Are we loving as the Savior loved? Or are we the Prodigal's older brother?
I wanted to write before the General Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, so as to speculate what might come from it. I didn't get a chance to, to much homework but that was probably for the best. I loved conference, it was amazing! It is interesting writing a blog to go along with a podcast, but am trying to make the best of it. There was something that came up in Conference and that President Nelson had spoke on before, in his BYU devotional that I wanted to address.
Of course, these are my views, and do not reflect the views of the church, or anyone else, just me.
It feels weird what I am about to write, (and say) but even though most who read or listen are members of the restored church of Jesus Christ, in the event that some are not, I do like to give some explanation. So please bear with that, but it does serve a purpose.
If you want to communicate with the church for answers, which I do strongly encourage, you may seek them out at comeuntochrist.org
Okay, twice a year the church has a general conference, where members of the church either go to Salt Lake City to attend, listen on radio, watch on TV, internet, or in church meetinghouses around the world. We are taught by the leaders of the church, including the president, whom we sustain as prophet, seer, and revelator. He holds all the priesthood keys on the earth. Also speaking are apostles and other leaders. They also hold keys respective to their callings. (see Ephesians 4) I don't think that we have arrived at a unity of faith as yet, so....
What a blessing it is to have a living prophet on the earth today! Sadly, too many of us even acknowledging a prophet tend to do as they did of old, ignore, or worse, tear down, destroy, or in extreme cases, kill them. Christ pointed this out, Peter pointed it out, and so it has happened in this dispensation, with the prophet Joseph Smith sealing his testimony with his blood.
What did we learn? We learned that we have to step up as members of the body of Christ! That we have to be more like Christ. That we have to love our neighbors as ourselves, or in my case, more than myself. We have to truly seek out the lost. We have to feed the hungry. We have to visit those in prison. We have to sustain each other. All those are pretty textbook, right? Well, beyond that, we have to gather our families, we have to gather the family of God.
This is a subject that hits very close to home. It was a variation of my first podcast over on what is now the Snake River Lib, and it came up frequently in conference. I member of our congregation shared a blog about how we need to do far more than what we are doing so I am going to dive it.
Too many times I have said, and you may have heard. "Love the sinner, hate the sin". And while it is a true statement, let me just point out that as Latter Day Saints, indeed as Christians, unless you are a Bishop, you are not a judge in Israel, and you have no business judging someone. We have been commanded to forgive. And while the Lord told Peter seven times seventy, (Matthew 18:22 KJV) my guess is that his intent was infinitely, though I did have a roommate at camp that would lovingly and jokingly count 490, 489. etc. :)
We were told in conference that we have to be saints when it comes to welcoming all to come unto Christ. After all, our meetinghouses proclaim "Visitors welcome". The Savior would certainly welcome all, for did he not sup with publicans and sinners when he was upon the earth? The question then becomes, do we welcome all?
I am struggling in how to write this. I speak it, but have gone back and rewritten it now twice. It is very sensitive, because it touches my family, and it touches thousands and maybe millions in the world, not that they will ever hear or read this. This blog and podcast, as all of the views from the rim are done in love, though most may not appreciate that.
Do we love our LGBT sons and daughters, brothers and sisters? When people show up at our chapels with tattoos, piercings, or in obvious relationships that are not what we are used to, how do we greet them? Do we greet them as the Savior would? Remember the Prodigal son? He had spent his portion of the inheritance, indeed wasted it on the pleasures of the flesh. With a famine in the land and out of money, he came back to his father, not to be recognized as his son, but to be a servant. How did the father greet him? He restored him to the family, he held a feast in his honor. He who was lost was now found. The Savior knows his sheep. When they walk in the door, no matter what, do we greet them as He would? Do we invite them to join us?
Of course when I say we, I am referring mostly to me primarily. It is a hard thing to ask, but the Savior is asking, and one would think that since we are all sons and daughters of Heavenly Father, we are then brothers and sisters. How easy is it to be the elder brother in the parable of the Prodigal Son? To sit back and wonder why our brother, who didn't even merit an inheritance but got one, is back and is now being treated as royalty. Are we acting as the elder brother? Am I?
I do want to add a bit to this. My wife and I were discussing a post that someone had made regarding all of this outreach. The person seemed bitter, they wanted an apology from the church, but what they really wanted was to be allowed to love whom they wished, to be married as they wished. While we love all, it must be clearly stated that marriage is between a man and a woman. Period. This is God's law, and it cannot be changed. Also, the Law of Chastity applies equally to all, which is that sexual relations between anyone outside of marriage (as defined above) is inappropriate. I honestly feel that there are those in the LGBT community in the church who understand this commandment, there are others those that believe that God will bend on this issue. To understand why that will not be the case, one must understand that mortality is just a blink in an eternal existence.
As we pass through mortality, we are all given different challenges. Some are born with significant birth defects that impact them their entire lives. Some endure accidents that leave them paralyzed. Disease, war, so many things pass in our lives. But just like when we are working on a paper or final, and we deprive ourselves of sleep, entertainment, or other distractions while we try to finish, this is the same as life. No matter the challenges, mortality is really not even a blink. In fact, it is impossible to define a finite within the infinite. Or in other words, because that was confusing to me, on a time line that has no beginning and no end, how long is a year? 100 years, or if you happen to be Methuselah, 969 years? No matter how small the marker on the timeline, it is too big.
I will try to be more like Christ would want me to be, and less like the elder son. I hope more do the same, and this is my View from the Rim.
Of course, these are my views, and do not reflect the views of the church, or anyone else, just me.
It feels weird what I am about to write, (and say) but even though most who read or listen are members of the restored church of Jesus Christ, in the event that some are not, I do like to give some explanation. So please bear with that, but it does serve a purpose.
If you want to communicate with the church for answers, which I do strongly encourage, you may seek them out at comeuntochrist.org
Okay, twice a year the church has a general conference, where members of the church either go to Salt Lake City to attend, listen on radio, watch on TV, internet, or in church meetinghouses around the world. We are taught by the leaders of the church, including the president, whom we sustain as prophet, seer, and revelator. He holds all the priesthood keys on the earth. Also speaking are apostles and other leaders. They also hold keys respective to their callings. (see Ephesians 4) I don't think that we have arrived at a unity of faith as yet, so....
What a blessing it is to have a living prophet on the earth today! Sadly, too many of us even acknowledging a prophet tend to do as they did of old, ignore, or worse, tear down, destroy, or in extreme cases, kill them. Christ pointed this out, Peter pointed it out, and so it has happened in this dispensation, with the prophet Joseph Smith sealing his testimony with his blood.
What did we learn? We learned that we have to step up as members of the body of Christ! That we have to be more like Christ. That we have to love our neighbors as ourselves, or in my case, more than myself. We have to truly seek out the lost. We have to feed the hungry. We have to visit those in prison. We have to sustain each other. All those are pretty textbook, right? Well, beyond that, we have to gather our families, we have to gather the family of God.
This is a subject that hits very close to home. It was a variation of my first podcast over on what is now the Snake River Lib, and it came up frequently in conference. I member of our congregation shared a blog about how we need to do far more than what we are doing so I am going to dive it.
Too many times I have said, and you may have heard. "Love the sinner, hate the sin". And while it is a true statement, let me just point out that as Latter Day Saints, indeed as Christians, unless you are a Bishop, you are not a judge in Israel, and you have no business judging someone. We have been commanded to forgive. And while the Lord told Peter seven times seventy, (Matthew 18:22 KJV) my guess is that his intent was infinitely, though I did have a roommate at camp that would lovingly and jokingly count 490, 489. etc. :)
We were told in conference that we have to be saints when it comes to welcoming all to come unto Christ. After all, our meetinghouses proclaim "Visitors welcome". The Savior would certainly welcome all, for did he not sup with publicans and sinners when he was upon the earth? The question then becomes, do we welcome all?
I am struggling in how to write this. I speak it, but have gone back and rewritten it now twice. It is very sensitive, because it touches my family, and it touches thousands and maybe millions in the world, not that they will ever hear or read this. This blog and podcast, as all of the views from the rim are done in love, though most may not appreciate that.
Do we love our LGBT sons and daughters, brothers and sisters? When people show up at our chapels with tattoos, piercings, or in obvious relationships that are not what we are used to, how do we greet them? Do we greet them as the Savior would? Remember the Prodigal son? He had spent his portion of the inheritance, indeed wasted it on the pleasures of the flesh. With a famine in the land and out of money, he came back to his father, not to be recognized as his son, but to be a servant. How did the father greet him? He restored him to the family, he held a feast in his honor. He who was lost was now found. The Savior knows his sheep. When they walk in the door, no matter what, do we greet them as He would? Do we invite them to join us?
Of course when I say we, I am referring mostly to me primarily. It is a hard thing to ask, but the Savior is asking, and one would think that since we are all sons and daughters of Heavenly Father, we are then brothers and sisters. How easy is it to be the elder brother in the parable of the Prodigal Son? To sit back and wonder why our brother, who didn't even merit an inheritance but got one, is back and is now being treated as royalty. Are we acting as the elder brother? Am I?
I do want to add a bit to this. My wife and I were discussing a post that someone had made regarding all of this outreach. The person seemed bitter, they wanted an apology from the church, but what they really wanted was to be allowed to love whom they wished, to be married as they wished. While we love all, it must be clearly stated that marriage is between a man and a woman. Period. This is God's law, and it cannot be changed. Also, the Law of Chastity applies equally to all, which is that sexual relations between anyone outside of marriage (as defined above) is inappropriate. I honestly feel that there are those in the LGBT community in the church who understand this commandment, there are others those that believe that God will bend on this issue. To understand why that will not be the case, one must understand that mortality is just a blink in an eternal existence.
As we pass through mortality, we are all given different challenges. Some are born with significant birth defects that impact them their entire lives. Some endure accidents that leave them paralyzed. Disease, war, so many things pass in our lives. But just like when we are working on a paper or final, and we deprive ourselves of sleep, entertainment, or other distractions while we try to finish, this is the same as life. No matter the challenges, mortality is really not even a blink. In fact, it is impossible to define a finite within the infinite. Or in other words, because that was confusing to me, on a time line that has no beginning and no end, how long is a year? 100 years, or if you happen to be Methuselah, 969 years? No matter how small the marker on the timeline, it is too big.
I will try to be more like Christ would want me to be, and less like the elder son. I hope more do the same, and this is my View from the Rim.
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