Val's Email Sunday School: The Purpose of Life

In the reading this week for Come Follow Me we continued to cover some of my favorite scripture stories. There were so many excellent lessons that we could focus on, among them the example that the people of Anti-Nephi-Lehi set regarding true conversion and what it means to forsake your sins once you know better; the fact that religious freedom was proclaimed in the land of the Lamanites so that there was a true marketplace of ideas in which people could choose for themselves; and Ammon’s soliloquy (Alma 26), which may be the very best example in scripture detailing the goodness of God, his patience, his mercy, and his long-suffering nature. We could write an entire lesson about Alma 26:33-34 alone discussing the example of love that the people of Anti-Nephi-Lehi had, and how their love and compassion exceeded that of the Nephites. We could write pages and even books on these few topics alone. They’re all so good.

Instead, this week I chose to focus on Alma 24:27 and Alma 26:3. Alma 24:27 says, “...Thus we see that the Lord worketh in many ways to the salvation of his people.” In Alma 26:3 we are taught, “Behold, I answer for you; for our brethren, the Lamanites, were in darkness, yea, even in the darkest abyss, but behold, how many of them are brought to behold the marvelous light of God! And this is the blessing which hath been bestowed upon us, that we have been made instruments in the hands of God to bring about this great work.”

Doctrine and Covenants 4:1-3 says, “Now behold, a marvelous work is about to come forth among the children of men. 2 Therefore, O ye that embark in the service of God, see that ye serve him with all your heart, might, mind and strength, that ye may stand blameless before God at the last day.3 Therefore, if ye have desires to serve God ye are called to the work;” The way I see it, when we are told that the Lord worketh in many ways to the salvation of the people, we understand that the Lord uses many strategies to bring about this “marvelous work” or the salvation of his people. If we have desires to make the world a better place, bring people to truth, or improve the world, we “are called to the work.”

I think a lot of times many of us get hung up thinking that “missionary work” is to show people Christ’s church and get them to get baptized. I’ve never believed that’s what "Building the Kingdom of God" entails. Sure, it may be the eventual goal, but leading people to any true principles or truth is missionary work and bringing about repentance, which as we discussed before is a turning away from the things that are less beneficial for us (sin), to things that are more beneficial to us (adherence to God’s commandments). This is leading people to God and creating a better society, whether they choose to be actively religious or not. If all good things come from God, leading people to that which is good is leading them to God.

So what does that have to do with Alma 26:3? Ammon is talking about having been an instrument in the hands of the Lord to bring about a great work. What does this really mean? The Come Follow Me manual encouraged us to look at things this way, "How were Ammon and Alma instruments in God’s hands? Consider looking at tools or instruments in your home and discussing how they are each helpful to your family. How does this help us understand how we can each be “an instrument in the hands of God”?" This was extremely enlightening to me. I'd always thought I knew what it mean to be an instrument in the hands of God. It mean to have God use you in such a way as to accomplish his purposes. However, I'd never considered the implication of the word instrument.

Different instruments do different things. Some specialized instruments are extremely effective at doing something very specific, but they aren't terribly useful outside of that specialty. You wouldn't use a scalpel when you needed a machete. Specialization matters. So why was this so enlightening to me? Well, because I think sometimes we look at ourselves, and maybe we're a hammer. If we look at the world and all we can see is how the world needs a sledgehammer or a drill, we might doubt our ability to be effective or useful in any capacity in bringing about a better world. For example, it appears that in the world today there are a dearth of honest and effective politicians. However, not all of us are cut out to be politicians, and this scripture tells me that that's okay. We shouldn't try to force hammers to be knives, or drills to be saws. Different people will have different ways in which they can affect the world for good, and we need them all. It is through these small, many, varied ways in which we each are threads in the tapestry of the world that we create a bigger picture that is much greater, much more vibrant, and much more amazing than anything we can accomplish on our own. So I reiterate, “Thus we see that the Lord worketh in many ways to the salvation of his people.”

In Ephesians 4:1 Paul beseeches us to "walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called." At first the word vocation makes it seem like we're supposed to live worthy of a job or a career, but synonyms of this word also include mission, calling, and lifework. So, We are supposed to strive to be worthy of the calling, mission, or lifework in which we are called. And we discussed earlier how we are called to God's work, or called to serve God. While Moses 1:39 tells us that God's work and glory is "to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man," other scriptures talk about building the kingdom of God or the kingdom of heaven on the earth. So, I'm back to us being worthy of the mission or calling in which we are asked to serve (as a hammer, scalpel, or sledgehammer), to bring about more truth, goodness, morality, or righteousness in the world. The ways in which we do this are probably as varied as instruments or tools in construction or home improvement, but we each serve in the capacity in which we are qualified. 

So, again, to me these two scriptures emphasize how the world needs all kinds of people. Sometimes we might look at the sledgehamer approach of others and wish that we could be more like them, or worse, try to be like them. A scalpel will not be an effective jackhammer. Worse, in trying to be something that it's not, it probably won't be an effective scalpel either. So, I believe that the purpose of life is to facilitate the building of a better society and world (Zion, or the Kingdom of God on Earth), and we do this by using our God given talents, interests, insights, and strategies to bring that world about. We will choose to focus on different things in different ways, but that's why personal revelation is so important. As we each work on a small puzzle piece of the world, the picture we have individually might be abstract or confusing. We might not see how anything we're doing fits together with anything else. Our role in creating a more beautiful, just, and free world might seem like it just doesn't make any sense. However, if we can believe that God's got this, we can believe we are where we need to be and we are who we need to be as we strive to be our best selves, trusting that when our puzzle piece of the world puzzle is added to that of others a more glorious and coherent picture will emerge, which will be the marvelous work that God references in the scriptures. Just think of how essential each puzzle piece really is. If one is ever missing from a picture, it's immediately apparent. So are all of our efforts, even if we don't understand how.

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Come Follow Me Alma 23-29