No Other Gods

INTRODUCTION (experience)

SAY:  The talks assigned to me for teaching for our times are Elder Oakes, No Other Gods, and Elder Cook’s, Lamentations of Jeremiah: Beware of Bondage

WRITE: "No Other Gods", "Beware of Bondage"
to begin, quote the last quote of Elder Cook's talk.

SAY: When I started working on the lesson, I commented to myself, I am sure glad this lesson doesn't apply to me!  I don't prioritize things ahead of God.  I'm not in bondage.  As I read the lesson, I realized that I erred in my thinking.

I was reminded of many verses in the Book of Mormon.  Alma had to wade through much affliction and sorrow with the saints in Zarahemla.  He says this to saints in Gideon:

Alma 7:6 But behold, I trust that ye are not in a state of so much unbelief as were your brethren; I trust that ye are not lifted up in the pride of your hearts; yea, I trust that ye have not set your hearts upon riches and the vain things of the world; yea, I trust that you do not worship idols, but that ye do worship the true and the living God, and that ye look forward for the remission of your sins, with an everlasting faith, which is to come.

There's a battle in each one of us. The natural man vs. our spiritual natures. How do we measure how Christ-like we are?  How do I make sure that I am not just smug in my perceived discipleship?

The Book of Mormon shows us the spectrum of discipleship with the church.

LEARNER READINESS

Oakes’ Caption: Are we serving priorities or gods ahead of the God we profess to worship?

Cook’s Caption: Our challenge is to avoid bondage of any kind, help the Lord gather His elect, and sacrifice for the rising generation.

SAY:  The purpose of this lesson is find ways to avoid bondage of all kinds and to serve the true and living God.

SAY:  Elder Oakes lists all sorts of false Gods (or priorities) and then says this: "If none of these examples seems to apply to any one of us, we can probably suggest others that do. The principle is more important than individual examples. The principle is not whether we have other priorities. The question posed by the second commandment is “What is our ultimate priority?” Are we serving priorities or gods ahead of the God we profess to worship? Have we forgotten to follow the Savior who taught that if we love Him, we will keep His commandments? (seeJohn 14:15). If so, our priorities have been turned upside down by the spiritual apathy and undisciplined appetites so common in our day.

Oaks non-comprehensive list was: Cultural and family traditions, Political correctness, Career aspirations, Material possessions, Recreational pursuits, Power, prominence, and prestige

LEARNER INVOLVEMENT

READ Elder Cook

READING A

Turning from the worship of the true and living God and worshipping false gods like wealth and fame and engaging in immoral and unrighteous conduct result in bondage in all its insidious manifestations. These include spiritual, physical, and intellectual bondage and sometimes bring destruction.

Q: According to Elder Cook, what kinds of bondage are there?

WRITE: “BONDAGE,  spiritual, physical, and intellectual”

READ Elder Cook Quotation

READING B

God intended that men and women would be free to make choices between good and evil. When evil choices become the dominant characteristic of a culture or nation, there are serious consequences both in this life and the life to come. People can become enslaved or put themselves in bondage not only to harmful, addictive substances but also to harmful, addictive philosophies that detract from righteous living.

Q: According to what we just read, what can we become addicted to?

WRITE: “Enslaved – addictive substances, addictive philosophies”

SAY: Elder Cook reviews various kinds of bondage that are equally destructive.  Let’s read the first kind of bondage.

READ Elder Cook Quotation

READING C

First, addictions that impair agency, contradict moral beliefs, and destroy good health cause bondage. The impact of drugs and alcohol, immorality, pornography, gambling, financial subjugation, and other afflictions imposes on those in bondage and on society a burden of such magnitude that it is almost impossible to quantify.

Q: What kind of bondage is Elder Cook talking about here?

WRITE : 1. Addictions

READ Elder Cook Quotation

READING D

Second, some addictions or predilections, while not inherently evil, can use up our precious allotment of time which could otherwise be used to accomplish virtuous objectives. These can include excessive use of social media, video and digital games, sports, recreation, and many others.  How we preserve time for family is one of the most significant issues we face in most cultures. 

Q: What kind of addiction or bondage is Elder Cook discussing here?

WRITE: 2 TIME WASTERS

Q: How we use our time be considered a form of bondage?  [good, better, best]

SAY: I have switched #4 and #3 (SKIP if necessary)

READING E

Fourth, forces that violate sincerely held religious principles can result in bondage. One of the most invidious forms is when righteous people who feel accountable to God for their conduct are forced into activities that violate their conscience—for example, health providers forced to choose between assisting with abortions against their consciences or losing their jobs.

WRITE: Forces the Violate Conscience

READ Elder Cook Quotation

READING F

Third, the most universal subjugation in our day, as it has been throughout history, is ideology or political beliefs that are inconsistent with the gospel of Jesus Christ. Substituting the philosophies of men for gospel truth can lead us away from the simplicity of the Savior’s message. When the Apostle Paul visited Athens, he tried to teach of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. Of this effort we read in Acts, “For all the Athenians and strangers which were there spent their time in nothing else, but either to tell, or to hear some new thing.” When the crowd realized the simple religious nature of Paul’s message, which was not new, they rejected it.

Q: What kind of bondage is Elder Cook speaking of here?

WRITE: 3 Substituted Philosophies / Intellectual Bondage

READ Elder Cook Quotation

READING G

This is emblematic of our own day, where gospel truths are often rejected or distorted to make them intellectually more appealing or compatible with current cultural trends and intellectual philosophies. If we are not careful, we can be captured by these trends and place ourselves in intellectual bondage.

WRITE "Captured"

Q: What do think Elder Cook means that we can become captured by intellectual philosphies, thus, going into intellectual bondage?

"God loves me no matter what I do",  "Jesus love my tatoos", " All religions are basically the same",  "There's really no such thing as truth", It's like God doesn't have an opinion or a preference.

Q: What is intellectual bondage? [Rejecting true principles replacing them with other ideologies]
Q: What is spiritual bondage?  [Getting caught up in sin and believing you are just fine]

LEARNER APPLICATION

SAY, Elder Oakes said, " that our beliefs compel us to some different choices and behaviors than theirs [the choice and behaviors of the world].

Q: What are we compelled to do?

READ Elder Oaks Quotation

READING H (Oaks)

A teaching of President Thomas S. Monson applies to this circumstance. At this conference 27 years ago, he boldly declared: “Let us have the courage to defy the consensus, the courage to stand for principle. Courage, not compromise, brings the smile of God’s approval. Courage becomes a living and an attractive virtue when it is regarded not only as a willingness to die manfully, but as the determination to live decently. A moral coward is one who is afraid to do what he thinks is right because others will disapprove or laugh. Remember that all men have their fears, but those who face their fears with dignity have courage as well.”

Q: Since we all have our false gods causing a level of bondage within us all, how do we change?  What do we do increase our discipleship?

Alma 7:23

READ Elder Cook Quotation

READING I

Our primary emphasis, however, should always be to make any necessary sacrifices to protect our own family and the rising generation. The vast majority of them are not yet in bondage to serious addictions or false ideologies. We must help inoculate them from a world that sounds a lot like the Jerusalem that Lehi and Jeremiah experienced. In addition, we need to prepare them to make and keep sacred covenants and to be the principal emissaries to help the Lord establish His Church and gather scattered Israel and the Lord’s elect everywhere. As the Doctrine and Covenants beautifully reads, “The righteous shall be gathered out from among all nations, and shall come to Zion, singing with songs of everlasting joy.”

READ Elder Cook Quotation

READING J

Our challenge is to avoid bondage of any kind, help the Lord gather His elect, and sacrifice for the rising generation. We must always remember that we do not save ourselves. We are liberated by the love, grace, and atoning sacrifice of the Savior. When Lehi’s family fled, they were led by the Lord’s light. If we are true to His light, follow His commandments, and rely on His merits, we will avoid spiritual, physical, and intellectual bondage as well as the lamentation of wandering in our own wilderness, for He is mighty to save.

CONCLUSION

In conclusion I will read Elder Oaks' concluding remarks:

We who know God’s plan for His children—we who have made covenants to participate in it—have a clear responsibility. We must never deviate from our paramount desire, which is to achieve eternal life. We must never dilute our first priority—to have no other gods and to serve no other priorities ahead of God the Father and His Son, our Savior, Jesus Christ.