Discipleship: Following in the Savior's Footsteps

There are many around us, in fact the world seems to be almost entirely focused on achievement, competition, perfection, and material possessions. There are more ways advertised in all the media we encounter every day to be better, have more, and change who we are to fit society's norm, than we could ever humanly conquer.

When we are constantly surrounded by influences that tell us not to be satisfied with who we are, it becomes easier to forget that the example of Christ had nothing to do with the worlds view of success and happiness.

The scriptures tell us He was a man without a remarkable appearance and an even less remarkable collection of worldly goods. He was often judged for this. Even then, many people felt that respect was earned by stature and favor within the community. Even among the religious orders of the time there was a certain amount of pride involved in showing off how well you could live your beliefs. All these were in opposition to the life and example of Christ. So is most of what the world would have us believe today.

What were Jesus Christ’s views on the important things in life? Love for God and man, a kind word and a kind act, humility, and peace. These are the things He valued; these are the things He taught His disciples to value. We know this. We study His words and life. We try to become more like Him. But often, our attempts go astray because we are trying to mix what our peers, culture, and society define as happiness and success with the things of God.

How does one learn to be content, not so much with what he has or is, but with what the Lord sees in Him? They are often two very different things.

The first answer is probably to make sure that we are looking in the right places for the answers we need. Our pursuit needs to focus on the same things that we sought out when we went looking for Christ in the first place. The answers are found in our scriptures, in prayers and the intimate feelings within our hearts. The solutions are in our ability to emulate Him, not a fashion magazine.

The disciple's job is to begin figuring out what the difference is between God's voice and the world's. We all have basic needs (basic needs, not what we'd, like those needs to be) for supporting life, but we often forget that a big part of that life is the spirit that dwells within us. We have a responsibility to nourish and protect our soul as well as our God-given bodies. Are the goals and activities we choose for ourselves honoring and nurturing that part of us? Are we following an example that leads us to greater peace or a greater list of things to do and places to be in order to measure up?

Make sure your assessing this part of yourself along with your “bottom line”. What is the Lord's standard for His disciples? How does He measure your worth? What things in your life keep you the closest to Him, His peace, and His love and which things do not?

Learn to minimize the distractions and find contentment in the things that really matter for who you are, and who God wants you to be.

There is a set of scriptures within the Doctrine and Covenants that has always given me a bit of trouble. Not because of what they actually say, but because of what my puny brain focuses on and remembers from what they say. See for yourself:

Organize yourselves; prepare every needful thing, and establish a house, even a house of prayer, a house of fasting, a house of faith, a house of learning, a house of glory, a house of order, a house of God;
That your incomings may be in the name of the Lord, that your outgoings may be in the name of the Lord, that all your salutations may be in the name of the Lord, with uplifted hands unto the Most High— (D&C 109:8-9)

Can you guess what parts I remember every time I close the scriptures and walk away? Organize, order and house. Somehow over the years I’ve taken a beautiful concept and turn it into something that seems impossible for me. I’m not an organized person. Far from it in fact. Because these scriptures start with and re-emphasize these words, I have equated and orderly, clean, and well-running home with a heavenly home. Somehow I’ve assumed that God can only be closest to me when my chores are done. But really, that’s not what the scripture says at all.

Though these verses were given to provide specific parameters for what should be available to the members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints when they entered God’s temples. As you can tell, I believe it is also a pattern for what God would like to have present in our every day lives and dwellings. These are the things that matter most to our Heavenly Father as we try to build our lives around His son, Jesus Christ and His teachings. In a sense, these two scriptures give us a pretty clear direction on where our personal priorities should be. Yes, there are plenty of things we face every day that aren’t covered here, but perhaps when we place these first, it becomes clearer what we are supposed to do with the rest of the items on our daily “to-do” lists.

The problem is, I tend to get caught up in the “to-do” part, which puts my mind on worldly matters, and I forget that the parts that are most important. Does Christ ask His disciples to scrub their toilets before saying their morning prayers? Not really. There is a place for a clean home; it offers peace and a greater sanctuary from the world. But, what really matters as we try to build a relationship with the Savior is not necessarily the “organized” part, but what He is actually asking us to be reliable and organized in. Have you forgotten the other parts of the instructions?

Let’s review:

Organize yourselves; prepare every needful thing, and establish a house, even a house of prayer, a house of fasting, a house of faith, a house of learning, a house of glory, a house of order, a house of God;
That your incomings may be in the name of the Lord, that your outgoings may be in the name of the Lord, that all your salutations may be in the name of the Lord, with uplifted hands unto the Most High— (D&C 109:8-9)

The things we need to make sure we have in our homes are: prayer, fasting, faith, learning, and worship. We need to make sure our homes are places where God is invited and can enter. Sure, it’s nice to offer Him a seat without first having to brush off yesterday’s paper. But it’s more important that the spirit of the home is inviting to His goodness and purity. The thing that is needful, the thing that must be present is Christ.

When you take a look at your “to-do” list tomorrow, check and see how many of these elements are present. How fully are you providing yourself with a house of God? Where can you improve? When you look at it from God’s perspective which things have you been constantly adding, just to beat yourself up with, that don’t really matter for the type of organized home you want?

Take a look and see how organized you are according to God’s pattern and I’ll try to do the same.

I talked yesterday about the need for preparation of our hearts and minds for service experiences.

Elder Henry B. Eyring said: “You are called to represent the Savior. Your voice to testify becomes the same as His voice, your hands to lift the same as His hands.” (Henry B. Eyring, "Rise to Your Call," Ensign Nov. 2002, 7)

We need to remove our thoughts and focus from our own needs and trials and place them on the needs of those around us. This task requires us to reach within, to put our lives and hearts in order with the teaching of Christ and invite the Spirit to guide our hands and feet for good.

This connection with the Holy Ghost is our key to discipleship. When we let it prompt us, we may find that the schedule we had in mind for the day, or the words we might have said in passing to a friend, aren’t what the Lord has in mind for us and them. With out that inspirational connection, how would we know the difference?

Consider the instructions Christ gave His disciples:

And now it came to pass that when Jesus had spoken these words he looked upon the twelve whom he had chosen, and said unto them: Remember the words which I have spoken. For behold, ye are they whom I have chosen to minister unto this people. Therefore I say unto you, take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment? 3 Nephi 13:25

While this may seem harsh council from the Savior, it’s a challenge with a blessing for the faithful. Christ needed to make it perfectly clear to His disciples that other’s needs were to be placed above their own. Their first responsibility was to service and their fellow man. How often, in our own ways, do we think about what we will eat, (and then what we’ve eaten too much of) how we should spend our time or whether or not the pants we want to buy flatter us or are a good bargain when the Spirit has been trying to whisper, “Stop. Look there. Do you see where I need you to send your love?” What have we missed because we have been looking inward at our own selves, cares, and desires rather than reaching inward to tap our divine nature for goodness and love?

Service, ministering to others, is doing God’s work in His way. It is holy and sacred. The Bible Dictionary states, “The work of the ministry is to do the work of the Lord on the earth—to represent the Lord among the people . . . The chosen servants and appointed officers in the Church of Jesus Christ are put on earth by him to conduct the work necessary for the salvation of mankind.”

“As we seek to emulate the Savior, we should remember that our personal ministering of others is more than what we do to and for them. It is about who we are and are becoming. Acquiring the attributes to minister or to nurture is part of the eternal process of becoming like Christ, which happens as we develop pure motives for our service and then act upon them. . . . At times, we can become distracted by a whole list of good pursuits, but the bottom line is that the essential divine instruction we have received is to minister to the needs of others. . . . The impressions I receive are that simplification and flexibility allow for more personal ministry.” (Bonnie D. Parkin, Relief Society General President)

Many of us feel we haven’t the time for a true commitment to service, but we will find that if we keep focused on the Spirit, there are many opportunities to serve that “fit” with who we are. Granted, there will also be opportunities that require us to stretch beyond who we think we are. Those are the sweetest of all.

Remember, look inward to the Spirit and you will be able to reach out in service.

If I had to think today about what matters most to the Lord about our time here on earth, three things come to mind.

1. The relationship we develop with our Savior
2. The relationship we develop with our family
3. The relationship we develop with our fellow man (otherwise known as: service)

For me at least, everything that Heavenly Father indicates He wants for me in this life are wrapped up in these three things. Yes, there are many more specific instructions that may not appear to be included in these three, but I’d bet the relationship is there whether it’s easily seen or not.

To this end He has provided us with specific instructions for each of these areas. I’m grateful for the proclamations on the Family and the Living Christ. In addition to the scriptures, these offer a great amount of insight into the first two areas.

But what about service? Why do I place that on my list above anything else? Well, as I’ve been thinking about it, I’ve remembered the many times in the scriptures that the Lord has emphasized helping and caring for others. Service was the entire focus of the Savior’s earthly ministry. Service matters to the Savior, it is what He requires His disciples to be eagerly engaged in and focused on.

When I think about accounting for my time here on earth, I think that there are a lot of things I may have been good at: like obeying the word of wisdom, or attending my meetings, but I think the first thing Heavenly Father will want to know is, “how have you treated My children?” Like any kind and concerned parent, His children are His first priority. We see that in the way He loves and cares for us. We should see that He holds each of His children with the same regard. Will it matter if we never got a speeding ticket or cheated on our taxes if we didn’t reach out to those around us? I don’t think how well we conquer the other commandments can make up for ignoring our fellow man in the process.

For the member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Chieko N. Okazaki states, “our real calling to be a compassionate Christian came when we stepped out of the waters of baptism.” (Chieko N. Okazaki- Rejoice in Every Good Thing)

That holds true for every individual who wishes to be a disciple of Christ. The moment we make that resolution and turn our lives over to His hands, each one of us is promising to serve Him, and our neighbor, as He sees fit.

That’s not to say it’s an easy thing to do. Service takes preparation. We each need to practice taking the focus off of ourselves and placing it on the Lord and the Spirit. When we do this we are able to find out what the Lord would have us do. This process of drawing away from ourselves and closer to the Savior is what opens our hearts and minds to who we can reach out to and how.

Mother Teresa said, “I’m a little pencil in the hands of God. He does the thinking. He does the writing. He does everything—and it’s really hard—sometimes it’s a broken pencil. He has to sharpen it a little more. But be a little instrument in His hands so that He can use you anytime, anywhere. … We have only to say Yes to Him.” (“Love: A Fruit Always in Season,” Daily Meditations, San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1987, p. 243.)