Lesson 20: Fellowship with Those Who Are Not of Our Faith

I wince whenever I hear about church members who are not friendly with people who are not members or who only want to be friends with non-members as long as they want to learn more.  Ultimately, yes, we want everyone to accept the gospel and find the joy, peace, and happiness that we have.  However, in my experience that comes only after we have become friends-- genuine friends.  For that reason, I think that this is a really important lesson.

The Activity:

1. Make a list of words on the board.  Choose words from pages Section 2 that President Hinckley uses to describe how our relationships with people not of our religion should and should not be.  Some of these words include arrogant, appreciation, respect, acrimony, and neighborliness.
2. Ask the class members to sort the words in this list into two groups.  You could identify what the two groups should be or not.  The words are different enough that most people  would sort them into the appropriate groups without indication, I believe.
3. Explain that what these words are, if you have not already done so.
4. Ask class members to look through the chapter (or just this section) for quotes that include some of these words.
5. Ask them to share any of these quotes that really seem to stand out to them.
6. Discuss the quotes.
7. Fill in a table that looks something like the following (with as many rows as you wish):

Descriptor	Looks Like	Sounds Like	Feels Like	Results in
Respect
Civility

   

    8.  Discuss the entries.

Using the Activity:

There are several changes that could easily be made to this activity while still aiming at the objectives.  First, you can use whatever words you want.  I suggest using Section 2 as the source for these words, but you could easily use words from throughout the chapter.  Also, most parts of this activity could work just as well with smaller groups.  Finally, you could label the columns of the table differently if you so choose. 

The value of this activity is in considering the application of President Hinckley's counsel on this subject.  The idea is to push class members to think a little deeper about their relationships with the neighbors, co-workers, and friends who are not members of the Church.  We want them to consider how each of these words that President Hinckley uses could seem from multiple perspectives and ultimately to identify ways in which we could all treat those around us in more Christ-like ways.  Ultimately, those relationships will open doors to be able to share the gospel, which is the focus of next week's lesson.

I pray that this idea is of use to you and will help you as a teacher to find the inspiration and revelation that you need to do the Lord's work you are called to do.