"New in Christ" Jake Chappell

There are many people in the church who abide by the “sticks and stones” concept. Someone may say an offensive comment about another and the choice is presented to ignore it or dwell on it in the heart. Obviously, there may have been a misunderstanding where communication failed or gossip stirred, however, a recurrent demeaning insult proves that there is a problem. Yet, no matter how far one strays, they can still come back to the fold through Christ.

In May of 2001, my family and I moved from Arizona to Idaho. The move was hard on my siblings and me, as we left the comfort of old friends to begin new relationships in Idaho. My older brother, Joseph, was especially taken aback because he was starting high school and knew no one. But it turns out that school was not the problem. On our first day of church, everyone was inviting and happy to greet us. All of us kids had found new friends and were doing well. But Joseph was choosing not so stellar friends and some members at church obvously did not approve of his new conduct.

Joseph found a new hobby, snowboarding, which he enjoyed with his friends. They all had grown their hair out to a little less than shoulder length and it was the cool thing with his friends. When Sunday rolled around, we sat in the middle row of the pews, as usual. One of the regular attending members came around shake hands and called Joseph “Skater Boy”. Big deal, right? It’s just a funny, stereotypical joke. Eventually, this member’s sons would come to mutual and repeat the name over and over, never calling Joseph by his name. And Sundays were no different with this entire family, in fact, many of the members thought that Joseph was a rebel and unworthy to perform priesthood ordinances. This all started with his long hair. I myself grew my hair out the same length as Joseph, and I would always get little comments from people telling me to cut it, telling me that I looked like a punk. Since when did a hairstyle that is not extreme at all become punk? Eventually I cut my hair so that people would stop bugging me about something so minuscule. THEREFORE thou art inexcusable, O man, whosoever thou art that judgest: for wherein thou judgest another, thou condemnest thyself; for thou that judgest doest the same things (Rom 2:1).

One Wednesday, I heard Joseph say, “Why should I go to mutual if I will only be taunted?” Of course, my parents encouraged him to attend and he went, unwillingly. Eventually, Joseph and another young man decided to do other things during mutual. They would attend sparingly, only participating in church ball or other activities that they were interested in. Joseph began his descent into worldly things as he made friends with low standards. By junior year in high school, he brought home failing grades along with addictive substances that he hid from my parents. He was a completely different person, I would go in his room to hang out, the room would be smoky, smelling of incense and he would look half asleep, laughing about everything.

At length, he dropped out of high school, my parents found out about his problems, he had completely stopped all church activity, and who knows what else. With the many prayers of my parents, he has turned around dramatically. This sounds bad but is actually pretty good; he only smokes cigarettes and drinks occasionally now. He found a job and has started trying to get to church on Sundays. He told me that he wants to stop smoking because he knows it is bad for both his physical and spiritual health. I am glad that he has found a glimmer of hope for the future, and I pray that he can know of God’s love for him and that he can repent. There fore, if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new (2 Cor. 5:17).

Now, I am not implying that just because of a member’s sense of self-righteousness, Joseph chose wrong things. What I am saying is that when a ward is united, they know each other’s wants and needs and do everything necessary to find and keep the “lost sheep”. I feel that our ward only wanted the stereotypical image of a righteous young man, and Joseph did not meet their criteria. In Jacob 2, Nephi has just died and the people have already well on their way through the pride cycle. Jacob denounces their practices and preaches repentance. And it supposeth me that they have come up hither to hear the pleasing word of God, yea, the word which healeth the wounded soul (Jacob 2:8). I know that the prayers of my family and others are helping put experiences in my brother's life to soften his heart, and I know that Christ can heal his, and all other's wounded souls. I am so greatful for the opportunity of the Gospel in my life and the blessings I recieve for obeying Gods commandments. I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Works Cited

The Book of Mormon. Salt Lake City: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1981.
The Scriptures: CD-ROM Edition 1.1. Salt Lake City: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 2005.
http://www.lds.org

The Holy Bible: King James Version