Complacency

I was reading in the second book of Nephi this morning and had come to one of the most oft quoted passages by missionaries (at least the combative ones) - chapter 28. Many times on my mission I saw the fulfillment of these verses through the investigators and members of other churches. It was always amazing to me to see how accurate, if not word-perfect, they would be in citing (albeit unintentionally) words of an ancient prophet without having ever read them. Today, however, I was impressed by a new application of the verses.

"And they deny the power of God, the Holy One of Israel; and they say unto the people: Hearken unto us, and hear ye our precept; for behold there is no God today, for the Lord and the Redeemer hath done his work, and he hath given his power unto men;
"Behold, hearken ye unto my precept; if they shall say there is a miracle wrought by the hand of the Lord, believe it not; for this day he is not a God of miracles; he hath done his work," (2 Nephi 28:5-6).

As if they had been written anew these verses lept off the page and into my mind illuminating past encounters; not with investigators and non-members, but with the membership of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Certainly I've seen this referenced to support why the Christian churches at large do not have miracles claiming those died out with the ancient apostles. Yet look at what is said by many right around us today!

I have heard several times from the mouths of members that shortly after the Church was restored the day of mighty miracles had ceased. They insist that it is no longer needed. Contrast that with the words of Moroni:

"And if there were miracles wrought then, why has God ceased to be a God of miracles and yet be an unchangeable Being? And behold, I say unto you he changeth not...and the reason why he ceaseth to do miracles among the children of men is because that they dwindle in unbelief, and depart from the right way and know not the God in whom they should trust," (Mormon 9:19-20).

How sad is it then if our lives have no miracles! They come by our faith and devotion to the "only true God, and Jesus Christ whom [he] has sent," (John 17:3). This is not to say that angels will visit us daily and new scriptures will be put into our hands on a regular basis. It does mean, however, that miracles should be occurring frequently in our lives to some degree. Births of children, sustaining through difficult and trying times, fulfillment of promises whispered long ago are all examples of miracles that can happen to each of us.

The chapter of course didn't stop there.

"There shall also be many which shall say: Eat, drink, and be merry; nevertheless, fear God - he will justify in committing a little sin; yea lie a little, take the advantage of one because of his words, dig a pit for thy neighbor; there is no harm in this; and do all these things, for tomorrow we die; and if it so be that we are guilty, God will beat us with a few stripes, and at last we shall be saved in the kingdom of God.
"...They have all gone out of the way; they have become corrupted.
"...they rob the poor because of their fine clothing; and they persecute the meek and the poor in heart, because in their pride they are puffed up.
"....Wo unto them that turn aside the just for a thing of naught and revile against that which is good and say that it is of no worth!
"....Wo be unto him that crieth: All is well!
"...that saith: We have received, and we need no more!
"...for unto him that receiveth I will give more; and from them that shall say, We have enough, from them shall be taken away even that which they have," (2 Nephi 28:8, 11, 13, 16, 25, 27, 30).

How many people in our lives have we met or known who are caught in these sins? How many of us suffer from at least one of these problems? Isn't it strange to think of "robbing the poor" because we wear fine clothing or feeling at ease since "all is well?" It shouldn't be.

Paraphrasing President Kimball - Our lives are like our shoes - to be worn out in service. The law of consecration demands we give our all to the work and glory of God. We are returned what is needed. Holding on to riches and fine things of the world could very well cost us our eternal glory. Brigham Young once said, "The worst fear that I have about [members of this Church] is that they will get rich in this country, forget God and his people, wax fat, and kick themselves out of the Church and go to hell. This people will stand mobbing, robbing, poverty, and all manner of persecution, and be true. But my greater fear for them is that they cannot stand wealth; and yet they have to be tried with riches."

There is a disturbing tendency among all of us to sit back and enjoy the ride when life seems to be going well. We plateau, so to speak, for ages and don't move until we reach the other end and notice ourselves descending (if we notice at all). It is dangerous to sit back and say "all is well" for it is our duty and privilege to continue progressing infinitely until that glorious day when we are lifted up to our God and King. Yet this cannot and will not happen if we are complacent in our lives.

We cannot excuse our sins in the least degree. Others doing something does not create the freedom for us to do the same. Consequences exist regardless of peer pressure. We cannot look upon those we deem Peter Priesthoods and Molly Mormons with hostility without casting ourselves down to Hell. Regardless of their "apparent" attitudes, they are trying to do what is right and to mock and demean them only destroys our own souls.

It all boils down to this, and this was the big theme I saw while reading: we cannot sit idly by and hope we are going to Heaven in the end. Salvation is free, but at what cost? Shall we take the gift of the resurrection and just ignore the other proffered to us by Christ? Exaltation is not a free ride and will not be given to any, but those who have faithfully endured to the end and sacrificed for the kingdom of God. Those remaining on the spiritual couch of life will find that they are unfit to exercise any power in the next life past what they have done here.

I sincerely hope and pray that I will not be numbered among those unworthy to stand at the last day. My prayers are also with my family and friends that they too may find the strength of character needed to overcome the world and it's lies. Even those I know not yet or not well enough I yearn for their success in this school called life. All of us are capable and have the chance, I hope we take it. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Faith and Works - Personally

This is an essay I wrote for my New Testament Class. During the experience I had to delve into my soul and so this piece, while not the best literarily, is a part of me and my truth.

There is a debate oft posed between born-again Christians and some Latter-day Saints surrounding the grace of Christ. Are we saved by grace or works? Or is it a combination of the two? For years I have known it was mostly works and tried to defend my views. I was wrong.

During my missionary years I fortified the idea of self-perpetuation. Sure I included God in the mix, but He was always a foot note to the task. It was laden on me to find His sheep and that would only happen if I were doing everything possible and doing it right. In the end I left the mission field with around a dozen baptisms and no true appreciation of my Savior.

Don’t misunderstand me! I truly love this work and this gospel. I know it is divinely inspired and that it has power and authority. What I lacked was the personal testimony of how the savior fit into all of this. Obviously he is the central figure in the plan of salvation and the key to resurrection and exaltation, but that didn’t come with a one-to-one attachment in my mind. He was the Savior of the world as a whole, not of me individually.

In my mind I treasured up two verses of scripture to support my view. First from James: “Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone,” (KJV James 2:17). Then I used Nephi’s words when he said, “we know that it is by grace that we are saved, after all we can do,” (2 Nephi 25:23, emphasis imagined in my mind years ago). Together it was so obvious: grace is a gift unto those with faith which is dead without works requiring our all. Shortening the statement yielded the following idea – grace is a reward to those who give it their all. This was okay since our all is too short of the mark anyway and therefore it is Christ who technically saves us in the end.

That held up fine until five years after my mission when I was in a religion class with Brother Richard D. Draper. He told a parable of little boy who worked hard all summer to save enough pennies for the circus and finally on the last day had exactly enough to go in, but succumbed to temptation before reaching the Big Top by buying a penny sucker. The man at the counter checked the pennies individually and found the boy short. It was made clear that he had no chance to obtain another penny for the show. That’s where Brother Draper excused us until the next class – two days later!

Walking out of that testing center classroom I found a penny on the floor. I found myself yearning to give it to the poor little boy when the parable translated to real life and I found myself sorrowing for my own sake and the countless spiritual pennies I had squandered and could never get back. For two days I agonized over this penny and carried it wherever I went.

The next class we talked of the Savior and his atonement. The boy was offered the missing fee in exchange for the lollipop which the man threw into the trash. It solved the story, but not me. Here it is months later and the truthfulness of this doctrine is only now sinking in. As I sit writing this essay I feel the pains of inadequacy both in my righteousness and in my understanding.

It is through Paul’s teachings that I am gaining a truer appreciation of what my Savior has done for me. In his epistle to the Romans he stated, “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God. Therefore being justified only by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus…Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith only, without the deeds of the law,” (JST Romans 3:24, 27). This verse alone clears up a great deal of my mistaken ideas. For instance, rereading Nephi and attaching an earlier verse we discover, “it is only in and through the grace of God that ye are saved,” (2 Nephi 10:24). His use of “after all we can do” was not to imply a requirement, but a fact that what we do is as nothing in the face of what Christ does for us. Yet this is just the beginning of Paul’s impact.

Time and time again Paul speaks of the negative influences upon the saints that are directly sourced from the Judaizers. In Galatians he tells the saints to “be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage,” (KJV Galatians 5:1). It isn’t that the Law of Moses was base or unhelpful, but that the misapplication of it was destructive. What a true statement! In my life I have continually directed my efforts to vain and inappropriate emphasis on the commandments.

We cannot and will not work our way into heaven. We must try to live the teachings of the gospel and strive to be better constantly for that is the attitude of a saint. Yet despite any good we may accomplish in this life, we all “have sinned, and come short.” I am learning this slowly and through great repetition.

Moreover, we cannot expect perfection in this life nor anytime soon following it. In the epistle to the Hebrews we are admonished, “Let us run with patience the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith,” (KJV Hebrews 12:1). My futile efforts to obtain perfection through my own works have been my downfall time and time again. I finally learned this semester that I am not expected to do everything at once. I had to drop a class and consequently my status as a full time student. However as the Lord said to Joseph Smith, “Do not run faster or labor more than you have strength and means provided,” (D&C 10:4).

I am trying to rely on the Lord for my strength now. He knows my capabilities and my weaknesses. He knows my potential. He offers eternal life to me for the price of following him. Not that I earn it, but that Christ is giving it to me and asking, in exchange, for a comparatively worthless piece of agency. I know I can give it to him and hope to do so forever more.

A Thought: 40 years

In priesthood the Elder's quorum presidency spoke on the "revised" emphasis from the First Presidency and the pursuit of Zion. They used the example of the children of Israel and their fear of seeing the Lord on Mount Zion.

It struck me that we are like the Children of Israel in our faith. They had to wander 40 years in the wilderness to kill off the wicked older generation who came from Egypt in order to give the next generation a chance to found the kingdom of Israel correctly. This letter was first given in 1995 and is being revised 14 years later. Are we going to take another 26 years to own up to this and watch our children become that generation while we are slowly "killed" off to no longer prevent their entrance into the kingdom? Or are we going to step up and be that generation so that we might find our own way in thus enabling the children further in their efforts than they would on their own?