In the reading it said, “that the thing which will be of the most worth unto you will be to declare repentance unto this people, that you may bring souls unto me, that you may rest with them in the kingdom of my Father.” We are also told that “the world is ripening in iniquity; and it must needs be that the children of men are stirred up unto repentance, both the Gentiles and also the house of Israel. 14 Wherefore, you are called to cry repentance unto this people. 15 And if it so be that you should labor all your days in crying repentance unto this people, and bring, save it be one soul unto me, how great shall be your joy with him in the kingdom of my Father! 16 And now, if your joy will be great with one soul that you have brought unto me into the kingdom of my Father, how great will be your joy if you should bring many souls unto me!” I have those scriptures memorized almost word for word because of scripture mastery in seminary. Sometimes familiarity breeds complacency. What are we really being told throughout these scriptures?
If we know God and know his gospel, he is exhorting us to testify of what we know. We are to speak out and ask the world to change, to become better. We are to preach repentance, but to what end? What are we trying to become? What are we trying to get others to do? Just be obedient? Be our best selves? In a recent general conference we were taught that we aren’t here to just learn obedience like lap dogs that need to learn not to chew on the heavenly slippers, we’re here to learn to choose what’s right because we want to become something more, something better. We ultimately believe that we are to progress and learn to become like God. Repentance is the process through which we shed thoughts or behaviors that prevent us from being like him.
As followers of Christ, we profess to follow his teachings, or his gospel. “18 Ask the Father in my name in faith, believing that you shall receive, and you shall have the Holy Ghost, which manifesteth all things which are expedient unto the children of men. 19 And if you have not faith, hope, and charity, you can do nothing. 20 Contend against no church, save it be the church of the devil.21 Take upon you the name of Christ, and speak the truth in soberness.” To follow Christ means a few things. It means to pray with faith in Christ, to strive for revelation or understanding. It means to have faith, hope, and charity. It means to speak the truth. In a world of hate, despair, and darkness, faith, hope, love, and objective truth really do shine like beacons. In a world of turmoil and chaos, peace really is valuable.
What else do we do? “42 For all men must repent and be baptized, and not only men, but women, and children who have arrived at the years of accountability. 43 And now, after that you have received this, you must keep my commandments in all things; 44 And by your hands I will work a marvelous work among the children of men, unto the convincing of many of their sins, that they may come unto repentance, and that they may come unto the kingdom of my Father.” We are supposed to strive to be better. To be baptized. To keep the commandments. If we do this, it says that through us, God will work a marvelous work among the people on earth to convince them of the wrongness of their living, so that they can change, and become like him too.
The gospel of Christ is simple. I feel like we often try to complicate things. We have a basic framework, that when followed appears to lead to lead to more personal growth and satisfaction, better relationships, more peace, and a better society. I can’t figure out why society today shuns traditional religion like Christianity when they desperately want the outcomes or natural consequences of certain behaviors like moral living.
That, however, leads us down another rabbit hole. What it means to be moral, and what moral living is, is in dispute. There are a lot of competing ideologies that profess to have the answers that will lead to the world becoming more equal, or as they’ve been saying lately, more equitable. Equality is about beginning at the same place, but having the same opportunities as others. The world isn’t equal, but many have tried to make it more so. Equitable means that we all end up in the same place, or that we end up having similar/identical outcomes. Lately people and politicians have been talking a lot about how we can make things more equitable, and have more equitable outcomes. This has bothered me a lot, but only now have I been able to figure out why.
I was taught a lot growing up about a war of ideas that took place before we ever came to this earth, and in that time before we lived here, when we lived a spiritual existence, two distinct and competing ideologies formed. Two representatives presented these ideas to us. One plan was that we would come to earth and be tested, but ultimately we would all be rewarded the same, regardless of our actions or behaviors. We would all return to heaven, rewarded regardless of performance. The other plan was that we would come to earth and be tested, and ultimately our rewards would depend on our actions and behaviors. We would be rewarded according to performance and intent. People who are members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints will recognize the story of these two plans. The plan of equity was Satan’s plan. The plan of equality, opportunity, and personal growth was Jesus’ plan.
Believing that we should be rewarded or punished according to behavior and merit is literally a foundational part of my religion. I strongly believe in personal responsibility. I also believe that we strive to an equitable society where there are no poor among us. Ironically, many of the current political and social ideologies also believe in this ultimate utopia too. These secular philosphies strike me as very religious in nature. I know religion. I grew up in religion. I know the language and rituals of religion. And a lot of what is being said today about the original sin of our nation (slavery) and equity (state relegated/socialism/communism) is religious rhetoric.
As followers of Christ, we profess to follow his teachings, or his gospel. “18 Ask the Father in my name in faith, believing that you shall receive, and you shall have the Holy Ghost, which manifesteth all things which are expedient unto the children of men. 19 And if you have not faith, hope, and charity, you can do nothing. 20 Contend against no church, save it be the church of the devil.21 Take upon you the name of Christ, and speak the truth in soberness.” To follow Christ means a few things. It means to pray with faith in Christ, to strive for revelation or understanding. It means to have faith, hope, and charity. It means to speak the truth. In a world of hate, despair, and darkness, faith, hope, love, and objective truth really do shine like beacons. In a world of turmoil and chaos, peace really is valuable.
What else do we do? “42 For all men must repent and be baptized, and not only men, but women, and children who have arrived at the years of accountability. 43 And now, after that you have received this, you must keep my commandments in all things; 44 And by your hands I will work a marvelous work among the children of men, unto the convincing of many of their sins, that they may come unto repentance, and that they may come unto the kingdom of my Father.” We are supposed to strive to be better. To be baptized. To keep the commandments. If we do this, it says that through us, God will work a marvelous work among the people on earth to convince them of the wrongness of their living, so that they can change, and become like him too.
The gospel of Christ is simple. I feel like we often try to complicate things. We have a basic framework, that when followed appears to lead to lead to more personal growth and satisfaction, better relationships, more peace, and a better society. I can’t figure out why society today shuns traditional religion like Christianity when they desperately want the outcomes or natural consequences of certain behaviors like moral living.
That, however, leads us down another rabbit hole. What it means to be moral, and what moral living is, is in dispute. There are a lot of competing ideologies that profess to have the answers that will lead to the world becoming more equal, or as they’ve been saying lately, more equitable. Equality is about beginning at the same place, but having the same opportunities as others. The world isn’t equal, but many have tried to make it more so. Equitable means that we all end up in the same place, or that we end up having similar/identical outcomes. Lately people and politicians have been talking a lot about how we can make things more equitable, and have more equitable outcomes. This has bothered me a lot, but only now have I been able to figure out why.
I was taught a lot growing up about a war of ideas that took place before we ever came to this earth, and in that time before we lived here, when we lived a spiritual existence, two distinct and competing ideologies formed. Two representatives presented these ideas to us. One plan was that we would come to earth and be tested, but ultimately we would all be rewarded the same, regardless of our actions or behaviors. We would all return to heaven, rewarded regardless of performance. The other plan was that we would come to earth and be tested, and ultimately our rewards would depend on our actions and behaviors. We would be rewarded according to performance and intent. People who are members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints will recognize the story of these two plans. The plan of equity was Satan’s plan. The plan of equality, opportunity, and personal growth was Jesus’ plan.
Believing that we should be rewarded or punished according to behavior and merit is literally a foundational part of my religion. I strongly believe in personal responsibility. I also believe that we strive to an equitable society where there are no poor among us. Ironically, many of the current political and social ideologies also believe in this ultimate utopia too. These secular philosphies strike me as very religious in nature. I know religion. I grew up in religion. I know the language and rituals of religion. And a lot of what is being said today about the original sin of our nation (slavery) and equity (state relegated/socialism/communism) is religious rhetoric.
Another irony of all of this is that our Christian beliefs really are paradoxical. The scriptures are full of gospel paradoxes that teach truth. One example is, “28 Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.” If we take Christ’s yoke upon us, an additional burden, we will find rest. Or how about the scripture “. . . whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.”
I believe that wanting a more equitable world is a good thing. It is something that is instilled in our souls. It is an ideal of a more utopian, Christ-like, or heavenly world. However, when man seeks to enforce or implement these utopias upon us through coercive means or power, it is destined to fail because of corruption. We can’t create heaven on earth until we create heaven in ourselves. Satan always seeks to present counterfeits as genuine and desirable. Satan works through deception and confusion. We will never reach heaven, utopia, or the kingdom of God on earth through godless or coercive means. The scriptures show us the tactics of satan, if we read them. They give us examples of people who have been dignified and valiant despite hardship. And they teach us what to look for to know where we are in the timeline of God’s plan. Even though it wasn't in the reading, I kept coming back to these scriptures in my mind this week:
“6 And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. 7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places. 8 All these are the beginning of sorrows. 9 Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake. 10 And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another.11 And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many. 12 And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. 13 But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved. 14 And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.”
Today in church they talked about going to God, the source of truth, with all of our questions, whatever those questions might be. It’s hard to know which voices or sources to trust in a world full of noise and contradictions. However, we’ve been taught how to discern truth. We have the ability to create peace on earth. We have the ability to spread faith, hope, and charity. We can be happy regardless of external circumstances. We can find goodness and beauty in the world around us. I think this is what repentance is. Repentance is the better way. Repentance is the gospel of Christ, happiness is the gospel of Christ, peace is the Gospel of Christ, redemption is the gospel of Christ, and charity is the gospel of Christ. Repentance, happiness, peace, and charity begin individually in our hearts with us.
I believe that wanting a more equitable world is a good thing. It is something that is instilled in our souls. It is an ideal of a more utopian, Christ-like, or heavenly world. However, when man seeks to enforce or implement these utopias upon us through coercive means or power, it is destined to fail because of corruption. We can’t create heaven on earth until we create heaven in ourselves. Satan always seeks to present counterfeits as genuine and desirable. Satan works through deception and confusion. We will never reach heaven, utopia, or the kingdom of God on earth through godless or coercive means. The scriptures show us the tactics of satan, if we read them. They give us examples of people who have been dignified and valiant despite hardship. And they teach us what to look for to know where we are in the timeline of God’s plan. Even though it wasn't in the reading, I kept coming back to these scriptures in my mind this week:
“6 And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. 7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places. 8 All these are the beginning of sorrows. 9 Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake. 10 And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another.11 And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many. 12 And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. 13 But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved. 14 And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.”
Today in church they talked about going to God, the source of truth, with all of our questions, whatever those questions might be. It’s hard to know which voices or sources to trust in a world full of noise and contradictions. However, we’ve been taught how to discern truth. We have the ability to create peace on earth. We have the ability to spread faith, hope, and charity. We can be happy regardless of external circumstances. We can find goodness and beauty in the world around us. I think this is what repentance is. Repentance is the better way. Repentance is the gospel of Christ, happiness is the gospel of Christ, peace is the Gospel of Christ, redemption is the gospel of Christ, and charity is the gospel of Christ. Repentance, happiness, peace, and charity begin individually in our hearts with us.
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