🕊️ Are We Afraid of Honest Questions in Zion?
When My Son Walked Away From the Church
🕊️ A Father’s Reflection on Faith, Questions, and Zion
A few years ago something happened in my life that shook me.
One of my sons walked away from the Church.
Not because he hated God.
Not because he wanted to rebel.
He had questions.
Real questions.
Questions about church history.
Questions about things he had read.
Questions that didn’t seem to have clear answers.
And somewhere along the way the answers he received sounded like this:
“Just trust the leaders.”
“Just read the talk.”
“Don’t worry about it.”
For a thoughtful young man…
that wasn’t enough.
So he stepped away.
As a father, that hurts more than I can explain.
I Still Love the Church
❤️ This Isn’t Bitterness
Let me say something very clearly.
I love the Church.
I love the members.
I love the missionaries.
I love the leaders.
President Oaks is a good man. Years ago I even played pickup basketball with him at BYU. My father used to walk to school with his sister.
These are real people to me.
We’re all trying to do the best we can.
That’s why this conversation matters.
Because loving something sometimes means being honest about it.
The Book of Mormon Saw This Coming
📖
There is a warning in the Book of Mormon that has always made me pause.
“Because of pride… their churches have become corrupted.”
— 2 Nephi 28:12
And then the line that echoes through the centuries:
“All is well in Zion; yea, Zion prospereth, all is well.”
— 2 Nephi 28:21
That warning wasn’t written for the world.
It was written for God’s covenant people.
Costly Buildings and the Poor
🏛️
The Book of Mormon also warns about another danger.
Pride.
And religious systems that become wealthy and comfortable.
“Because of pride they are puffed up… they rob the poor because of their fine sanctuaries.”
— 2 Nephi 28:13
Those verses don’t accuse.
But they do invite us to ask honest questions.
Are we building Zion the way the Lord intended?
Or are we drifting into the same patterns the scriptures warned about?
7 Signs Zion Is Drifting
📖 What the Book of Mormon Warns Covenant People About
The Book of Mormon doesn’t just warn the world.
It warns God’s covenant people.
If we read carefully, it lists patterns that appear whenever a once-righteous society begins drifting away from the Lord.
Here are a few of them.
1️⃣ Pride Begins to Grow
⬆️
“Because of pride… their churches have become corrupted.”
— 2 Nephi 28:12
Pride is almost always the first sign.
When people begin to believe they cannot fall…
that is usually when they start to fall.
2️⃣ Expensive Religious Systems
🏛️
“They rob the poor because of their fine sanctuaries.”
— 2 Nephi 28:13
The Lord never condemns temples.
But the Book of Mormon repeatedly warns about religion becoming wealthy and comfortable while the poor struggle.
That should make all of us pause and reflect.
3️⃣ Leaders and People Saying “All Is Well”
😴
“All is well in Zion; yea, Zion prospereth, all is well.”
— 2 Nephi 28:21
When people begin believing their church cannot drift,
the scriptures say that is exactly when danger begins.
4️⃣ Trusting in the Arm of Flesh
👤
“Cursed is he that putteth his trust in man… or maketh flesh his arm.”
— 2 Nephi 4:34
The gospel was never meant to be lived by following men alone.
Every person must receive their own witness from the Holy Ghost.
5️⃣ Churches Becoming Comfortable With the World
🌎
“They have all gone out of the way… save it be a few.”
— 2 Nephi 28:11
Throughout scripture, when God’s people become comfortable with the world around them…
prophets begin calling them back.
6️⃣ Wealth Replacing Consecration
💰
“Because they are rich they despise the poor.”
— 2 Nephi 28:13
Zion was always meant to care for the poor.
Whenever wealth becomes the focus of religion, something is drifting.
7️⃣ Questions Begin to Be Silenced
🤫
“They teach with their learning, and deny the Holy Ghost.”
— 2 Nephi 28:4
When sincere questions are discouraged…
the Spirit often stops teaching.
And when the Spirit stops teaching, people slowly begin to drift.
Prophets Often Corrected God’s Own People
⚖️
The scriptures are full of moments when the Lord corrected His own church.
Samuel the Lamanite stood on a wall and called the Nephites to repentance.
Abinadi stood before King Noah’s priests and warned them they had corrupted the law of God.
Even young Samuel corrected the high priest Eli when God revealed that Eli had failed to restrain wickedness.
These men were not rebels.
They were trying to bring people back to God.
Course Corrections Have Happened Before
🔄
History shows us something important.
Sometimes the Church has had to change direction.
Polygamy was once strongly defended.
The priesthood restriction lasted for generations.
Other teachings and practices that developed during the Brigham Young era were later corrected.
That doesn’t destroy faith.
It reminds us that humility and repentance are part of the Lord’s pattern.
Borrowed Light Won’t Save Us
🔥
President Nelson has taught something powerful.
We cannot survive spiritually on borrowed light.
Faith cannot simply be:
“Because a leader said so.”
Each of us must receive our own witness from the Holy Ghost.
Each of us must learn to walk with Jesus Christ ourselves.
The Hard Truth Many Parents Know
💔
Today many parents in the Church are watching their children walk away.
Not because they hate God.
But because they feel their questions aren’t welcome.
That’s what happened with my son.
And if we’re honest…
almost every family knows someone going through the same thing.
These young people are not enemies.
They are seekers.
The Lord Will Clean His House
🕊️
The scriptures teach something very clear.
The Lord eventually cleans His house.
Judgment begins with the household of God.
That’s not something to fear.
It’s something to remember.
Because repentance simply means one thing:
Turn back to the Lord.
Why Not Do It Now?
🌅
Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we could do that now?
With humility.
With honesty.
With love.
Not attacking anyone.
Not tearing anything down.
Just returning to what Joseph Smith originally pointed us toward:
Jesus Christ.
The scriptures.
Revelation.
Caring for the poor.
Building Zion.
A Final Thought
🕊️
I still believe in my son.
His story isn’t finished.
The Lord knows his heart.
And He knows mine.
But sometimes I wonder something.
Maybe the real problem isn’t that people are leaving the Church.
Maybe the real question is this:
Are we close enough to Jesus Christ that people can feel Him there?
Because when people truly encounter Christ…
they don’t walk away.
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