Once again at Sacrament meeting, children and older people are going up to the stand and they are saying “I know the church is true.” and not saying anything about Jesus.
That is concerning to me ….. the church is here to lead us to Jesus not to the church. Jesus is not a member of this church. How about working on saying, "I know the church is good" or "I know the church helps me become closer to Jesus"?
Let's work on teaching and feeling a belief in Jesus. Work on believing and expressing, "He is my friend." "I’m trying to be more like Jesus. " "My firm foundation and real hope is centered in Jesus Christ."
Wayne will stand up in sacrament meeting and say I know. I will stand up and say I believe. It’s all enough. In reality, we both just want a relationship with GOD.
Nowhere in the scriptures does it say you have to KNOW God lives to be saved… or You have to KNOW Christ lives to be saved.
It says you have to believe. Or hope—that is enough. Only believe….
I know my Wayne knows it…and I believe it. Even if you just want to believe…. That’s enough.
Everyone in a church audience doesn’t know..and that’s okay.
"Lord, I believe…help thou my unbelief."
Believing is awesome.. it keeps everything in growth mode. We don’t get set in our ways.
3 Nephi 12: “More blessed those who believe on your words- who haven’t seen me, but believe on your words. “
I know it’s a gift of the spirit to know…but for the rest of us who believe, who have hope and faith, that’s a gift too.
The word believe has Germanic origins. Be= 100% inhabit. Lieve= love
Believing in Jesus Christ really means to be 100% in love with Jesus Christ.
As disciples of Christ and as missionaries, we teach doctrine and concepts. We do this to help people find joy in the gospel, and thus, joy in their lives. We help people to find some way to achieve divine potential and to be in love with Jesus Christ.
The gospel is pure…but the church changes. And it’s okay. Pres. Nelson had made 108 different changes since he became our prophet. Some people are afraid of change. I have found with change, personal revelation is important.
There is Doctrine and there’s Dogma. We have so many cultural idiosyncrasies. For example, we had the old For Strength of Youth which was full of rules and checklists. The new For Strength of Youth is all about figuring it out, setting some goals to improve your life and working on a relationship with Christ. This is a beautiful and much-needed change.
Checklists make worshipping Jesus burdensome, instead of joyful. We can go through the motions and go to church and the temple and never BECOME like Christ.
So if the church is good then why leave the church? Because...agency. Here's what I know about those who leave--we need to not have fear around this and distance ourselves from the people who leave. Instead, we need to lean in. Talk to people who leave the church. Ask about their journey. Everyone is on their own path. Ultimately all paths lead back to Jesus if not in this life then in the next life. I believe this.
There are more non-Christians than Christians..and millions more people out of our church than in the church…so what's that about? In the end, how will we all be judged? By the basics: Love your neighbor, minister, help others, and love GOD. Regardless of what path you are on it all leads back to Jesus Christ. If I can understand this… then the only answer is “I love you brother”— we are all okay.
Most people don’t leave because they want to sin— most leave because of some cognitive dissonance, something doesn’t line up for them. It's easy to get caught up in the cynicism of it.
But it’s more fun to believe.
I left my faith in 2019 in my head and heart for a summer.
I discovered that not believing and doubting doesn’t change the outcome. It doesn’t change God. It just changes me. I become more negative. More cynical and sarcastic. More selfish and in need of control. I don’t like this version of me.
So I woke up one morning and just decided to choose faith instead. I chose to stay in my faith tradition. When I choose this and live this way, my life is better, more magical, more loving. I can still have questions and things I want changed and that’s OK because I also choose faith.
I’m going to stay— I’m going to work on change from the bottom up. I like to think of all the blessings that have come into my life because of the gospel of Jesus Christ. I know the Lord values loyalty. He values effort. I’ve tasted the fruit of the gospel of Jesus Christ. I work on remembering this.
FAITH is not about knowing. It is about making offerings, saying prayers with no quick answers, fasting for the hundredth time, and going to church to worship when you still have big questions. FAITH is messy. It isn't about checking every box, having all the answers, or seeing angels. Real FAITH, as Elder Holland taught, is always in crisis.
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