Today I read 2 Corinthians 5 which is about doing the things of Christ, or the things of the Spirit once we have been baptized. Paul is talking to the Saints at Corinth and telling them the same thing he told the Saints at Rome. That once we are baptized we should walk in a newness of life, that our old life is done and we should focus on the things of the Spirit. Also, we should not turn back to our old sins when we have been baptized or felt that we have been born again of the Spirit and had that mighty change of heart.
As a missionary, I saw a lot of people get baptized and saw them start out with that fire and zeal that most new members get. They are full of the Spirit and happiness and want to share it with everyone around them. That usually lasts until their first friend rejects what they have to say. But depending on the person, it may not dampen their zeal for sharing the Gospel. Sadly though, for 90% of them, it did. But there were a couple of them that were truly converted to the Lord and went forth doing the things they were supposed to be doing and not caring what the world thought of them. That can be hard I think if you have grown up a certain way and then suddenly change it. That is not an easy thing to overcome. That is why President Hinckley said that every new convert needs a friend, a responsibility and nurturing with the good word of God. Because without those things, most new converts don't stand a chance of staying active, they will fall away for any number of reasons.
The world is a harsh place for a new member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Several religions hate us without really knowing anything about us. Parent disown children if they join the Church. That one I have never understood. In this day and age of so called acceptance, parents will accept their kids being homosexual, getting a sex change operation, doing drugs, drinking alcohol before the appropriate age, having per-marital sex, even committing murder, but if they join the Mormon church, nothing doing and they are cut off. Doesn't that tell you something? Of all the things on that list above they are getting upset over what religion their children are? It seems a little....out of the ordinary. That is because Satan is doing everything in his considerable power to destroy this work. The work of the Master.
New members of the LDS church really do have it rough, rougher than most of those who have been members for a long time. They have to overcome pressure from their peers, family and society. They have to change habits that in some cases have been developed over a lifetime of no one telling them it is wrong. Some of them make it, some have been searching for the truth and have felt that little voice inside of them telling them that they don't belong in the world. They had made those choices to live the Gospel already without understanding what they were really doing or why. But even they will need help from those of us who have gone before and been living the Gospel for years. They can lean on us for support and for help.
It is up to us to help these new members. I firmly believe Heavenly Father will not only ask us about those we might have helped, those we might have shared the Gospel with, but will also ask us about those new members He put in our path to assist and make sure they did not fall away. We ARE our brother's keeper and we ARE responsible for our neighbor. Heavenly Father will hold us responsible for the things we did not do that we should have, just as much as He will for the things we did do that we shouldn't have done. None of us want to be in that situation at the last day. I know I sure don't! Until tomorrow.
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