What Did Elder Boyd K. Packer Really Mean When He Said "A Testimony Is To Be Found In The Bearing Of It"?

The idea for this post comes from "Things Of My Soul". On February 18th, 2011, Papa D discussed the issue of bearing one's testimony at an LDS service. The question he addressed was "how can one KNOW that there is a God, the Church is true", etc. He referred to a previous essay by Elder Boyd K. Packer in which Elder Packer spoke of testimonies being strengthened by the sharing of them, and criticized those who misrepresented that counsel to mean "Fake it until you make it".

One of the people who derided Elder Packer's counsel, and the original author of the "Fake it until you make it" canard, is Infymus, who runs the anti-Mormon Mormon Curtain website. In this March 6th, 2005 post entitled "Boyd K. Packer Advocates Bearing False Witness", Infymus cherry-picks Elder Packer's phrase "A testimony is found in the bearing of it", removes it from context, and tries to use it to claim the Elder Packer is telling people that they can gain a true testimony by bearing fake testimonies.

An examination of Elder Packer's original article entitled "The Candle of the Lord", published in the December 1988 Liahona, shows that Infymus' interpretation is distorted. Since Infymus is anti-Mormon, he has no incentive to provide a true perspective. Here's Elder Packer's statement, provided within context to promote genuine understanding:

It is not unusual to have a missionary say, “How can I bear testimony until I get one? How can I testify that God lives, that Jesus is the Christ, and that the gospel is true? If I do not have such a testimony, would it not be dishonest?”

Oh, if I could teach you this one principle. A testimony is to be found in the bearing of it! Somewhere in your quest for spiritual knowledge, there is that “leap of faith,” as the philosophers call it. It is the moment when you have gone to the edge of the light and stepped into the darkness to discover that the way is lighted ahead for just a footstep or two. “The spirit of man” as the scriptures says, indeed “is the candle of the Lord.” (Prov. 20:27.)

It is one thing to receive a witness from what you have read or what another has said; and that is a necessary beginning. It is quite another to have the Spirit confirm to you in your bosom that what you have testified is true. Can you not see that it will be supplied as you share it? As you give that which you have, there is a replacement, with increase!

Absolutely no hint of dishonesty or disingenuity. Elder Packer is not advising anyone to fake it. The presumption is that one already has received a personal witness of the truthfulness of the Gospel. Here are the three steps:

(1). Receive a personal witness of the truthfulness of the Gospel.

(2). Publicly bear testimony of that witness. This is the "leap of faith" to which Elder Packer attests.

(3). Receive a second witness from the Holy Spirit confirming that the testimony given is true.

That's how a testimony is built and strengthened. Perhaps Elder Packer could have more precisely clarified it by saying "A testimony is magnified in the bearing of it", rather than "found", but that's a mere technicality. What Elder Packer is really saying is that a testimony always comes AFTER one receives a personal witness AND publicly testifies to that witness. Read my previous post on testimony from November 1st, 2009 which goes into more details about "dos and don'ts".

The LDS Church provides this definition of "testimony"

A testimony is a spiritual witness given by the Holy Ghost. The foundation of a testimony is the knowledge that Heavenly Father lives and loves His children; that Jesus Christ lives, that He is the Son of God, and that He carried out the infinite Atonement; that Joseph Smith is the prophet of God who was called to restore the gospel; that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the Savior's true Church on the earth; and that the Church is led by a living prophet today. With this foundation, a testimony grows to include all principles of the gospel.

Additional information and scriptural references are contained in the LDS Gospel Library.

Bearing Testimony At An LDS Sacrament Meeting: A Study In Contrasts

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has set apart one Sunday per month when the sacrament meeting becomes a fast & testimony meeting. Many members will fast for 24 hours, giving the money they would have spent on meals as a fast offering. Then they will bear the testimony at the meeting.

Bearing a testimony refers to sharing one's testimony, which consists of beliefs and convictions regarding the truth of the Gospel. A synonymous term which is often used in the LDS Church is "bearing witness." As this term suggests, bearing testimony consists of standing as a witness for the truth. Church members can choose to mount the podium and bear testimony, under the inspiration of the Spirit and from personal experience, that God lives, and that Jesus is the Christ. Members may also witness of the truthfulness of the gospel, as it has been restored through prophets in these last days. More general information and resources on this practice available in the official LDS Gospel Library.

Here's a brief study in contrasts on how this works - and perhaps how it shouldn't work, as well. A person who had some previous doubts about her faith bore her testimony at a sacrament meeting and posted an account of it on The Exponent. Her simple testimony was as follows:

"That I love God, that I am grateful for the community of faith in the church, but I don’t understand everything and that is ok. That I doubt as much, if not more, than I believe and that that has made me a better person. That I am grateful for the ability to learn from my experiences and mistakes. That I am grateful for the friends and the community in this ward and elsewhere who have accepted me as I am and who have been patient with me as my faith continues to be reshaped since it collapsed last year".

Although her testimony wasn't quite in accordance with the flexible content and format guidelines recommended by the Church leadership, her bishop and stake president didn't nitpick her. Many thanked her after the meeting for having the nerve to get up and said that they appreciated her heart-filled testimony. Consequently, her testimony was useful in nurturing people's faith.

Unfortunately, this is offset by a much different and less favorable experience documented on the Waters Of Mormon. In this case, several people got up during a sacrament meeting and bore testimonies that the local bishop felt were deficient. After the meeting, the bishop then chose to call them into his office and nitpick them over their testimonies.

A young couple was brought into the bishop's office and told that their daughter should not bear her testimony unless she could say it without any help from parents. A single older man was told not to tell such long stories in his testimony. Those involved were hurt by the instruction. The older man declared that he would not bear any more testimonies - at least for a while. And the younger couple said they were not going to change their practice - but did not show up at all this week, which is very unusual for them.

So although this bishop may have been well-intentioned, his counsel actually drove people to do the opposite of what he intended - he scared them away from bearing their testimonies in the future. Such nitpicking is often cited by ex-Mormons as a reason they left the Church; on the anti-LDS Mormon Curtain blog, in a post entitled "Worthy At Last", a poster related always having the impression that nothing he/she ever did as a member was ever good enough, that there was always room for improvement. The poster wrote, "Although I regularly and honestly passed my worthiness interviews, I always had nagging guilt and wondered if I really was worthy. I would beat myself up for little things, sure that I was deficient in some way". Perhaps this is more personal angst on the person's part than anything else, but many ex-Mos who leave report similar feelings. If you wouldn't want a spouse who nitpicked you all the time, you would understandably be sensitive to a church you felt nitpicked you as well.