Counsel to a bishop with a member insisting he can serve the Lord in his own way

11 December 2018

Bishop (Name),

Thank you for meeting with me last week. I enjoyed visiting with you and reviewing the wonderful things happening in your ward.

I was especially glad to hear you have a deep friendship and appreciation for Brother (Name), a good brother who has a great heart and apparently gives generously in so many ways outside of Church service.

I couldn’t help but think of him, though, as I read a paragraph from Elder Paul B. Pieper’s talk in October General Conference:

"In the process of taking the Savior’s name upon us, we must understand that the cause of Christ and of His Church are one and the same. They cannot be separated. Similarly, our personal discipleship to the Savior and active membership in His Church are also inseparable. If we falter in our commitment to one, our commitment to the other will be diminished, as surely as night follows day.”

There are so many who want to do it “my way.” They want to do good, but only if they can do it “their way.” 

That was at the heart of the tragic Cain-Abel incident. They both made offerings from the heart—Abel by the Lord’s way, Cain by his way. Except for the fact that Cain listened to Satan and murdered his brother, which undeniably are HUGE sins, you can’t help but wonder why the Lord was so intolerant, so unforgiving, so harsh on Cain…it started out as a free-will offering, something good. Some might say, “Cut him some slack, Cain was just trying to do right!" Modern revelation gives us the important insight that while on the outside Cain's offering appeared to be righteous—maybe even heart-felt—on the inside there was a heart of greed (Moses 5:33).

Whenever we insist on serving “my way,” it’s an indication that there is something deeper in our heart that needs addressing.

I recognize this is likely not the time to address this with (Name), but where you have such a good relationship with him, my hope is that some day you’ll be able to have a heart-to-heart with him and help him recognize “his way” to being a follower of the Savior will not only fall short but undermine his character and lead to him losing his family, “as surely as night follows day.”

I hope this helps in some way. Thank you for being close to (Name) when he doesn’t have time to allow very many others to be close to him.

President Lewis