If you love me...

An interesting thing happened to me today. I just so happened to be on the BYU campus for lunch. I had my computer with me on the table while I munched away on my Spinach salad wrap. Ironically enough, after reading and commenting on Bek's post "Adventures in Mormonism," I was approached by two sweet kids--a girl and a guy. (The ironic part comes later).

"Hello. Do you mind if we ask you a few questions?" To which I replied, "No, go right ahead". And I offered them a place to sit. I thought it was another random survey by a couple of BYU students. But after they asked the first question, I had a feeling they weren't from BYU. Here's a summed up version of what transpired...

Kids: Because Utah is predominantly Mormon, do you feel like this affects your day-to-day life?

Me: Uh...yes?

Kids: Positively? Negatively?

Me: Both.

Kids: Do you think you deserve to go to Heaven?

Me: Well... yes and no...that's a loaded question and i'm not sure you have time to hear my answer.

Kids: Do you think there is an ideal way to get to heaven?

Me: Ideal? Um... I don't know about "ideal" but I think God wants us to live our best. Where did you guys say you're from?

Kids: We're from Colorado and we attend a nondenominational Christian church called "The Rock Church."

Me: *raising eyebrows* OOOH. I see.

Kids: Do you think there are people that won't make it to heaven?

Me: Yes.

Kids: Why's that?

Me: Well, based on the lives that we've lived, I think we'll end up where is most comfortable for us. (bad answer)

Kids: So... you think Hell is "comfortable?"

Me: *feeling stupid* No. Good point. What I mean to say is I think God will give us every opportunity to live with Him but if we choose not to take those opportunities, He's not going to force us.

Kids: Do you mind if we read a few Bible scriptures for you?

Me: No, not at all.

As the guy told me of some scripture in Isaiah, John, and Psalms, and explained how knowing Jesus Christ and loving him is key above all other things, I listened intently. But then as he continued to speak, and as I reflected on the questions they had asked me, I started to feel like they were tactfully trying to make a point to an argument that I didn't realize was taking place. It was like all of a sudden they were no longer addressing me, but were rather attacking someone or something else (The LDS church?...perhaps why they chose BYU?) From there, it got a little weird for me.

Guy: "Our hearts are not pure and they are deceitful, so anything we do cannot be trusted , that is why our works are not as important... we must love Jesus Christ and KNOW Him in order to get to Heaven... nothing else matters."

Me: *feeling confused* Okay... sooo... for you, "knowing" Jesus Christ is loving Him.

Guy: Yes and in John, it says, "If you love me, obey my commands" Loving Christ comes first... that is what he expects of us most. Nothing we could do could ever outweigh love or be better.

Me: Well, why doesn't He just say, "Love me" then? He says, "If you love me, obey me"...I mean...to me it sounds like Christ is asking us to show Him that we love Him by doing things...like living honestly...having empathy for our neighbor...serving others...etc. Isn't that part of what "works" is? I just think there needs to be both love and action.

Guy: *blank stare...manages a response that ended up contradicting himself again*

The conversation continued but that's the bulk of it. It was pretty cool I had the opportunity to share my thoughts with them. I kindly thanked them for choosing me (they corrected me and said "God chose you"... well, He probably did) ...and I agreed to stop by their church sometime, which brought huge smiles to their faces! They even gave me their phone numbers and email addresses. Maybe we'll go out for ice cream one of these days and we'll talk about what Jesus's favorite ice cream flavor woulda been. Hey yeah! What woulda been Jesus's favorite ice cream flavor? That's what I WANNA KNOW! Oh... and if you'd like to comment on the rest of the post, feel free.