“Is it necessary to give up your own culture when you join the Church?” New Era, Mar. 1976, 28
“Is it necessary to give up your own culture when you join the Church?”
Answer/Brother Kenneth H. Beesley
This is not a new question. It was raised on several occasions during the New Testament period as the gospel was extended to the gentiles. In this dispensation also, the early Saints faced this question as the gospel was taken to the American Indian and missionary work expanded into England, Europe, and the Pacific. The question as to whether it is necessary to give up your own culture when you join the Church has recently been highlighted as membership growth has become more international and more local missionaries are being called.
Before we can answer this question, it is important to distinguish between gospel principles and customs, traditions, or local mores. We need to recognize that joining the Church should be a total commitment; and when prior customs or traditions are in conflict with gospel principles, then accommodation is appropriate. This would apply equally to a truck driver in Salt Lake City or a camel driver in the Far East.
While it is not necessary to abandon a person’s culture when he joins the Church, there are certain things of the world that do need to be given up. We learn from the Doctrine and Covenants (D&C 121:35) that many individuals are not chosen “because their hearts are set so much on the things of this world, and aspire to the honors of men, that they do not learn this one lesson—
“That the rights of the priesthood are inseparably connected with the powers of heaven, and that the powers of heaven cannot be controlled nor handled only upon the principles of righteousness.”
We remember that in the days of Christ, new converts were told, “Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints, and of the household of God.” (Eph. 2:19.)
This implies a oneness in spirit and in compliance with gospel principles. It does not imply a uniformity in language, dress, diet, politics, or preferences in sports. But while we still retain our individual customs and culture, we also become of one family when we agree to take upon ourselves the name of Christ through baptism.
President Kimball has recently emphasized that as we expand our efforts to take the gospel to every nation, kindred, tongue, and people, we must understand their differences and build bridges.
In summary, then, it is not required for an individual to give up his own culture when he joins the Church, but we need to remember that the Lord has said, “And even so I have sent mine everlasting covenant into the world, to be a light to the world, and to be a standard for my people, and for the Gentiles to seek to it, and to be a messenger before my face to prepare the way before me.” (D&C 45:9.)