Sunday, April 27, 2008

What is Success?

A speaker in church today reminded us of a quote by the Prophet David O. Mckay when he said, "No other success can compensate for failure in the home." We as parents should always take care that we don't put our worldly successes above our duties in the home. No job, no money, no title, no award can ever compensate if one of our children is lost due to our negligence.

The speaker today told about when he was called to preside over one of the missions of the church. The General church authority who issued this calling to him reminded him that though he might influence thousands of missionaries while serving in that position, he would never be able to live with himself, if his own son were lost due to neglect on his part.

This reminded me of a child birth show I saw recently. After giving birth, the wife discussed her plans to return to work as soon as possible. The father said, "It's hard for me to think about my child being in day care, but I know it's good for him to be with other kids.". I was astounded that he could even begin to equate the mother's influence with that of the other children this child would be with in day care. I know full well that many women must work outside the home. But I also know that many women work outside the home for the sole purpose of building a career for themselves. I can't help but wonder how these women will feel when their children are grown and gone, and they realize they missed out on the most important years of their lives. Truly, no success, no money, no career can ever compensate for the lack of parental supervision, love, and guidance in the home.
For more information on the family, please click here.

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

i quite agree. it has taken me a long time to figure out, but money and worldly "success" are no real compensation at all. of course, one must do what they need to do in order to live. but i think too often we are not willing to sacrifice in order to ensure the things that are truly important are being met.

several times i have turned down "promotions" not because i could not accomplish them, but because of the disatrous effects they would have on my families mental, emotional, and spiritual well-being. and as a result, some days i eat macaroni, some days i eat ramen, and some days i eat nothing to make sure my wife and children want for nothing themselves.

Livingsword said...

Hi D;

Obviously I agree with you about the value of parents being involved in the raising of their children, family is important, but let me put a different twist on this for enhancing dialogue…

Often parents worship family; mothers worship their own children to the detriment of their marriages…

I love this passage of Jesus speaking….

32 "Whoever publicly acknowledges me I will also acknowledge before my Father in heaven. 33 But whoever publicly disowns me I will disown before my Father in heaven.

34 "Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. 35 For I have come to turn

" 'a man against his father,
a daughter against her mother,
a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law—
36 your enemies will be the members of your own household.'

37 "Anyone who loves their father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves a son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. 38 Whoever does not take up their cross and follow me is not worthy of me. 39 Whoever finds their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life for my sake will find
- - Matthew 10:32-39 TNIV

Jesus is not about “family values”…

Looney said...

Amen! Of course the first problem I see these days is struggling marriages. Many of the problems with children are direct fall-out from parents not getting along. Living in a multi-million dollar mansion won't mean much if your spouse is your enemy rather than your friend.

Delirious said...

Livingsword, I have to be honest in my response, although I also want to be polite. I don't think I could disagree with you more when you said that Jesus isn't about family values. The scripture you quoted is referring to those who will refuse to worship him because their family doesn't want them to. In fact, I submit to you that the family is the most important organization in the eyes of God, even more so than the organization of the church. When I say that parents need to nurture their children, I am in no way saying that they should "worship" them. Of course we worship God, not our children. But these children are our stewardship from God, and I believe that at the day of judgement, we will have to give an accounting for how we fulfilled our position as parents.
Ah LS....just when I think we have most diverged religiously, you surprise me and take it to a more extreme level. lol ;)

Delirious said...

Looney, I totally agree, and your comment supports my belief that the family is the most important unit in society. If the parents don't get along, that influences their children. If they do not teach their children to live a righteous life, then society is affected. A Christlike life must include a Christlike marriage, and a family built upon Christian values.

Delirious said...

Jon, I wish more people could read this comment of yours and learn what it means to be a real father. I believe that if more fathers showed the same love and devotion that you show, we would have much less crime in our society. You will probably never get a pat on the back from society for what you are doing, but let me compliment you now for your attention to your family.

Nene said...

Delirious, I totally agree with you on your blog and on your comment to livngsword. Jesus IS totally about families. I think one of the problems with the world today is the breakup of families. Teens are turning to gangs to have them be their "families" because their own family is so dysfunctional. If we could "fix" America's families, we could fix a lot of problems in our countries. One way I think families CAN be "fixed" is through following God's commandments and worshipping Him. We are God's children. Christ was God's son. We are all His family.

Max Coutinho said...

Hey D,

Families are the extension of God's family! Parents are the extension of the relationship between God and us.
And therefore I agree when you say that families are "the most important organisation in the eyes of God" (well said, by the way)!

Cheers

Livingsword said...

Hi D;

Now now context please….

Keep in mind I did not deny the importance of family, I did say:

“Obviously I agree with you about the value of parents being involved in the raising of their children, family is important, but let me put a different twist on this for enhancing dialogue…”

Family is instituted by God, as is the government.

Matthew 10 actually makes it clear that God’s Church is more important than family. If people reject Jesus for the sake of their family they are wrong, and they will die in their sins. Jesus tells us in verses 37-39…

37 "Anyone who loves their father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves a son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. 38 Whoever does not take up their cross and follow me is not worthy of me. 39 Whoever finds their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life for my sake will find

Obviously the Church takes priority since the Church is made up of those that love Jesus. Being saved, becoming a Jesus follower (a Christian), dying to self, when Jesus says “take up your cross and follow me” it is about dying to self and following Him is the top priority not “family”. Once again note I am not saying family is not important, but clearly Jesus says the Church is more important than “family”. If family was more important He would have told us to love their family more than they love Him. His Church loves Him more than their own family or their very selves…

LOL
What are “family values”?

Delirious said...

LS, Once again I have to disagree about the meaning of the scripture that you quoted with relation to your discussion. The scripture you quoted says that "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." Matt. 10:37 I have no argument that we should love anyone more than God. But the distinction needs to be made between Christ, and the organization of the church. Those are two separate things. The family is the most fundamental unit in all of eternity.

The Prophet Malachi prophesied of the coming of Elijah the prophet," Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord:
And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse." Malachi 4:5,6 This is a prophecy that the Jews still await. At their passover, they set an empty chair for Elijah. They await his return. We believe that Elijah did in fact return, and appeared to the Prophet Joseph Smith. He gave Joseph Smith the Priesthood authority to bind families as an eternal unit. This is part of the purpose of our temples. Many people have felt a strong desire to seek out their geneology, and have spent much time and effort to do so. I have heard many of these people, Mormon and non-Mormon alike, speak about the feeling they have that drives them to do this work. They feel compelled beyond a mere hobby to seek out their ancestors. We in our Church refer to this as the "spirit of Elijah" that causes people to have the desire to be united as a family.
On your blog, I quoted a chinese proverb (Shou Shen, Chi Jya, Jr Gwo, Ping Tyan Sya) which talks about how we can have peace under heaven. I think this applies to us as Christians as well. We first must work on ourselves, and our relationship with God. Then we must focus on our families, the most important unit. Then we can focus on helping our community. Ultimately, if we follow God, there will be peace under heaven. The family is the basic unit of all society, including God's society, and will continue through the eternities if it is "bound on earth" through the Priesthood power of God.

Delirious said...

Max, you really said it well..."Families are the extension of God's family!". Of course, God is our father, we are all one big family, but parents take care of His children for Him.

Livingsword said...

Hi D;

Jesus says:

37 "Anyone who loves their father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves a son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. 38 Whoever does not take up their cross and follow me is not worthy of me. 39 Whoever finds their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life for my sake will find it.
- - Matthew 10:37-39

The moment a person truly loves Jesus, becomes a genuine follower of Jesus they are part of the Church. Jesus makes it clear that becoming His follower (which is inextricably intertwined with being the Church), is more important then our relationships with father mother, son, daughter etc. we are to die to ourselves and follow Jesus…Therefore this relationship with Jesus, being part of the Church is more important than family…Remember I am not saying family is not important….

However I am very aware of Mormon theology and its need to view family in ways that are not within the Bible. The Malachi verses have nothing to do with our present conversation.

As I am a Christian I reject the ideas outside of the Bible you are appealing to for support of your argument in regards to Mr. Smith, the “temples” and genealogies, I have no need to defend my position in regards to these things as I reject the authority of their sources.

You may find an article I posted yesterday on my other blog:

http://creationontheblade.blogspot.com/

…as part of the discussion is about the fact that humans do not pre-exist the creation to be interesting from the Mormon position…

Delirious said...

LS, I am very familiar with this scripture that you have quoted several times. But I do not see anything in there that equates the church with Jesus. I do believe that we must love God above all else. But I believe family comes second.

I do not expect you to accept LDS teachings, in light of the fact that you do not have modern revelation in your religion. But I do believe in a living Prophet, in a living church. In order for me to explain my position on many things, I must express our teachings on these matters.

Interesting conversation though, it's always interesting to see how the rest of the world thinks.