The COVID-19 pandemic has been a global stress test. (After explaining that stress tests can expose underlying problems that were not apparent under normal conditions. These exposed problems can then be addressed.)
When we contend with anger one against another Satan laughs and the God of Heaven weeps.
If someone responds to stress with anger they have failed the stress test. This doesn’t mean that they are hopeless but it exposed something they need to work on.
“What can I do to lessen contention?” This needs to be a mantra in our home.
“The Finns we’re no less Finnish; the Russians were no less Russian. Neither side abandoned their culture or history but they chose to put their discipleship of Christ above any other consideration in their lives.”
The pandemic is also a spiritual stress test for the Savior’s Church and its members. The results are likewise mixed. Our lives have been blessed by ministering in a “higher and holier way,” the Come, Follow Me curriculum, and home-centered, Church-supported gospel learning. Many have provided compassionate help and comfort during these difficult times and continue to do so.
Yet, in some instances, the spiritual stress test has shown tendencies toward contention and divisiveness. This suggests that we have work to do to change our hearts and to become unified as the Savior’s true disciples. This is not a new challenge, but it is a critical one.
The tendency towards convention is no revelation but the degree of divisiveness among members of the church was much deeper and more bitter than I would previously have believed.
When we contend with each other in anger, Satan laughs and the God of heaven weeps.
Satan laughs and God weeps for at least two reasons. First, contention weakens our collective witness to the world of Jesus Christ and the redemption that comes through His “merits, … mercy, and grace.” … His latter-day work is compromised when contention or enmity exists among His disciples. Second, contention is spiritually unhealthy for us as individuals. We are robbed of peace, joy, and rest, and our ability to feel the Spirit is compromised.
It is clear that our collective witness has suffered as many in the church showed that they were not true disciples of Christ and many, many people have been robbed of peace and had their ability to feel the Spirit compromised.
After the Savior’s visit to the Americas, the people were unified; “there was no contention in all the land.” Do you think that the people were unified because they were all the same, or because they had no differences of opinion? I doubt it. Instead, contention and enmity disappeared because they placed their discipleship of the Savior above all else. Their differences paled in comparison to their shared love of the Savior, and they were united as “heirs to the kingdom of God.”
Unity requires effort. It develops when we cultivate the love of God in our hearts and we focus on our eternal destiny. We are united by our common, primary identity as children of God and our commitment to the truths of the restored gospel. In turn, our love of God and our discipleship of Jesus Christ generate genuine concern for others.
We can choose to concern ourselves with the welfare of others and seek to understand suffering viewpoints to invite the love of God into our hearts.
When love of Christ envelops our lives, we approach disagreements with meekness, patience, and kindness. We worry less about our own sensitivities and more about our neighbor’s.
In 2006, I attended the dedication of the Helsinki Finland Temple to honor my father and grandparents, who had been early converts to the Church in Finland. Finns, including my father, had dreamed of a temple in Finland for decades. At the time, the temple district would encompass Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Belarus, and Russia.
At the dedication, I learned something surprising. The first day of general operation had been set aside for Russian members to perform temple ordinances. It is difficult to explain just how astonishing this was. Russia and Finland had fought many wars over the centuries. My father distrusted and disliked not only Russia but all Russians. He had expressed such feelings passionately, and his feelings were typical of Finnish enmity toward Russia. …
A year before the dedication of the Helsinki Finland Temple, the temple committee, consisting exclusively of Finnish members, met to discuss plans for the dedication. During the meeting, someone observed that Russian Saints would be traveling several days to attend the dedication and might hope to receive their temple blessings before returning home. The committee chairman, Brother Sven Eklund, suggested that the Finns could wait a little longer, that Russians could be the first members to perform temple ordinances in the temple. All committee members agreed. Faithful Latter-day Saint Finns delayed their temple blessings to accommodate Russian Saints.
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When I reported this kindness to my father, his heart melted and he wept, a very rare occurrence for that stoic Finn. From that time until his death three years later, he never expressed another negative sentiment about Russia. Inspired by the example of his fellow Finns, my father chose to place his discipleship of Jesus Christ above all other considerations. The Finns were no less Finnish; the Russians were no less Russian; neither group abandoned their culture, history, or experiences to banish enmity. They did not need to. Instead, they chose to make their discipleship of Jesus Christ their primary consideration.
Both Elder Renlund’s father and the Finnish members of the temple committee made a choice to put their discipleship first and think more on the welfare of others then their own feelings.
If we are not one, we are not His. My invitation is to be valiant in putting our love of God and discipleship of the Savior above all other considerations. Let us uphold the covenant inherent in our discipleship—the covenant to be one.
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