A subtle metaphor

Elder Uchtdorf begins his talk by telling us about an old chapel in Zwickau. It was here shortly after his baptism, where he planted the seed of his testimony. recounting to us stories of helping the organist and the ward. he says that 74 years later he had an opportunity to return to this old chapel and discovered that it had been torn down to make room for an apartment building and he says “I admit that it’s sad to know that this beloved building from my childhood is now just a memory. It was a sacred building to me. But it was just a building.”

 If you're not paying attention you could miss it but Elder uchtdorf is giving to us a powerful metaphor with which to understand the rest of his talk. a similar metaphor can be found in Alma 32. here Alma is preaching to people who have been kicked out of their synagogues. they are crying to Alma for Aid because they feel they have no place with which to worship God. and what this does is Showcase that these people have made the branches or the ancillary more important than the roots. this is a perfect segue into the lesson that we can gain from this subtle yet powerful talk. 

 With this metaphor in mind ive prepared the what i believe to be the parts of this talk that teach powerful lessons and various explorations of those lessons in other materials. 

 First, read the following sections of the talk:

Don’t Mistake the Branches for the Roots

The restored gospel of Jesus Christ, as the Prophet Joseph Smith taught, “embrace[s] all, and every item of truth.” But that doesn’t mean that all truth is of equal value. Some truths are core, essential, at the root of our faith. Others are appendages or branches—valuable, but only when they are connected to the fundamentals. 

 The Prophet Joseph also said, “The fundamental principles of our religion are the testimony of the Apostles and Prophets, concerning Jesus Christ, that He died, was buried, and rose again the third day, and ascended into heaven; and all other things which pertain to our religion are only appendages to it.” 

 In other words, Jesus Christ and His atoning sacrifice are the root of our testimony. All other things are branches.

Traditions, Habits, and Faith

The Book of Mormon tells of a people who “were strict in observing the ordinances of God.” But then a skeptic named Korihor came along, mocking the Savior’s gospel, calling it the “foolish” and “silly traditions of their fathers.” Korihor led “away the hearts of many, causing them to lift up their heads in their wickedness.” But others he could not deceive, because to them, the gospel of Jesus Christ was much more than a tradition. 

Korihor was able to do what he did because others placed more emphasis on the Branches of the Gospel, the ancillary things, than they did on the sure foundation and the rock of Jesus Christ. We see this in comparison to the story of the wise man and the foolish man who built his house on the rock and the sand, respectively. It is the nature of sand that we are interested in here. Sand is shiftable, it can be pushed and adjusted as desired. Just like sand the ancillary aspects of our tree are shiftable. Not just shiftable but even interchangable. Just as a tree of one variety can be grafted to a tree of another variety so too can new ideas or systems be adopted and shifted around. Here in the branches of our tree this is a valuable characteristic. It allows us to adapt our expressions of discipleship to the manner and means that most effectively brings others and ourselves too Christ.

However, getting back to the principle of korihor, when we place the branches in a more axiomatic position than the roots, we are built upon sand, we are movable and our foundation can be shifted by anyone who has a convincing enough argument. Korihor deceived the people that he did, but then in Alma 30: 19-20 he went to another town to try the same thing, but the people there were “too wise”. He couldn't deceive them and was bound and taken before the judges. This is a vital point. Building our house upon a rock not only makes it stable but it is that stability that allows us to gain wisdom. To fully understand what we are trying to be taught here we need to further define what wisdom is.

Read:

Ecclesiastes 7:1-12 then read Alma 30: 19-20

The correlation that Elder Utchfdorf is making here between roots, a sure foundation, the rock upon which we build our house, and the ability to have wisdom to see through the deceit is easily missed in this talk. To help us bring this home, let's turn to the Guide to the Scriptures to further expound upon the definition of wisdom listed there. It says, “The ability or gift from God to judge correctly.” That is to say, without wisdom, we cannot judge correctly, and as was shown in the story of Korihor and the story of the wise man who built his house upon the rock, without wisdom, we will be tossed around by the korihors of this world.

-Wisdom is the ability or gift from God to judge correctly.-

Next read this section of the talk:

Rooted and Built Up in Him

 “Strong faith in Jesus Christ doesn’t happen overnight. No, in this mortal world, it’s the thorns and thistles of doubt that grow spontaneously. The healthy, fruitful tree of faith requires intentional effort. And a vital part of that effort is making sure we are firmly rooted in Christ. 

For example: At first, we may be drawn to the Savior’s gospel and Church because we are impressed by the friendly members or by the kind bishop or the clean looks of the chapel. These circumstances are certainly important to grow the Church. 

Nevertheless, if the roots of our testimony never grow deeper than that, what will happen when we move to a ward that meets in a less impressive building, with members who aren’t so friendly, and the bishop says something that offends us?” 

Why do you think Elder uchtdorf decided to say this in his talk? the only answer that I can come up with is because at first it will be easier to see the doubt because the faith is still growing. this is important to the survival of the tree as a whole. if we're going to attempt to nurture a tree we also have to attend to what will kill the tree. it's necessary to understand that doubts will easily and as stated above instantaneously crop up as we decide to pursue an Endeavor with Christ. this is why righteous Traditions are necessary and good. they prop us up and support us so that we have something to combat the doubts as we give time for our roots to deepen. to pretend like they will deepen overnight is to invite the disintegration of Our Testimony. this is why we should lean into registered traditions. but the next question that we need to address is how do we do this without placing Traditions or systems in a more important place than the roots of Our Testimony, the Jesus Christ lived died and rose again the third day? 

Here we can find instruction from Matthew 10:37 “He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.” (verse 38 is potent here too) This is interesting because it seems to be in contrast to one of the Ten Commandments, “Honor thy father and thy mother”. What, then are we supposed to learn here? Here is an example of what the relationship between the roots and branches of the Gospel should look like. If we place “mother and father” in a more important place than God, we become unworthy of his presence. However, we are instructed at the same time to honor them. Or if you wanted to extrapolate a little, to honor the various potentials that exist in our lives and the systems and traditions that order our lives. These would be the branches; they are necessary and we are commanded to attend to them and honor them. 

I don't know that anyone would do it consciously, but sometimes we subconsciously place “Mother and Father” in a more important place than God and this begins to neglect the roots. Without the proper relationship, we will never have a tree that bears good fruit. For it is only with healthy, thriving branches that we can get good fruit and those are only possible if the roots are placed in their proper place in the order of importance. Just as roots send water to the leaves to facilitate photosynthesis and generate nutrients for the whole tree, so too should we take the Living water with us into every interaction and tradition. This is how we Honor our roots and ensure we bring forth good fruit. It can feel easy to get lost in traditions, the meaning, purpose and connection we feel when living in shared traditions is not easily matched. But if we do not seek to bring the living water with us into these interactions, we will become unstable. Our center will shift at the whim of those who would seek to influence us and find it hard to see our efforts bring good outcomes.

A vital Instrument 

Read Matthew 10:38 This is the main lesson that Elder Uchdorf is trying to teach us in the talk he gave. The last thing i want to touch on is the instrument Elder U. gives us near the end of his talk. “We must ask ourselves: Is my testimony based on what I hope to happen in my life? Is it dependent on the actions or attitudes of others? Or is it firmly founded on Jesus Christ, “rooted and built up in him,” regardless of life’s changing circumstances?” These questions are instructive, not merely examples. Here we have a touchstone that we can take into various interactions and ask ourselves if we have placed the “branches” in a more important place than the roots.

Question: Is my testimony based on what I hope to happen in my life? Is it dependent on the actions or attitudes of others? Or is it firmly founded on Jesus Christ?

Take the living water with you