Maxwell Moments: September 5, 2004

In continuing tribute to the late Elder Neal A. Maxwell:

In a setting of irreligion or vague religion, both of which abound in our contemporary culture, not only to certify Jesus' actuality but also to write of His personality constitutes marked counterpoint.

In a permissive society that is increasingly unconcerned with virtue, it is even more unusual to testify in apostolic affirmation of the clear requirement that the Father and Jesus have undeniably laid upon us mortals: to strive, individually, to become like them.

In the scriptures, however, we encounter truths and requirements that are at the center of personal, global, and "eternal purpose . . . in Christ Jesus." fn Therefore, this deliberate, divine seriousness underlies not only our need to worship God, but also to know what we worship. Jesus declared this in a telling conversation with a woman of Samaria: "Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship."

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Passive acknowledgment of an aimless and diluted deity does little to improve the human condition. And militant followership of tribal deity who issues no equivalent of the second commandment is dangerous. But sincere followership of the living God—who urges us to be like Him in love, justice, kindness, mercy, and purity—can redeem both the individual and mankind. Understanding what we worship is, thus, no trivial theological point—it is purpose itself!

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Regarding eternal purpose, the words in this book are designed to help us to "be of good cheer," lest we be numbered among those whose hearts fail them in the last days. fn Some of the current causes for despair and discouragement should be no mystery: skepticism about the historicity of Jesus; the mistaken view that a value-free society is free; schools that lack moral content; family Bibles that go unread; and fewer and fewer families that are intact and nourishing, and so forth. Alas, when the hopes of humans are riddled and blasted, it is usually when mortals assume that familiar formation: the circular firing squad.

Unsurprisingly, this decline in true religion has occurred at the same time as the rise in behavioral permissiveness. Such permissiveness has not been generated solely by the people; often it has been promoted by those who pretend to be religious leaders but who are consumed with other causes. To them, our crucial task of developing the divine attributes is regarded as out of reach or as a diversion. fn Why be concerned with developing one's mercy when there is a corrupt government to be toppled? Why worry over containing sexual hunger within the bounds of chastity and fidelity when there is so much other hunger in the world?

Neal A. Maxwell, Even As I Am [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1982], pg 1-5.)