It’s a pleasing message that is sweeping over the world – and it’s one of many false philosophies. I talked about flattery in a prior post, and this post focuses on yet another false message that is consistently being injected into messaging of every kind.
It’s also a watered-down message, and as such messages do, they tend to make people feel warm and fuzzy but they aren’t entirely true.
And what is that false message? It’s “love, love, love.”
And, while it sounds very nice and Christian-like, it is far from it – and it’s not a message God ordained or His son Jesus Christ ever preached.
In our efforts to be good neighbors, spread love and kindness, and be empathetic to the needs and concerns of others, many of us have become soft and the truth of God has been diluted.
Prophets and Belly-Rubbers
Why are we diluting the truth and jumping on this bandwagon of love, tolerance, and acceptance? The short answer is that it’s easier to follow the crowd because people like us when we do.
Love, tolerance, and acceptance are beautiful principles – but it should be a package deal. We must be true to our fellow men and true to the first great commandment, to love the Lord thy God with all of our heart. If we love God with all of our heart, we will also keep His commandments and encourage others to do the same.
Do you recall Samuel the Lamanite and his sermon in Helaman 13 explaining the difference between how people treat a prophet verses a belly-rubber (meaning someone who tells you that everything you are doing is right). If you don’t remember this passage, I’ve included it below. It contrasts the difference between prophets and in a modern example, Instagram influencers.
And now when ye talk, ye say: If our days had been in the days of our fathers of old, we would not have slain the prophets; we would not have stoned them, and cast them out.
Behold ye are worse than they; for as the Lord liveth, if a prophet come among you and declareth unto you the word of the Lord, which testifieth of your sins and iniquities, ye are angry with him, and cast him out and seek all manner of ways to destroy him; yea, you will say that he is a false prophet, and that he is a sinner, and of the devil, because he testifieth that your deeds are evil.
But behold, if a man shall come among you and shall say: Do this, and there is no iniquity; do that and ye shall not suffer; yea, he will say: Walk after the pride of your own hearts; yea, walk after the pride of your eyes, and do whatsoever your heart desireth—and if a man shall come among you and say this, ye will receive him, and say that he is a prophet.
Yea, ye will lift him up, and ye will give unto him of your substance; ye will give unto him of your gold, and of your silver, and ye will clothe him with costly apparel; and because he speaketh flattering words unto you, and he saith that all is well, then ye will not find fault with him.
O ye wicked and ye perverse generation; ye hardened and ye stiffnecked people, how long will ye suppose that the Lord will suffer you? Yea, how long will ye suffer yourselves to be led by foolish and blind guides? Yea, how long will ye choose darkness rather than light?
Yea, behold, the anger of the Lord is already kindled against you; behold, he hath cursed the land because of your iniquity.
Is there any doubt that this passage, containing this powerful example, was included in Mormon’s abridgment specifically for our day?
Prophets today, especially President Oaks are vilified, mock, threatened, and scoffed at when he mentions the plan of salvation, The Family: A Proclamation to the World, or the laws of God. Our first duty is to keep the commandments of God, not to please men.
“Master, which is the great commandment in the law? Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.” – Matthew 22:36-39
First, we are commanded to love God. Second, we are commanded to love our neighbor. The order is important.
As Elder Scott D. Whiting said in a December 2020 devotional given on the campus of Brigham Young University, “…your efforts to love your fellow men and women will be the hallmark of your efforts to deepen your discipleship.”
Elder Whiting continued with a warning:
“However, I feel it important to caution you not to invert the two great commandments: the first being to “love the Lord thy God” and the second to “love thy neighbour as thyself.”
This seems to be an increasing area of confusion and misunderstanding—surely clouded by the adversary. The adversary knows that if he can invert these two great laws in our minds, then he can entice disciples from the path and dissuade others from stepping onto that path. We must be careful that in our efforts to love our neighbor we don’t begin advocating against the Lord.
Some, in their efforts to love others, feel it necessary to abandon the teachings and commandments of God or to advocate for a change of His doctrine. But to love God is to accept His teachings, commandments, and doctrine. Remember that Jesus taught, “If ye love me, keep my commandments.”
A true disciple does not try to change the Teacher, His teachings, or His laws of discipleship. Jesus warned of this when He taught, “The disciple is not above his master, nor the servant above his lord.”
Which Way Do You Face?
We are commanded to be a light upon a hill, the salt of the earth, the leaven that makes all the difference. But what if we aren’t different at all? As Elder Lynn G. Robbins said in a 2014 General Conference talk entitled, “Which Way Do You Face?”, he stated that “Trying to please others before pleasing God is inverting the first and second great commandments.”
Here are just a few quotes from Elder Robbin’s talk that have relevant application today in the social issues that many feel pressured to accept, even though they are contrary to the doctrine of the church and the plan of salvation:
- We seek respectful coexistence with those who point fingers, but when this fear of men tempts us to condone sin, it becomes a “snare”. The snare may be cleverly baited to appeal to our compassionate side to tolerate or even approve of something that has been condemned by God. For the weak of faith, it can be a major stumbling block.
- Decisions of character are made by remembering the right order of the first and second great commandments.
- When people try to save face with men, they can unwittingly lose face with God. Thinking one can please God and at the same time condone the disobedience of men isn’t neutrality but duplicity, or being two-faced or trying to “serve two masters”.
- While it certainly takes courage to face perils, the true badge of courage is overcoming the fear of men.
- The scornful often accuse prophets of not living in the 21st century or of being bigoted. They attempt to persuade or even pressure the Church into lowering God’s standards to the level of their own inappropriate behavior…
- Lowering the Lord’s standards to the level of a society’s inappropriate behavior is—apostasy.
This Was Jesus’ Real Message
What was Jesus’ real message?
When he appeared to the people on the American continent after His resurrection, He spoke to those who survived the devastating destruction. These were his words:
O all ye that are spared because ye were more righteous than they, will ye not now return unto me, and repent of your sins, and be converted, that I may heal you?
Christ wants us to be converted, and he wants to heal us, but that can only happen if we come unto Him and change. Repentance means change.
The world loves to separate gospel pairs like love and law. Christ says, “I don’t condemn you but sin no more” while the world say “I don’t condemn you and you be you.”
That is a false philosophy and it is not the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Dallin H. Oaks recently posted the following reminder of the first great commandment on Facebook:
Why is love of God the first great commandment? It is first because it is fundamental to understanding and following God’s plan and His commandments for His children. Our love of God and His love for us is the central gospel principle—vital to what influences us and vital to what we must remember. Love has power: power to understand the Atonement of Jesus Christ, power to understand the plan of salvation, and power to explain God’s commandments.
The word repent or repentance is used 300 times in the Book of Mormon – and repentance means a change of mind and heart.
So many today, like the people of Samuel the Lamanite’s time, preach the “live your truth / you be you / you are perfect just the way you are” philosophy that sounds really good, because it means you don’t have to do anything else. The problem is, it is not the gospel of Jesus Christ and it won’t bring us closer to Him and it won’t bring a mighty change of heart that we need.
A Warning Voice and a Call to Change
If you are following voices that preach any of these messages below, consider if you are being deceived:
- Live your truth
- Don’t have expectations
- If it’s hard, don’t do it
- You are perfect just the way you are (sounds so nice but it won’t lead to changing things that need to be changed)
- A little bit is okay
- All that matters is love
- “My Jesus _________ (fill in the blank)
What is Love Then?
If we are to love as Christ loves, we don’t love unconditionally. (Not a word found in the scriptures) What we must do is understand what the pure love of Christ really is – and it’s not something the world understands. All the world needs is NOT love, but a CORRECT understanding of what love really is.
The world says that love means we let everyone do everything and anything they want and we must celebrate along with them.
God defines charity as the pure love, and it contains the following attributes:
- suffereth long
- is kind
- envieth not
- is not puffed up
- seeketh not her own
- is not easily provoked
- thinketh no evil
- rejoiceth not in iniquity but rejoiceth in the truth
- beareth all things
- believeth all things
- hopeth all things
- endureth all things
Love is kind BUT, and this is the missing piece, love REJOICETH NOT IN INQUITY, BUT REJOICE IN TRUTH.
The love of Christ, the pure love of Christ loves you, but always calls you to change. REPENT AND COME UNTO ME. As was exemplified with the woman caught in adultery:
And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more. – John 8:11
Oh, that the members of the Church would understand this principle. Oh, that we would not fear the finger of scorn from the world and fear what man might do. Oh, that we would honor God and his commands first before the philosophies and social pressures of the world.
There is sin. The world needs to repent. We need to love, but love is kind AND tells the truth.
May we follow the example of the Savior, and invite others to come unto him and repent. Let us be a window to Christ’s love, and not a stumbling block. Let us not say, “Come unto me and I will love you.” Let us say, “Come unto Christ, repent of your sins, and He will heal you – and I’ll be by your side loving you and supporting you the whole way.”
To conclude, let me share the powerful words of Bonnie H. Cordon which she shared in the April 2020 General Conference Sunday Morning Session:
“The Lord’s invitation to let our light so shine is not just about randomly waving a beam of light and making the world generally brighter. It is about focusing our light so others may see the way to Christ. It is gathering Israel on this side of the veil—helping others see the next step forward in making and keeping sacred covenants with God.”
Christ did love. He also called people to repent. We can love God and love our fellow men. Judgment in the end is in the Lord’s hands of course, but prophets have pleaded with us (President Oaks specifically) to help us teach the plan of salvation to God’s children. What do you feel is the difference between judgment and discernment as it applies to our commission to live the two great commandments? I would love to hear your thoughts.
Thanks for the teaching to not invert the first two (and most important two) commandments. I am reminded of one of Christ’s teachings that I must apply as I put Him first:
1 Judge not unrighteously, that ye be not judged, but judge righteous judgment.
2 For with what ajudgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what bmeasure ye mete, it shall be cmeasured to you again.
3 And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?
4 Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye?
5 Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother’s eye.
(JST Matthew 7:1-5)
If I am able to not err sometime far in the future, I will better be able to apply both mercy and the law in the same manner as the Lord does. For now, if I err, I hope my errors are on the side of mercy.
Your article makes me sad. Sad for you and sad for folks who will read this and dig in their heels and refuse to learn the difference between judgement and discernment. Christ loved. He created a Gospel of Salvation not of Damnation.
It is most important to remember that at the very heart of our gospel is to have Charity because without it we are absolutely nothing regardless of all the faith, revelations, speaking in tongues and good works. We are to mourn with those that mourn and comfort those that stand in need of comfort which is a critical part of our baptismal covenants. The Apostle Paul summed up the entire gospel of Christ in five words, “Bear ye one another’s burdens.” We are told to “Love thy neighbor as thyself.” Christ, Himself, told us how He and others will know we are His disciples: “If ye have love one to another”
If we are true Latter-day Saints, we need to realize that being LGBTQ is among the most difficult challenges a person and their family can face in our church and that they need our love, kindness, and inclusion even more. President Oaks said, “Each member of Christ’s church has a clear-cut doctrinal responsibility to show forth love and to extend help and understanding… All should understand that persons (and their family members) struggling with the burden of same-sex attraction are in special need of the love and encouragement that is a clear responsibility of Church members, who have signified by covenant their willingness ‘to bear one another’s burdens’ (Mosiah 18:8) ‘and so fulfil the law of Christ’ (Gal. 6:2).’”
Elder Cook said: “As a Church nobody should be more loving and compassionate. No family who has anybody who has a same-gender issue should exclude them from the family circle. They need to be part of the family circle. . . . We have a plan of salvation. And having children come into our lives is part of Heavenly Father’s plan. But let us be at the forefront in terms of expressing love, compassion, and outreach to those and let’s not have families exclude or be disrespectful of those who choose a different lifestyle as a result of their feelings about their own gender. . . . I feel very strongly about this… It’s a very important principle.”
Articles like this one rob people of their empathy while encouraging the exact opposite of what Christ taught. Here is a better article about what the church has had to say on this topic.
https://www.fairlatterdaysaints.org/blog/2017/11/03/lgbt-youth-suicides-needs-change
Please please please EDIT before publishing! Have someone else read it – preferably an English major or someone highly trained in spelling and sentence structure. It is very jarring to read such a wonderful article and keep running into grammatical errors.
@Ben Arkell, I have to say a big AMEN to Tanner. I have never seen where touting ‘the law’ to others has brought them to Christ (and it would just look hypocritical with the big ol’ beam sticking out of my eye). I have, however, seen many brought to the fold through love. I am commanded to love God and keep his laws. I am also commanded to love others- not to judge them or to make sure they obey his laws. I’m to love and invite others to come unto Christ. Hopefully they will feel His love for them through me and desire to follow Him. The spirit will testify of truth to them as it has to me. He will take care of the law between Him and them. Like Tanner said, only He knows their hearts. That is how law and love work together.
@Ben Arkell, I don’t believe that bumper stickers and yard signs or tee shirt and ball cap messages are a good way to teach the public about who we are, what we believe, and who we worship. Quiet messages like cleaning up the yard or car, & wearing simple modest clothing are ways that I believe please Jesus to affirm and communicate our beliefs. Signs and frivolous ‘messages’ promote contention. They do not shine a light.
Tanner, I love your comment and I agree! The doctrinal pair is love and law together. I think many beat the law drum, and many preach love love love. The two principles, love and law, need to work together if we have any chance of living and serving and loving as the Savior did. Charity is kind AND it rejoiceth in truth. Thank you for adding so much to this article with your wonderful insights.
I agree with what you’re saying. You’re absolutely right that the order is important. However, what I see going on with some members of the church is that there is a twisted mentality of being “defenders of the faith”. The ones that I am seeing are actively pursuing to create contention by calling out the sinners. The intention they enter the conversations with is not in a spirit of love or compassion or wanting to help them change and repent. It’s to try and shove down their throats that what they are doing is wrong. In my opinion, being a defender of the faith is done in privacy. It’s not openly calling people out on social media. It’s taking it offline having a sincere conversation and trying to understand where they are coming from. Matt 5:9 ” Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.” We can still be defenders while keeping the first and second commandment AND being peacemakers. It saddens me to see so many people hurt by those who should be friends and family and be ones to lead them to the Gospel. But because of the harshness of the member’s words the individual gets turned away. How many of these “defenders” go home and feel so happy that they were sticking up for their beliefs, when in reality they hurt the other person? I see often that members feel the need to act as Christ did in His judgments of individuals. However, there is a big difference, Christ knew the hearts of the people, we do not. We are not here to cast judgement, only to invite and to teach, not condemn. The anti-nephi-lehis were peacemakers and they had their reward, they did not wrongfully judge or yell at their brethren the lamanites that what they were doing was wrong. Their example and King Benjamin’s words are overlooked on how we can be a haven and righteously invite, not to puff up ourselves in self-righteousness.
I appreciate your message and the scriptural reminders. We need to remember what real love is. When we see a blind person walking toward a cliff, it is not love to cheer him onward. We don’t condemn him for being blind, we offer love, support, and compassion for his unique trial, but we also offer guidance toward safety rather than pretending natural laws and consequences don’t exist. That is what I would want for my children, and that’s what God wants us to do for his beloved son’s and daughters. If we love God first, we’ll help guide his children back to him.
Finally! Someone put my feelings into words that explain it better than I’ve been able to! Keep up the good work!
Natalie, my heart goes out to you. It’s not an easy thing to navigate. There are too many on either side of the spectrum of “all love” or “all law”. As you said, how do we follow the Savior’s counsel to love the Lord and love our fellow men? I think you are on the right track. You are doing a great job. It’s not an easy position to be in.
Thank you for your heart felt and well written post about loving God and His commandments first. We need to let God be God, and not tell Him how things need to be.
@Ben Arkell,
I have gone back and forth on this. As a parent with teenage children who have struggled with sexual identity, I feel I must walk a fine line between being a parent who allows agency, but also one who enforces standards and beliefs. I have agreed to allow my kids to place a pride flag in our yard because I want them to know I love them and that we are a safe place, but I do fear it sends a mixed message. This is not an easy position to find myself in, or a simple case of black and white when it is your own child. This article has helped me gain some perspective and realize that I do not have all the answers, but I have faith that the Lord does. I have struggled to find more support for parents like me who want to protect their children, honor their agency, but also continue to put God first. It has not been smooth sailing, but I appreciate your article because it simplifies things. So thank you.
Deeply saddens me to hear what you are saying in that people are truly not seeing the truth now after all that the world has gone through.
Thank you for the heartfelt reminder of truth and righteousness that we should have even more of after this journey of Covid.
May we never forget the greatest blessings and act of love that Jesus came on this earth to show and do for each one of us. The atonement is what is the truth and without it the world would live in darkness. I thank you deeply again and again for always reminding us to hold on the truth and pure love and righteousness of the gospel.
This is not the time to be sitting on the fence . Prayer and truth should help each one of us to get off the fence and on to what God has promised all of us to hold tight to the iron rod which is the true words of God.
These times are very trying Satan what’s you why even give him a thought. I thank you Brandon to help us to remind ourselves to not lose sight of why we came here and what our calling is to the maker of our heart and soul.🙏
🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏
I have also thought about it this way – for those who are so eager to place flags outside their homes, are they as eager to say “In God We Trust” and spread the knowledge of God to the world? I love the message of acceptance an compassion, but it can’t reject God’s plan and gospel at the same time. Often we think that our love alone will save people, but Christ is the Savior of the world and we need to work in tandem with Him.
Shelley, thank you so much for the comment. In our society it is easy to go with the current, but if we hold fast to the gospel of Jesus Christ we’ll do things as the Lord would have us.
You absolutely nailed it! Thank you for being so inspired, and bold, and reminding everyone these gospel principles are indeed the truth and they have become so skewed. THANK YOU!!!
Thank you for your thoughts on this important message. As I was watching the news the other night and a blurb came on about a “gay pride parade” and how wonderful we “celebrate” pride month, I turned to my husband and asked why do we need to “celebrate” gay pride? We don’t celebrate “straight” pride with parades and advertising and “coming out parties”. What is there to celebrate? Is it because we don’t want to appear bigoted and hateful? How do we show God’s love for those who have these tendencies without appearing to accept their acting upon those tendencies? Satan is ramping up his rhetoric isn’t he.
It definitely is commonplace to shout from the rooftops our support for our fellow men but we’re not so outspoken about following God or His prophets.
Pauline, I feel the same way. I often go back and read talks and find them more relevant for me today than when they were given!
I always love your articles. They are spot on! It has been disconcerting reading so many comments on social media from members of the church condemning the prophets or their teachings or actions and accusing them of not being Christlike. I can definitely see how the world inverts the two great commandments.
Thank you for this. I appreciate the clarification of loving God FIRST. I don’t know how I missed Elder Robbins’ message years ago, but perhaps I wasn’t hearing it in this context.