Something that has been weighing heavily on my heart is sharing the gospel. There is so much in Scripture that those around us don’t have that my heart is breaking. I was re-reading the biography of a tremendously godly Christian who was passionate about finding the truth. Even before He learned about Jesus as the Savior he was searching for truth. He tried everything in that all consuming desire, even some harmful things. But he was honest enough to eliminate them from his life when he found them to be false. Once he found the Savior, he put everything he had into serving Him. He literally poured out his life for his God. Yet often while reading his journey my heart would weep for all that he was missing. I questioned why the Lord never sent LDS missionaries to him during his deep and honest search for the truth. I’ve often wondered that about myself. When I was learning about the gospel in my teen years, why didn’t heavenly Father send missionaries to me? It would have prevented much pain in my life to know all the truth from the beginning. As much as people on TV joke about Mormon missionaries. I had never spoken to one in my life until the night I went over to try and convert the children’s piano teacher. I have to believe that there was a reason God waited for me to know the truth.
I wanted this brother to know the truth too, though he died in the 80s. I did look up on family search to see if his ordinances were done. If they hadn’t, one of you dear brothers was going to get a call asking you to perform them for me. After his wife passes, I will be thrilled to do her ordinances. But, that may not even be necessary. I’m drawing up a letter to share the restored gospel with her. I’m praying she reads it and gives it real prayer and consideration. I’m sure her husband will do all he can from his side of the veil to make sure it gets in her hands.
Which leads to what has been on my heart. There are so many people who do not have the gospel. People we see every day and never talk to. What excuse do we have for such apathy? The brother, whose biography I mentioned wrote a song about this very topic called Asleep in the Light. Here are the lyrics: (A word of warning. He was a no compromise sort of man and his lyrics are always quite blunt. When you know his heart though, you are not offended).
Do you see, do you see, All the people sinking down?
Don’t you care, don’t you care, Are you gonna let them drown?
How can you be do numb, not to care if they come?
You close your eyes and pretend the job’s done.
"Oh bless me Lord, bless me Lord", You know it’s all I ever hear,
No one aches, no one hurts. No one even sheds one tear.
But he cries, he weeps, he bleeds. And he cares for your needs.
And you just lay back And keep soaking it in
Oh can’t you see it’s such a sin!
’Cause he brings people to you door, and you turn them away as you smile and say
"God bless you, be at peace." And all heaven just weeps.
’Cause Jesus came to you door. You’ve left him out on the streets.
Open up, open up, and give yourself away. You see the need, you hear the cries.
So how can you delay? God’s calling and you’re the one, but like Jonah you run.
He’s told you to speak, but you keep holding it in.
Oh can’t you see it’s such a sin!
The world is sleeping in the dark.
And the church just won’t fight, ’cause it’s asleep in the light.
How can you be so dead when you’ve been so well fed?
Jesus rose from the grave- And you, you can’t even get out of bed.
Now I know we often want to share the gospel with those around us, but feel at a loss as to how to do it without being offensive to our neighbors and acquaintances. This has been on my heart a lot, especially with how much our faith has been in the news. This is a good thing, because people are more open to discussing it right now. Let’s use this to our advantage. I was praying through how to share the gospel with my neighbors. To be honest, I don’t even know most of them. Plus, we live in a bad neighborhood so we tend to keep to ourselves. But, I think I have an idea that is useful no matter what neighborhood you live in. We’ve gotten a bunch of Books of Mormon and are wrapping them in ribbon with an invitation to an open house at my home. I’ve got a night blocked out where anyone who is curious about what Mormons believe can come and ask questions. I’ll have refreshments there, and the missionaries have already agreed to be there as well. Even if no one shows up, at least I will have gotten the Book of Mormon in their hands. When they are ready, they will open it up. They’ll have my contact information in it if they ever have any questions. I’m so excited about this! Let’s not continue to watch people drown all around us. Let’s get rid of our apathy. No more hording the light we’ve been blessed with.
