Rebukement

Now, everyone's favorite topic of the day. ;-)

I would like to begin by posing a question.  How would we make any progress when we don't know where our faults are?

Sometimes, it's not enough to self-evaluate ourselves.  We can't see everything.  That is why it is so valuable to receive feedback from our peers and those we associate with.  We can get the entire story, and not just our limited perspective.

I feel that the highest level of relationship that two individuals can obtain is one that has so much love and respect and honour, that you can criticize them, and vice versa, and you still appreciate each other.  John Bytheway put it best when he said, talking of his friend, "he's such a good friend, that he can rip me to shreds and I knew he loved me."

That is the highest relationship I believe that we can obtain.  To know that our friend doesn't mean us harm by criticizing us, but that they want to help us by criticizing us.

In the April 2014 General Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, Elder Jeffrey R. Holland said these words; "Sadly enough, my young friends, it is a characteristic of our age that if people want any gods at all, they want them to be gods who do not demand much, comfortable gods, smooth gods who not only don’t rock the boat but don’t even row it, gods who pat us on the head, make us giggle, then tell us to run along and pick marigolds.  

"Talk about man creating God in his own image! Sometimes—and this seems the greatest irony of all—these folks invoke the name of Jesus as one who was this kind of “comfortable” God. Really? He who said not only should we not break commandments, but we should not even think about breaking them. And if we do think about breaking them, we have already broken them in our heart. Does that sound like “comfortable” doctrine, easy on the ear and popular down at the village love-in?

"And what of those who just want to look at sin or touch it from a distance? Jesus said with a flash, if your eye offends you, pluck it out. If your hand offends you, cut it off. “I came not to [bring] peace, but a sword,” He warned those who thought He spoke only soothing platitudes. No wonder that, sermon after sermon, the local communities “pray[ed] him to depart out of their coasts.” No wonder, miracle after miracle, His power was attributed not to God but to the devil. It is obvious that the bumper sticker question “What would Jesus do?” will not always bring a popular response."  (The Cost - and Blessings - of Discipleship, Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, April 2014 General Conference.)

Jacob put it very well when he said "Do not say that I have spoken hard things against you; for if ye do, ye will revile against thetruth; for I have spoken the words of your Maker. I know that the words of truth are hard against all uncleanness; but the righteousfear them not, for they love the truth and are not shaken." (2 Nephi 9:40).  He is essentially just stating the obvious; none of us are perfect, so therefore we need instruction.  Jacob then continues, in verse 48, "Behold, if ye were holy I would speak unto you of holiness; but as ye are not holy, and ye look upon me as a teacher, it must needs be expedient that I teach you the consequences of sin."

In Ether 2:14, it reads "And it came to pass at the end of four years that the Lord came again unto the brother of Jared, and stood in a cloud and talked with him. And for the space of three hours did the Lord talk with the brother of Jared, and chastened him because he remembered not to call upon the name of the Lord." (Emphasis added.)

Three hours did the Lord chasten the Brother of Jared.  Can you imagine?

Another instance, within the life of Jesus Christ.  In John 2:15-16, he describes the experience that Jesus had in cleansing the temple.  He writes "And when he had made a scourge of small cords¹, he drove them all out of the temple, and the sheep, and the oxen; and poured out the changers’ money, and overthrew the tables; and said unto them that sold doves, Take these things hence; make not my Father’s house an house of merchandise."

Christ had to stand up for what he knew to be right.  Sometimes, that's what we need to do.  Stand up for what we believe in, and be harsh.  That is completely in the realm of possibilities of what needs to happen.

My personal thoughts and experiences?  Well, I honestly feel the closest to my Father and my Lord when They give me things I should work on.  When I become humbled.  When They list through all of my imperfections.  Why do I feel closest to Them in those sweet moments?  Because I know that They love me enough to tell me what I need to know to get better.  I notice that They love me enough to tell me what else I need to do to live with Them again.  Truthfully, it can be discouraging sometimes, just being bombarded with criticisms.  But, one scripture that helps is Hebrews 12:7-8.  "If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?  But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons."  That's really comforting to know, that when He gives you stuff to work on, then that means that He is dealing with you as His son or daughter.  A child of the Most High.  How wonderful!  What love!

And still, through all that, we can still know that "God loveth his children," no matter what (1 Nephi 11:17.)

Now, we come to the other side of the coin.  Sometimes, people get offended really easily.  They are too sensitive, too fragile.

I hate to be so harsh (hehe, in a post about rebukement, eh?)  But I have to say, just grow a skin.  This is not a time for "political correctness" and smooth sailing, even thought the world would have you believe that.  These are the final days.  This is the time where Satan's forces are on full assault.  We simply can't afford to be as soft and tender as we have been.  We have to stand up for what we believe in, even though it may be hard.  We can't be offended as easily.  Another Seminary teacher of mine gave a lesson on being offended.  He taught that when someone says something, that we have the choice to either learn from that, or we can be offended.  It's our choice.

John Lennon once said "Being honest may not get you a lot of friends but it’ll always get you the right ones."

What kind of person are you?  Are you the one who gets offended by every single little thing anyone says, or do you take their thoughts and words and use them to better yourself?  Which person do you want to be?

This Gospel isn't easy.  No one ever said it was.  Job lost everything he had.  Joseph Smith got shot for telling the truth.  Jesus suffered in Gethsemane and hung on the cross to save us.  We will all have to go through the trial of our faith, and it will be hard.  But I promise that it is worth it.  If we keep the commandments, I know that we will be compensated for our sacrifices.  We will even be compensated tenfold, no, a thousandfold.  There is no end to the blessings that we will receive for enduring to the end.  I know that it will work out.  I know that there is no other way that we can be saved but by this path.  I love my Father and my Lord, and I say these things in His name, Jesus Christ, amen. 

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1 My wonderful Seminary teacher made a very thoughtful insight on this part. When it reads "a scourge of small cords," probably a whip, he observed that making a whip would probably take a long time. Don't be hasty in your rebukements. Take time to think through and make sure that it is a good idea. Choose the course that would be the most effective. Just take time to think it through.^↩

Forgiveness

While I sit in Sunday School, or seminary, or any Gospel-learning setting, I often hear the commandment Christ gave to His disciples, to forgive others.

“Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him?  till seven times?

"Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven.”

-Matthew 18:21-22

We hear accounts like this all throughout the scriptures.  Another oft repeated one is the “why do you notice the splinter in your brother’s eye, and beholdest not the beam in your own eye,”  etc. (paraphrased version of Matthew 7:3-5, see also Luke 6:41-42.)

If you’re like me, when you hear something repeated over and over again, you really get bored of it.  I always think “Okay, I’ve heard this a million times before, let’s get on with something new.”  Well, that’s never good if you say that.  If you keep hearing something, that’s probably God trying to tell you that you need to do something.  Yet, it seems like the more we’re told to do something, the more we refrain from doing it.  Really, that’s the opposite of what it should be.  What we really need to do is do what we’re told when we’re asked the first time, and take it even more seriously when we’re told for a second time.

Anyway, forgiveness.  I never really took that concept too seriously until I got to thinking.  I was sitting in history class one day, faced with the often-debated dilema of creating a perfect society.  There are many differing opinions on how this can be achieved.  Through all the thought, I came to this conclusion; the key, essential characteristic that a perfect society needs is really charity.  More specifically, sharing your wealth and forgiveness.  Really, that’s truly all there is to it.

Let me explain a bit more on the forgiveness aspect.  Since we are all imperfect human beings, it’s a given that we’re going to make mistakes.  We all know that.  So, the perfect society here on Earth shouldn’t, and absolutely can’t, come from eliminating those imperfections.  Why?  Because we aren’t perfect, and we will never be perfect until we are exalted in Heaven, even within the Celestial Kingdom.  So we can’t do that.  Instead, we need to accept and deal with those imperfections, and help others work through it.  We need to forgive others of their shortcomings, and only then can we really be unified.

Have you ever seen a group of people cooperate well when everyone is holding grudges with each other for a few mistakes each of them have made?  Yeah, neither have I.

We all really want to see everyone to just get along.  I believe that’s what we all desire.  Heavenly Father wants to see that too.  Jesus wants to see that.  God showed Enoch the entire universe, from beginning to end.  Then, while watching the vision, Enoch notices that God started to weep.  Enoch was confused, because the infinite God of Heaven and Earth was just crying. So, Enoch then proceeded to ask Him why He was crying.  God then explained, “Behold these thy brethren; they are the workmanship of mine own hands, and I gave unto them their knowledge, in the day I created them; and in the Garden of Eden, Gave I unto man his agency; and unto thy brethren have I said, and also given commandment, that they should love one another, and that they should choose me, their Father; but behold, they are without affection, and they hate their own blood.” (Moses 7:28-33)

That scripture never fails to touch me.  It really puts it all into perspective; about how small we are, and how much more we need to do.

I know that God loves us.  I know He is there.  I look forward to the day when everyone will be able to live in peace and harmony.  I know that if we love our neighbors, and forgive everyone of their trespasses, then God will also have mercy on us.  I love this Gospel, and I love my Lord.  I would like to say these things in the holy name of Jesus Christ, my Redeemer, amen.

Going Back to the Basics

I sit in the middle of my piano lesson.  I finish the last chord in my song, still nervous about how my piano teacher will feel about the piece I have been practicing for the past week.  I'm on the tip of my toes as I play, for I came without sufficient practice for this particular song.  Too many things to focus on.

I finish, and my teacher congratulates me.  She still acknowledges the multitudes of mistakes I made, and offers a few suggestions in correcting them.  Then, she repeats the sentence, "go back to the basics."

I often go back and reflect on that sentence, "go back to the basics."  It's so simple, yet it holds so much truth.  In pondering that idea, I have come to realize just how important the basics are.  Picture this: thousands of years of one subject/topic being taught to people.  The most important, solid things are normally taught first, right?  Well, through the thousands of years, with the process of trial and error, the teachers try to decide what elements to teach first.  Well, what is being taught now is the result, thus far, of that trial and error.  Millions of peoples' minds have gone into the decision of what to teach first.  They know that those first elements are the ones that need to be drilled into the minds of the students.  Those are the things that the pupil needs to have learned rock solid.

Take piano lessons for example.  The basic building blocks that my teacher has drilled into my mind are these; finger technique (lifting, curving, and pushing in), counting evenly, and just being strict with yourself while playing.  This parts have become a part of my practicing as I work to get better at the piano.

Just as there are in piano, there are also basics within our religion, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.  The basics are found in the 4th Article of Faith, in Preach My Gospel, and in many other places.  The basics of our worship are:

1. Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ
2. Repentance
3. Baptism by immersion for the remission of sins
4. Laying on of Hands for the Gift of the Holy Ghost
5. Enduring to the End

These basic principles and ordinances of the Gospel are our basics that we need to live by.  These are the things that have been drilled in our minds, so that we can focus on them and keep them in mind.

However, this idea of going back to the basics, can apply to anything.  Even in life.  Often, as humans, we tend to complicate ordinarily simple things.  If we're ever faced with a situation where we don't know where to go, often the simple explanation and location of the solution is this; "Go back to the basics!"  I have experienced this countless times.  When faced with a decision, if I step outside of my normal life, and look at things how they really are, the correct choice is a no-brainer (That is a good talk by John Bytheway, by the way.  No Brainers by John Bytheway.)

I know that if we just focus on what's really important, then a lot of our lives will simply fall into place.  I know that God lives, and that he loves us.  He loves me.  He loves you.  More than anyone of us can ever imagine.  I know that this is the true Church on this earth today.  I love my Lord, and I love my Father.  I would like to say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Words

"There is a lie—a vicious lie—circulating among the Latter-day Saints and taking its toll among the young. And it is that a “balanced man” is one who deliberately guards against becoming too righteous. This lie would have you believe that it is possible to live successfully and happily as a “double-minded man” with one foot in Babylon and one foot in Zion."

-Carlos E. Asay