If These Things Are Not True

We are all familiar with the exhortation of Moroni in the last chapter of the Book of Mormon that we should ask God if these things are not true and that if we do so with a sincere desire and with faith, he will reveal that they are true.  What are "these things" and why is it important that we find that they are true?

When I ask these questions I get the usual answers: "these things" are cumulatively the Book of Mormon and it is important because if the Book of Mormon is true, Joseph Smith was a prophet and the Church of Christ has been restored.  All true and important, but do we really need to know that there were elephants, horses, chickens, cummons, and cureloms before we can believe?  Is it necessary that we find the city of Zarahemla or that the math of the reproductive numbers of the Nephites and Lamanites works out before we can accept this volume of scripture?  Nothing can be less important, in my experience and opinion.

For someone just reading the Book of Mormon for the first time or for someone reading it over again for who-knows-how-many times "these things" refers to the particular doctrines the writer has been preaching.  If the Book of Mormon  is true, as a whole, then what Nephi and Lehi taught their families and those who traveled with them is important for us.  If the teachings of Alma are true, then Christ truly has taken upon him our sins, knows our sorrows, is able to guide our lives toward something beyond our pathetically small dreams.  If what Moroni says is true, Christ was not being cruel, hypocritical or stating the impossible when he declared to his disciples (including us), "Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in Heaven is perfect." (Matthew 5:48)

When we ask God if these wonderful doctrines are true or if we really do have to repent of immoral activity, or improper thoughts the answer has usually been given before we even ask.  It is true, so now we have a responsibility to dig into the doctrines of the Book of Mormon and understand them on a deeper basis.  When I read any book of scripture or the writings of the prophets I read to understand more completely what I need to do to become what is promised in their writing.  I was very impressed with one of the speakers in our Stake Conference who said she took a spiral notebook and drew a line from top to bottom in the middle of each page.  At the top of the first column she wrote "If" and at the top of the second column she wrote "Then".  As she read the Book of Mormon, she would see something like "...thus we see..." and she would know that the next words would go in the "If" column and the words following those would go into the "Then" column.  That is how we know the promises of God and how we can achieve them.

In the next post, I want to take up the idea of perfection, so I won't spend much time on that topic here.  As an example of how to approach this, however, the idea of perfection is a good example.  Moroni 10:32 has the invitation: "Come unto Christ" and the promise "and be perfected in Him."  How do we come unto Christ?  It goes on, "deny yourselves of all ungodliness; and if ye shall deny yourselves of all ungodliness, and love God with all your might, mind and strength..." The promise: "...then is his grace sufficient for you , that by his grace ye may be perfect in Christ; and if by the grace of God ye are perfect in Christ, ye can in nowise deny the power of God."  Is that true?  If that is true then I can become the man that somewhere in my deepest consciousness I believe I am supposed to become.  If it is not true, then I truly am lost and without hope for perfection and might as well eat, drink, abandon my higher instincts for my baser pleasures, for tomorrow I will die and my life would have been for naught just like the billions who have become dust before me.  Nice try, but God will not tell you it is not true.  If you are sincere, you know what the answer will be and you will discover in yourself a man or woman with unlimited potential, happiness, love and intelligence.  It's there if you are courageous enough to take the challenge.

Keep in mind, however, that it is not easy.  It means that you will have to dedicate time every day for the rest of your life to this path of discovery.  It means that you pay rapt attention in meetings and classes for that little nudge that tells you, "I need to look at this again from another perspective."  It means not judging those who are trying to teach or preach, but to look at every one as an opportunity to become better.  It is a commitment, but it is a commitment well worth the sacrifice.  Remember the word sacrifice means "to make holy."  Thus, it implies that whatever we are giving up to study, pray and meditate is worth it because properly applied it will make us holy.