Gospel Basics for the Directionally Challenged

At the risk of stating the obvious, I just want to start by saying that I love the way Jesus does things. The more I pay attention to what He does and the way He does it, the more I think, "Boy, I'm sure glad HE's in charge!"

He's always kind and compassionate. But He's never nice.

He's always meek and lowly of heart. But He's never weak.

He always speaks the truth. But He's never harsh.

He has great power - over the very elements He created. But He never abuses it by using it to control us. Somehow, He manages to micro-manage every element of this universe with breathtaking precision without micro-managing His children's choices. How does He even do that?

He always wants you to come as you are. But He never expects you to stay as you are.

The One put in charge didn't send someone else to do the dirty work of saving and exalting the human family; He came Himself. And in so doing, He didn't create a top/down approach for our salvation, beckoning, "Come up here, if you can, and by the way - you can't."

Jesus came down to our level - He came into our world, as one of us - so He could say, "Come with me. I came to get you out. Stay with me, and I will stay with you, and we'll go home together."

Watching the way Jesus set things up for us to get home has taught me a lot about direction - the way He moves. As I said, His gospel isn't a top/down affair; He works from the bottom... up.

He was born in the humblest circumstances. His parents were on the run in a foreign country at the beginning of His life. He was just a little kid in Nazareth who grew up in a poor home. When He announced His true identity to His neighbors at synagogue, their response was, "Is not this Joseph's son?" (Luke 4:22)

He came to the bottom of society. He lived and taught at the bottom of society. The elites He largely ignored, unless He frankly exposed their narcissistic patterns of prominence and priestcraft, to their chagrin and fury.

Meanwhile, He ministered to one person at a time. Crowds, yes, but mostly one person at a time - at a table, at a well. One by one, He not only saw individual hearts at those tables and wells , but He spoke to those hearts of the beauty and nobility He saw in them, and urged them, "Come. Follow me."

It's not terribly efficient on its face. Talking knee-to-knee, face-to-face with just one person equals a lot of knee-to-knee conversations. But one person, forever changed by Jesus Christ, then changes the world. Okay - not THE world - but certainly his or her world - his or her relationships. That person then has a knee-to-knee experience with someone else, who then has an experience with someone else, and someone else. It's like the Suave commercial.

While not efficient, it's the only truly lasting way change can take place in a fallen world where humans can choose either light or dark. Because it's the only way humans can truly be allowed to choose their preference to either light or dark.

Ezra Taft Benson taught:

"The Lord works from the inside out. The world works from the outside in. The world would take people out of the slums. Christ takes the slums out of the people, and then they take themselves out of the slums. The world would mold men by changing their environment. Christ changes men, who then change their environment. The world would shape human behavior, but Christ can change human nature." (Ezra Taft Benson, "Born of God," General Conference, October 1985)

President Benson makes a notable distinction in the direction in which the world works versus the direction in which the Savior works. Learning this has helped me see why top/down approaches to solving the world's problems is never going to be a lasting, sustainable solution.

Knowing which direction the Lord is coming from - versus that of the world - has become vitally instructive in my life - to know whether policies, programs, or institutions are of God - or of the world. Even well-meaning groups can too often attempt to impact change coming from the wrong direction.

Recognizing where God starts - with His trajectory outward and upward - makes it easier to recognize the counterfeits from the world which will always - no matter how attractive they sound or how well-meaning or well-funded they may be - be moving in the wrong direction for meaningful, lasting change.

Learning where God is coming from has also helped me recognize His expectations of where I'm coming from - and what direction I'm heading. It's an extremely easy direction to pin down: am I moving toward Him - or away from Him? That's pretty much it.

Hugh Nibley wrote:

"Who is righteous? Anyone who is repenting. No matter how bad he has been, if he is repenting he is a righteous man. There is hope for him. And no matter how good he has been all his life, if he is not repenting, he is a wicked man. The difference is which way you are facing. The man on the top of the stairs facing down is much worse off than the man on the bottom step who is facing up. The direction we are facing, that is repentance; and that is what determines whether we are good or bad." (Hugh Nibley, Approaching Zion, p. 301-302)

God's trajectory can be recognized by its direction: is it outside going in? Big projects on top going down? Or is it inside going out? One heart at a time changing individuals, then families, then communities, and eventually the world? (see Gary L. Stevenson, General Conference, October 2025 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b0Bax6NvKbo)

Mankind's best trajectory can be recognized by its direction: are you facing Him? Or away from Him?

Recognizing God's direction can help recognize counterfeits and deception. Recognizing our intended direction can help us recognize the need for the most simple course correction in the world:

Turn around.