We Have Barely Scratched the Surface

“The growth of the Church from its infancy to its present stature is phenomenal, and we have only scratched the surface.”
-Gordon B. Hinckley, “Opening Remarks,” Ensign, Nov 2005, 4

I feel like this statement is really important for all members of the church. I’m a convert, so my understanding of what the church really is has been based on an ideological perspective that may not often be as ingrained in the hearts of many lifelong members. There are certainly many lifelong members who believe strongly in the destiny of Christ’s church, who have a vision of the scope of this destiny, however I feel like there is something lacking in the hearts of the average member. I feel like I am lulled into inaction as well.

I want to talk right now about action. I think we are not quite doing enough, as church members. The key word is destiny.

President Hinckley has set forth a vision of the church’s destiny. He is certainly not the first. I think that we won’t reach that destiny until we make certain changes in our lives. Below I list what I feel like are the most important changes we can make. I base this list on what I have observed as a new member, as well as during my mission during which time I had the opportunity to serve in a few leadership roles. I admit that I include my own life in my observations.

1) Greater Obedience

There are basic precepts, commandments, principles that are taught frequently that we don’t obey well enough. This statement doesn’t seem extraordinary, but it describes something that’s a real problem. I’m not talking about abstract ‘greater obedience’ to receive abstract ‘blessings of heaven’. I’m talking about the fact that sometimes: we eat things that are unhealthy, we let inappropriate television have far too great a role in our lives, we don’t hold planned and significant family home evenings, we don’t study or pray like we need to, we don’t follow basic counsel of our leaders i.e.: making a list of talking points according to Elder Ballard’s instruction, we don’t respect the Sabbath day properly, etc.
I think it’s clear that there are simple principles that are easy to follow, but that are also so easy to ignore. The first thing we need to do a put forth just a little more effort and start doing some of these things with greater urgency.

2) More Sincere Prayer

Our savior, in his prayer to Heavenly Father (the Lord’s prayer), is very formal. He establishes a pattern. Prayer is serious business. Our Heavenly Father loves us, but we need to approach Him like He is… God. A certain amount of severe reverence is needed. It wouldn’t be wrong to ponder the topics of a prayer before giving it. I’m talking about secret prayer. I’m not suggesting any unified model of prayer, or condemning casual prayer universally, I’m just saying we need to put more effort into prayer. The key word is effort. We need to really think about God being on the receiving end, we need to feel gratitude and humility in our hearts, to try to feel, when we pray.

3) Studies and the Book of Mormon

Lots of people study. Many people study well. I think that most everyone could study more, but specifically, better. It wouldn’t be wrong to take notes while doing scripture study. These notes might only be impressions recorded in a journal. Simply reading scripture doesn’t provoke thought the way writing and reflecting and planning does. We need to ponder, read, pray, plan, write as we study.
Also, we need to read and apply the principles of the Book of Mormon more. The Book of Mormon represents the Lord’s covenant with this generation. It is the tool of the restoration of Christ’s gospel. It is the voice through which the Lord has chosen to teach His people the gospel in the latter days. This is why the D&C condemns (D&C 88:55-57) the church for not taking it seriously. We need to seriously learn what faith in Christ really means, and apply (implying writing, pondering, planning, etc. during studies) those principles in our lives.

4) Empathy, love, sympathy

I don’t feel like the principles of the gospel of Jesus Christ endorse negative words or thoughts from one person towards another in any way. By negative I don’t mean righteous judgment, I refer to unrighteous dislike or cruelty. A person might speak out against the unrighteous actions of another, but they are not permitted to dislike that person.
Our Heavenly Father has shown us, through the example of His son, what manner of men we ought to be. We must strive diligently and unceasingly to think positively about others. We must learn to see the world from their point of view. We musn’t approve of incorrect actions, but we must share the burdens of grief or misunderstanding that cause others to act incorrectly. We must be able to say, “I’m sorry you feel the way you do, I don’t agree, I can’t support those decisions, but I’m here to give you a hug if you want one.”
When others are doing no wrong, we must not only be sensitive if they somehow offend us, we must change our hearts so that the action no longer offends.
Have you ever thought someone was ‘nerdy’? You must learn to love that person for their ‘nerdiness’ by finding the positive aspects of it.
This is very important! Cynicism and dislike are great evils. I partake in them often, but I still stand by my opinion that they are evil.
To move forward, we must open our hearts and our arms. There must be no tolerance for negativity. A smear on one of Heavenly Father’s children is a smear on Him. That is not acceptable!

I think that if these four principles were adopted by church members more fully, we would be able to see many more miracles. I have to think that we will draw closer to our destiny, but we have barely scratched the surface. I know the Lord moves mysteriously, and often tenderly, painfully slow maybe. I still think that this generation will need a spark, and I’m excited for the day when we are thirsting more for righteousness.

Talking Points

I returned from my mission in Romania less than 6 months ago.  I spent 2 years trying to figure out what my 'message' was.  That is, what I basically wanted everyone to know, as a minimum, about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Elder Ballard has asked (nudge nudge) us to create a list of 'talking points'.  These are basic statements that we can have at our disposal so we can speak intelligently and in a prepared manner about our beliefs.  

Side note - I wonder how many people have really done this.  I feel like it's just up my alley, but I've just started.  Isn't it interesting how the prophet urged everyone to do Family Home Evening, but it wasn't until a later prophet mandated it on a specific night of the week that it fell into common practice.  The church is under scriptural condemnation for not taking the Book of Mormon and its principles seriously enough.  I constantly worry and wonder about this.  I think I'm slowly stepping in the right direction here.

These 'talking points' are supposed to be about a variety of topics: doctrinal, historical, general values, facts (numbers, stats, good deeds).  

I will start with what's most easy (for me).  Doctrinal:

Points:

1) My church teaches that all human being have a definite spiritual nature, and that there is a God who is supreme.  He isn't just a ruler, He is our literal spiritual father, and we all have a seed of divinity in us.

2) My church teaches that the purpose of life is ultimately to be happy.  Specifically, our lives are only one step - an essential step - in an unending spiritual journey.  The point of this journey is for us to learn and grow spiritually.

3) My church teaches that our happiness - presently, and eternally - will be affected by the extent to which we strive to follow God's teachings concerning our life on earth.  We believe that God has literally spoken to man throughout human history through men called prophets.

4) My church teaches that these prophets have all taught that God sent His son, Jesus Christ, to earth to be a sacrifice for our sins.  This means that the burden of our failures and disappointments are swallowed up by the miraculous power of Jesus, and that as we believe in Him and obey His teachings, we can be healed of all ills in our life.

5) My church teaches that God has called and spoken to a prophet in our time - Joseph Smith - to restore to earth basic, essential, yet previously misunderstood teachings about Jesus Christ necessary to achieve salvation.

6) My church teaches that anyone who desires to draw closer to God is invited to learn of the restored gospel truths of Jesus Christ by studying - along with the Bible - the Book of Mormon which was given specifically to clarify key doctrines about Christ's gospel.  Sincere study and prayer, coupled with the power of the Holy Ghost, can convince anyone of the truth of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ.

It's a start

The Church of Jesus Christ

People say "The Mormon Church" when they are talking about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for many reasons.  I think one big reason is that "The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints" is too much of a mouthful to keep repeating.

On my mission in Romania, we just said, "The Church of Jesus Christ."  If we tried to say more, people would literally zone out.  However, what we said confused them because they thought that they belonged to the 'Church of Jesus Christ'.  Or, the more thoughtful folks would think that everyone belonged to the 'Church of Jesus Christ'.  We would say, "Maybe so, but this is just our name.  It's just what we're called, so even if you belong to the 'Church of Christ' too, the name of our church just happens to be 'The Church of Jesus Christ'.

Pundits, and many of them have of late named the church - or tried to - on tv or on the radio, tend to say the latter-day saint church.  This is okay, it's better than the "mormon church".  However, I think LDS would be better.  It's an abbreviation, 'The Latter-day Saint' church is no abbreviation - it's like they're trying to rename our church!

So, I propose that in casual conversation if we are discussing the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and we don't want to say all that all the time, we should just say "For short - the Church of Jesus Christ".

Not, "My church" or "The LDS church" but "The Church of Jesus Christ"

A lot of people won't really like the way that's handled, after all, if they don't personally believe in the tenets of "The Church of Jesus Christ" they might feel like the word choice involved is exclusionary.  It's not, we aren't saying "Christ's Church".  It's just our name!!

So, I, a proud member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints ( or Church of Jesus Christ for short) would love to discuss the tenets of the church with anyone.

The Church of Jesus Christ has an interesting history, actually, it's fascinating no matter what you believe.  

Mitt Romney, a candidate for president, is a member of the Church of Jesus Christ.  Don't you wonder what a member of the Church of Jesus Christ believes?

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints that is.

Are Mormons Christian?

I have written about this before, but I have extracted a comment (rather-long) that I made on a website.  The website was an article by  about whether mormons are christian.  He thought: not really.  This one comment is self-explanatory.  It is not a definitive statement on the subject, but I like what I said here:

"In response to John Smith, 

Mr. Smith wrote the following:

> Acts 6 identifies that when the apostles needed to
> select somebody to handle a worldly issue for
> them, their criteria was to pick somebody full of
> the Spirit. To receive the Holy Spirit you have
> to accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior and
> his teachings, i.e., salvation throught Grace, the
> inerrancy of the Bible, the Trinity, etc., etc.
> none of which faithful Mormoms accept.

From a political point of view this is significant, because this is one angle of a sentiment shared by many. It is because of this sentiment that this article on which we are commenting was written. The notion that a candidate can be spiritually disqualified for office.

Now, I will transition into the religious aspect of it a bit. I know that Mr. Smith argued his perspective, and I would normally expect a debate about whether or not it's right to use such a spiritual qualifier for a political candidate. However, in this instance - because of the article questioning whether mormons are christian - the debate is more of a theological one.

My rather convoluted post of earlier tried to address the very issue Mr. Smith brings up. Here I think I can restate it a little better.

My issue is with the notion that mormons can't have the spirit, or are disqualified from being disciples of Christ according to qualifiers that are frankly, man-made.

Salvation through grace is a clear teaching of the Bible, as it is a clear teaching of the Book of Mormon, as it is of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (hereafter referred to as the Church of Jesus Christ for simplicity). I think Mr. Smith is referring to the Protestant doctrine of salvation through belief alone. The Church of Jesus Christ teaches that salvation comes through the grace of God through faith in Christ. The confusing point is that faith is handled differently. Faith to the Church of Jesus Christ is working with God for personal spiritual progression through Christ, thus the emphasis on striving to keep God's commandments. The key word is strive, faith means trying your hardest. After you fall short, God recognizes your faith and uses it, through Christ's atoning grace, to sanctify the believer.

That's more doctrine than I wanted to share, I just get frustrated by this issue. About the inerrancy of the Bible, this is only an assumption on the part of Protestants who reject the Orthodox priesthood structure that authorizes the Bible as true (I can also mention the revelations given to the Church of Jesus Christ that reaffirm the Bible as the word of God and its message of salvation true). The doctrine of the Trinity is also only a explanation of ideas set forth in the Bible - it works better than the 'heretical' explanations it opposed - but the understanding of the nature of God in the Church of Jesus Christ is completely compatible with the Bible.

I served a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ. I taught many people, as an example, of the Pentecostal faith. They believed in many things that I thought were just plain wrong. Their church meetings were full of people speaking various tongues that often were never understood by anyone. They shout and yell, and I think (personally) that that sort of behavior drowns out God's true spirit (which the Bible clearly calls a still, small voice). However, when a person told me that they had felt God's spirit, that they sought it, that they felt His love, and even if they said they had received an impression, a dream, or a prophesy, I was not inclined to tell them that they had erred. The Church of Jesus Christ has no monopoly on God or Christ. It's members believe that it is the church "brought forth out of the wilderness", that the Lord speaks to its prophet, that the priesthood authority of the Church was vested by God and that it is the only authority that is true and recognized by God. However, we have no monopoly on God, His spirit, and we know that all mankind are His children.

Like I have stated before, to remove Christ from His sheep is unchristian. I think God grants His spirit to all those who seek Him. He grants it even more to those who exercise faith on the name of His Son. He grants it in special measure to those who serve Him. Mr. Smith's personal views on the Bible's message - to which he is entitled, as I am to mine - are not sufficient to coerce God to remove His spirit from those that believe Him.

True mormons are christian, that is the end of the story, and no man-made qualifiers can coerce God to remove His spirit from they to whom He grants It. Let's look at fruits. That's what Christ told us to do. Do we believe Him"