The Church in a Cross-Cultural World

[Anonymous]

I read bits of this talk and think to myself, I am happy being in a church like this. His recent talk in Conference and the message in CES earlier in the year about finding truth from all sources suggests that he’s gaining the confidence to share this with a wider audience.

This was written a while ago and might have been discussed before, but I just read it for the first time and wanted to share a few bits of it (bold is mine):

The Church in a Cross-Cultural World

President Dieter F. Uchtdorf

Quote:

So in a broad sense, we have come from a world of division and walls to a system built increasingly around integration. This type of globalization is bringing the world closer together. Borders are coming down, and the rewards will be measured in better standards of living, less poverty around the world, more respect and deference for diversity of culture, and peace for all mankind. I believe we all agree that we still have a long way to go.

…

We believe that every man and woman, irrespective of race, culture, nationality, or political or economic circumstance, has the power to determine what is right and what is wrong. In the Book of Mormon we read, “For behold, the Spirit of Christ is given to every man, that he may know good from evil; wherefore, I show unto you the way to judge; for every thing which inviteth to do good, and to persuade to believe in Christ, is sent forth by the power and gift of Christ; wherefore ye may know with a perfect knowledge it is of God” (Moroni 7:16).

…

Modern revelation brings the human existence to a clear, divine, and eternal perspective. Latter-day Saints believe in an ethic of divine approbation; to discern the will of God and receive assurance that one is acting under God’s approval are the ultimate quest of discipleship. This may be called Spirit-guided morality.

Latter-day Saints believe that all human beings are God’s children and that He loves all of us. He has inspired not only people of the Bible and the Book of Mormon but other people as well to carry out His purposes through all cultures and parts of the world. God inspires not only Latter-day Saints but also founders, teachers, philosophers, and reformers of other Christian and non-Christian religions. The restored gospel holds a positive relationship with other religions. Intolerance is always a sign of weakness. The Latter-day Saint perspective is that of the eleventh article of faith: “We claim the privilege of worshiping Almighty God according to the dictates of our own conscience, and allow all men the same privilege, let them worship how, where, or what they may” (Articles of Faith 1:11).

The Church teaches that members must not only be kind and loving toward others but also respect their right to believe and worship as they choose. George Albert Smith, the eighth President of the Church, publicly advocated the official Church policy of friendship and tolerance: “We have come not to take away from you the truth and virtue you possess. We have come not to find fault with you nor to criticize you. . . . We have come here as your brethren . . . to say to you: ‘Keep all the good that you have, and let us bring to you more good, in order that you may be happier and in order that you may be prepared to enter into the presence of our Heavenly Father.’”

On February 15, 1978, the First Presidency of the Church issued the following declaration: “The great religious leaders of the world such as Mohammed, Confucius, and the Reformers, as well as philosophers including Socrates, Plato, and others, received a portion of God’s light. Moral truths were given to them by God to enlighten whole nations and to bring a higher level of understanding to individuals. . . . Our message therefore is one of special love and concern for the eternal welfare of all men and women, regardless of religious belief, race, or nationality, knowing that we are truly brothers and sisters because we are the sons and daughters of the same Eternal Father.” In the words of Orson F. Whitney, an Apostle, the gospel “embraces all truth, whether known or unknown. It incorporates all intelligence, both past and prospective. No righteous principle will ever be revealed, no truth can possibly be discovered, either in time or in eternity, that does not in some manner, directly or indirectly, pertain to the Gospel of Jesus Christ.”

President Spencer W. Kimball set the tone in relationships with other religions and cultures. In a major address to Church leaders, he said, “The Church has not been to demand rights but to merit them, not to clamor for friendship and goodwill but to manifest them to give energy and time beyond rhetoric.” Citing a statement by the First Presidency, he said: “With our wide ranging mission, so far as mankind is concerned, Church members cannot ignore the many practical problems that require solutions. . . . Where solutions to these practical problems require cooperative action with those not of our faith, members should not be reticent in doing their part in joining and leading in those efforts where they can make an individual contribution to those causes which are consistent with the standards of the Church.”

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Diversity by its very nature implies differences. Not all differences are of equal value; some differences can be very positive, and some can be destructive. For example, Latter-day Saints, though we are “required to forgive all men” (D&C 64:10), cannot accept and tolerate the gross evils that are so prevalent in societies today. We hear often of the need for people to be tolerant of differences they observe in others. We agree insofar as tolerance implies genuine respect for another, but we disagree if tolerance means acceptance of sin, which God Himself rejects. “For I the Lord cannot look upon sin with the least degree of allowance” (D&C 1:31).

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By crossing boundaries, continents, and countries, we are establishing contact with different cultures, religions, and traditions. Naturally some challenges arise. In many countries, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is viewed as an American church. Church leaders strongly emphasize that it is a universal church for all people everywhere, with a responsibility to share the gospel with all of God’s children. There is an increased awareness of cultural differences as well as a willingness to work within those differences. The Apostle Paul pronounced that all men and women are God’s beloved children. To the Athenians, Paul said, God “hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth” (Acts 17:26).

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The world is becoming, to some degree, a global village with a diverse population. Even in the United States it is expected that by the year 2050 the so-called racial minorities will have taken over and will surpass in numbers the Anglo majority. The children and grandchildren of today’s Americans will live in a society where everyone is a member of a minority group. Therefore, we must look beyond superficial stereotyping, which influences too much of our thinking about the worth of those who seem on the surface to be different than we are and sometimes leads us to judge them prematurely. We must learn to look at others through the eyes of love, not as strangers and foreigners but as individuals, fellow children of God, of one blood with us. The Apostle Paul taught, “By love serve one another” (Galatians 5:13).

Becoming a worldwide religion in spirit as well as in organizational matters is much more than building chapels and translating documents. As we embark to experience the universal brotherhood we seek, all of us must be prepared to make some alterations in our views of one another. We will need to increase our empathy and cross-cultural sensitivity and progressively discard prejudices incompatible with brotherhood. The different cultural and ethnical backgrounds bring challenges into members’ lives.

We also need to make a clear distinction between our cultural and other preferences and the gospel of Jesus Christ. The gospel has flourished and has been blessed and sanctioned by God under numerous kinds of governments and economic and cultural systems. There must be some accountability, of course, between these preferences and systems and the gospel. In political terms, one key is freedom: freedom unfettered by practices that limit the exercise of religious conscience or that relegate classes of citizens to servitude, bondage, oppression, or exploitation—freedom that is compatible with the gospel. Governments that actively foster freedom of conscience and opportunity and protect it for all of its citizens are our implicit friends. This is true whether they happen to agree with the political policy of the United States or not. This is not an American church. The Church is beyond the nation-state because no state is an official representative of God. So why is it to our advantage to make a distinction between the gospel we possess and our own political, economic, and cultural preferences?

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To become a worldwide Church in various cultures and nations, the doctrinal truths of the restored gospel will be the guiding star, not our political background, not even some of the present Church programs. It is the Spirit that counts.

A diverse Latter-day Saint people cannot have brotherhood if one of its segments insists on being always right, all the time, on everything. The gospel is transcendent truth—man-made political and social institutions are not. In social, cultural, and political areas, we cannot expect that widely divergent people should adhere to the same specific perspectives. It is certain that some aspects of culture, ideology, and political practices are more compatible with gospel principles than others, and from that point they are temporally preferable, but only the principles of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ constitute eternal truth.

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The charge and commandment given by the Savior Himself to His Apostles in the meridian of time applies equally to us today: “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: . . . I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world” (Matthew 28:19–20; emphasis added).

Did the early Apostles, then, live up to this charge? Their real test came when God answered the prayers of a Roman centurion from Caesarea called Cornelius, a just man who feared God and was of good report, and instructed him to send for Peter to teach and to baptize him. After initial doubt and resistance, followed by fervent prayer and willingness to embrace divine revelation, “then Peter opened his mouth, and said, Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons: but in every nation he that feareth him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with him” (Acts 10:34–35).

The people of the earth are all our Father’s children. They are of great diversity and many varied religious persuasions. They are our brothers and sisters. May we cultivate tolerance, respect, and love for one another and stand up for the truth with sweet boldness to magnify the charge given to us by the Lord today is my humble prayer.

http://rsc.byu.edu/archived/global-mormonism-21st-century/20-church-cross-cultural-world

[Anonymous]

Thanks for posting! This talk hits so many points of interest for me. Chief among them is the concept I wish the church would adopt more openly; that the teachings of the church are not the same as the culture of the church.

[Anonymous]

very cool! Thanks.

[Anonymous]

We sometimes forget that many of the leaders of the past (even the recent past) were born and raised in a church and culture isolated from the rest of the world. That is no longer true of most of the leaders being called now and over the past few years. As more apostles are called from my generation, and that will start happening very soon, they will bring the kind of understanding Pres. Uchtdorf has as more of a natural transition in leadership.

That’s why I am more hopeful than pessimistic. I see the pool from which the new leadership will be called and recognize that their own upbringing simply is different in many important ways than those who are calling them.

[Anonymous]

Thanks for this! Made several copies.

[Anonymous]

Chieko Okazaki wove that gentle message through most of her writings. She never gave a full singular address as Pres.Uchdorf did with this one, but you read it in single lines and soft phrases of her work.

What interests me is how it will work as we grow. We north Americans are 200 years set in our ways. The corridor still controls the message. Our habits and natures are ingrained. I believe the generation behind us will begin to reap the fruit of this growth much more than we will. I find it exciting to be at the beginning of the wave.

[Anonymous]

Old-Timer wrote:

We sometimes forget that many of the leaders of the past (even the recent past) were born and raised in a church and culture isolated from the rest of the world. That is no longer true of most of the leaders being called now and over the past few years. As more apostles are called from my generation, and that will start happening very soon, they will bring the kind of understanding Pres. Uchtdorf has as more of a natural transition in leadership.

That’s why I am more hopeful than pessimistic. I see the pool from which the new leadership will be called and recognize that their own upbringing simply is different in many important ways than those who are calling them.

I really hope we have a LatAm Apostle soon. It would be a big moment.

My daughter asked the other day: “why are all the apostles white? Are there any from Africa or China?”

We went on LDS.org and managed to find about 15 or so non-American GAs (I had to convince her that South American really was different to American).

[Anonymous]

If you count the multiple quorums of the seventy, there are more non-US-American General Authorities than most people realize.

I find it interesting how many people want a Hispanic apostle (including me) but how few of them realize most Hispanics are religiously more conservative than most Americans, due largely to the influence of the Catholic Church in most Hispanic countries. I just hope the more liberal members who are most vocal in their calls for that type of diversity will accept it even if it comes through the calling of someone who is more conservative than they want.

It could go either way, but it will be interesting to watch if it turns out as I suspect it might.

[Anonymous]

Old-Timer wrote:

If you count the multiple quorums of the seventy, there are more non-US-American General Authorities than most people realize.

I find it interesting how many people want a Hispanic apostle (including me) but how few of them realize most Hispanics are religiously more conservative than most Americans, due largely to the influence of the Catholic Church in most Hispanic countries. I just hope the more liberal members who are most vocal in their calls for that type of diversity will accept it even if it comes through the calling of someone who is more conservative than they want.

It could go either way, but it will be interesting to watch if it turns out as I suspect it might.

Elder Costa and the 14 Fundamentals of the Prophet anyone?

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