Ponderous Simplicity

Challenging discussions are great, in my mind, because they make you really look at where you stand. And the only way you can be secure in where you are standing is by being aware of why you stand there.

Last night I had a great discussion with my friend and her husband who I had gone to visit. You know the joke that you should avoid religion and politics if you want to have a polite discussion?

Nah! Avoiding those topics are for sissies :P So we jumped right in and and a good discussion, which gave me alot to think about.

I really feel there are some heavy misconceptions of what it means to defend our faith and how we really do that.

 I have a firm testimony and knowledge of the gospel of Jesus Christ and specifically in the gospel as taught and outlined by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Though I grew up in the Church I had a falling away period, which then gave me the opportunity to really come to know for myself - outside of family, culture and and other pressure. I believe there is right and wrong and absolute truths. But I also confess to not knowing the meaning of all things - I cannot always explain why some things are the way that they are, when juxtaposed against absolute truths I wholeheartedly believe in.

For example, as stated in The Family: A Proclamation to the World it states, "Gender is an essential characteristic of individual premortal, mortal and eternal identity and purpose." I believe gender is eternal, but I can also freely admit to not understanding then why life and who they are for those that are transgendered, is the way that it is. I cannot dismiss them as simply being confused or brainwashed - having interacted with a number of transgendered individuals, I have witnessed the difficulty and confusion.

Thus, I can stand and/or defend my beliefs without condemning people simply because I have no right to condemn anyone. Christ will be the judge because He can judge perfectly and knows the thoughts, intents, desires, and experiences of each of us. And this is where I think much confusing arises in "defending" our beliefs - defending is not EVER about attacking. Any time contention is present, the "defense" has gone contrary to what the Lord would have us do as His disciples. I can say that since in the scriptures it clearly states, "...he that hath the spirit of contention is not of me, but is of the devil... (3 Ne 11:29).

Its also not about proving the other person wrong. Do we think they are in the wrong? Of course, we wouldn't need to defend our beliefs if that weren't the case. The problem is, THEY think they are in the right. So if both people go in with the attitude or belief of proving the other person wrong, contention will inevitably arise. Doing that also makes it about us - it makes US the attempted teacher, which in  the Church we know is not the case. If someone is to ever listen and be touched by what is said, the spirit MUST be present.

Thus, it is about calmly stating what we personally believe and know, this allows the spirit to be there, and if someone's heart is going to be touched it can then happen. Doesn't mean it will since everyone is in a different place and are seeking different things. In acting this way we can also have the spirit with us to guide us what to say since sometimes speaking specifically about something, or in a certain way is what that person needs at that moment. But we will not know that of ourselves.

THAT is defending our beliefs.

Too often as members of the truth we act as if we have the monopoly on goodness and truth. I want to use an analogy to illustrate what I see happening far too often.

Consider that truth and the way to eternal life is a big lake. The gospel and Church is A boat or way we partake in the truth and the means to keep us connected to and "afloat" atop the truth. But members of the Church aren't going to be the only ones on the lake. There will be large numbers of other people with different types of boats also on the lake.

Now imagine the scenario, where two boats draw close together and the occupants of the different boats proceed to try and convince the other occupants why THEIR boat isn't float-worthy. It would end up with upset feelings on both sides, and neither would be any closer to accepting the other as right. What is even more unhelpful is that if we as members of the church think we should be able to tell the other boat's occupants why their boat is not good, shouldn't be on the lake, etc. and then *GASP* in horror when they don't immediately abandon their boat and jump into ours, but rather start pointing out why we should get in THEIR boat. Or we grab our paddles and try and bash them in the head, make a hole in their boat and hotly say, "You shouldn't be on this lake." Seems so silly when stated in those terms, yet too often we act that way in "defending" our beliefs.

The thing is, the different people on the lake are going to come from a wide variety in background, beliefs, and current state in their life. Even people who SIN (oh my goodness!!) will be on the lake. But given that we ALL sin, that shouldn't be a surprise. There will be those that believe things against what we believe and/or what we call wrong. I say this because if we think about what will occur during the Millenium this fits. The only people that will be burned at the Second Coming are the "wicked." I put that in quotations because wicked DOES NOT equal sinful. We are all sinful - the state of the world during the Millenium will be a Terrestrial state. This means all people that truly worked to make the world a better place, and tried hard to be good people will be on the earth. There are certain parameters that will govern things, i.e. Christ will reign and be the Ruler but as far as how it will work for all of us during that time, we don't know. But it won't only be members of the Church. And thankfully at that time, Christ will get to figure out where justice and mercy is to be applied in all of our cases.

So.............

Stand for and defend your beliefs by stating and testifying of what you know.

Avoid trying to prove anyone wrong or pointing out the faults of others.

Listen to others beliefs and positions just as you want them to listen to yours

Focus personally on coming closer to Christ....

....not pointing out to others how you think they should be doing this

Don't attack anyone or feel like you have to have all the answers

In the end sometimes it simply comes down to faith - we do what we do because we have faith in our Heavenly Father, His Son Jesus Christ, in His perfect plan, that the Prophet is His mouthpiece and that He loves His children but we can't always explain why things are the way they are.