Reason of Hope

1 Peter 3:15- "be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear"
        Second long distance post of the season.  This time from the Denver Public Library.  Pretty city, too many one-ways and no parking for a Sunday. Also, there were literally like 100 people waiting for the Library doors to open...strange. 
       Anyways, this post was sparked by something that happened to Sam and I this Monday.  Anyone that's talked to me in the past week (including Colorado Rockies Ushers) has heard this story.  Basically, Sam and I were approached by three Christian students from UC-Riverside that were doing a theological study of Mormonism.  They were very respectful and, despite our difference of beliefs, we were both able to express our beliefs without the other getting offended.  Although it was maybe a little too philosophical and not enough "Preach My Gospel" it was a very uplifting and rewarding experience for myself.  For instance, while explaining certain principles of our beliefs I attained a deeper understanding of them.  I discovered explanations that I had never thought of before for things that seemed simple and clear for me but upon trying to explain it to someone not of my faith they became more profound. 
         One principle that I had not thought of for a long time was the concept of whether we are saved by grace/faith/works.  Obviously at some point I confronted this topic, but I would say ever since the mission I hadn't really studied it with much detail.  I knew that the Church's explanation had made sense to me once and that kind of satisified me.  Although I studied this subject in my New Testament class, like I said, I thought my understanding was good enough and I knew it was true so I figured I didn't need to elaborate much more on it.  However, upon discussing this topic with these 3 fellow seekers of truth, I realized that my understanding was rusty.  Yes thats right, I was spiritually rusty, I had let off the gas on this topic and because of that I couldn't express this belief in a simple manner that they could understand.  I wasn't "ready always to give an answer".  I felt like I knew it well enough for myself but not well enough for them.  See, they have a different set of beliefs and so in order for them to understand our stance on salvation by grace/faith/works, I had to know what other fundamental principles were necessary to help them view this topic in a more complete LDS context of the gospel.  (This might sound demeaning to them, I failed to point out that they did have an amazing knowledge of LDS beliefs, really remarkable, but that still doesn't mean they necessarily see all our beliefs from a complete LDS perspective). 
         All this being said, I was not spiritually ready to accomplish this in our brief 2 hour meeting.  This is why I went home that night and all the rest of this week and searched good explanations.  I found great insights in the New Testament manual and my absolute favorite was a talk given by Gerald N Lund.  In an attempt to be brief, to make sense of 2 Nephi 25:23, I would say that we believe that "we are saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ, which faith is made manifest in our works".  Although I feel I can better explain this now, I would rather let the Spirit speak individually to anyone that would like to read Brother Lund's talk, as the Holy Ghost truly is the master teacher. 

http://lds.org/ensign/1981/04/salvation-by-grace-or-by-works?lang=eng&query=salvation+works

          Since that occasion, I have become facebook friends with two of them and I have shared this article as well as these further insights on the topic.  I feel much more at ease with this topic and the discussion we had.  I can rest easier at night knowing that I have given them as good "an answer" as I could. One lesson that can be learned from this is simply, if you aren't "ready always to give an answer to everyman", at least express yourself with enough humility and sincerity ("meekness and fear") so that you can become facebook friends (kind of joking about the facebook part).  In all seriousness though, if I had been arrogant or disrespectful I'm sure they would have not looked for any further contact (which would have made it impossible for me to follow through with Peters admonition).

           As part of a small disclaimer, I would like to also remind us that for true effective missionary work, we must base our actions in "Preach My Gospel".  I admit that, as President Benson said in "Preach My Gospel" while speaking about the need for a testimony of the Book of Mormon, "Our main task is to declare the gospel and do it effectively. We are not obligated to answer every objection." (page 109).  Therefore, although we need to "be ready always to give an answer", we do not need to be able to answer every question or objection.  Eventually the individual needs to decide whether or not they believe in the Book of
Mormon, and thus the Prophet Joseph Smith, and thus The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and thus all of its teachings.  In summary, what I did was more a humanitarian effort of religious tolerancy to plant a seed for missionary work, but in order for the missionary spirit to truly plant in someones heart they must start at the beginning, the ABC's, whether or not they believe the Book of Mormon is the word of God. 

            I hope that disclaimer didn't take anything away from this experience or confuse anyone.  I just felt it was necessary so we avoid falling into unprofitable religious debates when the objective is not mutual understanding or enlightenment but simply proving the other wrong.  I felt that was not the case at all for our discussion.