Four Titles - Disciple of Christ

The second title that President Uchtdorf gave us was Disciples of Jesus Christ, and the first thing I looked for when I came to this part of the talk is a definition of what he meant by that. I'd readily call myself a Christian, because I believe in and try to follow Jesus Christ, but I don't know if I'm good enough to call myself a disciple. Luckily, President Uchtorf's definition of "disciple" is found early on in this part of the talk: "all who strive earnestly to follow the Christ are called His disciples."

Now, I know that I strive to follow Christ, but do I strive earnestly? What does "earnestly" mean, exactly? President Uchtdorf doesn't say, but Dictionary.com does: "Serious in intention, purpose, or effort; sincerely zealous: an earnest worker." So, in order to be a disciple of Christ, I have to be sincerely striving to keep His commandments, not just saying that I am. This is a good cause for self-evaluation. But first, I should probably move along with President Uchtdorf's talk:

Although we recognize that none of us are perfect, we do not use that fact as an excuse to lower our expectations, to live beneath our privileges, to delay the day of our repentance, or to refuse to grow into better, more perfect, more refined followers of our Master and King.

Remember that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is built not for men and women who are perfect or unaffected by mortal temptations, but rather it is built for people exactly like you and me.

This should sound familiar. We've heard it many times before. "We're not perfect, but we should keep trying anyway." "The church isn't for people who are already perfect, but for those who are imperfect, but are trying to improve." Or other, similar phrases. In this very talk, President Uchtdorf called discipleship a "lifelong journey":

Brethren, discipleship is a lifelong journey following our Savior. Along our metaphorical path from Bethlehem to Golgotha, we will have many opportunities to abandon our journey. At times it will seem that the path requires more than we had wished for. But as [disciples of Christ], we must have the courage to follow our Redeemer, even when our cross seems too heavy to bear.

 At this point, I'm reminded of words of comfort that he gave earlier in this talk, "Our Father in Heaven mentors His children and often sends unseen heavenly help to those who desire to follow the Savior." Note that the qualifying quality of this promised blessing is to "desire to follow the Savior" (Emphasis Added). I'm sure we can all manage at least that much. Then, with the "unseen heavenly help" God grants us, we can succeed in at least striving to follow the Savior.

With every step we take following the Son of God, we may be reminded that we are not perfect yet. But let us be steadfast and constant disciples. Let us not give up. Let us be true to our covenants. Let us never lose sight of our Advocate and Redeemer as we walk toward Him, one imperfect step after another.

God knows that we are not perfect. He doesn't expect us to be. He just wants us to try, and to try earnestly, to follow the Savior's example and teachings. As long as we strive to keep His commandments, we are His disciples.

To close, I'd like to quote a fictional character in a webcomic I read, authored by Rich Burlew. I do so without his knowledge or permission, but I don't think he's the kind of person who'd mind. At this point in the story, a main character has died and is now half-way between heaven and earth being judged according to his deeds. We spend quite some time recalling the things he's done in past comics, good and bad, and, considering the number of times this person has done something good, but went about it in a less-good way, the judge reveals that our hero would likely be sent to a less-good afterlife, if not for one thing: "You're trying."

People forget how crucial it is to keep trying, even if they screw it up now and then. They figure that if they can't manage it perfectly every waking second, then they should just [give up] because it would be easier. But it's the struggle that matters. It's easy for a being of pure Law and Good to live up to these ideals, but you're a mortal. What matters is that when you blow it, you get back up on the horse and try again. You....well, your record is full of grey spots, but you never stop working at improving it. That's what's important. To us, anyway.

Now, I know that this isn't anywhere near doctrinal. It's fictional. But take it as a personal opinion that I'd be a bit surprised if God's mindset was any less understanding of human weakness than this. God knows we're only human. He knows that we'll fail time and time again. But I believe that what's important to Him is that we try.