The Book of Mormon and Me in 2020

I was reminded the other day of President Ezra Taft Benson's magnum opus, The Book of Mormon Is the Word of God. There was something he said in that address that kept coming back to me. So I looked it up--it's found in the January 1988 Ensign, among other places--and read the talk again. Here's the part that stuck out to me:

The Book of Mormon brings men to Christ through two basic means. First, it tells in a plain manner of Christ and His gospel. It testifies of His divinity and of the necessity for a Redeemer and the need of our putting trust in Him. It bears witness of the Fall and the Atonement and the first principles of the gospel, including our need of a broken heart and a contrite spirit and a spiritual rebirth. It proclaims we must endure to the end in righteousness and live the moral life of a Saint.

Second, the Book of Mormon exposes the enemies of Christ. It confounds false doctrines and lays down contention. It fortifies the humble followers of Christ against the evil designs, strategies, and doctrines of the devil in our day. The type of apostates in the Book of Mormon are similar to the type we have today. God, with his infinite foreknowledge, so molded the Book of Mormon that we might see the error and know how to combat false educational, political, religious, and philosophical concepts of our time.

The second part is what really got my attention. It's no secret that we live in a time of conflict and confusion and loud voices of every kind. The authors and compilers of the Book of Mormon knew this--they foresaw our day. As President Benson mentioned, the people of the Book of Mormon--the Nephites, the Lamanites, and the Jaredites--never had the book themselves. It wasn't written for them. It was written for us.

But I see a lot of parallels between their times and ours--which I suppose is the point. What brought down these ancient peoples? Ultimately, each destroyed themselves with a devastating civil war. And what caused the war? Class distinctions, persecution, tribal loyalties, hatred, anger, revenge, and an explicit rejection of the teachings of Jesus Christ. And behind it all, the Adversary's greatest and most potent weapon, pride.

Sounds to me like an average day on the Internet.

Now, it's all well and good to talk about nations and societies and civilizations. But nations and societies and civilizations are made up of people. People like me. So the real question is this: What can I do to avoid the fate of the Nephite and Jaredite peoples? How do I avoid personal destruction?

In the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, our Gospel study program includes a four year rotation: Old Testament, New Testament, Book of Mormon, and Doctrine and Covenants/Pearl of Great Price. In the United States, where the headquarters of the Church is located, our major elections--Presidential, Congressional, and most State and local elections--take place during the years that we study the Book of Mormon.

I suppose that could be a coincidence.

Following the reign of King Benjamin in the Book of Mormon, the Nephites were governed by a system of judges that administered the laws "according to the voice of the people"--some form of representative democracy, it appears. With this form of government, however, came a warning:

Therefore, choose you by the voice of this people, judges, that ye may be judged according to the laws which have been given you by our fathers, which are correct, and which were given them by the hand of the Lord. 

Now it is not common that the voice of the people desireth anything contrary to that which is right; but it is common for the lesser part of the people to desire that which is not right; therefore this shall ye observe and make it your law—to do your business by the voice of the people. 

And if the time comes that the voice of the people doth choose iniquity, then is the time that the judgments of God will come upon you; yea, then is the time he will visit you with great destruction even as he has hitherto visited this land. (Mosiah 29:25–27)

I can't do much about what others might say and do, but my own voice has to be a voice for good. More than that, I have to express myself as a true follower of Christ would, as delineated by the Prophet Joseph Smith: only by persuasion, by long-suffering, by gentleness and meekness, and by love unfeigned; by kindness, and pure knowledge (Doctrine and Covenants 121:41-42).

So as I study the Book of Mormon this year, I'm going to focus on President Benson's two basic means. I'm going to search for the Book's testimony of Christ and His role as Redeemer, Healer, and Savior. I'm going to try to identify and emulate the characteristics and attributes of His faithful followers. I'm also going to examine the arguments, practices, and deceptions of the enemies of Christ as portrayed in the Book of Mormon. I will try to identify where and how they are being applied in the world today, and how I can avoid and/or overcome them.

The Book of Mormon was written, compiled, preserved, and translated to help our generation to survive and thrive in the dark times that are coming. It's time for me to start using it that way.