Over the years I have had many people talk to me about the "Word of Wisdom" (D&C 89) and there is always this debate about how come we don't drink coffee and tea. . I have heard it from members of my own faith as well as from people who aren't of my faith about why we don't drink coffee and tea, and it has frequently been said that it has to do with caffine or the way coffee is processed, that it contains tar and all sorts of "bad stuff" that you would never consume. Well, some of those things are true, but that isn't why we don't drink coffee and tea. It actually has nothing to do with caffine.
Let me tell you of an experience I had that helped me have an undertanding about why we don't drink coffee and tea. One Sunday, my family (meaning my family I grew up with) was sitting around talking about movies we had recently seen. My sister mentioned a movie that was rated R she had seen and talked about how good it was and said the reason it received that rating was because it had the "F" word in it, a bunch of times, repeated over and over. But the message the movie had was incredible. I went home and thought about some of the rated R movied I had seen years ago that were really good and had great messages and haven't seen for a long time, such as "Shawshank Redemption", or "Schindler's List". My favorite movie, which has no good meaning, but I still love, but haven't watched in a long time, is "Die Hard". Yes, I admit it is...my favorite Christmas movie. But I have chosen to not watch rated R movies...why?
As I continued to ponder this issue of "good movies" or even ratings at all, the thought came to me, we have a prophet and the Lord has spoken to our prophet. The prophet has told us to "not attend, view, or participate in entertainment that is vulgar, immoral, violent, or pornographic in any way. Do not participate in entertainment that in any way presents immorality or violent behavior as acceptable" (For the Strength of Youth). Perhaps the issue isn't about a rating at all. And the issue isn't about what is in the drink at all. The issue is more about whether or not I believe we actually have a prophet who talks with God and receives revelation that is for our good and for our benefit. And if I believe this, then am I going to follow what the prophet teaches and says is right?
What is so beautiful about the Gospel of Jesus Christ is that is gives us the choice, the opportunity to choose for ourselves whether or not we even believe our prophet talks with God, or receives revelation for the Church, or the world for that matter. We can have the Spirit confirm truth to us and we get to choose for ourselves (see Moses 3:17) whether or not we want to follow the truth. It is an incredible plan to be able to choose for ourselves whether we want to follow Christ and His prophets. We do have a prophet today. Christ loves us enough to guide us just as He led the Hebrew children out of Egypt "on dry ground" by a prophet (Exodus 14). And He loves us enough to let us choose whether or not we will continue to follow Him through being obedient once we know the truth. He says, "If ye love me, keep my commandments" (John 14:15). It really is that simple. The Word of Wisdom thing is about obedience and showing our love for God. We don't need to complicate it with all the gobblydigook of caffine or processing or whatever. Just simply state, the facts. We have a prophet who talks with the God. And I choose to follow our prophet. And because I have chosen to live my life this way, I have found great peace. This I testify.
P. S. You can learn more about the organization of our church here: Organizational Structure of the Church (You will need to scroll down to that heading)
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