Current Lessons
Lesson No. Thirty-Seven

Dare to Actively Support Good and Actively Oppose Evil

The Lord explained the meaning of the parable of the wheat and tares in the last days “while the blade is springing up and is yet tender – Behold, verily I say unto you, the angels are crying unto the Lord day and night, who are ready and waiting to be sent forth to reap down the fields; But the Lord saith unto them, pluck not up the tare while the blade is yet tender (for verily your faith is weak), lest you destroy the wheat also. Therefore, let the wheat and the tares grow together until the harvest is fully ripe; then ye shall first gather out the wheat from among the tares, and after the gathering of the wheat, behold and lo, the tares are bound in bundles, and the field remaineth to be burned” (D&C 86:1-7).

The wheat is growing “wheatier” – The ongoing Restoration is accelerating, and the Lord’s Church and Kingdom on the earth is growing stronger, both temporally and spiritually. And it is happening rapidly as missionaries, numbering tens of thousands, cover the earth, and families are organized in hundreds of temples worldwide, according to God’s law of marriage. “Young adults are coming to institute at record levels. Young adults are attending Church schools at record levels. They are striving to take charge of their testimonies and grow closer to Jesus Christ” (Clark G. Gilbert, Church Commissioner of Education, Church News, p. 16, June 22, 2024).

Dare to let your light shine and dare to speak out in constructive ways – Most members strive to be on the covenant path. However, many of us need to dare to speak out, and dare to publicly let our light more fully shine. In the improved rendering of the Sermon on the Mount, as found in the Book of Mormon, the Lord said to members of His Church: “Verily, verily, I say unto you, I give unto you to be the light of this people….Therefore, let your light so shine before this people, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father who is in heaven” (3 Ne 12:14,16, emphasis added). The New Testament states it more generally, “before men” (Matthew 6:16). The Book of Mormon has it more specific, “before this people” meaning before the people we live among.

The Family – A Proclamation to the World (see attachment) – The doctrine taught in the Family Proclamation can be confidently advocated and defended, using both sacred and scholarly sources, because they are true. Living and advocating the doctrine and principles of the Family Proclamation is the best way, in my opinion, “to be the light of this people” and “to glorify your Father who is in heaven.”

The tares are growing “tarrier” and this especially effects the rising generation worldwide –– President Jeffrey R. Holland recently spoke of “the special assistance the rising generation needs in an increasingly wicked world” (Church News, June 15,2024, p. 3). The rising generation faces many challenges in every country of the world, and in most communities, and in many families.

The Family Proclamation is an essential part of the answer – President Gordon B. Hinckley explained it so well: “Why do we have this proclamation on the family now? Because the family is under attack. All across the world families are falling apart. The place to begin to improve society is in the home. Children do, for the most part, what they are taught. We are trying to make the world better by making the family stronger” (Teaching of Gordon B. Hinckley, p.209). A few of the problems that strong and intact families, with engaged fathers and mothers provides the answer to include the following:

It is almost unbelievable that “77 percent of today’s young adults ages 17 to 24 cannot qualify for military service because they are not academically prepared, are too overweight, or have a record of crime or drug abuse” (Mission: Readiness, an organization of over 800 retired admirals and generals, citing U.S. Department of Defense, Office of People Analytics). Furthermore, they likely will not be qualified to be a policeman or a firefighter.

“Boys from fragmented families are more likely to go to prison than to college” (Why Married Fathers Matter, Deseret News, June 12, 2024). This article continues: “The scholars and activists who are tackling the misfortunes of our boys and men rarely focus on the breakdown of marriage as a crucial cause of young men’s problems…. But in the real world, boys who reside with their married fathers are much more likely to flourish, and boys who live apart from an intact, married family are much more likely to flounder. In fact, a new study finds that boys who don’t reside with their married fathers are, amazingly, more likely to go to prison than graduate from college, whereas boys from intact, married families are markedly more likely to graduate from college than spend time in jail. (Ibid, emphasis added).

To advance their own agenda many scholars and activists purposely down play the obvious importance of traditional marriage and intact families. (See previous paragraph) We need to counter this effort of deception and misinformation by doing all we can to advocate traditional marriage and intact families.

Alcohol and drug abuse are common, and it is important to remember that alcohol is the most commonly used drug – I served as chairman/vice-chairman of the Utah Alcohol Beverage Control Commission for ten years during which I was educated on the destruction caused by alcohol, especially among young people. During this time we started Parents Empowered whose purpose was to get parents involved in the lives of their children, and it is still going strong. We learned the number one reason young people choose not to drink is their parents’ strong disapproval. This is another reason why parents, a mother and a father, need to be involved in the lives of their children.

Testimony – We can readily see that the Lord is letting “the wheat and the tares grow together until the harvest is fully ripe” and after the wheat is gathered in, the tares will be bound in bundles, and the field will be burned (D&C 86:7). Furthermore, while the wheat is being gathered the Lord has given it to the faithful members of His Church “to be the light of this people” and these faithful members are to “let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father who is in heaven” (3 Nephi 12:14, 16).

Released on June 23rd. 2024.