247.2: Apostasy (D&C Gospel Doctrine Lesson 24)

“Be Not Deceived, but Continue in Steadfastness”

Hook / Can we be deceived about deception? Can we ourselves fall away in treating those we consider apostate? That would be ironic, wouldn’t it. This lesson is a good “be challenged by the scriptures” opportunity. Good stuff here.
Goal / If we can get beyond the automatic discussion paths and actually engage with what these scriptures say, we will be doing well. That is always the task right? Specifically, they invite us to test everything by fruits, looking for goodness. We are told to be humble, open, and to love and serve others. These principles will both keep us from deception and apostasy and guide our interactions with those on different paths than our own.
Overview / · What do we mean by “deception” and “apostasy”?
· The role of boundaries in communities
· Go through assigned reading—lots of helpful principles here worth discussing. Plenty for a Sunday School class.
· Self deception
· Integrity, hypocrites, and sheepish wolves
· Discerning truth (quotes)
· Doubt, questioning, and apostasy
· Leaving Church, God, and gospel. What is the relationship?
· What we can learn from people leaving religion
· Loving and engaging with those “standing apart”
Conclusion / ·

Self Deception: Dan Ariely has some important research on this. The short of it is that we cheat and lie as much as we can get away with—but not just what we can get away with without anyone else knowing, but what we *allow ourselves* to get away with. There is a “fudge factor”—the distance between what advantage we can get from dishonesty and being able to face ourselves in the mirror and feel like a good person. This is why accountability and checks are so important.

Discerning Truth:

President Uchtdorf, CES Fireside, 2013

That someone could make a judgment based on one aspect of truth and apply it to the whole seems absurd or even unbelievable. On the other hand, can’t we recognize ourselves in these six blind men? Have we ever been guilty of the same pattern of thought?

I suppose the reason this story has remained so popular in so many cultures and over so many years is because of its universal application. The Apostle Paul said that in this world the light is dim and we see only part of the truth as though we are looking “through a glass, darkly.”2 And yet it seems to be part of our nature as human beings to make assumptions about people, politics, and piety based on our incomplete and often misleading experience….

So often the “truths” we tell ourselves are merely fragments of the truth, and sometimes they’re not really the truth at all.

Now, never in the history of the world have we had easier access to more information—some of it true, some of it false, and much of it partially true.

Consequently, never in the history of the world has it been more important to learn how to correctly discern between truth and error.

The “truths” we cling to shape the quality of our societies as well as our individual characters. All too often these “truths” are based on incomplete and inaccurate evidence, and at times they serve very selfish motives.

Part of the reason for poor judgment comes from the tendency of mankind to blur the line between belief and truth. We too often confuse belief with truth, thinking that because something makes sense or is convenient, it must be true. Conversely, we sometimes don’t believe truth or reject it—because it would require us to change or admit that we were wrong. Often, truth is rejected because it doesn’t appear to be consistent with previous experiences.

When the opinions or “truths” of others contradict our own, instead of considering the possibility that there could be information that might be helpful and augment or complement what we know, we often jump to conclusions or make assumptions that the other person is misinformed, mentally challenged, or even intentionally trying to deceive.

Unfortunately, this tendency can spread to all areas of our lives—from sports to family relationships and from religion to politics.

The thing about truth is that it exists beyond belief. It is true even if nobody believes it.

We can say west is north and north is west all day long and even believe it with all our heart, but if, for example, we want to fly from Quito, Ecuador, to New York City in the United States, there is only one direction that will lead us there, and that is north—west just won’t do.

Of course, this is just a simple aviation analogy. However, there is indeed such a thing as absolute truth—unassailable, unchangeable truth.

This truth is different from belief. It is different from hope. Absolute truth is not dependent upon public opinion or popularity. Polls cannot sway it. Not even the inexhaustible authority of celebrity endorsement can change it.

So how can we find truth?

I believe that our Father in Heaven is pleased with His children when they use their talents and mental faculties to earnestly discover truth. Over the centuries many wise men and women—through logic, reason, scientific inquiry, and, yes, through inspiration—have discovered truth. These discoveries have enriched mankind, improved our lives, and inspired joy, wonder, and awe.

We simply don’t know all things—we can’t see everything. What may seem contradictory now may be perfectly understandable as we search for and receive more trustworthy information. Because we see through a glass darkly, we have to trust the Lord, who sees all things clearly.

The invitation to trust the Lord does not relieve us from the responsibility to know for ourselves. This is more than an opportunity; it is an obligation—and it is one of the reasons we were sent to this earth.

Just think about it. You actually have a powerful companion and trustworthy guide in this ongoing search for truth. Who is it? It is the Holy Ghost. Our Heavenly Father knew how difficult it would be for us to sift through all the competing noise and discover truth during our mortality. He knew we would see only a portion of the truth, and He knew that Satan would try to deceive us. So He gave us the heavenly gift of the Holy Ghost to illuminate our minds, teach us, and testify to us of the truth. (http://www.lds.org/broadcasts/article/print/ces-devotionals/2013/01/what-is-truth?lang=eng)

Talk about integrity. There are two levels of integrity

1) Being honest about where you are, what you do etc (like the honest thief)

2) Being true to your best self, or at least be striving to close the gap

* we need to acknowledge that claiming the title “apostate” and calling someone else “apostate” is an exercise in group boundaries. The label functions to set apart you from them, to say “You are no longer part of the group you once were”. And this is important. It has its place. Groups need their boundaries, just as cells do.

1) Talk about integrity to gospel principles, and the possibility of falling away from that (so more or less straightforward, but more thoughtful approach)

2) I don't agree with all of this, but I do think there is something to be said about being seduced by our gifts: https://byustudies.byu.edu/dailyfeature.aspx?feature=381&utm_source=BYU+Studies&utm_campaign=f75ebfbc22-RSS_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_e4342d96b2-f75ebfbc22-64390865

3) Tease out a bit the distinction between being true to or falling away from God/gospel/Church (Can people leave the Church and not be apostate? Yes, no, and it depends)

4) Lightly touch on how people can feel pushed away from the Church (this would need to be handled carefully)

5) I really want to drive home the importance of loving and accepting people on different paths (which is a message for those on all sides) This will include addressing "apostate" as an alienating label.

NPR, Losing our religion

“The God we present is bankrupt, or theologically thin” (when leaders don’t speak to social issues brought up in the scriptures such as immigration and caring for the poor)

Young people seek those who not necessarily agree with them, but who are authentic

“The most transformative thing is for someone to know they are heard, on a very deep level”

Elder Holland

The size of your faith or the degree of your knowledge is not the issue—it is the integrity you demonstrate toward the faith you do have and the truth you already know…When problems come and questions arise, do not start your quest for faith by saying how much you do not have, leading as it were with your “unbelief.”… Let me be clear on this point: I am not asking you to pretend to faith you do not have. I am asking you to be true to the faith you do have. Sometimes we act as if an honest declaration of doubt is a higher manifestation of moral courage than is an honest declaration of faith. It is not! So let us all remember the clear message of this scriptural account: Be as candid about your questions as you need to be; life is full of them on one subject or another. But if you and your family want to be healed, don’t let those questions stand in the way of faith working its miracle.