Monday I posted some thoughts regarding the process of sliding into personal apostasy. (Here) I want to thank you for participating with your comments. The comments ran the gamut from agreement and support to disagreement and even a touch of hostility (that I deleted.) It is surely a sensitive subject, and the point was not to condemn any individual – but to explore how the process of de-conversion happens.
The illustration I used is just one “version” of how someone’s testimony can slip away. “Ralph” represented no single person, but I have personally witnessed every element in the narrative. If your names happens to be Ralph, I apologize for using your name. I don’t even know you.
Now that we have that taken care of…
The main premise of the Whirlpool of Spiritual Stupidity is simply this: When we divorce ourselves from the companionship of the Holy Ghost, we lose our best source of inspiration to guide us in making wise choices. That’s it.
Whirlpool avoidance comes in two parts. 1) How do we stay out of the whirlpool? and 2) If we find ourselves in the whirlpool, how do we get out? Right now, I’m looking at the first part.
How do we stay out of the whirlpool? That is where Captain Obvious comes in. Here is a story that President Packer and President Hinckley both told. You have probably heard it over and over again. You know why? Because it is one of the most important stories you will ever hear. I’m serious. So read it anyway. Humor me.
A man was interviewing new drivers for his transportation company. The route was very dangerous and went along several steep cliffs through a mountain pass. The interviewer asked each man how close he could safely drive near the edge of the cliff. The first man responded, “I could drive within six inches of the edge.” The second man responded, “I could drive within two inches of the edge.” The third man responded, “I would stay as far away from the edge of the cliff as I possibly could.” The third man got the job. (John Bytheway describes this problem as trying to determine “How bad can I be?”)
President Hinckley said, “You know when you are walking on dangerous ground, when it is so easy to stumble and slide into the pit of transgression. I plead with you to be careful, to stand safely back from the cliff of sin over which it is so easy to fall.” (Link here)
The “cliff” that the story, and President Hinckley, refer to can be different for each of us. For some, like Ralph, it is pornography, for others it might be participating in anti-Mormon websites or criticizing the brethren, for others it might be Word of Wisdom issues. The cliff can be as common as contention or unkindness, but still highly personalized.
Step 1: Avoid Sin. No, really. That’s not possible? Oh, that’s right. All of us flirt with the whirlpool because we don’t live perfect lives – we all sin. Some of us spectacularly. And so we all fall short of the glory of God. (Romans 3:23) That means that avoiding sin isn’t going to cut it. So let’s go deeper…
This week our family has been reading in Alma about the Zoramites – an apostate group of Nephites. Alma and his mighty band of missionaries went to try and bring them back into the fold (Alma 31) The way the Zoramites were described shows an insight as to how they got there.
“But they had fallen into great errors, for they would not observe to keep the commandments of God, and his statutes, according to the law of Moses. Neither would they observe the performances of the church, to continue in prayer and supplication to God daily, that they might not enter into temptation.” (Alma 31:9-10)
Note how the Zoramites got into “great errors” (or the whirlpool) – they had:
• Stopped keeping the commandments.
• Stopped participating in the ordinances of the Church.
• Stopped praying daily
Elder Dallin Oaks asked a question similar to what we are discussing when he asked, “How can we have the Spirit of the Lord to guide our choices and keep us on the path?” He went on to answer his own question by saying,
“We need to qualify for the cleansing power of the Atonement of Jesus Christ. We do this by keeping His commandment to come to Him with a broken heart and a contrite spirit and in that wonderful weekly meeting partake of the emblems of the sacrament and make the covenants that qualify us for the precious promise that we will always have His Spirit to be with us.” (Sacrament Meeting and the Sacrament) Amazing, life-altering talk.
The beauty and genius of the weekly ordinance of the sacrament is that if we are repenting and renewing every week, it is almost impossible to get too far off course – because we can keep the Spirit with us. Daily repentance and weekly renewal is as close to a whirlpool avoidance guarantee that you can get.
Step 2: Take the Sacrament Weekly, and Correctly
Just a few weeks ago, President Uchtdorf spoke to the Priesthood holders in General Conference. He said,“Brethren, I invite you to consider the words spoken by the servants of God this weekend. Then get on your knees. Ask God, our Heavenly Father, to enlighten your mind and touch your heart. Plead with God for guidance in your daily lives, in your Church responsibilities, and in your specific challenges at this time. Follow the promptings of the Spirit—do not delay. If you do all this, I promise that the Lord will not leave you to walk alone.” (The Why of Priesthood Service)
What he is describing is how prayer helps us from becoming Spiritually Stupid. Notice that the blessings of taking the sacrament are the same as daily prayer: Companionship of the Spirit.
Step 3: Pray Daily, and Correctly
Next, President James E. Faust said, “Daily scripture study turns on the light of our spiritual perception and opens our understandings to further knowledge.” (Put Light in Your Life)
Step 4: Daily Scripture Study (Bonus step)
Let’s review! Here are four steps that help s make sure we do not slide into the whirlpool. I know how you must be feeling – you wouldn’t expect to find such new and exciting doctrine on a blog such as mine.
Step 1: Avoid Sin
Step 2: Take the Sacrament Weekly, and Correctly
Step 3: Pray Daily, and Correctly
Step 4: Daily Scripture Study (Bonus step)
Remember that just because something is simple does not make it is not challenging. For example the concept of “burn more calories than you consume” is a simple concept, but many of us still struggle with it. Why? Because we are human. (Most of the time.)
A couple additional thoughts: If we have the Holy Ghost with us, we do not leave the Church. We do not criticize the leaders of the Church. We are not on a quest to “reform” some aspect of the Church. The Spirit will not lead us to do those things. So it follows that if we find ourselves doing those things, we are already in the whirlpool. Spiritual Stupidity has already set in.
What happens if we fail to heed this counsel, and find ourselves deep down in the whirlpool? Is there a way out? Is there hope? The answer is and emphatic YES. But the explanation will require yet another post. Watch for it. I will also be sharing one MMM reader’s story about her descent into the whirlpool, and what became of her. You don’t want to miss it.
As for the “Primary answers, ” if we just let them roll off the tongue w/o thought, they will not work. Hence your injunction to do these things correctly. Simple, yes. Easy, not so much. Great post.
La Yen, there are a few of us who aren’t about fixing the Lord’s work. I’m also glad MMM is one of us.
This post is an answer to my prayers as of late. Seriously. I have been getting sucked in to these “reforming the gospel” blogs and not understanding why my faith is feeling differently than normal. Thank you. Sincerely.
The gospel truths ARE simple . . . the way back to Heavenly Father is NOT mysterious or even complicated . . . We only try to make it so when we are trying to get there before someone else or trying to justify not making changes we know need to be made . . .
Good series of posts, MMM . . . Thanks!
why would reading the scriptures be a bonus stop. For me it is KEY! It’s also what I am the best at. I really don’t like hearing Melk. Priesthood brethren say they have not read the BOM since their mission, 20 or more years ago. Absolutely pathetic in my book. You can always tell who knows the scriptures/the doctrines of Christ and those who don’t and it’s the one’s who don’t get their nose in the scriptures. How many prophets in the BOM prayed for that record to be preserved? The Lord did a marvelous work and a wonder to do that- even getting it through safely at least 2 wicked men (book of Omni). It’s not enough to read it once and be done with it. We are to make it a life long pursuit. There are blessings for doing so and they are described by the prophets as well.
I listed it as a “Bonus Step” because I was using the Zoramite apostasy as a pattern, and scripture study was not mentioned there. But, it is vital, so I included it.
I appreciate your posts! In particular the quote from Pres Uchtdorf asking Heavenly Father to “enlighten our minds”. I needed to hear that. Right now. I have a question that has remained unanswered. Despite my pleadings.
Excuse me, I need to go pray about something. . .
Thanks for sticking to the basics. I love that all your doctrinal explanations come straight from the source, but really I like your straightforward real-language explanations. “Spiritual Stupidity has already set in.” That makes it a little easier to watch out for.
i suggest that there is one more step and that is to check your heart. You can DO anything but if you do it with a spirit of I told you so, or so that others will see how well you follow the commandments you can easily fall into the whirlpool. If you are ever just doing things to do them without waiting to be taught by the spirit and really listening you may go to church read your scriptures say your prayers and one day and still wonder why you feel like you never get any answers. You have to be humble and focused on learning and growing rather than checking off your spiritual list. Superficial actions only lead to a superficial testimony
I thought about a shout out to humility, but felt that it was covered in the sin of Pride. Also, I added the word “correctly” to both sacrament participation and prayer – because without a broken heart, and contrite spirit, those things don’t work.
“We are not on a quest to “reform” some aspect of the Church.” Amen, brother! Sometimes when I go to blogs listed on the ones I read regularly I’m amazed at the “questions” being asked about women’s place, the priesthood, etc. Those questions have never and probably would never occur to me. I must be doing better than I thought. I have some sins I struggle with, but they don’t relate to doctrines or ordinances. Thanks for sharing these thoughts of yours. I really appreciate knowing there are others like me on the path. The basics (sort of like charity) never fail.
Beautifully put! As the only still active sibling in a group of four, I have seen this happen all too often to those I love. And their descent was exactly as you described.
I pray every day that they will find their way back! I am so unsure as to how I can help them– I definitely look forward to your next article on the subject.
Hugs,
Mama Rachel
“We are not on a quest to “reform” some aspect of the Church. The Spirit will not lead us to do those things.”
Amen & Amen!!!
Great post 🙂
It all comes back to the Primary answers. The more I learn the more I realize that everything I really needed to know about the gospel, I learned in Primary. The concept is simple, but as you said, not easy. Just like running a marathon. It’s simple: you run until you cross the finish line. But it’s still hard (I’ve heard). It’s time for me to swim harder and break free from the eddies that will eventually lead to the whirlpool. Thanks for the warning.
I know this took you several days to write, but I appreciate that time and effort. This series of posts is invaluable. Good jorb, MMM now with Bacon.
Outstanding advice….now, to implement it…..
Yep. It is obvious! But sometimes very hard. Thus the constant use of the word “remember!”.
Very good explanation — I like the concise. In fact, I love the Gospel because of it’s simplicity. It’s only hard at times because we’re mortal.