... it would have been wrong to sugar coat the answer, but it bothered me.

I suppose I should save this post for valentine’s day, but it’s been on my mind a lot recently and may develop into several post.

“This is my commandment, ‘That ye love one another as I have loved you.’” (John 15:12)

And how is it exactly that Christ loves? He loves us unconditionally.

I’ve been thinking of stupid things I have said or thought about other people. At the age of eighteen I moved to far away city to seek my fortune. The first thing I did after finding a job and a place to live was to find a Baptist Church to attend. It wasn’t long after that I was asked to teach the 16-17 year-old in Sunday School. I took the assignment hesitantly. Those kids were almost as old as I was. Even scarier I had not been raised to attend church. I didn’t know anything about doctrine or such, but the officials of the church knew that I had a firm testimony of Jesus Christ and they convinced me to take the class.  

One day I found myself inviting a young person to come to church. She wouldn’t come she said,  and I ask why.  “Do you believe in dancing?” she asked.

 Baptist do not believe in dancing, that was one thing I knew for sure. I remembered being a student at Southern Illinois University and attending a required event that turned out to be a ballet performance. I was horrified to see the scantily dressed men and women interacting on stage. I don’t remember my answer, but the result was that the young woman left the church.  

I had been honest and sincere and it would have been wrong to sugar coat the answer, but it bothered me. Eventually I too left the Baptist Church and became a Latter Day Saint. Though it is hard for me, they do believe in dancing. In fact I have grandchildren who excel in dancing. It is their life. But the issue is not about dancing. It is about love. Christ like love. Christ loved us enough to give his life for us.  “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends,”  He said. (John 15:13)  But the Baptist are good, honest, righteous people and they also believe that.

The reason I became a Latter Day Saint is because they go beyond what I could achieve in the Baptist church.  I could learn so much more, come closer to Christ, and be more like him. And yet, with all of that I see people fall. I see people leave the true church.  How can that be?

To be continued…