Brad Wilcox - Continuous Atonement

Wilcox, Brad.

The continuousatonement / Brad Wilcox.

p.cm.

Includesbibliographical references and index.

ISBN 978-1-60641-037-0(hardbound : alk. paper)

1. AtonementChurchof Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. 2. RepentanceChurch of Jesus Christ of Latter-daySaints. I. Title.

BX8643.A85W55 2009

232'.3dc22

2008046940

Printed in theUnited States of America

R. R. Donnelley and Sons, Crawfordsville, IN

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

To Wendee
who once spoke along with me on this topic
at BYU Womens Conference
and
To Scott
who once needed to remember the
hope smiling brightly before us

Acknowledgments

* * *

First, I acknowledge you for choosing to read thisbook. As a mission president, I always found it interesting that after I hadreminded the missionaries of a rule or standard, it was the ones without the problem who would feel guilty, apologize, andcommit to do better. The ones for whom the reminder was intended usuallyremained oblivious to the need for change.

Ive been told the gospel is here to comfortthe afflicted and afflict the comfortable. I can think of times in my life whenI have found great comfort in the words of the Savior and His prophets. I canalso think of times when, like the oblivious missionaries, Ive needed a littleafflicting. One can always locate plenty of scriptures and sermons for bothoccasions.

Elder Dallin H. Oaks has written: A call forrepentance that is clear enough and loud enough to encourage reformation by thelenient can produce paralyzing discouragement in the conscientious. The dose ofdoctrine that is strong enough to penetrate the hard shell of the easygoinggroup may prove to be a massive overdose for the conscientious (With FullPurpose of Heart, 129).

Perhaps some could misconstrue the hopefulmessage of this book as a reason to postpone making needed changes, but mygreater fear is that those who are honestly trying to improve will becomediscouraged if no one communicates hope loudly and clearly. I seriously doubtthat many of the lenient and easygoing would take time to read a book likethis. They are probably a bit too busy eating, drinking, and being merry towant to be reminded about the Savior. I choose to assume those reading thesewords are the soft-shelled survivors of many a massive doctrinaloverdose focusing on the Thou shalts and the Thou shalt nots. Lets leavethe afflicting for another day. The purpose of this book is to comfort.

It is said that authors dont choose their topics,their topics choose them. Certainly that was the case for the topics includedin this book, which have filled my mind during every spare moment for manyyears. The concepts expressed here have often been the focus of my personalstudy, prayers, and celestial room conversations. Rough drafts have beenwritten on scraps of paper, in margins of books, and in my mind while drivinglong distances. And thats where they would have stayed were it not for the helpof many dear friends.

Heartfelt thanks to four friends in particularwhose encouragement kept me going: Nancy Bayles, who heard me speak about someof these ideas and said, You need to write a book; Brett Sanders, who alsolistened early on and said, This needs to be a book; Emily Watts, whobelieved in me when I proposed my first outline; and Robert L. Millet, whoreviewed my rough drafts and said, Brad, this needs to be a book.

My family members are always my first editors.Thanks to my supportive wife, Debi, and our children: Wendee and Gian, Russelland Trish, Whitney, and David, as well as Val C. Wilcox and Leroy and Mary LoisGunnell. Robert and Helen Wells, Sharla Nuttall, Kellie Harman, Lorna Stock,Carson Twitchell, Nate Sanders, and Steven Edwards also made significantcontributions. Special thanks to my friends Sharon Black, who pushed me toclarify content as well as mechanics; Eula Ewing Monroe, whose perspective was invaluable;and Bobbi Redick, whose help on this manuscript was truly a labor of love.

It is a joy to serve in the stake presidency ofthe BYU 4th Stake along with Tracy T. Ward, Barnard N. Madsen, William W.Bridges, Boyd J. Holdaway, and Jeffrey G. Jones. I appreciate the dedication ofthese wonderful men and the outstanding young people we serve.

Finally, thanks to prophets, leaders, teachers,and artists who have spoken and written so beautifully about the Atonement.Each explanation, example, and presentation helped me understand more and drawcloser to Heavenly Father and Jesus. The preparation of this manuscript haschanged the way I pray, ponder, partake of the sacrament, and speak about theSaviorall evidence of how the Atonement is slowly but surelychanging me.

Chapter 8

Exchanging Willpower for His Power

* * *

God does not need ourconfession; we need to confess. Sin is wrong, but covering it up makes it worse because theonly sins the Atonement cant reach are the unconfessed ones....Confession makes problems a part of our past, while lying makes them a part of our future.

Wheretheres a will, theres a way, or so the saying goes. My parents always toldme, Where theres a Wilcox, theres away. Sometimes neither is the case. Even with all the will (and Wilcoxes) inthe world, some people struggle for years to break bad habits. What they haveyet to internalize is that success ultimately is found not in willpower, but inGods power.

Robert L. Millet wrote, There is a better andhigher motivation... that is above and beyondself-discipline, well beyond sheer willpower and doggeddetermination. It is a motivation born of the Spirit, one that comes to us as aresult of a change of heart (Grace Works,8990). This change of heart is closely linked with what Joseph Smithcalled the first principles and ordinances of the gospel. Those firstprinciples and ordinances of the gospel are the means by which we accept andapply the Atonement in our lives continuallyevery minute ofevery hour of every day of every year.

My eldest sons mission president, Lindon J.Robison, had a profound impact on many lives as he served in Spain. He taughthis missionaries the steps of repentance in a memorable waybyexamining their opposites. Following his lead, lets consider the UN-principlesof the gospel:

UN-Faith

In place of faith in Christ, some choosedisbelief. When people say, There is no God, or, The Church isnt true,their words can put us on the defensive. However, such comments are sometimesattempts to justify poor choices and avoid change. When we listen beyond thewords, the message really being communicated in such cases is, Ive sinned anddont want to repent.

A young man who became fascinated byanti-Mormon literature had never read much in the scriptures orChurch magazines, yet suddenly he was devouring entire anti-Mormonbooks and reading every word on anti-Mormon Web sites. He would rushto show me some obscure statement of Joseph Smith or BrighamYoungusually taken completely out ofcontextwhich proved they were false prophets. He anxiouslyreported, according to his unbiased sources, that all Mormons are prejudicedand all Mormon males are dictatorial. I recognized the statements asunsupported generalizations, but he heard only what he wanted to hear.

One day after speaking with him at length aboutthe exaggerations and lies he was accepting so willingly, I said to him, In myexperience, when people are anxious to prove the Church wrong it is sometimesbecause they are trying to cover their sins. The young man protested and saidhe couldnt believe I would think such a thing. He criticized me for beingjudgmental. However, within the week he confessed serious problems withmorality.

This young man did not really have genuinequestions or doubts about the Church, its leaders, or its history. He justwanted to soothe his conscience. He figured if the members or standards of theChurch could be shown to be wrong, he could feel justified. He thought if hecould conveniently make God disappear, he could in good conscience dowhatever he wanted. Like the wicked Nephites in the Book of Mormon, he soughthis own prophet who would tell him, There is no iniquity.... Dowhatsoever your heart desireth (Helaman 13:27). In time he learned he wasbetter off putting his efforts into altering himself rather than trying toalter truth.