Wow, it's kinda been a while since I wrote anything here. I need to get better at that. But hey, if this was my actual journal, it would've been 1 1/2 years, instead of just 1 1/2 months, so that's something, right?
So this last semester I took a class entitled "American Christianity" which I found rather interesting. One of the main current Christian... trends, I suppose you could say, is evangelicalism. They're very big on the whole 'praising Jesus' and 'being saved' stuff. It didn't make much sense the whole time the teacher was explaining it, I'm not gonna lie; but the very last class we had actual evangelicals come and explain it in their own words.
Now, I'm not gonna lie, there's a lot about evangelicals that annoys me, a lot I vehemently disagree with (most notably the rejection of anything even halfway intellectual by many of them). However, as we were having this class discussion the topic of Jesus came up, and the professor said something very interesting. One of the girls had actually converted to the LDS Church and had mentioned to the professor that there had been church services where she hadn't heard Christ's name even once; and entire three hours without talking about Christ.
This got me thinking: have we, as Latter-Day Saints, strayed too far in the other direction? Certainly we must address ways in how we, as individuals and as a whole, can improve; but what about Christ? After all, whatever we attain in faith, virtue, charity, etc. is only a gift provided through the magnificence of the Atonement. I personally feel that evangelicals have strayed too far into the praise-Jesus realm at the expense of the how-can-I-grow/become-better realm; but have I strayed too far in the other direction? (I fully realize that I'm part of the problem.)
I am not saying that Latter-Day Saints do not love Christ or lack a personal relationship with him, but how often is that expressed at church? I think this could play a particularly large role in our bearing of testimonies: Imagine instead of telling some random story followed by a rote recitation of "I know that Joseph Smith was a prophet," or "I know Jesus Christ lives," you could say "Jesus Christ saved me. My world was dark, dreary, and without hope; my world is bright, joyful, and without impossibilities." Imagine the passion you would put behind the latter statement. For nor matter how great your world may seem right now, when compared with what God could make of it through the Atonement of Christ, it would seem dark, dreary, and without hope.
So, again i ask: Have we strayed too far away from "praising Jesus?" I leave it to you to answer that for yourself.
