Line upon Line

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My wife and I recently returned home from three years in the mission field. Within a month or two things got interesting. I found myself lounging around the house, watching too much TV, and hoarding junk mail as if the cruise lines had actually “selected” me for world travel, free food and umbrella-dappled drinks on crystal shores. As summer drifted into the Holidays, I was feeling guilty. It’s not that I didn’t welcome a change of pace from the mission field, but that I had become too comfortable with lounging around and less willing to reach out to others. It was easy to justify my malaise in the name of “been there, done that, time to relax.”

As members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints we are taught to seek balance between wholesome recreation and productive work, worship and service. That balance recognizes poolside family fun as well as the value of honest labor. For the latter, the Book of Mormon reminds us that we are to be “up and doing” (Alma 60:24). In light of my post-mission blues, the charge to be “up and doing” gnawed at my peace with a lingering question: Had I become a Sunday-only Mormon? Sure, I was attending church, but was I active in the gospel?

Sometimes church attendance can be confused with gospel conversion. Real conversion implies daily worship and service which typifies the life of Jesus Christ. While church attendance is good, it is only a step in the process of “perfecting the saints” (Ephesians 4:12). When churchgoers take a casual Sunday-only approach to membership, they can become spiritually slothful and developmentally hardened to service and sacrifice. Such crust on our character is non-porous and tends to repel Christ’s living waters.

What is my definition of a Sunday-only Mormon? For me, it is someone whose heart is not really in it for selfless service and the refinement of character through Christ. Instead, a Sunday-only Mormon views church as a social-hour sprinkled with the occasionally entertaining sacrament talk. Church attendance, even for social camaraderie, is a good first step for those on the road to reactivation and gospel conversion. We welcome all who attend for whatever reason. But social camaraderie only takes discipleship so far, if anywhere.

While there are many levels of dedication to Jesus, those who are truly active in the gospel are committed to a Christ-centered life. They view church attendance and the Sabbath day, not as a place to go or a calendar date to keep, but as an extension of daily worship–a refreshing complement to an individual house of prayer, fasting, faith, learning, glory, order, and “a house of God” (Doctrine and Covenants 109:8).

We needn’t become religious zealots or feel guilty for watching a favorite TV program, but when church attendance is disconnected from living the gospel, or when the god of television or the idol of the Internet or anything else chains our footpath to Jesus, we need to break the chains.

While I am no judge of anyone’s personal prayers, scripture-study habits or closeness with deity, I can certainly evaluate those things in my own life. To combat the Sunday-only syndrome, I made a list of ten questions to evaluate my Sabbath-day habits as well as my dedication to the Savior throughout the week. Your list may be totally different based on your unique personality, habits and desires, but here’s mine:

1. Do I treat church or temple attendance like Gilligan’s “three-hour tour,” destined to maroon my casual attitude on a spiritual desert island?

2. Is church an inconvenient distraction from my secret worship in the NFL cathedral, or the shrine of recreation, or the Golden Calf of professional titles and the acquisitive life?

3. When I partake of the sacrament, is it largely ceremonial and routine, or is it a character-changing renewal of the promises I made at baptism?

4. Do I attend church as an extension of my discipleship, or instead, am I there largely to impress others with phony friendliness or social connections without the depth of daily connection to God?

5. Do I secretly think, “Why did Bishop do that?” or “Why can’t you discipline that noisy kid?” or “These talks are boring and don’t apply to me,” or “She has some nerve wearing that?”

6. Do I treat my church responsibilities like a burden to “get through” as I thank God for the closing prayer?

7. When the clipboard is passed around for a weekday service opportunity, do I pause as if to sign up, but then happily pass the “burden” to others?

8. Are my tithes and offerings a begrudging tax deduction, or a welcome bridge between selfishness and the charitable heart?

9. Do I come to church to be entertained, or am I prepared for the lessons with a humble desire for lifelong learning and application?

10. Do I demand in my fellow church members the very things I am unwilling to do or be the rest of the week?

Without the structure of the Church, I would likely chose less service and eschew real sacrifice. Perhaps it is human nature to be lazy and self-serving, but the inevitable result of selfishness is spiritual indifference–or worse–intolerance. As we tolerate casual worship, we increasingly worship the casual life. We thereby become dull of daily commitment to God. At least, that is my experience.

My resolve is to resist the Sunday-only syndrome and its tendency to believe that my service is acceptable to God without the corresponding sacrifice of the heart and will. May we ever be everyday Mormons and eternal disciples of Jesus Christ.