ordinances of
the gospel.” Obedience, not
coercion, is the fundamental operative principle of our Heavenly Father’s plan.
e.
Families and Church
Our Heavenly Father’s
Plan of Salvation, however, has two features that are absent from an electronic
GPS. Next to the Atonement of Jesus
Christ, these two features are two of the most important aspects of the Plan
These two features are our families and the
church. Handbook 2 explains the importance
that each of these institutions has in the Plan of Salvation. Speaking of families, it states that “[t]he
family is ordained of God. It is the
most important unit in time and in eternity.”
(Handbook of Instructions
2: Administering the Church; 1.1.1).
It further adds that
As part of our Heavenly Father’s plan, we were born into families. He established families to brings us
happiness, to help us learn correct principles in a loving atmosphere, and to
prepare us for eternal life.
Parents have the vital responsibility to help their children prepare to
return to Heavenly Father. Parents fulfill this responsibility by teaching
their children to follow Jesus Christ and live His gospel.
(Handbook
of Instructions 2: Administering the Church; 1.1.4). It is not insignificant that in Handbook 2,
the family is listed first. It is the
most important unit. It is because of
this importance that the Lord’s latter-day prophets have continually emphasized
the need for family prayer, family scripture study, and family home
evening. Our church meetings are to be scheduled
while mindful of the family responsibilities of our leaders. The main point of the Proclamation on the
Family was to reiterate to the world the fundamental importance of
families. It is by fulfilling our family
responsibilities that we become like our Father in Heaven, it is through our
families that we are strengthened, and it is through our families that the
ultimate happiness will be obtained. The
importance of the family in God’s Plan of Salvation cannot be overstated.
The church is likewise
important, though somewhat less so than the family, to our Father’s Plan. Handbook 2 teaches us that “[t]he Church
provides the organization and means for teaching the gospel of Jesus Christ to
all of God’s children. It provides the
priesthood authority to administer the ordinances of salvation and exaltation
to all who are worthy and willing to accept them.” (Handbook of Instructions 2: Administering the Church; 1.1.4). The Church is where we find the authority and order necessary to ensure we
take the essential steps along the path the exaltation.
D.
Anniversary of September 11
As it
is the ten-year anniversary of the terror attacks of September 11, I would
remiss if I failed to mention this historic anniversary and how this event and
other tragedies around the world tie in to the Plan of Salvation.
It is
when we are able to see and are affected by tragedies such as 9/11, the
flooding in Minot, North Dakota, or the wildfires in Texas that we often feel
we are the most lost. It is at those
times that we, as a people, feel that the Lord is allowing us to suffer too
much. President Monson, in a column
published at the Washington Post reassured us that:
Our Father’s commitment to us, His
children, is unwavering. Indeed He softens the winters of our lives, but He
also brightens our summers. Whether it is the best of times or the worst, He is
with us. He has promised us that this will never change.
...
If
there is a spiritual lesson to be learned from our experience of that fateful
day, it may be that we owe to God the same faithfulness that He gives to us. We
should strive for steadiness, and for a commitment to God that does not ebb and
flow with the years or the crises of our lives. It should not require tragedy
for us to remember Him, and we should not be compelled to humility before
giving Him our faith and trust. We too should be with Him in every season.
...
It is
constancy that God would have from us. Tragedies are not merely opportunities
to give Him a fleeting thought, or for momentary insight to His plan for our
happiness. Destruction allows us to rebuild our lives in the way He teaches us,
and to become something different than we were. We can make Him the center of our
thoughts and His Son, Jesus Christ, the pattern for our behavior. We may not
only find faith in God in our sorrow. We may also become faithful to Him in
times of calm.
(“9/11 destruction allowed us to spiritually
rebuild,” Thomas S. Monson,
Washington Post, Sept. 8, 2011).
While
we will never condone or approve of attacks which cause the deaths of innocent
people, we also recognize that a key part of our Heavenly Father’s Plan is the
chance we have to experience and face various trials. Some of the trials we face are of our own
making; others, sadly, are the result of the heinous actions of others. Yet, whatever the cause, we must face our
various trials and not let them distract us from the path we are on.
We
must constantly take advantage of the benefits of our spiritual GPS, God’s Plan
of Salvation—prayer, inspiration, revelation, prophetic guidance, the
Atonement, repentance, and especially the institutions of the family and the
church. As we turn to the Lord’s Plan
for guidance, we are promised that we will be able to make our way through the
mists of darkness and temptation and no longer be lost. I add my testimony that the Lord truly does
have a plan for us and if we follow his directions, we will surely be led back
to Him. In the name of Jesus Christ,
amen.
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