1987
Back to the Fold
May 1987


“Back to the Fold,” Tambuli, May 1987, 33

Back to the Fold

In the Church News of 22 December 1985, the First Presidency issued a special invitation for all who are inactive, or who have been disfellowshipped or excommunicated, to return to activity in the Church. This invitation is intended to bring greater joy to all members of the Church, for the only way a member of the Church can be truly happy is by keeping the commandments. The Lord said, “If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them.” (John 13:17.)

The Lord expects all of us to try to help those who are away from Church fellowship for any reason. Reactivation is one of the most significant problems facing the Church in this dispensation and in every other dispensation.

The three witnesses to the Book of Mormon were actually shown the plates by an angel of God, and they heard the voice of God commanding them to bear record of what they had seen and heard. Yet even after these testimony-building experiences each one became offended and disaffected and apostatized from the Church. Two later came back. Of the original twelve members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, seven apostatized and were excommunicated. Three came back into the Church through the waters of baptism and resumed activity in the Church. Four did not.

Apparently Jesus was concerned with this same problem at the very beginning of his ministry. In Luke 15 he describes three different ways that inactivity or nonparticipation comes about and suggests at least three different ways to bring about reactivation.

This is the theme of three parables: (1) the lost sheep (Luke 15:4–7), (2) the lost coin (Luke 15:8–10), and (3) the prodigal son (Luke 15:11–32).

The Lost Sheep

In the parable of the lost sheep it appears that the sheep got lost because he wandered away. He probably didn’t intend to get lost but became distracted and did not pay attention to where he was going. How do you get a lost sheep back into the fold? You go out and find him, turn him around, and bring him back into the fold. Usually the sheep is so glad to be back safe in the fold that he runs and jumps for joy.

The Lost Coin

In the parable of the lost coin, the coin was lost because of the neglect of the owner. It is the owner’s responsibility when he recognizes what he has done to search diligently until he finds that which was lost.

I know of an instance where a young Latter-day Saint father, following a tradition in the United States, bought a box of cigars to give away to announce the birth of his first child. Naively he offered a cigar to the bishop. The bishop crumpled up the cigar and threw it into the trash in front of the father. This thoughtless act so offended the new father that he never came back to church. In fact, he has raised his entire family of children and grandchildren outside the Church.

In my opinion, the bishop was partially responsible for the loss of this soul and should have searched until he had found this “coin” and returned it. If he had immediately apologized for his thoughtless act, the new father probably would have returned and could have even been made stronger than before.

This parable teaches us that when we offend another, we have the responsibility to make it right or search until we find that which was lost.

The Prodigal Son

In the third parable of activation, the young son got lost because he wanted to get lost. He didn’t wander away; nor was he lost because of the neglect of his father. He planned his departure, and he probably could not have been easily convinced to return. Often such people do not come back until they bring upon themselves great suffering as the result of their transgressions. In the parable, the son decided to return when he “came to himself,” when his sufferings brought him to a realization of what he had done.

In such a situation, our responsibility is to be there, ever ready to accept the returning person back into the fold and make the return as easy as possible. We must not stand by without charity, insisting that every last farthing be exacted as payment for the privilege of repenting.

When the father in the parable saw his young son coming while “yet a great way off,” he could have suspected that the boy was coming back for more money. Yet the father ran to his son and fell on his neck and kissed him. The absence of condemnation is so completely manifest in this simple act. We desperately need to display charity for each other. This our eternal Father so vividly demonstrates to us in his eternal forgiveness, where his arm is stretched out to us all the day long. He has promised, “Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.” (Isa. 1:18.)

Some have assumed that the older, faithful son was in a much better situation than the younger prodigal because the father said to him “all that I have is thine.” However, his attitude is not charitable, and without charity we “are nothing.” (See Moro. 7:46.) I do not believe this parable was given by the Master to show the relative merits of these two sons. They both leave much to be desired. I believe this parable was given primarily to show the goodness of the Father, without which we are all lost.

I hope the account in Luke is not the full story. I would hope the older son would say to his father something like, “Father, let’s divide your possessions again and give my younger brother a share once more.” The father then might say, “My son, let’s kill another calf—this time for you, because now you also are alive again.”

The Greatest of All

Yes, charity, “the pure love of Christ,” is the greatest of all and it “never faileth” but “endureth forever; and whoso is found possessed of it at the last day, it shall be well with him.” (See Moro. 7:46–47.)

The greatest charity we can give is to withhold judgment of our brothers and sisters. Only then can we reach out and bring them back into activity in the Church.

In the words of James, “Brethren, if any of you do err from the truth, and one convert him; Let him know, that he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way, shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins.” (James 5:19–20.)

Part of the multitude of sins that are hidden will be our own. All of us could benefit from that blessing at the Last Day.