Equal Grounds

This week I read a scripture in the Book of Alma that intrigued me. The verse is Alma 30:7, and before I quote it, it would be good to have a little background.

When the Nephite nation was originally conceived, the people wanted to elect a king. The founder of the nation stated that while this was the only form of government that they were used to, having a king would ultimately be a bad idea. He worried that down the line a wicked king would do more harm than good for the country. Over time the government transformed, and by the time this scripture came about, they had "judges". The Judge's role was to enforce the law, but they were not supreme rulers. Thus, the people had freedom as long as they did not break the law.

Now the scripture:

Now there was no law against a man’s belief; for it was strictly contrary to the commands of God that there should be a law which should bring men on to unequal grounds. (Alma 30:7)

The part that puzzles me is "unequal grounds". The chapter states over and over again that man is free to believe what they wish; however, the people were held to laws that were derived from their religion (such as no killing, stealing, adultery, lying, etc.). This bears the hypothetical question: What if there were members of other faiths in the nation that had moral rules that did not coincide with the national law? Wouldn't this mean that the government is ultimately forcing others to obey a different religion's law? Is this really equality? What is the true definition of "equal grounds"?

So let's zoom out to a wider perspective. According to doctrine, God wishes for all people to receive all that He has, and receive eternal exaltation. Our eternal reward is just that, a reward, a gift that only comes through diligence and sacrifice. God has given us a set of commandments to follow, and expects us to give our lives to discipleship.

I think we can all agree that the demands are pretty intense. Not complicated, just difficult. And I think we can also agree that everyone is born with different advantages and disadvantages. Like the parable of the talents, some of us come into this life with 5 talents, some with 2, and some with 1. It is easy for the janitor to see the company CEO and ask himself, "Now why can't I do that?" Is the man who became the janitor lacking in ability to become a CEO? Perhaps. Perhaps he's not good at math, political strategy, and business management. Perhaps his talents lie with the mop.

When talking about this with my roommate, he asked if God was setting up some of us for failure because some of us lacked more ability than others. This is where I find the parable of the talents very applicable. Obviously, the man with 5 talents has a higher potential to do more good than the man with 2. And by the results, it is clear that this is indeed what happened: the man with 5 got more than double the gross income of the man with 2. Our limited perspective likes to think that success is based on gross income, or the raw output number, i.e. the man with 100K salary is better than the man with 90K salary. However, the lord of the servants doesn't calculate the worth of his servants that way. Instead of looking at raw numbers, he looks at the percentage of increase in relation to the individual servant. While both of these servants ended with different amounts of money, both servants had a 200% increase of funds. Both accomplished an equal rate of success. Regardless of net revenue differences, the lord reacted exactly the same to both servants: "His lord said unto him, Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord" (Matthew 25:21).

The CEO and the janitor have different potentials to do good in this life. We need both people, but it would be silly to argue that the CEO can't do more good in the world than the janitor. Honestly, the CEO has a lot more power than the janitor. However, God doesn't want the janitor to measure himself against the CEO. God only wants him to better himself as best he can with what he was given, to double his talents, to make 200%. Equal grounds is relative! What God expects of you may be different than what He expects of another. We will be judged according to our desire and effort to obey Him and do good in this life. In our limited perspective, it may seem like life is unfair, but after judgment, we will look back and see that the playing field was level after all.

So how does this apply to the Nephite story? The verse says that forcing others into a certain religion puts people on unequal grounds. The way I see it, perhaps Mormon is saying that doing this can be debilitating to certain people. After all, being forced to do something you do not want to do/are not prepared to do just does more harm than good. But lest you think I am saying that we should stop missionary efforts, I wholeheartedly believe that God wants us to be a part of his true church in the end. But God wants us to join of our own volition, of our own free will, because it is only by this means that the gospel will be of any worth to us.

But there's more. "Equal Grounds" is a lot like the term "Equal Rights", a term that we hear very frequently in our day. Many think that "equal rights" means that you can do whatever you desire. While there have been fantastic changes born from equal rights movements, occasionally these desires collide with fundamental truths and moral standards that have been designated by God.

Interestingly, despite differences in ability or talent or DNA, God gave everyone the same rules. He knows that all people can obey them, even people with only 1 talent. No amount of debate or petitioning can change the standards he has set. If God changed his standards, God would cease to be God. So we change the definition to something more accurate: "Equal Rights" means we are all privileged to the same rules and standards established by God. We all have an equal shot at making it to Heaven.

Keeping the rules, anyone can do. It is what we do beyond that point that God judges our reward by. Are we giving our 200%?

The Nephite government understood that everyone has the right to obey divine law and have the protection and security that comes from obedience to this law. This is why, as members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, we fight to uphold God's law. We understand that God's law is constant and unchanging, and that obedience to his commandments provides safety for all mankind. But we also do not force others to join our church, but rather persuade and invite, because God wants every individual to have an equal opportunity to decide for themselves to follow Him. When we choose to follow willingly, it is then that we are able to make our 200%, and in the end the Lord will say, "enter thou into the joy of thy lord."

Please share with me your thoughts and comments below. I really want to hear your insights.