The Ultimate Conceit

When I was younger, in my twenties and thirties, and even when I was serving as a bishop, I believed that only the people of the LDS church were righteous. I was sure that the Lord did not care about those that did not embrace the gospel. I was convinced that he did not answer prayers except for those who were members in good standing of the Church. I really thought that prayers were answered in direct relation to one’s standing in the Church.



How foolish I was! How smug I was. What colossal arrogance I held in my heart. I am glad that these were private thoughts – I never expressed them openly to anyone until now. I have repented of my attitude. I now understand that the Lord loves all of us and is concerned about each one of us. Many things influenced me to change my mind. In 2 Nephi 30:1, Nephi tells his brother and others of the family:

And now behold, my beloved brethren, I would speak unto you; for I, Nephi, would not suffer that ye should suppose that ye are more righteous than the Gentiles shall be…

James says nothing about the righteous man being a member of the true church before his prayers can be answered; in James 5:16 we are told:

…Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.

Cornelius the Centurion, the first gentile convert to the ancient church, was both a Roman and a soldier, a leader in the Roman army. In spite of those possibly distracting surroundings he was a righteous man. Acts 10:1-4 explains:

There was a certain man in Caesarea called Cornelius, a centurion of the band called the Italian band, A devout man, and one that feared God with all his house, which gave much alms to the people, and prayed to God alway. He saw in a vision evidently about the ninth hour of the day an angel of God coming in to him, and saying unto him, Cornelius. And when he looked on him, he was afraid, and said, What is it, Lord? And he said unto him, Thy prayers and thine alms are come up for a memorial before God.

So Cornelius’ prayers were heard and answered by the Lord. He was given a vision – an angel spoke to him and told him that his prayers were heard. Franklin S. Harris, Jr., in The Book of Mormon: Message and Evidences, said this:

For any people to believe that it is the only people in whom God is interested, or helps, or that we have special merit because of our color, race, country or beliefs, that is, that we are inherently superior and loved by God without regard to the lives we live is one of the great fallacies and barriers to peace. This is a fallacy whether in an exploded myth of an Aryan race of supermen, or disguised in more subtle form in our own consciousness. We must not be guilty of such a fallacy.

The scriptures are absolutely stuffed with evidences of the universal love of God for all people. We are told by the Savior that: I remember those who are upon the isles of the sea… even upon all the nations of the earth (2 Nephi 29:7), and that they will be gathered from the Isles of the sea and from the four parts of the earth (3NE 10:8). In John 10-16, 3 Nephi 15:17, and in D&C 10:59 the Lord speaks of his other children (John 10:16):

And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd.

The Savior bears testimony to us of his love for all men in John 13:34-35:

A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.

Paul acknowledges the Savior’s commitment to all men in his first epistle to Timothy in 1 Timothy 2:3:

For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour; Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.

I would br remiss if I did not quote perhaps the most quoted scripture in the Church as found in James 1:5:

If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.

Jacob enlightens us concerning the universal application of the atonement in 2 Nephi 9:5

…for it behooveth the great Creator that he suffereth himself to become subject unto man in the flesh, and die for all men, that all men might become subject unto him.

And because of His infinite atonement he claims the right to stand in judgment of all men. Alma, as part of the explanation of his own repentance and conversion, says in Mosiah 27:31:

Yea, every knee shall bow, and every tongue confess before him. Yea, even at the last day, when all men shall stand to be judged of him, then shall they confess that he is God…

Paul says again in 1 Timothy 4:10, …we trust in the living God, who is the Saviour of all men… And in 2 Timothy 2:24, he instructs us as to our own conduct:

And the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient, In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves…

So don’t be pushy. Pushing the gospel on another of God’s children because we perceive that by doing so, we are helping to save a lost soul is, according to Paul, the wrong approach. No soul is lost to the Lord. He knows every one of us. If by some miracle, we ran into him on the street (I hope that’s not sacrilegious), as did the woman at the well,  He could shake your hand, call you by name, tell you your innermost thoughts and desires, and express his eternal love for you. It wouldn’t matter if you were prophet,  pope, pauper, Christian, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, sinner, saint, athiest, agnostic, or none of these.

Be patient. Teach by example. I really like the fish symbol we often see on the trunk of a car (I didn’t like it when I was younger). The people who place it there are silently witnessing that the Savior is a fisher of men. Those of us who are fishermen of fish know that patience is required – few fish are caught by repeatedly yanking the line out of the water – fly fishermen excepted – but even they must patiently cast repeatedly to the same spot to actually catch fish.

Be meek. My own arrogance is a perfect example. I am sure that even though I never expressed it, my attitude must have showed in my dealings with others, both religious and secular. Humbleness is a trait to be cultivated daily. Let’s give the Savior the last word (Matthew 22:35-40):

Then one of them, which was a lawyer, asked him a question, tempting him, and saying, 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. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.

The Savior defined the reach of the concept of “my neighbor” in Luke 10:29-37:

But he [the lawyer], willing to justify himself, said unto Jesus, And who is my neighbour? And Jesus answering said, A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, which stripped him of his raiment, and wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead. And by chance there came down a certain priest that way: and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. And likewise a Levite, when he was at the place, came and looked on him, and passed by on the other side. But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was: and when he saw him, he had compassion on him, And went to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him. And on the morrow when he departed, he took out two pence, and gave them to the host, and said unto him, Take care of him; and whatsoever thou spendest more, when I come again, I will repay thee. Which now of these three, thinkest thou, was neighbour unto him that fell among the thieves?


And he [the lawyer] said, He that shewed mercy on him. Then said Jesus unto him, Go, and do thou likewise.