As I vacationed across the states, I attended a ward in St. George, Utah, and enjoyed a very interesting priesthood meeting session. The main gist of their message stemmed from this popular quote:
If you were accused of being a Christian, would there be enough evidence to convict you?
The comments that ensued were definitely enlightening -- a lively discussion. Some good ideas were floated around, but in my own opinion, they had failed to hone in to the one evidence of Christianity that trumps everything else.
Though, I think the teacher had started the discussion well and came closest to the answer -- talking about our life stories. In fact, at first, I had thought the lesson was on writing in our journals or writing our own "story" for family history purposes. But then halfway through the lesson came the grab-me-gotcha.
The teacher said: if it were our funeral, and the people were examining us, would they find evidence that we had been Christian? He then asked: what are some of these evidences they would find?
The discussion then seemed to center around some kind of forensic evidence -- as if there were a chalk drawing on the floor of the deceased's house, and investigators were combing through all the belongings. What would they find?
One person answered: There's got to be a Bible (or Standard Works, which includes the Book of Mormon). That got some praise.
Another person answered: Yeah, but does that Bible look brand new? Or does it look like a well-used book? Even more oohs and aahs.
I must admit, my set of Standard Works, gifted to me when I was a child, is falling apart. It's all marked up, and I must turn the pages carefully. It's survived my mission, and many study sessions after that. A few years ago I had lost the set at church, which caused sadness for the space of a month, until we found it in the Lost and Found. After that, I decided to use the phone scripture app and leave my fragile set at home.
So, is a like-new Bible really evidence of not being a Christian? What if a person prefers reading online?
But then again ... is Bible knowledge evidence enough? The priests and religious leaders at the time of Jesus had outstanding knowledge of scripture, but they still misunderstood Jesus' message. They had become hardened by their own knowledge, unable to accept the very Messiah they had been seeking.
Also, certain evil spirits who had possessed a person had perfect knowledge of who Jesus was, but that knowledge by itself didn't save them from their fallen state.
Another person in class spoke up: what about an active temple recommend? Lots of oohs and aahs on that one! In order to receive such a recommend, one must be able to answer a set of worthiness questions -- typical evidence of living a Christian life. But, having a recommend doesn't mean someone is actually using it. And how easy it is to answer: Yes, yes, yes, no, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes -- and possibly even one or two "I'm working really hard on that"s.
One may even bring up the existence of a cross. But it's still the same issue. One can have a cross, but not believe in it.
So what's the answer? What is the ultimate evidence of being a Christian? The Bible tells us clearly what the answer is ...
OUR ACTIONS.
And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. (Revelation 20:12)
See -- it comes back to our stories. How did we treat other people? Did we actually follow the teachings of Jesus? Or did we simply believe and do nothing? (Faith without works is dead.)
And yeah -- it seems like I went a roundabout way of coming to this answer in this post. But I think it's important to point out all these items because ... (here comes my own grab-me-gotcha) ...
In my own recent observations, I have witnessed the well-intentioned propagation of Christianity and its principles fall flat on the general public. I, like most other Christians, would be delighted if everyone were to join us and help make this world a better place. But more often than not, I see my fellow Christians relying too much on EXPLAINING what it means to be Christian and what the evidences would be, rather than SHOWING what it means through our own ACTIONS.
The reaction from the general public seems to be more and more negative. To them, we are PUSHING our religion. We're trying to install a Christian Law upon the land (at least here in the states). Some see this as an attempt to establish a state religion -- an affront to religious freedoms, the First Amendment, and even my church's eleventh article of faith.
And the worst part, they see many of us who profess to be Christian who then perform ACTIONS not in harmony of basic Christian principles. In other words, others see us as hypocrites. They see our exclusion of certain people and other religions, even though Christ invites us to welcome ALL. They see how we treat our children who don't agree with us, even though Christ teaches that what we do unto one, we do unto Christ. They see our zero tolerance of opposing viewpoints, when Christ invites us to eschew conflict. And as a result, others ironically find us GUILTY of being CHRISTIAN -- as if it were some evil scourge among the land that needs eradication.
I get it. Satan is stirring up the hearts of men to fight Christ's Church on earth. It's prophesied that this will happen in the last days. But many of us are unfortunately giving Satan the evidence he needs to turn the hearts of the people against us.
The solution? Simple -- start ACTING the religion instead of PUSHING it. Most people convert when they see good examples to emulate.
Do we TELL our friends how the world should be; or do we SHOW them? Do we have civil discussions with those whom we disagree; or do we instead tell them they're going to hell? Do we unite with others to help the vulnerable during times of crisis; or do we resist under the guise of "freedom"? Do we welcome others who are different from us; or do we expect them to change in order to be our friends and associates?
Or in other words: are we "GUILTY of being CHRISTIAN" in the way that we're torturing others? Or are we rather showing enough evidence in our ACTIONS to show that we're LIVING Christian lives and enticing others to join through our EXAMPLES?
I invite to consider these things and decide for yourself. Are we going down the right path? Are we LIVING the religion? Will our ACTIONS lead to a desirable judgement? Are we helping others WANT to join the Church?
It's ultimately up to each of us to decide how to proceed, and I wish you all well.
No comments:
Post a Comment