Of Disciples and Higher Education | Tracy Flinders | 2022

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Access to a higher education of spiritual knowledge allows us to transcend our struggles and flaws and become more like our Savior.

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"Thank you, President, for the opportunity to say a few words this morning. I am grateful for your trust. I am also grateful for all those who work so hard before the meeting and behind the cameras to make these devotionals possible. And thanks to all of you for choosing to spend part of your day here this morning.

I am not a member of our distinguished faculty, and I have no formal teaching credentials. Rather, I stand before you as a fellow BYU student. I am not currently enrolled in any classes, and I haven’t taken a test in the testing center for thirty years, but I do attend BYU every day. I have been a full-time employee at BYU for eighteen years now, informally—but intentionally—­pursuing my “higher education” in the workplace. I will not likely receive another degree, but my education does continue, and I am grateful for that opportunity.

For twenty years, my father taught secondary education in the McKay School of Education here at BYU. While I was a student, I lived at home and drove back and forth to campus every day with my dad. During our daily commute, we talked about school, baseball, horses, hunting, fishing, family, girls, and the gospel. We talked about life, and I learned so much from my dad. It was a wonderful blessing to spend that time with him each day.

When I would ask him about the hard questions I was struggling with or seek his advice about important decisions, I remember him ­saying, “If you will give the Lord equal time, together you’ll figure it out.” That wise counsel has proven to be true for every major question, challenge, or decision I have faced in my life.

When I was younger—about your age—and on my way out the door for an evening with my friends, my parents used to say, “Tracy, remember who you are.” Those words echoed in my ears more than once when I found myself in places I shouldn’t have been.

Who are we? What is our true identity? In today’s polarized world of divisive identity politics, we need to know the answers to these foundational questions.

I would like to share a few thoughts on three subjects this morning: higher education, giving the Lord equal time, and the doctrine of identity.

In the spirit of higher education, I will begin by extending a simple invitation to each of you. Will you please find a piece of paper (or open an app on your phone) and record whatever the Holy Spirit teaches you in the next thirty minutes? As you listen to me this morning, will you please give the Lord equal time? If you will actively participate in this devotional, focusing your full attention on the words you are about to hear, and if you will open your heart to the Spirit, I promise He will speak to you today. What you learn or remember most from this address will be what the Holy Ghost teaches you.

We will focus our attention on what Jesus referred to as “the weightier matters” (Matthew 23:23) as I share four invitations and three brief stories from the scriptures. In these accounts, we will find the Savior teaching a few of His disciples individually in very personal, intimate encounters. With one exception, I will quote Jesus directly, and as I do, I invite you to take His words literally. Please write them down, and as you do, listen for His voice in your heart and in your mind. Record those words of personal revelation too. Capture them exactly as they come to you.

The Master Teacher
As we go along, I will pose a few questions for us to carefully consider, starting with this one: Why only quote the words of the Savior?

The answer is simple. Jesus Christ is the source of our higher education. We are blessed to live in a time when the words of ancient and living prophets are literally at our fingertips. There is no shortage of inspired, powerful, and relevant messages from prophets and apostles. We have been taught to make the consistent, careful study of their words a central part of our individual higher education. We will be blessed and protected as we listen to and follow inspired prophetic counsel. But Jesus Christ is the Master Teacher. There is something powerful about going straight to the Source."