Leading Saints Podcast
Leading by the SPIRIT of the Law or the LETTER of the Law | An Interview with Jason Hunt
This is a rebroadcast. The episode originally published in December 2019.
Jason Hunt has a PhD in endocrine physiology and teaches pre-med classes at Brigham Young University-Idaho. He has served as a family ward bishop, a Young Single Adult ward bishop, and as counselor in a Stake Presidency, but his most difficult calling was as the primary pianist.
Highlights
07:15 Culture and rules are not doctrinal
09:20 Keyholder applications are different from personal applications
11:00 Elder Bednar’s concept of applications: Doctrines are statements. Principles are embedded in the doctrines and tell us what we should do. They never change. Applications change.
14:50 Keyholder applications hold true when the keyholder is saying them and would apply to those who are within their responsibility, and they do not extend beyond
18:10 Cultural norms are applications that have extended beyond their boundaries
19:00 How you view these cultural norms depends on your personal moral theory. The most common are:
- Consequential theorist: consequences
- Obligation theorist: rules
- Divine theorist: what God has said
- Egoist: personal priorities
25:00 The best leadership should be able to move between these theories
27:30 When you understand these moral frameworks, how different people respond to the culture makes more sense. Cognitive development also applies.
30:30 Jason’s experience considering the story of Noah
34:30 It’s important to be open and talk about things, even if you don’t have the answers
36:30 Stephen R. Covey: Listen with the intent to understand, not to answer
39:30 Pornography, brain addiction science, and the bladder comparison. Identify the justifications. Ensure they trust and are comfortable and willing to share.
44:00 The response depends again on the personal moral theories of everyone involved
47:00 The Holy Ghost knows what needs to happen and we can be open to that and understand that there can be different consequences for different people
47:40 Have empathy for people with different moral theories and respect them for their approach
49:00 The divine command theorist must be doctrinally grounded or there can be misapplication within the culture. Examples that happen in a YSA ward.
53:20 Egoism: put the mask on first
55:30 When you are working with a leader who is coming from a different moral framework there will be friction and it requires greater empathy. We have to learn to step into different quadrants and embrace the differences of opinion
58:45 A mission is not a saving ordinance. The temple is the culminating event with the saving ordinances and that is where the focus needs to be.
1:00:10 Jason’s motorcycle example compared to technology use: youth do not have the ability to utilize their agency, so they need stages of responsibility
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