A dear friend of mine found himself in a position where in an instant he had to choose one of two options: stick to what he believed, or go contrary to it. He consciously chose the latter. He said to me, "I decided I would...". He made the decision in full awareness. This situation got me thinking about the influences of good and evil in our lives. I think no less of this individual. To me he is the same man before and after the instant. The only difference between the two is their past. With ease I would let him watch my child, and I would have no qualms with the decision. Through the situation my friend found himself in, I learned the power of Satan in our lives.
I'm reading a great book, "Wild At Heart", and John Eldredge says something we all need to recognize, "The devil no doubt has a place in our theology, but is he a category we even think about in the daily events of our lives? Has it ever crossed your mind that not every thought that crosses your mind comes from you?... we, the enlightened, have a much more commonsense approach to things. We look for a psychological or physical or even political explanation for every trouble we meet" (152-153). He also explains that in times past people recognized how real Satan was, but today we've become more lackadaisical about his reality. When we give him less credit, we're more open to his influence; when we don't recognize him, we can welcome him right in and never realize he's driving us. My friend is no less a man, he was simply driven in that instant by other forces stronger than he; he is not a bad guy.
Compare what I took from this reading with what I learned in church a couple weeks ago, along with a lesson I took from my New Testament class.
Church: The Sister missionaries came into our 3rd hour and discussed the power of the Holy Ghost in our lives. They bore testimony that more important than scriptural ability or people skills, when it comes to sharing the gospel, is simply having the spirit with us. God knows all; we are His children and He knows us. While I may not know what those around me need, He does, and if I am in tune, I may be an instrument in His hands. I also learned how it is possible to be active in the LDS church without necessarily being active in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. However, if you make being active in the Gospel of Jesus Christ your prerogative, than you find that it also makes you active in the church.
Class: In Matthew 16:15 Christ asks his disciples, "Whom say ye that I am?" I had to really ponder this. How would I answer? I realized, in pretending to answer, that what I knew of him in that moment was only shallow tidbits talked about in scripture. It was nothing intimate as it should be. I realized I had become slightly distanced from who He ought to be in my life.
These 3 lessons combined made for a very powerful experience, and I feel it was a giant leap in my spiritual progression. The lesson: I wrote a letter to the above friend expressing my thoughts on what he was going through (some of it also questioning the motives in the church's history). I explained that this earth on which we live is... well... an earthly place. To expect the church to be flawless is silly. To expect perfection of any church is silly, and to those of you of different faiths reading this. Be patient in your faith. Pray, meditate, discover your values, and be patient and understanding with your leaders. It's an attempt at placing something of God within a world of sin. We have the influence of God here, but we are ultimately only man. We are living in the place Satan and his followers were cast (see Rev. 12:9). For me, I know that Jesus Christ is my Savior. I find myself a little scared to write this. Not because I'm ashamed; I'm not. But because many of you haven't heard/seen me speak/write this way. However, this is who I am and who I ought to be. My new attitude has been to try and be active in the Gospel of Christ first and foremost, while understanding that full activity in the established church I belong to will naturally be part of that. I'm trying to love my neighbors, to be patient, to forgive, to see potential in everyone, and to strive to have the Spirit's influence to guide my day. I've begun to listen to "churchy" music more frequently, and I look for more opportunities to serve my fellow man. As I've done this, it has made the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ an even more beautiful thing. I believe Jesus Christ is the Son of God, I believe He established a church, and I believe He died for me, and that He was resurrected. Furthermore, I believe His gospel was distorted over time following His death, and that it was restored through Joseph Smith. After that, the rest is easy. I am understanding to, and forgive, any flaws or shortcomings its designated leaders may carry.
My religion is that I am a Christian, and I'm a Mormon. My belief is that in this world we need the influence of something greater than us because as real as God is, so is Satan, and he does not want our progression. I believe Christ died for me, and because of that I can be made perfect. I believe all can be forgiven, and all can have changes of heart.
