🌿 LOOK TO GOD — NOT TO THE PROGRAM
🌿 LOOK TO GOD — NOT TO THE PROGRAM
(A Loving Response to Elder D. Todd Christofferson’s October 2025 Conference Talk)
Deep mourning, we all acknowledge the tragedies in Michigan and in so many corners of this fallen world. 💔
In his recent General Conference address, Elder D. Todd Christofferson shared tender stories of faith and suffering. There was sacred music, heartfelt prayer, and teenagers clinging to the words of Moroni to find hope.
And friend, I felt the Spirit in those moments. 🕊️
I really did.
But then, as happens far too often these days, the message slowly shifted—from a living invitation to look to Christ… to an institutional checklist of pamphlets, programs, and behavioral codes. And that’s where my heart aches. Because it doesn’t have to be that way.
🕊️ The Pure Part: Look to Him and Live
The talk opens with a seventeen-year-old survivor, Setswana Servedi, testifying:
“Jesus Christ loves us and is with us, even though our hearts hurt.”
Those are powerful words born in real pain. I believe her. 🙌
That’s the kind of testimony that moves heaven—not because it’s polished, but because it’s pure.
Elder Christofferson also quoted Alma’s words to Helaman:
“See that ye look to God and live.” (Alma 37:47)
And he reminded us of Moses’ brass serpent:
“Everyone that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live.” (Numbers 21:8)
For a few precious moments, this talk pointed us straight toward the Healer. No middlemen. No manuals. Just Jesus.
🪄 Then Comes the Drift
But then—slowly—the focus pivots.
We go from “look to God” 👉 to “obey commandments to prosper” 👉 to “follow pamphlets and chastity checklists.”
We’re suddenly knee-deep in For the Strength of Youth quotes about hairstyles, clothing, and physical boundaries. Elder Christofferson’s tone remains gentle, but the center of gravity quietly shifts.
The living Christ fades into the background, replaced by the program. 📋
And friend, that’s exactly what Alma and Nephi warned us about.
📖 The Real Invitation: “Look and Live”
Alma says it as plainly as can be:
“If they would look, they might live; and if we look, we may live forever.” — Alma 37:46
“Cast about your eyes and begin to believe in the Son of God.” — Alma 33:21–22
He’s not saying: “Read the pamphlet.”
He’s not saying: “Keep up with the Church standards book.”
He’s saying: Look to Jesus. Believe. Trust.
When Moses raised the serpent, people were healed by simply looking. But many wouldn’t look and perished (Alma 33:19–20).
Later, Israel even turned the brass serpent into an idol (2 Kings 18:4). Something meant to point to Christ became a substitute for Him.
Sound familiar? 😔
💰 Prospering in the Land ≠ Institutional Loyalty
Elder Christofferson repeated the familiar Book of Mormon promise:
“Inasmuch as ye shall keep my commandments, ye shall prosper in the land.”
But here’s what the Book of Mormon actually teaches:
“Prospering” doesn’t mean building more temples, dressing a certain way, or staying busy in callings.
“The opposite of prosperity was not poverty, it was being cut off from the presence of the Lord.” — Helaman 4:24
Prosperity = God’s presence.
It’s spiritual vitality, not institutional activity.
Some of the most “prosperous” saints in scripture were living in caves, fleeing Babylon, or being cast out of synagogues. They had His Spirit. That was their prosperity. 🌿
📜 The Nemenhah Witness
The Nemenhah Records bear powerful testimony on this point:
“Teach your little ones to seek the commission of the Peacemaker. Yea, teach them to seek it in all that they pray of Him. For it is by and through His commission that they receive authority to speak and act in His name.”
— Book of Mohmeht Ahkehkt 3:53–54
Not “seek programs.”
Not “seek Area Seventies.”
Seek the Peacemaker Himself. 🕊️🔥
And they warn against over-regulating spirituality:
“Write ordinance and ceremonial regulations as exemplars, but avoid over-legislating; teach true principles so forms can adapt across generations.”
— Mohmeht Ahkehkt 3
Compare that to how modern talks pivot into rulebooks like For the Strength of Youth. One is living principle. The other is Pharisaical form.
🧭 Jesus Is the Author and Finisher — Not the Manual
Elder Christofferson closed with a beautiful verse:
“Jesus Christ is the author and finisher of our faith. Don’t look away, but look to Him.” — Hebrews 12:2
And then, ironically, the closing application was not “Seek His face.”
It was “Follow the standards booklet.”
Friends, the power is not in the pamphlet.
It’s not in the Area Seventies.
It’s not even in the manuals.
👉 It’s in the Person of Christ.
He alone redeems.
He alone heals.
He alone prospers.
He alone commissions.
Everything else is meant to point to Him—or risks becoming a distraction.
✨ Final Thought
I don’t write this with anger. I write it with sorrow and hope.
Sorrow that a church I once cherished so deeply keeps pointing people toward programs instead of the Living God.
Hope that some will still cast about their eyes and live.
“Jesus Christ loves us and is with us, even though our hearts hurt.”
That was the truest line in Elder Christofferson’s entire talk. May it not get buried under manuals and manmade scaffolding. 🙏
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