The judgment of the world

Reading in Nephi 11 and 12 today. There are some gems in there. For example in verse 7 of chapter 12, it refers to being ordained of God, and chosen. There's some wisdom in there that I could explore. For example there is the concept of many being called, but few are chosen. There's a difference there. And if the words were reversed, it would seem more chronological - first chosen, then ordained. Joe is chosen to be the spiritual janitor, then ordained to it. That makes sense. But if he's ordained to that, then he's chosen? There's something to that that should be explored. I'm not going there today.

Then there's another one in verse 9. Nephi refers to the twelve apostles of the Lamb. These are the biblical 12 apostles. In the same verse he refers to the 12 that serve the American continent. He doesn't call them apostles, he calls them ministers. The language remains consistent and precise as always. When the 12 in America are referred to, they are the ministers, but their role for Nephi's people is the same as the 12 apostles in Jerusalem: to be a judge for their people. It makes me suspect that the Lord is underlining the fact that there are only 12 apostles on the earth. No matter that they can't communicate with each other or even know of other's existence, there's 12 apostles. This also suggests that the Lord may have also visited - who knows - China, Africa, Australia, etc and called 12 ministers there. Maybe even iceland. I don't have those answers - but those leaders were ministers.

What struck me the most today though was in chapter 11. Here is the Lord, the Creator of heaven, earth, everything on it, and man himself. He's so far above us we can only imagine. Yet verse 32 talks about how the Lord was judged by man. First, that struck me as ironic on a galactic scale. Our judge being judged by us; by man. Of course we'd be terrible judges, but like the infomercial - "but wait, we'll double your offer". Not only were we dead wrong in judging our creator, but we killed him. That was our judgment as human beings - we found him, his works, his teachings, everything not only wrong but cause for His death.

Apparently we're not so good at judging.

So here's the question: if human beings can be so dead wrong in judging their God and creator, their miracle producer and their teacher, how can we expect to place any value on the judgment of others? If someone across the street disagrees with my principles, such as how many kids to have, how to spend my Sunday, or Monday, or Thursday for that matter. If he believes that my blog is stupid/wrong/whatever, how much time do I spend in listening to and modifying my actions based on an opinion? Sometimes it's not even an expressed opinion. We modify our actions based on our expectations produced in our minds from a perceived opinion that may or may not even be out there.

There are trolls. They must stay under the bridge, not be allowed to command it.

Looking at it from a few different points of view, I'm sure that Jesus must have exasperated the Jews. He taught something different and broke some of the perceived procedural rules. Did he not understand tradition? Why can't he get in line if he wants to lead?

From the point of view of the Jewish religious leaders: we have the rule book right here! You're taking our power away and messing with the system we've created. We're the religious leaders here, our church is it because we all agree that it is. If you're teaching something else, you're going down. Note that the word "truth" is not used in any of the above. It's not about truth, it's about preserving the status quo.

And from Jesus standpoint? He knew he would lose friends and supporters if he believed and did what he knew to be proper. He would be spit upon, tortured, hated and finally killed in the most brutal way they knew. All he had to do is lighten up on the truths he taught, get in line with the existing spiritual leaders and go through the Jewish religious system. Then they'd give him an avenue to teach the truth as they saw it. It can't be wrong - they were teaching the old testament, right?

Of course, doing so would obviate his calling, and be exactly what Satan had in mind for him. It would have been the fall of our God. He would have failed to redeem us, the plan of salvation would have been obliterated and we'd all be doomed. Other than that, it sounds great.

Just follow the existing traditions and do what you need to do within the rules set by your neighbors. Truth can be bent to the needs of the moment. Ride herd.

Or - follow God and live His truth. And when they ridicule and hate? They screwed up on judging someone else too.