This was the talk I gave in church a few weeks ago.
Many
Christians use the word “convicted” to describe their faith. When someone is
convicted of something that means that some outside source has judged or proven
them to be guilty of something. In this case, to be a convicted Christian would
mean that others are able to judge the person as Christian based on an outside
perspective. Obviously a person’s faith should show in their actions, however
it is important to separate conviction from conversion, because they are not
the same. While conviction refers to what is apparent from the outside,
conversion refers to what occurs on the inside, and is truly known only to
oneself and to God.
The
word conversion means change. In the spiritual sense, a conversion is a change
in ones self, either in belief, or behavior, or both. Although we often focus
on the externally visible conversion signs of accepting the gospel and being
baptized, the bible dictionary makes sure to mention that “complete conversion
comes after many trials and much testing.” Real conversion is an internal
change and a lifelong process. It does not matter if a person was raised with
the gospel, or encountered it a week before dying, we all must experience
conversion at some point. Alma describes conversion as “a mighty change of
heart” and spends an entire chapter talking about it. He makes it clear that he
is speaking to church members as well as gentiles, and that conversion is
intensely personal, and undeniably ongoing.
There are three questions I want to
discuss today:
1 How do we become converted in the
first place? What happens—or what can we do—to begin the process?
2 How do we know that we are
converted, or at least that we have experienced the initial change of heart?
3 How can we remain in the converted
or changed state? And avoid returning to the unconverted condition?
1 How do we become converted?
In Mosiah 18, Alma the elder had
taught the gospel to a group of people, and was preparing them for baptism. As
they gathered by the water, he spoke to them about the things they had learned,
and about the covenants they would be taking in baptism.
8 And it
came to pass that he said unto them: Behold, here are the waters of Mormon (for
thus were they called) and now, as ye are desirous to
come into the fold of
God, and to be called his people, and are willing to bear one another’s
burdens, that they may be light;
9 Yea, and are willing to
mourn with those that mourn; yea,
and comfort those that stand in need of comfort, and to stand as witnesses
of God at all times and in all things, and in all places that ye may be in,
even until death…that ye may have eternal life—
10 Now I say unto you, if this be the desire of your
hearts, what have you against being baptized in the
name of the
Lord, as a witness before him that ye have entered into a covenant with him,
that ye will serve him and keep his commandments, that he may pour out his
Spirit more abundantly upon you?
Alma
makes it clear that conversion involves not just a willingness to keep the
commandments and care for each other, but also a genuine desire to do so.
Conversion is a change of heart.
Sometimes
we may think that a conversion will happen through a single stunning event,
with trumpets and angelic visions. As Elder Uchdorf said in the April 2011
conference,
There
are some who feel that unless they have an experience similar to Saul’s or Joseph Smith’s,
they cannot believe… They wait at the threshold of testimony but cannot bring
themselves to acknowledge the truth. Instead of taking small steps of faith on
the path of discipleship, they want some dramatic event to compel them to
believe.
There
are many others who, for different reasons, find themselves waiting [around].
They delay becoming fully engaged as disciples… They [hope] for the Christ to be given to them like a
magnificent painting—to remove once and for all their doubts and fears.
The
truth is, those who diligently seek to learn of Christ eventually will come to
know Him. They will personally receive a divine portrait of the Master,
although it most often comes in the form of a puzzle—one piece at a time. Each
individual piece may not be easily recognizable by itself; it may not be clear
how it relates to the whole. Each piece helps us to see the big picture a
little more clearly. Eventually, after enough pieces have been put together, we
recognize the grand beauty of it all. Then, looking back on our experience, we
see that the Savior had indeed come to be with us—not all at once but quietly,
gently, almost unnoticed.
Elder Uchdorf concludes that if we
will be proactive in seeking testimony and conversion, then we can find it, but
that we cannot just wait around for it to come to us. He goes on to suggest
several things that we can do to actively seek this conversion, this change of
heart.
The
first is to “hearken and heed,” meaning to listen for promptings of the spirit.
He says we should do what is necessary to “turn down the volume control of the
worldly noise in our lives” so that we can hear the spirit, and then do what we
feel prompted to do.
Secondly,
Elder Uchdorf points out that “we
sometimes do not recognize the voice of the Lord in our lives is because the
revelations of the Spirit may not come directly to us as the answer to our
prayers. Our Father in Heaven expects us to study it out first and then pray
for guidance as we seek answers to questions and concerns in our personal
lives. We have our Heavenly Father’s assurance that He will hear and answer our
prayers. The answer may come through the voice and wisdom of trusted friends
and family, the scriptures, and the words of prophets...
Often,
the answer to our prayer does not come while we’re on our knees but while we’re
on our feet serving the Lord and serving those around us. Selfless acts of
service and consecration refine our spirits, remove the scales from our
spiritual eyes, and open the windows of heaven. By becoming the answer to
someone’s prayer, we often find the answer to our own.”
The
third thing Elder Uchdorf recommends for becoming converted is to share
what we know. We don’t have to know everything, we can share what we do know
and grow through that.
There are times when the Lord
reveals to us things that are intended only for us. Nevertheless, in many, many
cases He entrusts a testimony of the truth to those who will share it with
others…. The
most effective way to preach the
gospel is through example. If we live according to our beliefs, people will
notice. If the countenance of Jesus Christ shines in our lives, if we are joyful
and at peace with the world, people will want to know why. One of the greatest
sermons ever pronounced on missionary work is this simple thought attributed to
Saint Francis of Assisi: “Preach the gospel at all times and if necessary, use
words.” Opportunities to do so are all around us.
2 How do we know that we are
converted, or at least that we have experienced the initial change of heart?
In
Alma 5, Alma asks a series of questions which can help us to ascertain whether
we have been converted.
14 And
now behold, I ask of you, my brethren of the church, have ye spiritually
been born
of God? Have ye received his image in your countenances? Have ye experienced
this mighty change
in your hearts?
15 Do
ye exercise faith in the redemption of him who created
you? Do you look forward with an eye of faith, and view this mortal body raised
in immortality, and this corruption raised
in incorruption, to stand before God to be judged
according to the deeds which have been done in the mortal body?
He continues with more questions we
can ask ourselves to see if we are exercising the faith of an ongoing
conversion. He asks “if ye have experienced a change of heart, and if ye have
felt to sing the song of redeeming love, can ye feel so now?” He also asks if
we are stripped of pride, and stripped of envy. He asks us to consider whether
we mock or persecute those around us, or feel that we are superior to anyone
else. He asks if we ever turn our backs upon the poor and needy, or withhold
our substance from them.
Alma
adds that we will have a “perfect remembrance” (verse 18) of all that we have
done in our lives, and urges us to be totally honest with ourselves when we ask
these questions.
19 I
say unto you, can ye look up to God at that day with a pure heart and clean
hands? I say unto you, can you look up, having the image
of God engraven upon your countenances?
Married couples often tend to look
like each other because of what is known as mirroring each other. Mirroring is
when we imitate each other’s facial expressions and other body movements.
Children learn emotional and other responses from their parents through this method,
and any two people in a close relationship tend to mirror each other. A couple
will often develop matching wrinkle lines because of it, because of mirroring
each other so often. When you mirror someone regularly, you can in fact begin
to look similar. How do we mirror God in
order to look like him?
In
Galations and Ephesians, Paul teaches us some of the divine wrinkle lines that
we can look for in ourselves. He refers to them as fruits of the spirit,
meaning things that are products of living a spiritual life. Here is the list: love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness,
goodness, faith, meekness,
temperance,
goodness,
righteousness and truth. (Galations 5:22-23, Ephesians 5:9)
Or,
as Alma put it,
40 …whatsoever is good
cometh from God, and whatsoever is evil
cometh from the devil.
41 Therefore,
if a man bringeth forth good
works he hearkeneth unto the voice of the good shepherd, and he doth follow
him; but whosoever bringeth forth evil works, the same becometh a child
of the devil, for he hearkeneth unto his voice, and doth follow him.
Finally, how can we remain in the
converted or changed state? And avoid returning to the unconverted condition?
In the October 2011 general
conference, Dale G Renlund of the quorum of 70 made the following analogy.
In
December 1967 the first successful heart transplant was performed in Cape Town,
South Africa. The dying man’s diseased heart was removed, and a healthy heart
from a deceased donor was sewn in its place. Since then, over 75,000 heart
transplants have been performed worldwide.
In
each heart transplant recipient, the patient’s own body recognizes the new,
lifesaving heart as “foreign” and begins to attack it. Left unchecked, the
body’s natural response will reject the new heart, and the recipient will die.
Medicines can suppress this natural response, but the medications must be taken
daily and with exactness. Furthermore, the condition of the new heart must be
monitored. Occasional heart biopsies are performed wherein small pieces of
heart tissue are removed and then examined under a microscope. When signs of
rejection are found, medications are adjusted. If the rejection process is
detected early enough, death can be averted.
Surprisingly, some patients become
casual with their transplanted hearts. They skip their medicines here and there
and obtain the needed follow-up less frequently than they should. They think
that because they feel good, all is well. Too often this shortsighted attitude
puts the patients at risk and shortens their lives.
So what can we do to maintain our
changed heart? How can we ensure that we do not reject this new heart? In
Ephesians 5, Paul gives some suggestions for how to live continually as what he
calls “children of light.”
1 Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children;
2 And
walk
in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us…
3 But
fornication,
and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not be once named among you, as
becometh saints;
5 For
this ye know, that no unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater,
hath any inheritance
in the kingdom of Christ and of God.
7 Be
not ye therefore partakers with them.
8 For
ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light:
9 ([Showing]
the fruit of the Spirit in all goodness and righteousness and truth;)
10 Proving
what is acceptable unto the Lord.
14 …Awake thou that
sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light.
So it seems that all the things which help us
achieve that initial change of heart are exactly the same things that will help
us to maintain it. Seeking and listening, serving others and sharing the truths
we learn, and above all mirroring Christ in our daily lives, so that in
imitating Him, we will become like Him.
