| Question |
I am troubled by two things. One, there is a man in my office who is also a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He is an absolute
tyrant, very hard to work for and just last week fired someone unfairly. He talks of being strong in his faith, but acting
like that, how can he hold a temple recommend? Two, I have a friend who holds a temple recommend but he drinks about six
cups of coffee a day. I also hold a temple recommend. Obviously, he is lying when he is being interviewed for that
recommend. Since I know he has a coffee habit, should I say anything to anyone or is it better to stay quiet? I haven't
told a soul.
|
| Response |
As to your first question, concerning the man in your office who is a tyrant and is hard to work for, it is an
unfortunate and sad truth that "many are called but few are chosen. And the reason they are not chosen is that their
hearts are set so much upon the things of this world . .
.".
Since I don't know this man, it is difficult for me to know exactly
why he acts the way he does. I have tried to pattern my life after
two or three different scriptures that I would share with you now. The first is found in:
3 Nephi 27:27, the essence of
which the Lord says, " . . . Therefore, what manner of men ought ye to be? Verily, I say unto you, even as I am."
The
next scripture is found in D&C 121:41-42,
"No power or influence can or ought to be maintained by virtue of the priesthood
only by persuasion, by long suffering, by gentleness and meekness and by love unfeigned. By kindness and pure knowledge
which shall greatly enlarge the soul, without hypocrisy and without guile." And the last one is found in:
Moroni 7:45-47,
which says, "And charity suffereth long and is kind and envieth not and is not puffed up, seeketh not her own, is not
easily provoked, thinketh no evil and rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth, beareth all things, believeth
all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. Wherefore, my beloved brethren,
if ye have not charity ye are nothing, for charity never faileth.
Wherefore, cleave unto charity which is the greatest of all, for all things must fail, but charity is the pure love of
Christ and it endureth forever and whoso is found possessed of it at the last day it shall be well with him."
It is possible that this man does not know those scriptures or he knows them and has forgotten them, or he has read them
and somehow doesn't think that they apply to him, or he has not studied them at all. I cannot speak for him, but the best
thing that you and I can do is to live such exemplary lives that others will not be offended because of our actions nor
question the Church itself because of our actions. It is a terribly sad truth that many members of the Church,
(because we are all imperfect) stumble over these things and are unaware that their bad example is speaking volumes and
causing others to question even the Church itself.
As to your second question concerning the man who drinks coffee but who holds a temple recommend, much of what I have said
above might also apply to him as far as his example is concerned. You and I both know that when we go to the temple we
make a covenant in the temple that we will live the word of wisdom. The Lord will not be mocked on those matters and he
will hold his children accountable who casually disregard not only his commandments, but the covenants that they make with
him. He hurts no one but himself when he is casual about these covenants, unless we allow him to deny and destroy our own
testimony or our own covenant keeping by following his unworthy example.
At this point, my opinion would be to not say anything to anybody about what you know concerning him. Keep your own
covenants, and be faithful. The Lord will bless you and the Lord will have a way of bringing these other sad truths
regarding worthiness on his part to light through his priesthood leaders.
Thanks for your faithfulness. I hope this helps.
Sincerely,
Donny Osmond
See related multimedia presentations
|
