theidler,
I don’t feel a need to “glory in the cross being given” by whatever comment comes up–it is not a “cross to bear”. Comments provide people’s opinions, and they can have their opinion and it makes not the slightest difference in my life or my thoughts.
Parker, there’s no shame in having to pick up our cross. Christians know very well that we must always be willing to suffer whatever God allows us to suffer, either physically, through sickness or injury; mentally, through anguish or sadness caused by circumstances that occur in our lives; or spiritually, through feelings of doubt, feeling abandoned by God, or through real persecution by others, who don’t believe as we do. Jesus, Himself, taught us, “[Luke 9:23] And he said to all:
If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.” He suffered much more than we could ever imagine, but He did it willingly, because He loves us. That’s why we should always be willing to do the same for His sake.
You are correct that you have no reason to think you’re being persecuted, because no one here has done that. Just because people disagree with LDS doctrines and beliefs, doesn’t mean they’re persecuting those who believe them. They’re merely expressing their opinions about why they think the doctrines are wrong. It’s not meant as a personal attack against any individual. It’s to show the reasons behind their opinions.
As far as the Joseph Smith “having a gun” issue, he did not instigate the gun being brought into the jail, but he accepted one when it was given to him by a visitor.
If he was a martyr for Christ, he never would have accepted the gun, much less ever used it. Real martyrs don’t pick up weapons to fight their way out of any situation. They follow the example of Jesus, Who was completely innocent of all charges against Him, but He didn’t even try to defend His innocence, or escape. He certainly could have escaped, but He chose to humbly follow the will of His Father, and suffer a brutally painful and humiliating death, in order for us to be forgiven for our sins. If we think we’re better than He is, or we don’t deserve to suffer anything, then we seriously need to rethink what it means to actually follow Jesus.
Here are my thoughts about that subject:
I am very thankful that there is through that experience, no discrepancy between what Joseph Smith taught by revelation, and what he did by action. He taught by revelation that when a group or individual are guilty of a “fourth offense”–meaning they have been given three “turn-the-other cheek” chances for them to check their personal conscience and not continue as an aggressor, and after the third offense the people who are being assaulted and aggrieved have permission by revelation from God, to defend themselves, their families, and their interests if property is involved.
Jesus never taught anything like that. He taught: “
[Matthew 18:][21] Then came Peter unto him and said: Lord, how often shall my brother offend against me, and I forgive him? till seven times? [22] Jesus saith to him: I say not to thee, till seven times;
but till seventy times seven times.” Aren’t we are all brothers and sisters to God?
I am very thankful that when my son served in the Army National Guard in Iraq, though he didn’t have a situation where he ended up needing to personally defend against an aggressor, if he had there would have been no worry whether he would feel hesitant to fully defend himself and his unit. Any second of hesitation could mean the difference between life and death, so this would be an important aspect of one whose upbringing is to follow Christ with His teachings in the Sermon on the Mount very much a part of our lives. So the principle is very important, and it was given by revelation to Joseph Smith for cases of war or aggression against a people who are followers of Christ.
Your son was a trained soldier. It was his sworn duty to do whatever was necessary, because he was at war. If he would ever have any hesitation as to what he might need to do, then he never should have been a soldier in the first place.
If Joseph Smith taught that ‘fourth offense principle’ to his followers, then he was contradicting what Jesus taught from the beginning. For that reason, I could never believe JS received that ‘revelation’ from God, either. God never contradicts Himself.
I am very thankful that I would not feel that the example of those considered “martyrs” by not fighting back, particularly to defend my family, loved ones and friends, would be an example that I needed to follow if I were placed in a situation of a mob attack or even an individual attack against my family.
Defending one’s family or friends from an actual physical attack by any aggressor, is not the same kind of situation, at all.
Just because they had only the example of Christ and the apostles and didn’t have the benefit of personal revelation to know when it was appropriate to defend themselves or defend their families and friends, doesn’t mean I would need to follow that same example, since we do have modern revelation about this and do have personal revelation to guide our ability to defend ourselves if an aggressor or a mob were to attack with lawless action.
If you actually see Jesus or any of the other true martyrs in that light, then you have absolutely no idea what a true martyr is. You don’t even seem to have any real understanding of why Jesus came into this world, or what He did for all of us who follow Him. It certainly appears that Mormons don’t have a true appreciation for what Jesus suffered for them on the Cross at Calvary. Is it any real wonder why they’re not seen as true Christians, by those of us who are?
