In April 2026 General Conference Elder Michael Jon U. Teh shared some thoughts about the Gospel and Culture:

When my parents joined the Church, little did they know that they were embracing yet another set of values and traditions—even the gospel culture, based on the plan of salvation, God’s commandments, and the words of living prophets. Over time, as our family strived to fully embrace the gospel, my parents discovered that some of our well-loved traditions were not consistent with gospel culture. It became apparent to them that they needed to make a choice.

And so began the difficult undertaking of weeding our family of traditions and cultural practices that were contrary to gospel culture. You could just imagine the immense pressure they received from family and friends to hold on to certain traditions even though they were contrary to the gospel.

I am so grateful that my parents exercised faith and chose to keep their covenants. It was a long and difficult process. Even when I left to live on my own, they were still working on it. Although our family was still not perfect, we had come a long way. This experience taught me that embracing gospel culture simply meant keeping our covenants.

President Oaks taught:

“The traditions or culture or way of life of a people inevitably include some practices that must be changed by those who wish to qualify for God’s choicest blessings.” 

This reminded me of some of the things I have learned from Buddhism and the value of our culture as we develop our discipleship. I explore this in my book On Holy Ground:

This view of multiple Buddhisms is replicated around the world as we observe the practice of Buddhism in different countries and cultures. Within the Theravada and Mahayana umbrella groupings, there is Japanese Buddhism, in which we may encounter Nichiren as one expression, and also in China and Zen we might see the “Laughing” or “Fat” Buddha, referring to Budai, a tenth-century Chinese Buddhist monk regarded as a bodhisattva, the future Buddha, Maitreya. While this local adaptation may be considered problematic by some, Paul Williams has suggested that is not so:

Mahayanists in particular see adaptation, and perhaps even syncretism, as a virtue in the Dharma, enabling the teachings to be adapted to the needs of hearers, and thereby indicating the wisdom and compassion of the Omniscient Buddha (Paul Williams, Mahayana Buddhism. The Doctrinal Foundations, 2nd ed. (Routledge, 2009), 2).

Drawing on this, I have suggested elsewhere:

This symbiotic relationship can be seen to be replicated in various countries and contexts. Indeed, Triratna Buddhism (originally Friends of the Western Buddhist Order) can be seen as a recasting of Buddhist principles for the modern world in the West, where perhaps a hard division between the ordained and lay sangha was not practicable, or the touching of money would be a necessity for all. Throughout history, these cultural adaptations have ensured that Buddhism flourished in certain areas, but for many Buddhist observers it [is maintaining] its essence that enabled the Buddha’s teachings to continue to be followed. (James D. Holt, Understanding Buddhism. A Guide for Teachers (Bloomsbury, 2024), 11).

Many across different religions would see this as a negative thing and a dilution of the various aspects of a faith. Indeed, from a Latter-day Saint perspective, this may be the view that is adopted, as there are many aspects of my faith that are non-negotiable. Indeed, in a talk entitled “The Gospel Culture,” President Dallin H. Oaks suggested:

To help its members all over the world, the Church teaches us to give up any personal or family traditions or practices that are contrary to the teachings of the Church of Jesus Christ and to this gospel culture. In this we heed the warning of the Apostle Paul, who said that we should not let anyone “spoil [us] through philosophy. . . after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ” (Colossians 2:8). When it comes to giving up false traditions and cultures, we praise our younger people for their flexibility and progress, and we appeal to our older members to put away traditions and cultural or tribal practices that lead them away from the path of growth and progress (Dallin H. Oaks, “The Gospel Culture,” Ensign, April 2012).

Elder William K. Jackson offered a similar critique:

It may seem that culture is so heavily embedded in our thinking and behaviour that it is impossible to change. It is, after all, much of what we feel defines us and from which we feel a sense of identity. It can be such a strong influence that we can fail to see the man-made weaknesses or flaws in our own cultures, resulting in a reluctance to throw off some of the traditions of our fathers. An overfixation on one’s cultural identity may lead to the rejection of worthwhile—even godly—ideas, attributes, and behaviour (William K. Jackson, “The Culture of Christ,” Ensign, November 2020).

Both these Church leaders suggest that there is a “gospel” culture, or a culture of Christ that is rooted in the Savior and the plan of salvation. This leads to the discussion of Paul that “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise” (Galatians 3:28). The most important identities we have are as children of God and as disciples of Jesus Christ. Those should be the defining characteristics of who we are and what we do. However, also of note is the suggestion by both President Oaks and Elder Jackson that we do not need to give up all of our culture, but only those parts of it that are antithetical to the gospel and to gospel living. Former first counsellor in the Relief Society General Presidency Chieko Okazaki shared the importance of her culture and how she was able to live one aspect of it that might seem to be outside of the gospel as a Latter-day Saint:

My family is Buddhist. My mother and my brothers are still Buddhist. I am the only Christian and the only Latter-day Saint among my family. My mother respects my religious beliefs. Because I have the fullness of the gospel, does this mean that I should not respect her religious beliefs? No. As you probably know, much of the practice of Buddhism takes place in the home with daily prayers and small offerings of food and flowers before a household shrine. It is a time to acknowledge the existence of God and to feel a connection and concern for the dead in the family. Do I acknowledge the existence of God in my life? I certainly do. Do I feel a connection with and a concern for the dead? I certainly do. Do I believe in prayer? Absolutely. Am I thankful for the bounties of the earth with which the Lord has blessed us? No question about it. So can I pray with my mother at her household shrine when I visit her? Of course I can. My prayers are addressed to my Father in Heaven, not to Buddha. I also understand that the sealing ordinances of the temple link families together eternally, but it seems to me that both rituals turn the hearts of the children toward their parents in a beautiful way. I believe that God has found a way to teach this principle in three different cultures: in the Old Testament culture of Malachi, the prophet who tells us about turning the hearts; in the culture of Buddhism; and in the culture of modern Mormonism (Chieko N. Okazaki, “The Gospel and Culture: Definitions and Relationships” in Pioneers in the Pacific, Grant Underwood, ed. (Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University, 2005), 85–86).

Sister Okazaki then suggests three principles to help us explore how our culture and the gospel can work together:

First, what is the principle behind this traditional practice? Second, do I believe this principle? And third, how can I show my support for this principle and participate in this practice without violating a gospel standard? (Okazaki, “The Gospel and Culture: Definitions and Relationships,” 86).

A silly example from my own English culture is the drinking of tea. This is embedded in English culture and identity; at every work meeting I attend tea is served, every virtual meeting I attend includes “tea breaks.” I am often surprised at how much tea is drunk in a day. When I joined the Church, I could have used the cultural practice of tea drinking as a block to joining the Church or from living the gospel. Although this may cause a quizzical glance when I meet new people, it does not affect my “Englishness” in their eyes. The celebration and respect of different cultures adds to the tapestry of gospel living.

Again, from Sister Okazaki:

It is wonderful when a Tongan sister and a Samoan sister and a Tahitian sister can all serve together in a Primary presidency or a Relief Society presidency, drawing on the strengths of their own cultures to find creative and loving ways to serve the sisters. It is wonderful when they see in these cultural differences not a source of hostility or suspicion, but a source of delight and affection (Okazaki, “The Gospel and Culture: Definitions and Relationships,” 88).

I am reminded of an event I organized as a bishop, having just been called for a second time in my home ward. There had been some issues, and the ward didn’t feel united. The event was called “The Body of Christ,” and each family set up a table with objects that represented their family and background. Many discussions were held that night as we interacted and shared our backgrounds and cultures. Recognizing and celebrating this diversity only added to our unity. The recognition and celebration of culture can add to the art, music, and literature we engage with as disciples of Christ (this is explored further in the chapter about Christianity).

There are aspects of practice within the Church where an exploration of the interaction between culture and faith would be useful, and, indeed, would enhance our faith and practice. Sometimes as we are immersed in a particular culture, we can fail to see the blurring of culture and religion; in fact, we may see that aspects of our own culture is “superior” to that of others. We all have to be mindful that our understanding of gospel principles and practices are influenced by our individual backgrounds. I often use the example of a prism refracting light to explain this:

The prism is the receptacle where our backgrounds, cultures, experiences coalesce to help make sense of life and the expressions and interpretations of new experiences and the development of values and the like form. These form a different spectrum of colours for each individual. This intersectionality recognizes and emphasizes that no two people are alike. Simply speaking, in the context of this book, a Sikh brother and sister in the UK would have different perceptions of Sikhism despite similar upbringings, because of their gender as well as other experiences that may have coloured their view (Holt, Understanding Buddhism. A Guide for Teachers, xiv).

We might experience this as members of a global church. Elder Jackson cautions against the assumption of the superiority of a particular culture when he suggests that “The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is hardly a Western society or an American cultural phenomenon. It is an international church, as it was always meant to be.” We need to be careful to not assume something is “gospel culture” rather than just the way a principle is mediated in our context. This might include the clothes that we wear to church meetings or many other practices. As long as I have been a member of the Church, the wards I have attended have held Christmas Day services, and for our family these are an integral part of our celebrations. In one ward council I attended many years ago, the appropriateness of such was questioned, as such a practice “wasn’t in the handbook.” One member asked the older missionary couple on the council “what they did in America.” The implication was that what happened in America would be correct. I suggested that what happened in the United States wasn’t the most important guide. The Christmas Day services were a tradition; they were neither false nor opposed to the gospel. I recognized it was different but not one that should be rejected simply because it doesn’t happen in another country.