Contend Not with Others

By President Gordon B. Hinckley

First Counselor in the First Presidency

The days of which our forebears spoke are upon us. These are days of prophecy fulfilled; and I am grateful to be alive and a part of this vibrant, marvelous work which is affecting for good so many people in so many parts of the world. This growth is not a victory of men; it is a manifestation of the power of God. I hope we shall never be proud or boastful concerning it. I pray that we shall ever be humble and grateful.

A most remarkable manifestation occurred on a spring morning in the year 1820 when the Father and the Son appeared to the boy Joseph Smith. All of the good we see in the Church today is the fruit of that remarkable visitation, a testimony of which has touched the hearts of millions in many lands. I add my own witness, given me by the Spirit, that the Prophet’s description of that marvelous event is true, that God the Eternal Father and the risen Lord Jesus Christ spoke with him on that occasion in a conversation as real and personal and intimate as our conversations today. I raise my voice in testimony that Joseph was a prophet, and that the work brought forth through his instrumentality is the work of God.

In 1845, less than a year after Joseph’s death, Parley P. Pratt wrote a summary of the Prophet’s work and a statement of our obligation to advance it. These words, poetic in their beauty, are as follows:

“He has organized the kingdom of God.—We will extend its dominion.

“He has restored the fulness of the Gospel.—We will spread it abroad.

“He has kindled up the dawn of a day of glory.—We will bring it to its greatest splendor.

“He was a ‘little one,’ and became a thousand.—We are a small one, and will become a strong nation.

“In short, he quarried the stone. … We will cause it to become a great mountain and fill the whole earth” (Millennial Star 5 [March 1845]: 151–52).

We are seeing the development of that dream. I hope we shall be true and faithful to the sacred trust given us to build this kingdom. Our efforts will not be without sorrow and setbacks. We may expect opposition, both determined and sophisticated. As the work grows, we may expect a strengthening of the efforts of the adversary against it. Our best defense is the quiet offense of allegiance to the teachings which have come to us from those whom we have sustained as prophets of God.

Joseph Smith gave us instruction pertinent to the situation in which we find ourselves. He said, “Go in all meekness, in sobriety, and teach Jesus Christ and him crucified; not to contend with others on account of their faith, or systems of religion, but pursue a steady course. This I delivered by way of commandment, and all who observe it not, will [bring] persecution on their heads, while those who do [obey this instruction] shall always be filled with the Holy Ghost; this I pronounced as a prophecy” (See History of the Church, 2:431).

I should like to take a few of the words of that statement as a theme: Contend not with others, but pursue a steady course.

We live in a day of shifting values, of changing standards, of misleading programs that blossom in the morning and die in the evening. We see this in government; we see it in public and private morality; we see it in the homes of the people; we see it in the churches; and we even see it among some of our own members who are led away by the misleading but clever arguments of men. Men everywhere seem to be groping as men in darkness, casting aside the traditions that were the strength of our society, yet unable to find a new star to guide them.

Many years ago I read a provocative article by the late Barbara Tuchman, a Pulitzer Prize-winning historian. Said she:

“When it comes to leaders we have, if anything, a super abundance ready and anxious to lead the population. They are scurrying around, collecting consensus, gathering as wide an acceptance as possible. But what they are not doing very notably is standing still and saying, ‘this is what I believe. This I will do and that I will not do. This is my code of behavior and that is outside of my code of behavior. This is excellent and that is trash.’ There is an absence of moral leadership in the sense of a general unwillingness to state standards. …

“Of all the problems that our poor … society has developed, the focal one, it seems to me, from which so much of our uneasiness and confusion derive is the absence of standards. We are too unsure of ourselves to assert our standards, to live and defend them, [and] if necessary in the case of persons who occupy positions of authority, to impose them. We seem to be afflicted by a widespread and destructive reluctance to state our support of or opposition to any values, moral, behavioral or esthetic.”

While standards of people in general may totter, we of the Church are without excuse if we drift in the same manner. We have standards—sure, tested, and effective. To the extent that we observe them, we shall go forward. To the extent that we neglect them, we shall hinder our own progress and bring embarrassment to the work of the Lord. These standards have come from him. Some of them may appear a little old fashioned in our society, but this does not make them less valid nor diminish the power of their application. The subtle reasoning of men, no matter how clever, no matter how plausible it may sound, cannot take away the declared wisdom of God.

A former stake patriarch once said something that I have not forgotten. He said: “God is not a celestial politician seeking our vote. Rather, God is to be found, and God is to obeyed.”

The satisfying thing is that obedience brings happiness; it brings peace; it brings growth—all of these to the individual, and one’s good example brings respect for the institution of which he or she is a part.

The Lord’s Standards

Our adherence to these divinely given standards need never be an offensive thing to those about us. We need not contend with them. But if we will pursue a steady course, our very example will become the most effective argument we could ever make in favor of the virtues of the cause with which we are associated.

The Lord has given us counsel and commandment on so many things that no member of this church ever needs to be undecided. He has established our guidelines concerning personal virtue, neighborliness, obedience to law, loyalty to government, observance of the Sabbath day, sobriety and abstinence from liquor and tobacco, the payment of tithes and offerings, the care of the poor, the cultivation of home and family, the sharing of the gospel, to mention only a few.

There does not need to be any argument or contention about any of them. If we will pursue a steady course in the implementation of our religion in our own lives, we shall build the kingdom of God more effectively than by any other means.

There may be those who will seek to tempt us away. There may be those who will try to harass us. We may be disparaged. We may be belittled. We may be attacked verbally. We may be ridiculed before the world. There are those, both in the Church and out, who would compel us to change our position on some matters, as if we had the right to illegally take upon ourselves the authority which belongs to God alone.

We have no desire to quarrel with others. We teach the gospel of peace. But we cannot forsake the word of the Lord as it has come to us through men whom we have sustained as prophets. We must stand and say, to quote again the words of Miss Tuchman: “This is what I believe. This I will do and that I will not do. This is my code of behavior and that is outside it.”

There may be times of discouragement and deep concern. There certainly will be days of decision in the lives of each of us. It has always been this way.

The Faith of Our Forebears

Every man and woman in this church knows something of the price paid by our forebears for their faith. I am reminded of this when I read the narrative of my wife’s grandmother. She tells of her childhood in Brighton, that delightful city on the south coast of England, where the soft, green hills of Sussex roll down to the sea. It was there that her family was baptized. Their conversion came naturally because the Spirit whispered in their hearts that it was true. But there were critical relatives and neighbors and even mobs to ridicule and arise anger in others against them. It took courage, that rare quality described as moral courage, to state their beliefs and to defend their beliefs, to be baptized and recognized as Mormons.

The family traveled to Liverpool, where with some nine hundred others they boarded the sailing vessel Horizon. As the wind caught the sails, they sang “Farewell, My Native Land, Farewell.”

After six weeks at sea—to cover the distance covered today by a jet plane in six hours—they landed at Boston, Massachusetts, and then traveled by steam train to Iowa City to get the equipment they needed. There they purchased two pairs of oxen, two cows, a wagon, and a tent. They were assigned to travel with and assist one of the handcart companies. At Iowa City, their youngest child, less than two years of age, suffering from exposure, died and was buried in a grave never again visited by a member of the family.

Now let me give you the actual words of this thirteen-year-old girl as I read a few lines from her story:

“We traveled from 24 to 40 kilometers a day … till we got to the Platte River. … We caught up with the handcart companies that day. We watched them cross the river. There were great lumps of ice floating down the river. It was bitter cold. The next morning there were fourteen dead. … We went back to camp and had our prayers, [and] … sang ‘Come, Come Ye Saints, No Toil Nor Labor Fear.’ I wondered what made my mother cry [that night]. … The next morning my little sister was born. It was the 23rd of September. We named her Edith. She lived six weeks and died. … [She was buried at the last crossing of the Sweetwater.]

“[We ran into heavy snow. I became lost in the snow.] My feet and legs were frozen. … The men rubbed me with snow. They put my feet in a bucket of water. The pain was terrible. …

“When we arrived at Devils Gate it was bitter cold. We left many of our things there. … My brother James … was as well as he ever was when he went to bed [that night]. In the morning he was dead. …

“My feet were frozen; also my [brother’s and my sister’s]. … It was nothing but snow [snow everywhere and the bitter Wyoming wind]. We could not drive the pegs in our tents. … We did not what would become of us. [Then] one night a man came to our camp and told us … Brigham Young had sent men and teams to help us. … We sang songs, some danced and some cried. … My mother had never got well. … She died between the Little and Big Mountains. … She 43 years of age. …

“We arrived in Salt lake City nine o’clock at night the 11th of December 1856. Three out of the four that were living were frozen. My mother was dead in the wagon. … Early next morning Brigham Young came. … When he saw our condition, our feet frozen and our mother dead, tears rolled down his cheeks. …

“The doctor amputated my toes … [while] the sisters were dressing mother for her grave. … When my feet were fixed they [carried] … us in to see our mother for the last time. Oh, how did we stand it? That afternoon she was buried. …

“I have thought often of my mother’s words before we left England. ‘Polly, I want to go to Zion while my children are small, so they can be raised in the Gospel of Christ, for I know this is the true church’” (Life of Mary Ann Goble Pay).

I conclude with this question: should we be surprised if we are called upon to endure a little criticism, to make some small sacrifice for our faith, when our forebears paid so great a price for theirs?

Without contention, without argument, without offense, let us pursue a steady course, moving forward to build the kingdom of god. If there is trouble, let us face it calmly. Let us overcome evil with good. This is God’s work. It will continue to strengthen over the earth, touching for good the lives of countless thousands whose hearts will respond to the message of truth. No power under heaven can stop it. This is my faith and this my testimony. God help us to be worthy of the great and sacred commission that is ours, thus to build his kingdom.

Ideas for Home Teachers

Some Points of Emphasis. You may wish to make these points in your home teaching discussion:

President Hinckley says that the growth of the Church is not a victory of men but a manifestation of the power of God. What do you think he meant by that statement?
Though the standards of the world constantly shift and change, we in the Church have eternal standards given us by the Lord. What are some examples of these standards?
Our best defense against the adversary is the quiet offense of allegiance to the teachings of the Lord’s prophets. How can we pursue a steady course without contending against others?
“There may be times of discouragement and deep concern,” says President Hinckley. But, he adds, “If there is trouble, let us face it calmly. Let us overcome evil with good. This is God’s work.”

Illustrated by Clark Kelley Price

Illustrated by Harold I. Hopkinson