Depending on how the second hour of church goes tomorrow, I may be called upon to teach a short lesson inspired by the introductory pages of The Book of Mormon. If that happens, I might focus on the testimonies of the witnesses, a total of a dozen people who all shared their experience with The Book of Mormon. Naturally, we are supposed to follow their example. God wants each of us to share the truths and blessings we have with others, including those found in The Book of Mormon and The Book of Mormon itself.
However, I have some concerns related to hypocrisy. I don't want to teach a lesson I don't live, at least not without confessing that I need the lesson as much as anyone else does. If I encourage my class to be witnesses of The Book of Mormon, I need to be (or become) willing to be such a witness myself. So, knowing that I'm going to be morally obligated to follow my own counsel, what counsel am I willing to give? What am I willing to do to share The Book of Mormon?
Evidently, I'm willing to blog about it. While I don't go out of my way to share my religion and beliefs, I don't go out of my way to hide it either. It's no secret that I, Andrew Robarts, am a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. And if it ever was a secret, it certainly isn't now. Anyone who knows me can look me up on Facebook, where I share these blog posts (I think publicly). Anyone who's friends with me, perhaps even everyone who has a Facebook account, and certainly everyone who stumbles onto this blog, has the opportunity to learn that I read from and believe in The Book of Mormon.
Granted, I'm not going to invite a bunch of 7- and 8-year-olds to share their faith on social media, but I will ask them not to make a secret of it. If anybody asks what religion you ascribe to or what you think of The Book of Mormon, tell them. If you're feeling especially witnessy, you might even include a mention of church when people ask you how your weekend was instead of just saying "it was alright." I'm not entirely comfortable going out of my way to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and in this political climate, I'm not sure it's really smart for a person to share their beliefs unless they're prepared to face ostracization. Yet, I am willing to let it be known that I am a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. I don't keep it secret from others. When they ask, I tell them. To at least that extent, I am willing to be a witness of The Book of Mormon. So, I don't think I'll feel like a hypocrite for asking that much of my class.
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