What E'er Thou Art Act Well Thy Part

As a young man, President David O. McKay was called to serve a mission to Scotland. While there, he discovered a stone above the doorway of a building near Stirling Castle. The architect of the building had arranged nine symbols in a square with three rows and three columns. Each symbol represented a number and every row and every column totaled 18. On the top of the stone was the inscription, "What e'er thou art, act well thy part."

The architect of that building knew that many different materials were used to construct the building. For the building to stand the test of time, each part would need to be in its assigned place and perform its proper function. The cement foundation would need to provide a stable base on which to build; wooden beams would provide a framework of support for the walls and roof; stucco, rocks or bricks would be used to secure the building and keep out the cold; and a roof with shingles would be required to repel the rain and snow.

It is critical to the integrity of the building that each element bear the weight placed upon it. If the building were suddenly without its foundation or if one of the wooden beams were to be removed, the structure may fail. Similarly, a wooden foundation or shingles made of brick may eventually result in collapse. Each material has characteristics suited for a particular role; and it is by performing that role that the entire building has endured for hundreds of years.

This principle is true for social structures as well. Each of us has unique characteristics to contribute as we fulfill our duties and responsibilities to our families and our communities. If we are absent. give less than our best effort or abandon our responsibilities because we wish we had a different role to fill, dysfunction or even collapse may result.

In his letter to the Corinthians, Paul writes that we in the church are also like the architect's building. All of us have been called to fill an important role that benefits the whole. Some are called to be apostles, others prophets or teachers, and still others are called to work miracles, learn languages, or organize and help others. Magnifying that calling glorifies the whole because every part of the building is needed.

President Gordon B. Hinckley once testified, "We are all in this great endeavor together. We are here to assist our Father in His work and His glory, 'to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man' (Moses 1:39). Your obligation is as serious in your sphere of responsibility as is my obligation in my sphere. No calling in this church is small or of little consequence. All of us in the pursuit of our duty touch the lives of others" ("This is the Work of the Master," Ensign, May 1995, 71).

To help us succeed in our individual roles, the Lord has given each of us talents, skills and characteristics to use for the benefit of the whole Church. "To one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge... To another faith... to another the gifts of healing... To another the working of miracles; to another prophecy; to another discerning of spirits; to another diverse kinds of tongues; to another the interpretation of tongues" (1 Corinthians 12:8-10). We may be gifted writers or musicians, compassionate listeners, or willing volunteers who help wherever we're needed. All of these and many, many more contribute to the integrity of the whole.

We may feel like we're just a bit of grout between some bricks or a single nail on a wooden beam in the grand scheme of things. Christ, through his apostles, asks us to focus less on what we are and use our energy to fill our roles well. His glory is not served by a pile of shingles or an immense, structure-less foundation, but rather with the building of his kingdom on earth. He has given us gifts because he needs all of us, whatever we are, to act well our part.

Matters of Personal Preference

Much of what we do as followers of Christ is governed by his commandments. There were 613 commandments in the Law of Moses; and though that law has been fulfilled, the faithful remain busy loving their neighbors, dressing modestly, paying tithes, going to church, praying always and striving to do all the Lord has asked us to do for the happiness and salvation of his family and ours. None of us is perfect (Romans 3:23), but we usually try not to judge others when they sin (that's also a commandment) and hope for the same mercy when we fall short ourselves.

But what happens when the things we think others are doing wrong aren't addressed by a specific commandment? For example, what about those otherwise faithful saints who vote for the other political party? What about those who are vegetarian or stock up on guns or have too big of a house or shop at stores where we wouldn't be caught dead? Or those who have too many kids or too few kids or whose kids are too rowdy or too well behaved or too spoiled or too shy? Do we ever talk negatively about others or treat them differently because they have different preferences than we do?

That was the case in the ancient Roman empire when Paul sent his epistle around 55 A.D. Although Christ had fulfilled the law of Moses, some of the saints in the early church continued to follow its dietary restrictions and celebrate events like the Passover that were no longer necessary under the law of the gospel. Each school of thought in the matter, both those who ate meat and those who continued to refrain, saw itself as better or more faithful than those who thought differently.

Paul taught these saints, "Let not him that eateth despise him that eateth not; and let not him which eateth not judge him that eateth: for God hath received him" (Romans 14:3). In other words, where personal preferences are concerned, be that how we teach our children or who we vote for president, we should be accepting of others and respect the free exercise of their right to choose differently than we do.

Paul continues and takes it a step farther: "Let us not therefore judge one another any more: but judge this rather, that no man put a stumbling block or an occasion to fall in his brother's way... But if thy brother be grieved with thy meat, thou walkest not charitably if thou eatest. Therefore, destroy not him with thy meat, for whom Christ died" (Romans 14:13, 15).

It was perfectly fine for Roman Christians to eat meat, but it was better for them to abstain from meat for a meal with someone who may have been offended than to risk driving that person away from the gospel altogether. Taking offense is a choice, but so are actions that we know may cause others to stumble or doubt. In such cases, "it is good neither to eat flesh, nor to drink wine, nor anything whereby thy brother stumbleth, or is offended, or is made weak" (Romans 14:21).

In short, Paul admonished the saints to, "follow after the things which make for peace, and things wherewith one may edify another" (Romans 14:19). This doesn't mean we have to go around walking on eggshells, and some of the things that may offend others may not be things we're willing or even able to change, but where personal preferences are concerned we should also be considerate of how our choices affect others.

What we do to others, we do to God (Matthew 25:40). If we will let love conquer pride and be seekers of peace and edification for all, the Lord has promised that whatever adversity we are facing will pass; contention will fade because of the love of God in our hearts; and the Lord who gave us the commandments will mercifully approve and accept us as his own (see Elder Uchtdorf, In Praise of Those Who Save, April 2016; and Romans 14:18).