"Listen to Others—Especially Those Who See Things Differently Than You Do"

My next suggestion for taking hold of Christ is to listen to others, especially those who see things differently than we do, be that politically, culturally, religiously, or economically. In our politically polarized world, this is a time to reach out to others, whether they seem like they belong in our “group” or not. We need to make space for new perspectives. It is easy to think, “It’s those ‘make America great again’ far-right conservatives who are racist and who are destroying our country.” Or, “It’s those crazy liberals who focus so much on diversity that they forget that our primary identity is being children of God20 who are the ones draining the nation of its moral compass.” Whichever side you are on, you have thought that, right?

But maybe we have it all wrong.

Maybe it is not that one side or the other is going to “ruin the world.” Maybe it is our inability to listen to others who see things differently that is so destructive. Maybe we have more in common with people on the “other side” than we think. After all, one of Christ’s friends was Nicodemus, a Pharisee—somebody we might think of as belonging to a politically conservative group today. Another of Jesus’s friends was Matthew, a tax collector for the Roman government—someone we might think of as politically liberal today. At the time, Christ’s acquaintances were wondering what He was thinking hanging out with people from backgrounds that seemed so wrong and different from their own.

Yes, we have to make judgment calls. President Dallin H. Oaks said:

We should seek out and support wise and good persons who will support [the inspired principles of the Constitution] in their public actions. We should be knowledgeable citizens who are active in making our influence felt in civic affairs.

But do we really understand where the other side is coming from? Is that side as bad as we make it out to be?

Sometimes our divisions seem so wide that we may wonder if it is possible for us to work together across our differences. At a BYU–Idaho forum last October, Church historian Dr. Melissa Inouye, who passed away in April from cancer, had this to say about how God works across seemingly vast differences. Referencing the parable of the olive tree in Jacob 5, she said:

God is running around, laboring in the vineyard, pruning here, shoveling manure there. This sets a pattern for us. . . . We can’t just burn the whole vineyard down and hope to start a new, awesomer vineyard from the ashes. We have to, as recent general Relief Society counselor Sharon Eubank put it, “clear away the bad as fast as the good can grow.”

And here’s a thought for you. What if the bad is not bad policies or bad politicians or bad government? What if the bad is bad relationships, bad blood, and broken trust? What if being on Team Jesus doesn’t mean together we triumph over all our foes because we are the awesomest and we trample the forces of darkness? What if being on Team Jesus means being a loyal teammate to everyone on Jesus’s team? And who is on Jesus’s team? Everyone!

Perhaps we can start by just being loyal to the people around us and our families, our neighborhoods, and church congregations. We want to be good players on Jesus’s team—the ones who build team members up, not the ones who drag everyone down and cause the coach headaches. Come on! The coach is Jesus! . . .

. . . I have made sacred promises to consecrate all I have to build up Zion, and Zion is over all the earth. I have covenanted to establish Zion with Saints in Nigeria whose worldviews are much more socially conservative than mine and with Saints in Sweden whose worldviews are much more socially liberal than mine.

I love that reminder that we are to build up Zion with those who see things differently than we do! This is aligned with what Isaiah said. He didn’t say that some individuals would take hold of Christ. Rather, he used the number seven to signify that the entire church would take hold of Christ. And as Dr. Inouye reminded us, the entire church comprises people from different races, cultures, and political persuasions, along with other differences. We need to grab hold of Christ, probably with both hands, because He can teach us how to work together across our differences to build Zion.

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Let us all try to take hold of Christ by being humble enough to accept that our strongly held viewpoints are probably far from perfect and by allowing room for the Lord to teach us an even better way.

AliceAnn Crandall
"The Entire Church Shall Take Hold of Christ"
https://speeches.byu.edu/talks/ali-cr...


Video clips:
President Dallin H. Oaks, "Defending Our Divinely Inspired Constitution," April 2021
https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/s...

https://www.byui.edu/speeches/melissa...