Hoping for institutional change to catch up to personal revelation - Part 3/4
Peter and Cornelius, TheChurchofJesusChrist.org
Part 3 of a 4-part series about hoping for change for the LGBTQ/LDS intersection.
Here’s the thing. Some people say, “Be patient. Institutional change is slow. It takes a while to turn a big ocean liner around.” That’s fine — except that individual lives are unfolding in the meantime.
For example, today’s queer teens will make big decisions in the next ten years. Should an LGB teen date people of the same sex? Should a kid experiencing gender dysphoria transition? They can’t always wait for the prophets to receive further revelation about LGBTQ/LDS intersections, and lawyers to approve the language of pronouncements. Individual lives are moving on — and everyone only gets one life.
That’s where personal revelation comes in. We posted earlier about the gentile Cornelius, who received a revelation 21 hours before the president of the church did. It’s hard for our modern minds to grasp how revolutionary this idea was, to take the gospel to all the world. From the beginning, the covenant people were set apart, not mixing outside of the house of Israel. Gentiles were always welcome if they became Jews first (circumcision, keeping kosher, strict Sabbath laws, etc.) Now God was bringing gentiles into the fold of God on their own terms — as gentiles.
What if the same is happening today? For some time LGBTQ people have been welcome at Church if they acted straight (i.e. “not act on their same-sex attraction or gender dysphoria”). What if God is sending personal revelation to God’s beautiful LGBTQ children that they’re alright just as they are, 21 hours (or more) before God sends the president of the Church a revelation to let him know that our LGBTQ siblings are alright, just as they are? Can you live in those 21 hours and hold onto your truth?
Carol Lynn Pearson occupied those 21 hours. She preached heresy; now it’s mainstream doctrine. See “Yesterday’s heresy is today’s orthodoxy,” about the Church catching up to Carol Lynn’s vision. In the meantime, she just kept living her Christlike, loving life, living what she knew.
Change is coming. Revelation is ongoing (9th article of faith). Listen to and act on God’s will in your life, and . . . wait for the rest.
-Marci
Part 4 in this series about hoping for change is coming soon.
Also see Part 1: Hope? or rebellion?