There was a *father
who was deeply religious and had been blessed to bring many, many people to the
Lord’s church. He and his wife raised a family, and when children grow up, we
as parents soon discover that we are not always able to direct them anymore.
Basically it’s time for them to be independent, and they really are NOT carbon
copies of their parents.
Same thing happened to this devout man and his wife.
They had a **son who not only refused to participate in church activities, but
he began to sneak behind his parents’ backs to participate in all kinds of
riotous living. He even did everything he could to drag others away from the
church. He had a group of partying friends, +brothers, whose #+father was as devout as this young man’s father. Their father was a leader in his
community and was Christlike in his behavior towards others. Both sets of parents
were so distraught. What more could they have done?
I’ve
wondered about these families and how others in their devout community viewed
the parents, perhaps judging them for their obvious failure or secret sins that
led to their boys turning out so “badly.” I mean, if the parents were truly
devout and raising their children the way they had been counseled by their
spiritual leaders, how could they have failed so grandly? Perhaps they kept
their children away from the families, especially the sinful sons, much like
some people in our culture who don’t let their children play with children not
of their faith. I’m sure they didn’t want to get tainted by such
unrighteousness.
But after a
life-changing event that shook him to the very core, the one son awakened from
his spiritual slumber. His friends were equally affected. I can only imagine
what they saw when they surveyed their lives and their past and all the damage
they had done to so many people. These young men humbly repented and
devoted the rest of their lives to building God’s kingdom they had tried so
hard to destroy in the past. I again wonder how that behavior was viewed by
their community. “Hey, weren’t these the boys who were telling us how stupid we
were for being religious?” “Aren’t they the people who would stop at nothing to
destroy God’s church?” “Yeah, yeah, SURE they’ve turned over a new leaf.” “SURE
they are serving as instruments in God’s hands.” “I don’t buy it.” “Once a
sinner, always a sinner.” “Why would God care to use people such as these?”
While I am
referring to actual young men who lived, they were not part of our “modern”
culture but lived over 2,000 years ago. In speaking of the one boy, most likely
the most vocal of all of them, scripture describes him: “And he became a great hinderment to the
prosperity of the church of God; stealing away the hearts of the people;
causing much dissension among the people; giving a chance for the enemy of God
to exercise his power over them.”¹
Can you imagine the families of those he led
away ever being able to forgive him and look at him without disdain? Maybe even
hate?
In the New Testament
there is a similar story about a *+man who grew up in a devout family and who
was a part of the religious ruling body of his faith. He saw Jesus Christ and
his followers as destructive to his faith and fought as hard as he could to
stop the movement. And then he, too, had a life-changing event that also shook
him to the core. He then realized that everything he thought about the movement
he sought to destroy (even so far as being instrumental in the death(s) of
follower(s) of said movement) was completely wrong. I can’t imagine how hard it
was for him to face his past and be fully aware of all the damage he had
caused, the lives he had destroyed. His repentance process must have been
harrowing. The other man/boy who had lived about 100 years before the New
Testament man had this to say about his repentance process: “Yea, I say unto you, my son, that there
could be nothing so exquisite and so bitter as
were my pains. Yea, and again I say unto you, my son, that on the other hand,
there can be nothing so exquisite and sweet as was
my joy.”²
These are
two of my most favorite scripture stories. You know why? Because all of these
men did bad things. Even the man who was fighting for his faith did things that
crossed the line. These were the kind of people that we devout people try to
avoid as if they are contagious. The only people who didn’t turn away from them
were those who agreed with them. And God chose them anyway and went out of His
way to get their attention. Their hearts were obviously good because they
immediately repented and devoted all of their energy to reversing the damage
they had caused. Each of them had such a profound spiritual experience, some
even seeing or hearing an angel or Christ himself, who had come to call them to
repentance. Why? God doesn’t do that for everyone. Most of us will live our
lives without ever seeing a heavenly being. And these guys surely weren’t righteous
enough, were they?
Ahh, but you
see, I am looking through my human glasses again. If you look at these men
through heavenly glasses, you can see that all of the good work they were able
to accomplish in the years that followed was extremely important and blessed
far more than they had hurt in their young lives. The human eye would only see
their sin and error; but our Father in Heaven calls whom He wants to call and
can do it however He wants. And sometimes He doesn’t use a still, small voice
but instead uses the thundering voice of an angel to get someone’s attention.
Repentance
is very real and very important. It is one of the most important gifts we have
been given through the Atonement of Jesus Christ. Without repentance, the
Atonement would be all for naught. Know any sinners? If you are honest, you count yourself in that group. And we are really only supposed to worry about ourselves and our own sins.
Each of us is chosen. Our roles vary. Some
seem bigger than others, but we each have a part to play. Heavenly Father is
counting on us. I challenge
each of us to slip on some heavenly glasses and look at others through the
lenses our Father uses to see all of us. How much more beautiful would this
world be, do you think?
*Alma
the Elder
**Alma
the Younger
+Sons
of Mosiah
+#Mosiah
*+Saul/Paul
¹ - Mosiah 27:9
² - Alma 36:21
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