Centered in Christ

In his most recent general conference address, Elder Gong said this: “As Sister Gong and I meet you—Church members and friends in many places and circumstances—your stories of holiness to the Lord in everyday life inspire us. You live seven Cs: communion with God, community and compassion with each other, commitment and covenant with God, family, and friends—centered in Jesus Christ.” Reading this on my phone with white text on a black background I couldn’t see the bold letters, and I was quite confused as I counted only six words starting with C: communion, community, compassion, commitment, covenant, and centered. After reading it a few times I finally realized that the seventh C was Christ. And, of course, that was the most important item of his list. In fact, the first six only take on real meaning when they are connected with Christ. We commune with God the Father in the name of Jesus Christ; our community with the Saints comes because of our common faith in Christ; we develop compassion for one another as we strive to be filled with the love of Christ; our most important commitment is to follow Jesus Christ; our covenants are with Jesus Christ in the waters of baptism and in His holy house; and our faith is centered in the Christ. And yet, as I did with this list at first, far too often we go about our activities without a focus on what is most important: the Savior. If we are to “always remember Him” as we promise, then He should be on our minds in in all that we do (Moroni 4:3). If our lives are indeed “centered in Jesus Christ” as Elder Gong suggested, everything that happens in our lives will be put into a perspective with Him at the center.

                In the same talk Elder Gong highlighted the importance of living with holiness to the Lord in our everyday life. He suggested that visiting the house of the Lord is an important part of helping us to develop that holiness. He said, “Holiness to the Lord in everyday life includes coming more often to the Lord in His holy house. This is true whether we are Church members or friends. Three friends came to the Bangkok Thailand Temple open house. ‘This is a place of super healing,’ said one. In the baptistry, another said, ‘When I am here, I want to be washed clean and never sin again.’ The third said, ‘Can you feel the spiritual power?’ With nine sacred words, our temples invite and proclaim:‘Holiness to the Lord. The House of the Lord.’” I love those three comments from visitors to the temple who were not even church members because they summarize so well what the temple should do for us: heal us, cleanse us, and give us power. All of that can take place because of the covenants we make there with Jesus Christ. Through His house we find solutions to our problems, forgiveness for our sins, and power to overcome life’s obstacles. All of this helps us to become more holy like the temple is. The prayer of Joseph Smith over the Kirtland Temple is what we hope for each time we worship in the house of the Lord: “That thy glory may rest down upon thy people, and upon this thy house, which we now dedicate to thee, that it may be sanctified and consecrated to be holy, and that thy holy presence may be continually in this house; And that all people who shall enter upon the threshold of the Lord’s house may feel thy power, and feel constrained to acknowledge that thou hast sanctified it, and that it is thy house, a place of thy holiness” (Doctrine and Covenants 109:12-13).  

                As I think about these seven Cs that Elder Gong gave us, I realize that they are also all applicable to the experience we should strive to have in the house of the Lord. We should seek communion with God as we participate in ordinances. We can find community with others there like nowhere else because we are all united in the same cause. As we ponder silently, we can find more compassion in our hearts for the people we may struggle to love and for all those around us. My wife who recently became a temple worker has found that compassion as she has sat in the celestial room (one of the assignments for the sister workers) and seen the pain and tears on those there clearly struggling with great challenges. In the temple we can renew our commitment to live the gospel of Jesus Christ as we block out the noise of the world. There we make and are reminded of our covenants with the Savior. And our worship there is centered in Christ as we are reminded symbolically of His great sacrifice for us. As we seek this kind of experience in the temple, we will surely find the increased holiness in our own lives that Elder Gong encouraged us to develop. He summarized, “Holiness to the Lord makes daily living sacred. It draws us closer and happier to the Lord and each other and prepares us to live with God our Father, Jesus Christ, and our loved ones.”