Real Life Answers

By Andrea B.

In our country where religiosity is on the decline (Huffington Post), many seem to celebrate ethereal spirituality but scoff at religious organizations, not recognizing that organized religions exist for the sole purpose of improving spirituality. Dismissing structured religion is like saying, “I like being healthy and though sometimes I get sick, hospitals are for other people, not me.” Others nominally belong to churches, but rarely attend. With mystic Eastern philosophies claiming the limelight in pop culture (e.g., the film Batman Begins) it feels socially outdated to claim membership to an organized church. And yet, my spirituality is best executed through my church; God as the perfect teacher has created out of a religious organization the perfect classroom. This is a classroom full of struggling, imperfect students, but each member comes to class seeking to be better. Through imperfect people we execute God’s perfect system of learning.

Howard Gardner—Professor of Education at Harvard—advocates that students have multiple intelligences such as kinesthetics, logic, interpersonal savvy, etc. As such, educational research recommends that teachers vary instruction techniques to fit the needs of all different intelligences. So too does our perfect Father seek to vary his instruction to meet the strengths and learning styles of his children. Nephi explains in the Book of Mormon that “the Lord God giveth light unto the understanding; for he speaketh unto men according to their language, unto their understanding” (2 Nephi 31:3) or, according to their intelligence. He does this by instructing us in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to access truth through myriad ways: we are to teach one-on-one; to share and learn in small classes; to be instructed as a large congregation; and to receive counsel and revelation as a single body tuned in to a conference twice a year. In addition, God asks us to speak directly to him, and to have independent study every day to commune with him by reflecting on revelation he gave long ago. We have activities, baptisms, service experiences, institute, family home evening, and temple nights all in addition to our church meetings, because God wants us to learn. He wants ALL of his students, with all of our different ways of learning about the world, to come to a knowledge of the Savior as the Redeemer of the world. If I tried to gain spirituality in isolation, I would miss out on the many additional avenues to truth that only come when I participate in my organized religion.

God’s perfect classroom provides access to truth for all learners. But the organization of the church goes beyond a teacher-student knowledge transfer; it allows for participants to apply what we learn towards one another, to form what the apostle Paul calls the “Body of Christ”, or rather a group of people that provides complementary efforts to care for one another. This is not possible without a structure to guide this effort. Paul teaches that “there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit . . . But all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit . . . For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ” (1 Corinthians 12:4, 11–12). God has given a variety of gifts and talents to all of us; it is only as we all both teach AND learn, both serve AND receive service, that our gifts—or our multiple intelligences—can create the body of Christ, and gain a level of spirituality unknown to those who seek it alone. I am grateful for a Father who knows the learning needs of his children. I am grateful for a congregation in which to learn and then apply the principles of the Atonement. I am grateful for the community of people who help me follow Christ. In short, I am grateful for my membership in the restored gospel of Jesus Christ.

Several years ago, a friend of mine was riding his bike in Taiwan when he had a life changing experience. He was on a road used by thousands each day, and as he went through a blind curve, he noticed what appeared to be water on the road. He continued on and subsequently went through this ‘water’ when he realized it was not water, but oil. He slipped and fell but was not hurt. He was in a hurry, but thought about the thousands of others who would come upon this oil slick. He thought about another biker falling, followed by a car, and the results could be devastating. He decided to go back around the curve and warn people. In broken Mandarin, my friend yelled and tried to warn everybody. One by one the bikers ignored him, and as they went around the curve they subsequently slipped and fell. Many picked themselves up and continued on. However, a few went back to help my friend. As more people stood together the bikers and cars started to slow down, some even stopping. Who knows how many lives they might have saved that day?!

When you read this parable, I hope you let your mind wander enough for it to teach you how to apply it in your own life. Some of you might have taken a service or leadership approach, others might have seen it a different way. Today, I would like to point out one specific principle that you might not have noticed, but could be life changing.

My lesson today is on the voice of warning. It is very rare for somebody to be fired, fall into temptation, or anything of that nature without first hearing a voice of warning. My friend saw the oil, but misinterpreted it. Once he realized what it was, he became a voice of warning for others who mostly didn’t pay attention to him. It wasn’t until the voice of warning had grown so others could not miss it that people started to listen. I believe that we all need a voice of warning to help us reevaluate our circumstances. I recommend sitting down with a friend once a month to see if your life, work, spirituality, etc. is going well and that you aren’t missing any voices of warning.

I emailed this post to a friend of another faith before I posted it on this blog and his response was very interesting. He told me he wished he would have received this about an hour earlier because he had made some poor decisions in that past hour. However, as he read this post he sat back and thought deeply about his life and was grateful I shared it with him.

Please share this with as many as you can and ask them to reflect on their own lives and the voices of warning which they receive. Share your thoughts with us … what did you learn from this parable? How will you apply it in your life? What voices of warning have you recently had?