Why People Will Worship with Us on Sundays: Faith in Jesus Christ

I think our focus is often misdirected.

If a person is seated at a table and is brought a variety of good foods, we would expect them to eat heartily, wouldn't we?  We would expect that the person would not merely pick at one or two items, but would make full use of the feast provided.  So, given that the Church of Jesus Christ is a wonderful thing, why do we sometimes hold ourselves back from the many blessings God has to offer us?

There are plenty of baptized disciples of Christ in His restored Church that more obviously hold back.  It's visible to leaders when they don't accept callings and assignments.  It's visible to everyone when they refrain from worshipping together with their congregations on Sundays.  But seeing this obvious sign can lead us to ignore what is actually more important; when we have an opportunity to speak with someone who is less active in the Church, it's easy to simply encourage them to come to Church meetings on Sunday without thinking about why they are choosing not to come.

So why don't people make full use of the Church of Jesus Christ?  It is crucial for us to remember that when any adult (and many children) come to a public worship service on a Sunday it is by their own choice.  Why do people choose to stay home?  Apart from a variety of influencing factors, it ultimately is a matter of faith.

While I was serving as a high councilor in the Newburgh, New York Stake of the Church of Jesus Christ, I began to feel very strongly about faith in Jesus Christ.  I realize that I run the risk of being misunderstood when I use the word "faith".  In fact, during one meeting of the high council--I think it was when the stake president was asking for suggestions about topics for us to speak about in the wards we were to visit throughout the year--I spoke fairly passionately about faith as an important topic, and based on the response I felt that the meaning of what I was saying wasn't appreciated by the rest of the high council.  Perhaps with time I'm able to better express the concern that I feel.

Faith is not mere belief.  Belief is a component of faith, but faith also motivates us to action.  When we have true faith in Jesus Christ, we not only understand on an intellectual level that He served, serves, and will serve in crucial ways to fulfill God's Plan of Happiness for us, but we also make choices to follow Him.  We go out and serve other people in His name, both when asked in a calling or assignment from Church leaders, and also of our own initiative and free will (see Doctrine and Covenants 58:26-28).

While we as regular people have very limited insight, it's safe to say that, generally, when members of the Church of Jesus Christ stop (or never really start) attending sacrament meetings and the rest of our Sunday worship services, such lack of attendance is a sign of weak faith.  Either a new member simply hasn't grown in faith sufficiently, or people who have been members of the Church for many years and who have previously acted with great faith have let that faith dwindle.  It may dwindle to a point where they decide to change their beliefs.  But either way, it's a case where someone should have strong faith so that they can be blessed by following God's counsel but they lack that strong faith.

For several years, I've felt that when we're speaking with other members of the Church, our focus should not be trying to convince them to "come back to Church".  People will come to worship with us when their faith in Christ is strong.  We also shouldn't be waiting until they have stopped showing up on Sundays.  So what should we be asking about and encouraging, and when should we do it?  There will be many opportunities, but perhaps the most important are when we are assigned to minister to others in our ward.  When we visit them in their homes, we should ask them about the basic things that everyone should do to build faith.  We should ask them about their experiences with daily scripture study, both individually and as families.  We should ask them about daily prayer, both individually and as families.  If someone is studying God's word and speaking to Him in prayer, their faith cannot dwindle too much; it must grow.  When it does, a natural consequence will be that they want to participate in the Church more.  They will want to make more use of the feast available to them.

Last thoughts for now:
Of course, it's not off-limits to encourage people to "come to Church", but we really ought to be concerned much more about their overall spiritual welfare than whether or not we see them on Sundays.  The most important things for us to do are those things that help us develop our relationship with God and to build faith in Him and His Son, Jesus Christ, and those things are the most basic actions that many of us have been exhorted to do since we were children.  We need to study scripture daily--especially in the Book of Mormon, given its power in our time and the special purpose God had in preserving it for us--and we need to pray daily.  Even a little bit each day is good; even a single verse of scripture and just a few minutes in prayer are good (though of course we should allow ourselves more of each).  When we want to care for others, we should make use of the power of God's Spirit to encourage them to study scripture daily and to pray daily so that their faith will grow.  When people grow in personal faith it will have a real and meaningful impact in their lives, and in their own time they will return to public worship.

The Great Things I Hope For

When singing special musical numbers during sacrament meetings, I am always wary; I want to make sure the focus of the meeting is on Christ and His Gospel, and not on people's musical ability.  That being said, my family apparently received many, many compliments last Sunday after six of us sang "Sleep, Little Jesus" together.

I had a couple of coughing children to take home, so I was able to dodge the acclaim.  And I don't know how much we succeeded in inviting the Holy Ghost more than showing off singing ability; that's hard to tell.  But apparently we sang very well.  People told my wife more than once that day that they love it when our family sings.

What makes that kind of singing possible?  Sure, my wife and I are musically competent, though very far from being as skilled as a professional.  We're not wealthy enough for personal vocal instruction for the kids, though we have been able to get some piano lessons for them.  We definitely did some practicing throughout the week, but the kids have enough musical ability already that we can put together a decent song as a group.  What has brought that about?

If our family being able to sing together is a "great thing", then I think what makes it possible is one of those "small and simple things" (Alma 37:6).  Specifically, we sing together (almost) every night as part of our Family Time tradition I wrote about previously.  Each night we sing a hymn or a children's song--just one song, usually.  Over the years, that little bit of continual practice must have had an effect.  My wife considers us to finally be in the "reward" period, where we get to really enjoy singing together with the children, after years of small efforts.

But that daily singing is the least important part of our Family Time tradition.  While I believe music is important, the more important counsel we're trying to follow is the daily family scripture study and prayer.  If daily singing slowly builds our musical ability so that now we can rejoice in the "great thing" of family musical numbers, what great things will come from our small and simple daily scripture study and prayer?

I'm not sure what those great things will be, but I do believe Alma's words that, "by small and simple things are great things brought to pass".  As I said last time, I think that this simple nightly tradition is the most important thing I do, and I believe that it really will bless my children.

Last thoughts for now:
Daily scripture study and prayer are "small and simple things"; we have promises from the Creator of the Universe that they will bring about great things.  Perhaps the great thing they will bring is a solid faith in Christ that will guide my children throughout their lives.  Maybe it will be the traditions that they carry on with their own families.  Maybe it will include greater ability to meaningfully ponder God's word and to converse with others about it.  Maybe it will be all of that and more.

The Most Important Thing I Do

 A while back, I was sitting in on a class held for United States Military Academy cadets by the Church Educational System's Institute of Religion.  I don't remember what the lesson was that evening, but at some point I was thinking about my family's nightly Family Time tradition.  I wrote a post about this back in October 2013, and we still do largely the same thing almost every night.  Essentially, we sing together, we study scripture together, and we pray together.  Recently, we've also often been reviewing personal goals, and of course, we have an extended Home Evening with a lesson, which we now have on Sundays, following a suggestion from Elder Cook of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles in the October 2018 general conference.  It may seem a simple thing for me, my wife, and my children to take a few minutes for reverence and devotion to God, but as I sat in the Institute class, somehow the thought came to me that Family Time is the most important thing I do.

I hadn't really considered it like that before.  Of course, I know it has been important to me, or I wouldn't have kept up such a tradition for so long.  But when I think about the real, lasting impact of everything I do in life, I don't think anything else will be more important than this simple tradition.  Through it, we're able to learn together and grow spiritually; we're able to provide our children with the knowledge they need to navigate through the trials and confusion of life.  Through it, we find greater unity as a family.  Through it, we remind ourselves daily of how to live as disciples of Christ.

I do other good things in life, whether in Church service, at work, other activities with my family, or just by taking advantage of opportunities when they arise at random, but I don't think the real, lasting impact approaches what I achieve through daily singing, scripture study, and prayer with my family.

It was fascinating to consider.  In the days that have followed, I haven't changed my mind.

Last thoughts for now:
Someday my family will start shrinking as my adult children move out and begin their own lives.  Eventually, we presumably won't have any children remaining at home.  Family Time will be a bit different then as we don't have any children to teach.  In one sense, I think I will have a feeling of, "Mission Accomplished" when that day comes.  I expect that my wife and I will carry on the tradition, but simply focus more on what interests the two of us.  I hope that our children will have similar traditions with their future spouses and children, and I expect that my wife and I will want to join our children's family traditions when possible.  For now, I happily carry on the event each night.  I love it.  And I truly believe that it's the most important thing I do.