Recent Convert Didn’t Resolve All Doubts Before Baptism Saying “There are Few Idols as Dangerous as Certainty”

The following post was written by Gary Miller and is shared here with permission. Check out Gary at The Narrow Gate Podcast.

As the Narrow Gate Podcast has grown, a week rarely goes by that I don’t get a note from someone currently investigating the church or who did at one point but decided to go in a different direction. In nearly every one of these messages is a question. It goes something like this…

How did you resolve [insert doctrinal topic/issue] before you joined?

My short answer is I didn’t. I didn’t resolve everything and I don’t think I ever will. 

My guess is I’ll have no shortage of questions when I finally get to meet Jesus. And that’s a good thing. There are few idols as dangerous as certainty. When we think we’ve got it all figured out we’re on dangerous ground.

As I navigated my questions it was clear to me that the sum of this church is much greater than the individual parts. And that’s what allowed us to move forward. 

But it doesn’t stop there. I work with and wrestle with my questions. I get plenty of counsel from trusted advisors who have the chops to help someone like me who is always asking “What saith the scripture!”

Each person needs to find advisors and a safe space where they ask hard questions, be transparent and honest regardless of if they are investigating, a new member, or someone who’s been in the church all their lives. In doing so we need to be ready to listen and receive instruction.

There are few idols as dangerous as certainty.

In all of this honesty and humility are key ingredients to success.

If one thing is keeping you from coming into the church, it will only take one thing to get you to leave it. That’s a recipe for disaster.

I encourage all who are investigating to look at the bigger picture.

Think of the church as a painting. When you stop squinting at the little dots and you stand back from the painting you’ll quickly see how all the little things you may not understand or frustrate you start to form something beautiful.

Stand back a little bit more and the picture becomes a person. Jesus Christ.

---

To see Gary Miller’s conversion story video on Called to Share’s YouTube channel, visit this link. You can also see the video below.

For more information about the Church Of Jesus Christ Of Latter-Day Saints, visit Come Unto Christ.