Becoming a True Disciple

I devote this post to a translation of a portion of the October 7, 2012 General Conference address, Becoming a True Disciple, given by Daniel L. Johnson of the First Quorum of the Seventy of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Elder Johnson:

Making the covenant to be a disciple of Christ is the beginning of a lifelong process, and the path is not always easy. As we repent of our sins and strive to do what He would have us do and serve our fellowmen as He would serve them, we will inevitably become more like Him. Becoming like Him and being one with Him is the ultimate goal and objective—and essentially the very definition of true discipleship.

As the Savior asked His disciples when He visited the American continent, “Therefore, what manner of men ought ye to be?” And then, answering His own question, He said, “Verily I say unto you, even as I am” (3 Nephi 27:27).

…

Again, becoming like Him and being one with Him is the ultimate goal and objective—and essentially the very definition of true discipleship.

Translation:

Is becoming like Christ the “ultimate goal and objective,” even “the very definition of true discipleship”?

Moreover, is the process of discipleship how we become like Christ?

This seems to be the predominant, unchallenged view of those in the governing quorums of the restored church of Christ.

We are in a “lifelong process” to become like him as we “repent of our sins and strive to do what He would have us do and serve our fellowmen as He would serve them.”

At the end of this “lifelong process,” we apparently become like him.

We become just like Jesus.

We become suitable to the environment and demands of a holy, perfect heaven.

Is anyone among the governing quorums of the restored church of Christ ever going to push back against this interpretation of the scriptures, or is Jesus now merely the provider of empowered principles that allow us to raise ourselves to heaven and a state of divine self-actualization?

What is “true discipleship”?

Do we fallen, mortal beings have to be carbon copies of Christ to be his true disciples?

Jesus tells the believing Jews:

31 … If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed;

32 And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. (John 8:31-32)

Continue or become?

That is, are we fallen, mortal beings to continue in his word to be his disciples, or must we fallen, mortal beings become like him to be his disciples?

Is there a difference?

I suppose not, if you happen to measure up to Christ.

Although Nephi does not use the word disciple, he does unmistakably describe our lives as disciples of Christ. In his final commentary to his people, Nephi explains that what he has written “speaketh of Jesus, and persuadeth [us] to believe in him, and to endure to the end, which is life eternal” (2 Nephi 33:4). Nephi also declares that we must “be reconciled unto Christ, and enter into the narrow gate, and walk in the strait path which leads to life, and continue in the path until the end of the day of probation” (2 Nephi 33:9).

Nephi does not indicate that we must be like Jesus to be his disciples.

Maybe Nephi understands the fundamental difference between the divine Christ and his fallen, mortal disciples.

Jesus tells his apostles:

34 A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.

35 By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another. (John 13:34-35)

Love one another or love like he loves?

That is, to be his disciples, are we fallen, mortal beings residing on the relevant range of fallen mortality to turn away from the pride of the world and love one another, or must we fallen mortal beings actually love like he loves?

Jesus challenges great multitudes:

26 If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple.

27 And whosoever doth not bear his across, and come after me, cannot be my disciple.

28 For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it?

29 Lest haply, after he hath laid the foundation, and is not able to finish it, all that behold it begin to mock him,

30 Saying, This man began to build, and was not able to finish.

31 Or what king, going to make war against another king, sitteth not down first, and consulteth whether he be able with ten thousand to meet him that cometh against him with twenty thousand?

32 Or else, while the other is yet a great way off, he sendeth an ambassage, and desireth conditions of peace.

33 So likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple. (Luke 14:26-33)

Because the Lord combines attainable standards of salvation with commandments of the perfect day, this passage is an interpretational minefield.

Johnson does not understand the command of the risen Christ to be like he is (3 Nephi 27:27) because Johnson does not distinguish attainable standards of salvation from commandments of the perfect day.

Where Jesus writes that we must hate family members, he means that family members must not keep us from following him.

Where Jesus writes that we must hate our own lives, he means that we must not place our own lives above following him.

Where Jesus speaks of constructing a tower, he is referring to a tower of endurance in his attainable gospel (JST Luke 14:31), not a tower of self-constructed Christ-like perfection.

Where Jesus speaks of forsaking all that we have, he is telling us to not let any worldly concern stop us from coming to him in the path of his attainable gospel.

And finally, where Jesus commands us to be perfect like he is, he is commanding us to come to him in the path of his attainable gospel so that he may raise us up in a celestial resurrection to heavenly glory, not to embark on an eternal do-it-yourself eternal makeover.

In the true gospel of Christ, the ideal points to him, not us. The ideal is his gift to us, not our task to do for ourselves, either with or without his help.

Today in the restored church of Christ, where is the recognition of the infinite gap separating us from the holiness and righteousness of heaven?

How has this eternal discontinuity come to be bridged by a lifetime of our diligence and devotion?

Why are we so comfortable with a methodology that ignores the elevating and exalting power of celestial resurrection and therefore condemns us to an endless eternity of alleged becoming?

We do not embrace the gospel of Christ to transform ourselves to the image and stature of the divine.

The “ultimate goal and objective,” even “the very definition of true discipleship,” is to genuinely, devotedly, and enduringly come to Christ, for that is all we fallen, mortal beings have the power to do.

And that task alone leaves plenty to do for all Latter-day Saints, even the flesh-and-blood would-be practitioners of the divine among us.