"Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness."
- Jesus Christ (Matthew 23:27)
Hypocrisy is defined by Merriam-Webster as "a feigning to be what one is not or to believe what one does not." As a Christian, I believe that all men are commanded to "be . . . perfect, even as [our] Father which is in heaven is perfect" (Matthew 5:48). I also believe that "all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23). To be Christian, then, is to preach perfection despite personal imperfection. It is to believe one thing and do another. Thus, given the above definition of hypocrisy, every Christian is a hypocrite. So how are we different from the Pharisees which Christ condemned? We admit our hypocrisy, continue to strive for perfection, and rely on the Savior to carry us through to the end.
Tuesday, April 9, 2013
Wednesday, April 3, 2013
Improvement and Progression
"Improvement and progression are one eternal round"
- If You Could Hie to Kolob, from LDS Hymns
An age-old question lies at the heart of philosophy: what is the purpose of life? We are here to learn and to grow. We are here to improve ourselves until we are perfected, as God is. We have a natural desire to grow, to advance, to become better, to reach our full potential as children of God. God helps us to achieve this while Satan fights against us. Satan is the great imitator. One of his greatest tricks is to make us feel like we are improving, even when we're not. Thus he "lull[s] [us] away into carnal security" (2 Nephi 28:21). Video games can be a tool Satan uses to make us feel like we're improving. Rapid technology advancements over the past twenty years have made games dynamic, realistic, and social. In the virtual world, we can be whatever we like. Our stats are easy to see, to track, and to improve. We accomplish tasks, we make friends, and we feel that we are being productive as our stats improve. In the real world, progress--particularly spiritual progress--is not so easy to improve or to track. Thus we allow our real selves to diminish as our virtual selves improve, and we deceive ourselves into believing that our virtual selves are more real.
- If You Could Hie to Kolob, from LDS Hymns
An age-old question lies at the heart of philosophy: what is the purpose of life? We are here to learn and to grow. We are here to improve ourselves until we are perfected, as God is. We have a natural desire to grow, to advance, to become better, to reach our full potential as children of God. God helps us to achieve this while Satan fights against us. Satan is the great imitator. One of his greatest tricks is to make us feel like we are improving, even when we're not. Thus he "lull[s] [us] away into carnal security" (2 Nephi 28:21). Video games can be a tool Satan uses to make us feel like we're improving. Rapid technology advancements over the past twenty years have made games dynamic, realistic, and social. In the virtual world, we can be whatever we like. Our stats are easy to see, to track, and to improve. We accomplish tasks, we make friends, and we feel that we are being productive as our stats improve. In the real world, progress--particularly spiritual progress--is not so easy to improve or to track. Thus we allow our real selves to diminish as our virtual selves improve, and we deceive ourselves into believing that our virtual selves are more real.
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