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“A dangerous weapon in the hands of a zealot.”
“A psychologically damaging book.”
“A better title for this book might be ‘It’s a Miracle Jesus Even Likes You’.”
These are excerpts from reviews for a particularly infamous book. It is one for which the controversy precedes it, and by association, unfortunately damages feelings toward both The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and the author who later served as a president of said church.
I speak of The Miracle of Forgiveness by Spencer W. Kimball.
This book is one I’ve had personal experience with many years ago, and very damagingly so. I don’t wish to delve too deep at this time, but know that the book did tremendous harm to my spirit and testimony. This affected me for many years, and indeed did until only recently, when I reread the text (partly).
I can’t express all my thoughts here, but the overwhelming feeling I had is that the book served the purpose it needed to then, and for some very rare cases, it will serve a needed purpose today. It is a tool to be used in very specific circumstances, and only with great care, lest significant damage be recklessly caused (which sadly, it has for many people).
Fortunately, I’ve since read many wonderful and hopeful books, which have helped greatly to heal the damage done, as well as strengthen my relationship with The Savior. I’ll discuss some of these books in a later post, but for now, just know the past week started me thinking about how we present gospel truths.
As a trusted figure in my life likes to say, “Presentation is everything.”
Truth In Two Parts
In the summer of 1985, then-Elder Russell M. Nelson gave a BYU devotional titled “Truth…and More”. While focused on the concept of truth—a topic even more relevant today than when given—he gave an interesting look into the value of presenting truth properly and with care.
“Truth, like justice, can be harsh and unforgiving when not tempered by mercy….Truth is a powerful sword. It can be guided well to bless, but it can also be crudely applied to wound or even destroy!…”1
I was thinking on this recently while watching a video covering a semi-recent controversy surrounding a Scripture Central short, featuring Elder Lawrence Corbridge, titled “Will you stay?”. The quote here was featured in part, as well as a broader discussion surrounding the opposing feelings viewers had towards the original video.
Having seen the Scripture Central short, I feel that while Elder Corbridge may have said things imperfectly, they’re still true.
He didn’t state that the people in our faith are perfect, and he didn’t state that we just ignore those who are leaving and think they didn’t have the strength to stick with it. But he did say that what matters most is whether this really is Christ’s church restored on the Earth today.
If so, he says, “You will stay.” Not because you feel forced to, not because you’re some dog trained to wait for their master, but because you want to come closer to Jesus Christ.
Okay, so “the Gospel is perfect, the people aren’t” and all. That’s not controversial. So why did this stir things up so much?
I’d argue it was the presentation.
Like with The Miracle of Forgiveness, we have someone delivering a message of truth, but it’s spoken in such a way that it divides the people. Division over bold speakers is nothing new, mind you—I’d remind you that the most prominent and bold speaker to ever live was crucified for it, and we very much rightly worship Him.
However, there is still a principle of balancing truth with mercy. Why is that so hard in these two cases?
A Unique Perspective, Every One
One of the greatest beauties about us as people and individuals is our uniqueness. The Lord didn’t create the earth devoid of anything wonderful or beautiful. Neither did He create us without uniqueness, including our talents, interests, weaknesses, and experiences.
However, with this uniqueness comes the flaw of perspective.
This needn’t inherently be a bad thing. The 15 men who make up The Twelve Apostles and First Presidency certainly don’t agree on everything off the bat. But when these men do come together as one, as President Nelson described, “the unifying influence of the Holy Ghost is spine-tingling!”2
However, returning to our book and video of the day, everyone has their own unique background and perspective they bring to the table when viewing, listening to, or reading anything. This is in spite of the fact that the book (or video) is exactly the same for each person.
I think it’s a fairly uncontroversial stance to say that the approach one takes in talking to a rowdy and rebellious teenager would be different to that of a loving and gentle one. These are two very different situations, with very different needs to be addressed.
Now with a book or video, expand that audience from two teenagers you know and love, to however many hundreds of thousands or millions of people you’ve never met, who all consume your content. You can’t possibly respond to everyone individually. And there’s only one person who can: Christ.
He can individualize any message for us through His Spirit, emphasizing what we most need to hear at that moment. He is the great healer, comforter, and teacher—and He does His job perfectly.
The True Speaker Behind The Words
Unfortunately, there will still be faults and flaws in our words, as well as unforeseen ways people will react.
Regarding the book from earlier, consider this:
“The book’s tone, tougher than Spencer’s in-person counseling, reflected his belief that people rationalize sin too quickly and consider repentance easy,” writes the Mormon leader’s son, Edward L. Kimball’s in a popular 2005 biography of his father, “Lengthen Your Stride: The Presidency of Spencer W. Kimball.”
In 1977, the Mormon leader said to Lyle Ward, his neighbor, “Sometimes I think I might have been a little too strong about some of the things I wrote in that book.”3
Now I’m aware that for many, the sentiment of him being “a little too strong” will be met with a strong sense of either resentment or defense. Nothing I say will be sufficient to answer every concern or criticism, so understand this: I sustain President Kimball as a President of The Church. I don’t believe he was perfect, but I do firmly believe he was the man needed for the time, and there is much we can learn from him. His calling was foreordained, and he was qualified for the work.
Truthfully, it’s a shame to me that this book has stained so much perception of him. From what I’ve heard through personal anecdotes, he was a very pleasant man to be around.
Likewise, let me close on with something regarding the video with Elder Corbridge. I’ve actually had personal experience with the man in question—on two occasions, even.
The first was on my mission, where much like the video, he strongly stated something that roughly half the missionaries didn’t receive very well (it’s a long story).
Many years later in college, I would hear him speak again at a devotional in a small chapel. I had the opportunity to shake hands and talk with him briefly afterward, and what struck me was the difference in the man I thought I knew, and who he really was. I loved his message to begin with, but complementing it was a genuinely friendly man, someone happy to talk with me for a short time. It was a reminder to me then (and still now) that we rarely get the full picture of who a person is based only on a book or video.
Or in more scriptural words, “For now we see through a glass, darkly” (1 Corinthians 13:12).
This is but one reason why The Lord asks us to be slow to judge. There are certainly times and ways whereby we will exercise righteous judgement—and we must be willing to do so—but I would ask anyone who reads this to consider that there may be something we don’t know about the person we’re giving a side-eye to.
After all, “In the quiet heart is hidden sorrow that the eye can’t see” (Hymn 220, “Lord, I Would Follow Thee”).
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