Elder Quentin L. Cook of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles said in October 2020 general conference:
“. . . .We are all aware that we can do better, and that is our challenge in this day. We can be a force to lift and bless society as a whole. At this 200-year hinge point in our Church history, let us commit ourselves as members of the Lord’s Church to live righteously and be united as never before. President Russell M. Nelson has asked us “to demonstrate greater civility, racial and ethnic harmony and mutual respect.”18 This means loving each other and God and accepting everyone as brothers and sisters and truly being a Zion people.
With our all-inclusive doctrine, we can be an oasis of unity and celebrate diversity. Unity and diversity are not opposites. We can achieve greater unity as we foster an atmosphere of inclusion and respect for diversity. During the period I served in the San Francisco California Stake presidency, we had Spanish-, Tongan-, Samoan-, Tagalog-, and Mandarin-language-speaking congregations. Our English-speaking wards were composed of people from many racial and cultural backgrounds. There was love, righteousness, and unity.
Wards and branches in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are determined by geography or language,19 not by race or culture. Race is not identified on membership records. . . .
I rejoice in the Savior’s Intercessory Prayer recorded in the Gospel of John. The Savior acknowledged that the Father had sent Him and that He, the Savior, had finished the work He was sent to do. He prayed for His disciples and for those who would believe in Christ: “That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us.”29 Oneness is what Christ prayed for prior to His betrayal and Crucifixion.
In the first year after the Restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ, recorded in section 38 of the Doctrine and Covenants (see link below) , the Lord speaks of wars and wickedness and declares, “I say unto you, be one; and if ye are not one ye are not mine.”30
Our Church culture comes from the gospel of Jesus Christ. The Epistle of the Apostle Paul to the Romans is profound. 31 The early Church in Rome was composed of Jews and Gentiles. These early Jews had a Judaic culture and had “won their emancipation, and began to multiply and flourish.”32
The Gentiles in Rome had a culture with a significant Hellenistic influence, which the Apostle Paul understood well because of his experiences at Athens and Corinth.
Paul sets forth the gospel of Jesus Christ in a comprehensive fashion. He chronicles pertinent aspects of both Judaic and Gentile culture33 that conflict with the true gospel of Jesus Christ. He essentially asks each of them to leave behind cultural impediments from their beliefs and culture that are not consistent with the gospel of Jesus Christ. Paul admonishes the Jews and the Gentiles to keep the commandments and love one another and affirms that righteousness leads to salvation.34
The culture of the gospel of Jesus Christ is not a Gentile culture or a Judaic culture. It is not determined by the color of one’s skin or where one lives. While we rejoice in distinctive cultures, we should leave behind aspects of those cultures that conflict with the gospel of Jesus Christ. Our members and new converts often come from diverse racial and cultural backgrounds. If we are to follow President Nelson’s admonition to gather scattered Israel, we will find we are as different as the Jews and Gentiles were in Paul’s time. Yet we can be united in our love of and faith in Jesus Christ. Paul’s Epistle to the Romans establishes the principle that we follow the culture and doctrine of the gospel of Jesus Christ. It is the model for us even today.35 The ordinances of the temple unite us in special ways and allow us to be one in every eternally significant way.
We honor our pioneer members across the world not because they were perfect but because they overcame hardships, made sacrifices, aspired to be Christlike, and were striving to build faith and be one with the Savior. Their oneness with the Savior made them one with each other. This principle is true for you and me today.
The clarion call to members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is to strive to be a Zion people who are of one heart and one mind and dwell in righteousness.36
It is my prayer that we will be righteous and united and completely focused on serving and worshipping our Savior, Jesus Christ, of whom I testify. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen. (For access to Elder Cook’s complete talk and all links, click ‘Hearts Knit in Righteousness and Unity.’)
