A True Follower of Christ

When Samuel was trying to choose the next king of Israel, the Lord him, “Man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart” (1 Samuel 16:7).  We see this concept in the way Lord defines His followers.  For those who have been baptized, we would think of them as belonging to His Church.  But in our dispensation the Lord said this concerning those of His Church: “Behold, this is my doctrine—whosoever repenteth and cometh unto me, the same is my church” (D&C 10:67). 

This same idea was emphasized to Alma as he struggled to know how to deal with the wickedness of some church members of his day: “Whosoever will not repent of his sins the same shall not be numbered among my people” (Mosiah 26:32).  So to be a true member of Christ’s church we must be one who consistently repents, something that is for the most part not visible on the outside by the world.  Repentance is a matter of the heart.  President Benson said this before quoting D&C 10:67, “In the usual sense of the term, Church membership means that a person has his or her name officially recorded on the membership records of the Church….  But the Lord defines a member of His kingdom in quite a different way” (Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Ezra Taft Benson, pg. 77).  Another label that the world might give to those seeking to be followers of the Savior is Christians.  To be a Christian means to be a follower of Christ, and in the scriptures the term disciple probably best encapsulates this idea.  While the world will argue about who really deserves the name of Christian (or disciple), the Lord’s way to identify a Christian is very easy: “By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another” (John 13:35).  In our dispensation after describing those who would feed and clothe the servants of the Lord, the Savior said, “He that doeth not these things is not my disciple; by this you may know my disciples” (D&C 84:91).  So here the idea of serving those in need is equated with being a disciple, which of course is a way that love is shown and therefore consistent with the definition in John.  Some would debate about what your Church’s doctrine is or what Christian creeds you believe in to determine whether you are really a Christian, but the real way to discern a disciple is simply that he or she is filled with love.  Christ said, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me” (John 10:27).  Ultimately to be a real follower of Christ we must do just that: follow Him.  That means seeking consistently to repent and to fill our lives with those things that He would do, the most important of which is to love God and our fellow man.