O God, the Eternal Father, we ask thee in the name of thy Son, Jesus Christ, to bless and sanctify this bread to the souls of all those who partake of it, that they may eat in remembrance of the body of the Son, and witness unto thee, O God, the Eternal Father, that they are willing to take upon them the name of thy Son, and always remember him and keep his commandments which he has given them; that they may always have his spirit to be with them. Amen. (D&C 20:77)
Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints made a covenant at baptism, which is renewed every week when they partake of the sacrament. Part of that covenant is to take upon themselves the name of Christ. The meaning and understanding of this promise might vary among the saints, but in general this involves representing Christ and His church by being an example of one who believes Christ and follows His teachings.
This taking on the name of Christ is a full time responsibility. 24-7. It is something we will all be held accountable for.
I remember a time many years ago, when there was much talk in the sports media about professional athletes being role models for the youth. A basketball player from my generation, Charles Barkley, said many things in attempts to avoid the responsibility of being a role model. Whenever I heard him say these things, I wondered how he could justify this. If someone looked to him as a role model, then he was a role model, whether he wanted to be or not.
But Sir Charles had more of an ‘out’ from being a role model than we do. We make a covenant every week to take upon us the name of Christ. Jesus, in the Sermon on the Mount said:
Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven. (Matt. 5:14-16)
We are instructed to light our candles and let them shine from on top of a candlestick. In a way, participating on a blog can be one method of doing this. We create an LDS based blog and publish stuff to the whole world. Who knows who might be reading? It could be anybody. Like it or not we are representing Christ and his church in doing this. What is it that we illuminate with our lighted candles?
Some may point out that our blogs are not official church web sites. Many blogs provide a link to the official web site for the church. Part of the reason for this is convenience – it is a handy link. In another way many might be using this link to reinforce the idea that their blog is NOT official. I even have a type of disclaimer in the heading of my solo blog that states that my blog contains unofficial opinion and speculation. But a self-written disclaimer does not take away the responsibilities associated with the covenants I have made. Official-schmofficial. I have taken upon me the name of Christ.
A blog that takes itself too seriously can rub people the wrong way sometimes. But what of an LDS based blog that does not take upon itself the name of Christ so to speak, with all of the responsibilities which go with it? Like it or not, you represent something very important. Not the blog itself, but all those who have taken upon themselves the name of Christ though covenant.
For our words will condemn us, yea, all our works will condemn us; we shall not be found spotless; and our thoughts will also condemn us; and in this awful state we shall not dare to look up to our God; and we would fain be glad if we could command the rocks and the mountains to fall upon us to hide us from his presence. (Alma 12:14)
Have a nice day.
To lighten things up, let me add, er, a poem. Yeah, that’s it. A poem from my favorite source. This one is called Limelight.
Living on a lighted stage
Approaches the unreal
For those who think and feel
In touch with some reality
Beyond the gilded cage
Cast in this unlikely role
Ill-equipped to act
With insufficient tact
One must put up barriers
To keep oneself intact
Living in the limelight
The universal dream
For those who wish to seem
Those who wish to be
Must put aside the alienation
Get on with the fascination
The real relation
The underlying theme
Living in a fish eye lens
Caught in the camera eye
I have no heart to lie
I can’t pretend a stranger
Is a long-awaited friend
All the world’s indeed a stage
And we are merely players
Performers and portrayers
Each another’s audience
Outside the gilded cage
-Neal Peart
Lil help on formatting? On things like ‘poems’ how can I get rid of the double-space we get when we hit the return key?
Just ask your friendly resident computer nerd.. err.. guru! 🙂
To insert a single line break (for “poems” and such) hold down shift and then hit enter – it’ll knock you down a single line, rather than two.
In a way, participating on a blog can be one method of doing this.
Very much so. In fact, it’s a great way! That’s why I praise the mission of the More Good Foundation which encourages members to start blogging to help spread the gospel.
I like how you mention that such covenants are a 24/7 endeavor. It’s not just for a few hours on Sunday – we are to live the gospel and be emissaries of Christ always. That, I think, is a heavy–but highly rewarding–responsibility.
Er, yeah, a poem… Ok, so, like your poem happens to be my fave of that uh, group of, uh, writers’ works. Yes, I’ve progressed far enough to have a favorite!
We are, each of us, an example of ‘what Latter-day Saint is’ to all those around us–all the time. Humans are social creatures, and for those who have not accepted the gospel themselves, when someone says “Mormon” or “LDS” or whatever to them, they will unavoidably think of you, how you act, how you speak, etc.
Our covenant to take upon us the name of Christ does not end with our example to others. In our private moments, our most secret and personal thoughts, even there are we expected to be Christ-like (or at least striving to become so…)
I keep harping on it, but the atonement is more than sin forgiveness, it is a oneness in purpose and heart with Christ that cannot help but change us. Powerful stuff.
Classic! Basketball, “poems”, and a laser-like ability to get right to the heart of the issue:
“But a self-written disclaimer does not take away the responsibilities associated with the covenants I have made. Official-schmofficial. I have taken upon me the name of Christ.”
Eric: well written. I expect that you’d expand your point to cover comments made on blogs, as well?
Connor
Once again you are so the man! Hearing from you that blogging is a great way to hold up your candlestick helps motivate me to keep going with this. LDS blogging is not just kids stuff in my opinion. We are testifying in our own way. We best be careful.
Naiah
I can’t slip anything by you can I?
I hope you can enlighten me more on your thoughts on the atonement.
CJones
Yes, all my favorites made it into this one :). Glad you liked it.
BrianJ
Thank you so much! I wish Mrs. Smith (a high school english teacher that told me my writing was juvenile) could see your comment!
Yes, I would add comments to this accountability as well. The important thing is that I believe the Lord will too.
Thanks for your kind words and for stopping by.
Eric, this is great. Thanks for sharing this. I hope soon to have a second to share an insight I had recently about this concept that really knocked my socks off! 🙂
I think there is much good that can be done on the internet. We need good done here, because so many people are here!
Eric you may be interested in this Farms article, which goes into the purpose of taking upon the name of the son.
http://maxwellinstitute.byu.edu/pdf.php?filename=MTAwNDYzNjA5OC0yLTIucGRm&type=amJtcw==
In short, in OT times, a name change signified change of ownership. We taken upon us Christ’s name and thus we belong to him and he is enabled to redeem us as his property.
Thanks Matt.
Matt and Eric,
It also signified power. My OT expert friend told me that when a king would conquer a land, he received a new name that symbolized or represented the power he gained. The thought I had the other day was that we covenant to take upon us the power of Christ’s atonement, power and mercy to enable us to then be witnesses of Him. It’s always felt like such a heavy responsibility and burden when I have thought about taking upon me His name only in the sense of always being on my best behavior. It totally makes everything different for me to consider that I am covenanting to not try to go at it alone and take upon me all that HE has to give to make me His and make me more like Him.
Anyway, don’t know if that makes sense.
I also really like what Elder Oaks said: (This is really long so I apologize in advance for that but it was all soooo good and really profound, IMO).
Dallin H. Oaks, “Taking upon Us the Name of Jesus Christ,” Ensign, May 1985, 80
That is a great LONG quote Michelle!
I don’t think we have any disagreement here. We do need to be on our best behavior always, and we have great help available to us for doing just that. Right?
Yup. 🙂
I’m totally laughing at how looooooong that ended up being in the blockquote. Sorry about that. But you have to admit that it IS a good one, eh? 🙂
My OT expert friend told me that when a king would conquer a land, he received a new name that symbolized or represented the power he gained.
I’d be interested in seeing a source on this if you can cajole one out of your friend. It sounds very interesting.
I just got a comment on my blog from my non-LDS sister-in-law, Anne, and she mentions this idea of representing our church and our culture all the time:
I just thought I’d copy that over here. Sort of a real-world anecdotal proof.
Thanks Naiah. We never know who is following what we say and do.