Global Change Teachings for the New Millennium

Presented by Niánn Emerson Chase

to members and guests of Global Community Communications Church at a World-Wide Sunday Service

(Also available in the book,Global Change Teachings for the New Millennium, Series Three)

Much of my teaching today on government and the evolution of government is based on two Papers in The URANTIA Book: Paper 70, which is entitled “The Evolution of Human Government,” and Paper 71, “The Development of the State.” From reading those papers we learn that the human church and the human civil government on evolutionary planets unfolds in a progressive process over hundreds of years of trial and error. As more individuals move into self-regulation, self-control, and self-mastery, there is less need of government intervention, but the more that people move out of that and are not self-controlled or self-governed, then you need government intervention. That is why, on any planet in that evolutionary process, it is so important that religions, especially revelatory religions, are encompassed in the individual citizen’s lives. Then individuals become aware of God’s divine law and live their lives making decisions based on those divine standards, thus having less need for regulation from the human government in their lives. But as long as most people in a sector or on a planet do not live in divine pattern by God’s true laws, then they must have regulation from the outside, from some form of government.

Whether it’s a church government or a civil government, a government that is over a lot of people or just a small group of people, the true purpose of any government is to first establish standards and laws that protect the people under that government, then to implement those standards, and thirdly, to administer justice when those laws are broken. We know from reading these papers and also from reading other portions of The URANTIA Book, that in the evolution of any kind of government, it is first established within the family, then it grows and expands into the clan, then the tribe, then a nation, and when some nations come together, it can be an empire. Ideally then, as that world progresses and moves into higher planetary mortal epochs, it grows to encompass the world so that you have one world government. When you have that world government on a higher planet, it establishes world peace, and we know that there can be no peace on the planet until you have that type of world government.

Of course, due to the Lucifer rebellion, the majority of individuals on this world, Urantia, are not governed by God’s laws. They may say they are, but when it gets right down to it, they are not. All of us have experienced that when we came here and thought we were really spiritual and everything, we started realizing that we are self-governed in many areas rather than God-governed, and that we all have our little pet evils. As in Gabriel’s prayer, people are willing to go to a certain point, and then when that pet evil comes up, they don’t want to let go of it. If a person is not willing to let go of that, that is when the leaving point happens, and they do leave. They may go a long way in a lot of areas and relinquish a lot of things to God, but there will come a point when there is one thing that is so difficult to give up. You can give it up; many people have, but for those who are not willing, or even willing to look at it, that is when they leave.

The State of a Government Is A Reflection of the People It Governs

The majority of people on this planet are not God-governed. They don’t have that self-control or self-mastery, and they do operate out of selfishness and self-assertion, exactly what Lucifer taught and presented two hundred thousand years ago. It is deeply entrenched and established now in every system and every area on the planet. It is so much a part of the value systems of all cultures, part of the mainstream, that all the governments in all the different countries—the big powerful countries, and the small countries—are made up of people who are not really God-governed, though some people in those governments are trying to be God-governed. So we have many nations with many different kinds of governments, and they are all struggling to maintain order within their jurisdiction, and many wars happen within those countries, as well as between governments. Urantia, as we know, has not yet evolved to the establishment of high world government, and we are far from that goal so long as politics on the planet continue as they are. From what we can see it just keeps continuing, whatever country you look at, whatever type of government. They all have the same kinds of problems because it is a root problem that is in the individuals within that sector or within that government. It is a spiritual problem. If that is not taken care of, no matter what the structure of the government looks like on paper, it is the people who implement it, and if the people are not pure, if the people are not really clean, then the government will fall apart in the end. It will not meet those goals that it was set up to meet.

In these Papers 70 and 71 a Melchizedek of Nebadon tells us:

It matters little what form of state a people may elect to have, provided the citizenry is ever progressing toward the goal of augmented self-control and increased social service. The intellectual keenness, economic wisdom, social cleverness, and moral stamina of a people are all faithfully reflected in statehood.

So the state of the government of any nation is a reflection of the people of that state or nation. This Melchizedek also says that:

It is not what a state is but what it does that determines the course of social evolution. After all, no state can transcend the moral values of its citizenry as exemplified in their chosen leaders. Ignorance and selfishness will ensure the downfall of even the highest type of government.

What we are seeing today is the downfall of the highest type of government that has evolved on Urantia. It is the representative government, the democracy of the United States of America. Its leadership and implementations are now constantly in question by the populace, from the publicized, ludicrous misappropriation of funds of the Pentagon to the questionable ethics of some of the political leaders, and it is all public knowledge.

In the April 21, 1997 issue of U.S. News and World Report there was an article about the quickly growing militia movement and other groups of people who are dissatisfied with the United States Government and feel that the government does not serve the people but requires that the people serve it and maintain its inefficient and unjust status quo. Whether you want to call it the militia movement or not, because it involves many, many kinds of people, the numbers of people that are very, very dissatisfied with the government and don’t trust the government has increased tremendously since the Oklahoma bombing. Different groups of people, different groups of individuals are expressing it in different ways. Some are expressing in higher ways than others. Also, it is not only happening in this country. In many countries on this planet, revolution has happened in the past and is happening now, and the existing governments are being overthrown. Unfortunately, for many of these countries, they have gone through many governments that have been overthrown only to be replaced by another unjust government that really doesn’t serve the people in the highest way.

We know from Continuing Fifth Epochal Revelation that some of those founding fathers of the United States Government are back again to reestablish a human government that is in alignment with God’s government. That was their goal when they first began this, and it’s the goal again today. It’s starting within our family here, the cosmic family, and within the community and church of Aquarian Concepts. Remember, I mentioned that in the evolution of any government, it starts with the family and it moves into the clan and the tribe, and we have a very extended family. We in Aquarian Concepts are obviously disenchanted with the government, but we don’t advocate rising up against the existing government with arms. We do advocate that individuals here rise up against their own personal rebellion against God and move into divine pattern by becoming, first self-controlled and then self-mastered, and then they can be unselfish and responsible citizens before God. Remember, it is the individual leaders within any government who make the government what it is. It is not going to do any good to go in and rewrite the structure of any government if the individual people in that government implementing its procedures, as well as the citizens that the government serves, are not changed.

The Desire for Justice

There is a movie, The Devil’s Own, with Brad Pitt, that is an appropriate movie to use in a teaching here. It is the story of a man named Frankie, a Catholic Irish. His father was very active in the IRA, and as a little boy he had established a beautiful relationship with his father, who was a fisherman. One day when Frankie was eight years old, he and his younger sister and their mother and father were sitting at the table to have dinner, and his father was praying in thanksgiving for his family and what God had brought into his life. During the prayer, someone broke into the house and assassinated the father in front of his family. Well, that had an impact on little Frankie who then grew up to be a very angry, very violent and enraged person who was involved in the IRA and responsible for killing, I don’t know how many hundreds of people. If he didn’t do it directly, people under his leadership did, but he had quite a reputation. He was enraged by the unjust government there, and the only way that he was dealing with it was taking up arms, going to war, and he kept seeing some of his closest friends around him being shot down. It is a story in which he comes to America and meets a man and stays with a family that doesn’t have any idea who he really is. They think he is this young kid from Ireland who is coming over to try to make his life better, and the American man, who has been a New York City policeman for twenty-three years, is played by Harrison Ford and is a good man. He is very devoted to his family, his wife and children. He is very committed to his job, and he has somehow been able to maintain his idealism as a policeman. He is not at all like the cops in most other shows; he’s not any superhero who breaks ten people’s necks at one fight or anything like that. He can get bruised and beaten up, and he trips and falls when he is chasing someone, and because he is getting up in years, he gets out of breath. He is a very human man, and in all of his twenty-three years as a policeman in New York City, he has never shot anyone, and he would never consider that. He has tremendous compassion, and in his mind, he is a servant. He is there to protect people, and anytime he can help people, young kids especially, who may have shoplifted just one little thing, he gives them a little talking to and let’s them go because he operates under the mercy ministry of God.

So here this policeman has this revolutionary who he comes to love very much living in his home, and he begins to look at him as a son, and they develop a friendship. Meanwhile Frankie is making arrangements for buying missiles on the black market to take over to Ireland and kill some more people. Needless to say, here is a situation where you have two people who come to love each other very much, but they have very different value systems. One makes much higher choices than the other, and both of them are aware of the unjustness of governments. Because of the lower choices of Frankie, disaster happens in several people’s personal lives.

Jesus too, ran into this. Jesus had a younger brother named Jude, if you recall, and Jude, I’m sure, was very much like Frankie, a very angry, militant young man who was furious with the Roman government. He thought they had no business being there having control over the Jewish people. He was a hothead, and he mouthed off a lot. I’m sure that if he had access to automatic weapons he would have used them. One day when Jesus was twenty-five years old, He and Jude had gone to Jerusalem. Jude was a Zealot, and very excited about being in Jerusalem. Well, Jude’s mouth got him in trouble, and he said something harsh. He was very belligerent and disrespectful and in his hotheaded manner said something very outspoken about what he thought was an impropriety of some Roman soldiers. It was an impropriety, but he wouldn’t shut up and kept going on and on in his anger. He was arrested, and Jesus went with him and spent the night in prison with Jude. Jesus was not arrested, but He was allowed to accompany His brother. The next morning when Jude went before the magistrate, Jesus went with him and probably said, “Jude, don’t say one word. Keep your big mouth shut and let me do the talking. If you say one word, I’m going to walk out and leave you here in prison.” Jesus represented Jude, and He basically explained to this magistrate what the situation had been, and He said, “You know, my brother acted a little rashly, but the situation triggered this…” and so forth. So the judge agreed that it had, but Jesus approached it in a much different manner than Jude did, and this judge said to Jesus in dismissing them, “You’d better keep your eye on the lad, he’s liable to make a lot of trouble for all of you.” The human judge told the truth. Jude did make considerable trouble for Jesus, and always the trouble was of this same nature, clashes with the civil authorities because of his thoughtless and unwise patriotic outbursts. Now, the midwayers who are responsible for bringing through the Jesus Papers considered Jude’s behavior and his bellicose nature out of divine pattern, even though from a higher perspective, the Roman government probably had no business being there. It was an unjust government; they made a lot of mistakes. Still, they called his behavior thoughtless and unwise, possibly because God could have probably used him in a much higher way. Jude could have gotten himself killed or thrown into prison for the rest of his life with his unwise behavior.

A few years later, here’s Jesus dealing with some apostles, at least one of whom was probably very much like Frankie, and some others were probably very sympathetic to that. Thank goodness they didn’t have guns in those days, but they did have swords, and most of the apostles, even after they had been with Jesus, carried swords. They got swords when they knew Jesus was going to be arrested, and the majority of them got all riled up, boy they were going to protect Him and fight those soldiers. So, He had His hands full with some of these hot-headed revolutionaries. Most of the apostles did feel very angry with the Roman government, and that was the reason why they had a difficult time sometimes understanding Jesus’ teachings, because they wanted to bring Him in to become that great political leader who would displace the Roman government. But that was not what He was for at all.

Divine Laws and Divine Pattern

We know from Continuing Fifth Epochal Revelation (CFER) that some of those apostles carried a sword or gun in later repersonalizations, and they continued to be revolutionaries in some manner. Thank goodness some continued to be revolutionaries carrying the sword of truth, rather than the other sword. Jesus, when He walked with His apostles, often told them, “Put away your swords, re-think things, become revolutionaries in another way, in a peaceful way.” If He had met Frankie, He would have told him the same thing. He would have probably said, “Frankie, yes, you live in a country where your people suffer tremendous injustices. You are a bright man. You have lots of energy. You have that fire in you. You have suffered this tragic injustice when your father was murdered in front of you, but you can’t fight the government this way. All you will do is get killed. I can’t use you. God can’t use you this way. You need to do it another way. So put away your guns, your missiles, your bombs, Frankie. Do something more with that rage that you have. Bring it into a higher space and move into divine law.” That is what He kept telling His apostles.

There is a beautiful teaching on page 1468 in The URANTIA Book, about Jesus before He went into His public ministry, before He had His apostles around Him. He did a two-year trip with a father and son from India, Gonod and Ganid, and this is about an event that happened during that trip. Governments can act like bullies, and so can individuals. This situation is where Jesus deals with an individual who is a bully.

A very interesting incident occurred one afternoon by the roadside as they neared Tarentum. They observed a rough and bullying youth brutally attacking a smaller lad. Jesus hastened to the assistance of the assaulted youth, and when he had rescued him, tightly held on to the offender until the smaller lad had made his escape. The moment Jesus released the little bully, Ganid pounced upon the boy and began soundly to thrash him, and to Ganid’s astonishment, Jesus promptly interfered. After he had restrained Ganid and permitted the frightened boy to escape, the young man, as soon as he got his breath, excitedly exclaimed, “I cannot understand you, Teacher. If mercy requires that you rescue the smaller lad, does not justice demand the punishment of the larger and offending youth?” In answering, Jesus said:
“Ganid, it is true, you do not understand. Mercy ministry is always the work of the individual, but justice punishment is the function of the social, governmental, or universe administrative groups. As an individual I am beholden to show mercy; I must go to the rescue of the assaulted lad, and in all consistency I may employ sufficient force to restrain the aggressor. And that is just what I did. I achieved the deliverance of the assaulted lad; that was the end of mercy ministry. Then I forcibly detained the aggressor a sufficient length of time to enable the weaker party to the dispute to make his escape, after which I withdrew from the affair. I did not proceed to sit in judgment on the aggressor, thus to pass upon his motive—to adjudicate all that entered into his attack upon his fellow—and then undertake to execute the punishment which my mind might dictate as just recompense for his wrongdoing. Ganid, mercy may be lavish, but justice is precise. Cannot you discern that no two persons are likely to agree as to the punishment that would satisfy the demands of justice? One would impose forty lashes, another twenty, while still another would advise solitary confinement as a just punishment. Can you not see that on this world, such responsibilities had better rest on the group or be administered by chosen representatives of the group? In the universe, judgment is vested in those who fully know the antecedents of all wrongdoing as well as its motivation. In civilized society and in an organized universe, the administration of justice presupposes the passing of just sentence consequent upon fair judgment, and such prerogatives are vested in the judicial groups of the worlds and in the all-knowing administrators of the higher universes of all creation.”

Before I go on, I want to go back to the film with Frankie, the IRA revolutionary, and the policeman who befriended him. The policeman believed that he himself, even though he may think something was unjust or wrong, could not put himself in the place of judgment and decide whether a person should be killed for what he has done, should be imprisoned for so many years, or exiled from a country. He believed that the only thing he could do was show mercy, which he did all the time as a policeman, but he trusted in the established human government and the legal system to apply and administer justice. He felt he could not do it himself. Many, many people, including Jesus in His day, have suffered tremendously under human governments, church as well as civil, that are not always just, and the reason they are not is because the people that administer it are not adhering to God’s laws. How you deal with those people is what we are looking at. How did Jesus in His day deal with the church government, which was the Jewish government, and how did He deal with the Roman government, the civil government? He did suffer some unjust situations. To go on, since Ganid could not understand yet, Jesus continued explaining to him.

“Ganid, I can well understand how some of these problems perplex you, and I will endeavor to answer your question. First, in all attacks which might be made upon my person, I would determine whether or not the aggressor was a son of God—my brother in the flesh—and if I thought such a creature did not possess moral judgment and spiritual reason, I would unhesitatingly defend myself to the full capacity of my powers of resistance regardless of consequences to the attacker. But I would not thus assault a fellow man of sonship status, even in self-defense. That is, I would not punish him in advance and without judgment for his assault upon me. I would by every possible artifice seek to prevent and dissuade him from making such an attack and to mitigate it in case of my failure to abort it. Ganid, I have absolute confidence in my heavenly Father’s overcare. I am consecrated to doing the will of my Father in heaven. I do not believe that any real harm can befall me; I do not believe that my lifework can really be jeopardized by anything my enemies might wish to visit upon me, and surely we have no violence to fear from our friends. I am absolutely assured that the entire universe is friendly to me—this all powerful truth I insist on believing with a wholehearted trust in spite of all appearances to the contrary.” (ibid., 1469:03-1470:01)

So, as the son of man, Jesus Himself had to work really, really hard at maintaining that faith in the idea of a friendly universe, the idea that no real harm could come to Him. Notice that real is in italics, because someone may be able to chop off your arm, but they cannot get to your soul. What He meant by “sonship status” was a fellow man of status as a person who is still capable of making decisions of right or wrong. You have to have discernment in that. If a person were no longer capable of making that distinction, and he were totally amoral or immoral, you shouldn’t hesitate to protect yourself, no matter what the cost to the attacker, and that takes a bit of discernment, doesn’t it? Again, Jesus did not take up arms. During this same period of time when Jesus was traveling with Gonad and Ganid, He gave a powerful admonition against any government that would fail in its duty to administer justice, so He would speak very strongly against officials or governments that did not follow through with their responsibilities.

Meeting a poor man who had been falsely accused, Jesus went with him before the magistrate, and having been granted special permission to appear in his behalf, made that superb address in the course of which he said: “Justice makes a nation great, and the greater a nation the more solicitous will it be to see that injustice shall not befall even its most humble citizen. Woe upon any nation when only those who possess money and influence can secure ready justice before its courts! It is the sacred duty of a magistrate to acquit the innocent as well as to punish the guilty. Upon the impartiality, fairness, and integrity of its courts the endurance of a nation depends. Civil government is founded on justice, even as true religion is founded on mercy.” The judge reopened the case, and when the evidence had been sifted, he discharged the prisoner. (ibid., 1462:01)

We know that throughout the history of Urantia, especially since Jesus’ time, many people have struggled to live in divine pattern as they understand it, within the civil governments as well as within the unwritten laws and taboos of the society and evolutionary religions. As a boy, several times Jesus came into conflict with what His parents believed and adhered to, and He had to discern when was it appropriate to submit to His parents and when was it not. Obviously, Jesus was a teacher son to His parents. The URANTIA Book says on page 1366 that when Jesus was nine years old:

The most serious trouble as yet to come up at school occurred in the late winter when Jesus dared to challenge the chazan regarding the teaching that all images, pictures, and drawings were idolatrous in nature. Jesus delighted in drawing landscapes as well as in modeling a great variety of objects in potter’s clay. Everything of that sort was strictly forbidden by Jewish law, but up to this time he had managed to disarm his parents’ objection to such an extent that they had permitted him to continue in these activities.

But trouble was again stirred up at school when one of the more backward pupils discovered Jesus drawing a charcoal picture of the teacher on the floor of the schoolroom.

And I am sure it was not one that some of the more mischievous students might have drawn of a teacher. I’m sure it was a likeness of the teacher, and probably very well done.

There it was, plain as day, and many of the elders had viewed it before the committee went to call on Joseph to demand that something be done to suppress the lawlessness of his eldest son. And though this was not the first time complaints had come to Joseph and Mary about the doings of their versatile and aggressive child, this was the most serious of all the accusations which had thus far been lodged against him. Jesus listened to the indictment of his artistic efforts for some time, being seated on a large stone just outside the back door. He resented their blaming his father for his alleged misdeeds; so in he marched, fearlessly confronting his accusers. The elders were thrown into confusion. Some were inclined to view the episode humorously, while one or two seemed to think the boy was sacrilegious if not blasphemous. Joseph was nonplused, Mary indignant, but Jesus insisted on being heard. He had his say, courageously defended his viewpoint, and with consummate self-control announced that he would abide by the decision of his father in this as in all other matters controversial. And the committee of elders departed in silence.
Mary endeavored to influence Joseph to permit Jesus to model in clay at home, provided he promised not to carry on any of these questionable activities at school, but Joseph felt impelled to rule that the rabbinical interpretation of the second commandment should prevail. And so Jesus no more drew or modeled the likeness of anything from that day as long as he lived in his father’s house. But he was unconvinced of the wrong of what he had done, and to give up such a favorite pastime constituted one of the great trials of his young life.

He knew that He was correct, and that the Jewish teaching on this was wrong, based on a lot of superstition, not in divine pattern and of divine law. He tried to educate the elders very strongly and courageously. He tried to talk to His parents with respect and honor towards them. He knew at this time, as a child of nine years old and the Son of Man, that His entire universe was watching. How He lived His life was an example, not only at that time but for people of other worlds in His universe, for the future, for people of all worlds. He knew that, and He wanted to set an example for everyone. Even though He had a higher understanding, He would adhere to His father’s request, because there was a higher law that applied. As a child, you are to honor your parents; so that is what He did. And because His parents were not abusive but were good, God-loving people at their level of understanding, it was only proper to honor them. That is one of God’s laws, but again there is relativity in that. Does a child today honor and obey a parent who is sexually abusing them? Of course not. Does the mother of that family submit to the father because he is the male, and keep quiet when she is aware that that is happening to her child? Of course not, because that person is not in the proper place of authority there. God’s laws are absolute, but you have to adapt them to the situation, so there is relativity within God’s absoluteness.

At eleven years old, Jesus took a trip with His father, Joseph.

About the middle of May the lad accompanied his father on a business trip to Scythopolis, the chief Greek city of the Decapolis, the ancient Hebrew city of Beth-shean. On the way Joseph recounted most of the olden history of King Saul, the Philistines, and the subsequent events of Israel’s turbulent history. Jesus was tremendously impressed with the clean appearance and well-ordered arrangement of this so-called heathen city. He marveled at the open-air theater and admired the beautiful marble temple dedicated to the worship of the “heathen” gods. Joseph was much perturbed by the lad’s enthusiasm and sought to counteract these favorable impressions by extolling the beauty and grandeur of the Jewish temple at Jersualem. Jesus had often gazed curiously upon this magnificent Greek city from the hill of Nazareth, and had many times inquired about its extensive public works and ornate buildings, but his father had always sought to avoid answering these questions. Now they were face to face with the beauties of this gentile city, and Joseph could not gracefully ignore Jesus’ inquiries.
It so happened that just at this time the annual competitive games and public demonstrations of physical prowess between the Greek cities of the Decapolis were in progress at the Scythopolis amphitheater, and Jesus was insistent that his father take him to see the games, and he was so insistent that Joseph hesitated to deny him. [Remember, He is eleven years old] The boy was thrilled with the games and entered most heartily into the spirit of demonstrations of physical development and athletic skill. Joseph was inexpressibly shocked to observe his son’s enthusiasm as he beheld these exhibitions of “heathen” vaingloriousness. After the games were finished, Joseph received the surprise of his life when he heard Jesus express his approval of them and suggest that it would be good for the young men of Nazareth if they could be thus benefited by wholesome outdoor physical activities. Joseph talked earnestly and long with Jesus concerning the evil nature of such practices, but he well knew that the lad was unconvinced.
The only time Jesus ever saw His father angry with Him was that night in their room at the inn when, in the course of their discussions, the boy so far forgot the trends of Jewish thought as to suggest that they go back home and work for the building of an amphitheater at Nazareth. When Joseph heard his first-born son express such un-Jewish sentiments, he forgot his usual calm demeanor and, seizing Jesus by the shoulder, angrily exclaimed, “My son, never again let me hear you give utterance to such an evil thought as long as you live.” Jesus was startled by his father’s display of emotion; he had never before been made to feel the personal sting of his father’s indignation, and was astonished and shocked beyond expression. He only replied, “Very well, my father, it shall be so.” And never again did the boy even in the slightest manner allude to the games and other athletic activities of the Greeks as long as his father lived. (ibid., 1370-71)

Again, even though Jesus knew the father was adhering to an inappropriate belief that was really not of divine pattern, as a child, the higher decision, given that situation, was to honor His father’s request. Therefore, He never ever again tried to convince His father otherwise. He remained silent. For a nine-year-old child, and then when He was eleven years old, to have that tremendous self-control, that tremendous self-mastery, is something that our children need to learn about. When He was twelve years old, again there was conflict with His parents and with the church government. It’s amazing how wonderful His parents were when Jesus talked with them as He was coming into a higher understanding. Sometimes they were willing to relinquish some of the established belief systems that their religion taught, and this is one of those cases when that happened.

During his last year at school, when he was twelve years old, Jesus remonstrated with his father about the Jewish custom of touching the bit of parchment nailed upon the doorpost each time on going into, or coming out of, the house and then kissing the finger that touched the parchment. As a part of this ritual it was customary to say, “The Lord shall preserve our going out, and our coming in from this time forth and even forevermore.” Joseph and Mary had repeatedly instructed Jesus as to the reasons for not making images or drawing pictures, explaining that such creations might be used for idolatrous purposes. Though Jesus failed fully to grasp their proscriptions against images and pictures, he possessed a high concept of consistency and therefore pointed out to his father the essentially idolatrous nature of this habitual obeisance to the doorpost parchment. And Joseph removed the parchment after Jesus had thus remonstrated with him. (ibid., 1372:04)

He’s pointing out, “Well, Dad, you have got an inconsistency here, let me point it out to you.” Joseph was humble enough to say, “You’re right,” and he removed it. To continue on:

As time passed, Jesus did much to modify their practice of religions forms, such as the family prayers and other customs. And it was possible to do many such things at Nazareth, for its synagogue was under the influence of a liberal school or rabbis, exemplified by the renowned Nazareth teacher, Jose.
Throughout this and the two following years Jesus suffered great mental distress as a result of his constant effort to adjust his personal views of religious practices and social amenities to the established beliefs of his parents. He was distraught by the conflict between the urge to be loyal to his own convictions and the conscientious admonition of dutiful submission to his parents; his supreme conflict was between two great commands which were uppermost in his youthful mind. The one was: “Be loyal to the dictates of your highest convictions of truth and righteousness.” The other was: “Honor your father and mother, for they have given you life and the nurture thereof.” However, he never shirked the responsibility of making the necessary daily adjustments between these realms of loyalty to one’s personal convictions and duty towards one’s family, and he achieved the satisfaction of effecting an increasingly harmonious blending of personal convictions and family obligations into a masterful concept of group solidarity based upon loyalty, fairness, tolerance, and love. (ibid., 1372:05-1373:00)

So, at times Jesus had to compromise where it was appropriate. It was a different thing when He grew to an adult and left His family to move into His public ministry. He went against some of His mother’s wishes because now He was no longer a child. It was time for Him to be about His Father’s will, and His Father’s will at that point was not to honor His mother in her foolishness, in her incorrect ideas, in her personal agendas for Him. But as a child, He did everything He could to honor His parents. You have to adapt God’s laws to the situation.

Gabriel has said over and over, “What may have been wrong for you two years ago may be right for you now. What may have been right for you and acceptable five years ago, may not be acceptable now, whether it is something that you eat, whether it is the way you relate to individuals, whatever it is. That is why it is so important to have flexibility and adaptability. That is what spirituality is all about, along with discernment.” Now, if the people, the leaders in government, whether they’re church governments or whether they’re civil governments, could have the wisdom, the discernment, the love, and the understanding of God’s law and what it means to have relativity within the absolutes of God’s law as the twelve-year-old Jesus had, what magnificent church and human governments, civil governments we would have on this planet.
April 20, 1997