Jacob 1 - That We Might Persuade Them to Come Unto Christ I'm taking an online economics class right now, which prompted me to think of the definition of economics in the context of the scriptures. Economics is the study of the allocation of scarce resources. In the case of Nephi and his successor Jacob, the plates upon which they engraved their record was a scarce resource. They were costly to make and difficult to engrave, and instilling a tradition of passing them through generations was surely cumbersome. Recognizing the great importance of spiritual things and the challenge of maintaining records, Nephi instructed Jacob to prioritize religious instruction saying, " if there were preaching which was sacred, or revelation which was great, or prophesying, that I should engraven the heads of them upon these plates, and touch upon them as much as it were possible, for Christ’s sake, and for the sake of our people" (Jacob 1:4). This priority was not only reflecte
2 Nephi 31 - My Soul Delighteth in Plainness
I wonder how many people would agree with the statement "God's work is simple and clear." I think for most people God is mystifying, and his nature incomprehensible. But Nephi said, "my soul delighteth in plainness" and testified, "for after this manner doth the Lord God work among the children of men" (2 Nephi 31:2). This assertion made me curious to know the ways in which God works in a "plain" manner. Definitions of "plain" include the ideas of being simple or ordinary in character, without pretense, and clear and unequivocal. This reminds me of something Sister Linda Burton said while I was interpreting for a leadership training conference in Taiwan. She stressed that as a general authority she was called to teach general principles. I extended this statement to mean that general authorities are called to teach and testify core doctrine, not necessarily to answer the most challenging questions or address particularly complex personal issues. In a similar way, the most important truths of God are often the simplest and most universal.
Nephi explains that God works among the children of man in plainness, "For the Lord God giveth light unto the understanding; for he speaketh unto men according to their language, unto their understanding" (2 Nephi 31:2). God uses language, symbols, and rituals that mean something to us and help us metaphorically understand his truth.
When commandments and church policies feel arbitrary, we may be inclined to think that we do not need to follow a particular rule, or think that it is not relevant or useful for us. Taking the word of wisdom as a specific example, while abstaining from alcohol could be lifesaving for some predisposed to alcoholism, for others it really might not be a problem to have a glass of wine every now and again. The law is admittedly "adapted to the capacity of the weak and the weakest of all saints" (D&C 89:3). There may be some who do not need the additional encouragement and support of a congregation every week, and could remain close to God with only occasional participation in organized religious services.
In considering these edge cases, it is instructive to read how Christ responded to a similar situation when he chose to be baptized, "But notwithstanding he being holy, he showeth unto the children of men that, according to the flesh he humbleth himself before the Father, and witnesseth unto the Father that he would be obedient unto him in keeping his commandments" (2 Nephi 31:7). Keeping the commandment had nothing to do with the intended utility of the ordinance, but was a symbol between Christ and the Father. Ultimately, everything we do to follow God has both an explicit purpose (to protect or bless), but more importantly a meta-purpose to mold our will to be in line with His.
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2 Nephi 32 - It Will Show Unto You All Things What Ye Should Do
Nephi seemed sincerely disheartened by his people's confusion and uncertainty around how to proceed through life after baptism. Why did their uncertainty lead him to "I am left to mourn because of the unbelief, and the wickedness, and the ignorance, and the stiffneckedness of men" (2 Nephi 32:7)? While there is surely more background to the story than we have access to, it seems that Nephi was not frustrated that they did not know what to do, per se, but that were unwilling to seek answers from the ultimate source of truth and knowledge.
Nephi counseled them to "feast upon the words of Christ; for behold, the words of Christ will tell you all things what ye should do" (2 Nephi 32:3). He expands this idea to emphasize the role of the Holy Ghost, "For behold, again I say unto you that if ye will enter in by the way, and receive the Holy Ghost, it will show unto you all things what ye should do" (2 Nephi 32:5). It is both a radical and an obvious notion that all we need to know about what to do in life can be derived by consulting the scriptures and listening to the promptings of the Holy Ghost.
I love Nephi's description of the role of prayer. He frames prayer as an output implying that if we are responsive to the promptings of the Spirit we would feel motivated to pray. I have also experienced this dynamic in reverse in time when I did not feel the Spirit, but through deliberate efforts to pray was able to achieve and attitude and state of mind in which the Spirit could be present. Nephi does not characterize prayer as a means of procuring instructions. Prayer is not important because it is a process of learning the right thing to do, but to ensure that whatever we do we remain tethered to the Lord. It is relational, not instructional. As Nephi explained, the critical piece is that if we pray, God "will consecrate thy performance unto thee, that thy performance may be for the welfare of thy soul" (2 Nephi 32:9).
I like to push this idea to it's outward limit and think of times when I have not only made bad choices, but willfully and habitually sinned. Looking back on those chapters of my life, I feel a sense of gratitude and can see how those experiences shaped me and helped make me who I am today. One factor I can point to is that throughout all my wanderings I still prayed and continued to acknowledge and connect with God, even when I was not following his counsel. When we accept God's will and reach out to him, even our sins can be blessings.
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2 Nephi 33 -
Our ability to influence others is both extremely limited and incredibly expansive. I say incredibly limited because we cannot actually make anyone do, think, or feel anything. Every person has agency and is sovereign in their own experience. There is nothing we can do that will change anyone against their will. And yet we all have anecdotal examples of how others have influenced us, and can see how we have shaped others as well.
When it comes to influencing others for good, Nephi explains the mechanism by which we can inspire and uplift other. He said, "when a man speaketh by the power of the Holy Ghost the power of the Holy Ghost carrieth it unto the hearts of the children of men" (2 Nephi 32:1). We can say words and deliver them at the door, but only the Holy Ghost can carry them in. The Holy Ghost has a transformative power that can change our natures. Even the most sincere and well-crafted words are just sounds waves vibrating in the air, or a few ink marks on a page. Only when those words are heard, read, internalized, and then enlivened by the Holy Ghost can that shape hearts and minds and make us new creatures.
Nephi acknowledged that there would be many who did not receive his words, and conceded his own failings as a writer. But with that humility he expressed confidence in the power of God to ensure that "the words which I have written in weakness will be made strong unto them" (2 Nephi 32:4). When well-intentioned and infused with the Spirit, our meager efforts can be a powerful force for good. Drawing on my training as an artist, I like to think of my old pencil case in the context of our meager efforts to support God work. If you were to open up my old case you see broken off nubs of conte crayon, rubbed down vine charcoal, engineering pencils covered in graphite, a ratty scrap of an old t-shirt used for blending, and a kneedable eraser worn beyond recognition. In the same way I can compose a drawing from bits of old junk, God can render beautiful masterpieces using the raw material of our efforts, as imperfect as they may be.
Nephi expounded that his words were powerful because they:
- persuadeth them to do good,
- maketh known unto them of their fathers,
- speaketh of Jesus,
- persuadeth them to believe in him,
- [persuadeth them] to endure to the end, and
- speaketh harshly against sin (2 Nephi 32:4-5).
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Image Credit: Brili Routines
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