The Fellowship of the R(espectful) I(nsightful) N(ice) G(irls)(uys)

Fellowship with Those Who are Not of Our Faith

I am so funny.

What does fellowship mean? Quote 1

To me this means, be a genuine friend, to everyone you can. No one wants to feel like a project.

“There is nothing better than a friend, unless it is a friend with chocolate.”
― Linda Grayson (Pull out a bag of chocolate, you are now the best friend in the room.)

When I think about President Hinckley, one of the many things that come to mind is that he really worked to reach across religious boundaries to strengthen ties with other religious leaders. He really lived this idea of fellowship.

I met President Hinckley once while I was at BYU. I was in a large room of around 300 people. I can tell you that you could feel it the moment he entered. Whether this was the spirit or the palpable love that people had for him, and he for them, I can’t say. Perhaps it was both. But I know that when it comes to fellowshipping, I have a lot to learn from him. This lesson lays out some good tips for doing this.

1 When we remember that all people are children of God, we reach out more to lift and help those among us.

We must never forget that we live in a world of great diversity. The people of the earth are all our Father’s children and are of many and varied religious persuasions. We must cultivate tolerance and appreciation and respect one another.⁶

Have someone read Mark 12:30-31 This is a hard task. What is meant by neighbor?

Can you think of people who truly live this commandment? How do they make you feel?

“There is nothing I would not do for those who are really my friends. I have no notion of loving people by halves, it is not my nature.” ― Jane Austen

2 We should live with respect, appreciation, and friendship toward people who are not of our faith.

I think this is pretty hard, so I want to spend some time discussing. Here is some advice from the manual with a few of my own words sprinkled in.

This lesson uses the word respect a lot. What is respect?

“The truest form of love is how you behave toward someone, not how you feel about them.”
― Steve Hall

                -We must not be clannish. (clique-ish)

                We like what we are familiar with. Can you think of ways we are cliquish?

Ex. When I lived in Wisconsin, there were few Mormons. I remember when I got pregnant with my daughter, I asked an LDS friend who her OB was, she told me that all the LDS women go to the same OB/GYN because his wife had grown up LDS and he knew about some of the specific concerns of LDS medical care. This is still a strange exchange to me. Considering that we were having an astonishing number of babies, this was one lucky physician. Of course, I went along with the crowd, and he was a good doctor. When the day came for me to have my baby, I had to have an emergency C-section. I was rushed back by a just awakened, unfamiliar doctor. He performed the C-section that saved her life and put me back together afterwards. When I awakened, he kindly explained to me what had happened and held my hand while he told me that I might not be able to have any more children. I am grateful to him to this day and feel a little silly about basing my decision for a physician solely on what the other LDS women did and not on my own research and feelings.

-We must be magnanimous and open and friendly.

-Respect other religions.

I think it is hard for people to think we are friends if we are constantly trying to convert them.

“We can keep our faith. We can practice our religion. We can cherish our method of worship without being offensive to others. I take this occasion to plead for a spirit of tolerance and neighborliness, of friendship and love toward those of other faiths.” –Gordon B. Hinckley

-We must never adopt a holier-than-thou attitude. We must not be self- righteous.

This is so detrimental toward progress and understanding.

Can you think of ways we do this?

Ex. I have a friend I met about eight years ago. She was the wife of one of James’ fellow residents and a devout Christian. I was her first LDS friend. I asked if she had ever met a Mormon before and she had, but always felt that they were stand-offish and exclusive at best. She said she had never met any ‘cool’ Mormons. I am obviously super cool, so that totally explains how I was able to befriend her when others could not (j/k).  No, really she didn’t mean cool like trendy, she meant cool like laid back. She asked many questions about my faith and I hers. I can honestly say that I have felt the Spirit more strongly in these sincere conversations than I do in most church meetings. These conversations only happened after we were friends, when we already had love and respect for each other. We need to have love first and foremost. This goes along with my next suggestion.

-Fight hate.

It is the opposite of love and will drive us apart faster than anything I know.

“I plead with our people everywhere to live with respect and appreciation for those not of our faith. There is so great a need for civility and mutual respect among those of differing beliefs and philosophies. We must not be partisans of any doctrine of ethnic superiority. We live in a world of diversity. We can and must be respectful toward those with whose teachings we may not agree. We must be willing to defend the rights of others who may become the victims of bigotry.” –Gordon B. Hinckley

“Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that.”
― Martin Luther King Jr.,

Examples of ways we can do this?

Ex. I am a big nerd, which is why when I saw my lesson was on fellowship that I joked that I should just teach a lesson on the “Fellowship of the Ring”, but there is a lesson in there for all of us. Two members of the fellowship are from different races that historically hate each other. In the beginning they fight a lot, but slowly, as they learn about each other, they change their viewpoints and eventually become very close. I think that is the key to fighting hatred, learning about others who are different from us exposes us to a whole new level of compassion.

-Work with others in good causes.

Despite our differences, we can find common ground and work together.

“We can and do work with those of other religions in various undertakings in the everlasting fight against social evils which threaten the treasured values which are so important to all of us. These people are not of our faith, but they are our friends, neighbors, and co-workers in a variety of causes. We are pleased to lend our strength to their efforts.” –Gordon B. Hinckley

3 When we treat others with love, respect, and kindness, we show that we are true disciples of Jesus Christ.

“Do we really comprehend, do we understand the tremendous significance of that which we have? This is the summation of the generations of man, the concluding chapter in the entire panorama of the human experience.

But this does not put us in a position of superiority. Rather, it should humble us. It places upon us an unforgiving responsibility to reach out with concern for all others in the Spirit of the Master, who taught, “Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself” (Matthew 19:19). We must cast out self-righteousness and rise above petty self-interest. …

We of this generation are the end harvest of all that has gone before. It is not enough to simply be known as a member of this Church. A solemn obligation rests upon us. Let us face it and work at it.

We must live as true followers of the Christ, with charity toward all, returning good for evil, teaching by example the ways of the Lord, and accomplishing the vast service He has outlined for us.²¹” –Gordon B. Hinckley

The only way we can do this is to show others that we really care. Regardless of faith or other things we don’t hold in common.

“The opposite of love is not hate, it's indifference. The opposite of art is not ugliness, it's indifference. The opposite of faith is not heresy, it's indifference. And the opposite of life is not death, it's indifference.”
― Elie Wiesel

Don’t be indifferent. Care, respect, serve and love ALL our fellow children of  God.

Quotes

Quote 1 “In the Church we use the word fellowship to describe our efforts (1) to encourage less-active members to return to full activity and (2) to help new converts make the transition into the Church following baptism. I believe those meanings are valid, but to me the word fellowship has a much broader connotation. I believe we members do not have the option to extend the hand of fellowship only to relatives, close friends, certain Church members, and those selected nonmembers who express an interest in the Church. Limiting or withholding our fellowship seems to me to be contrary to the gospel of Jesus Christ. The Savior offered the effects of his atoning sacrifice to all mankind. He said, “Remember the worth of souls is great in the sight of God.” (D&C 18:10.) Can we justify doing less?” –M. Russell Ballard