The Experiential Gospel

Walking into a lighted room is a different experience than walking into a dark room. We experience the difference not only through sight, but also through what we feel by the presence or lack of light. God has revealed to us that He is the light of the sun, moon and stars and the power by which they were made, and so everyday we experience the light of God in our lives. This is true even though we may not understand or believe that He is the light of the sun, moon and stars.

I have asked several members of the Church to tell me, using one word, the way they have experienced or experience the Holy Ghost or the Spirit of God in their lives. Usually the words are comfort, peace, and warmth. I have yet to have someone use the word light. And yet He describes Himself as light, and Christ says that He is the light that we should hold up.

I wonder if we are trapped by the words that we use and thereby limit our experiences with the Holy Ghost and the Gospel of Jesus Christ. And if we are trapped by our own words, is it because we have limited them to what we have heard others say? If this is true, we limit the Gospel of Jesus Christ to our limited experiences of it.

Alma, on the other had, describes many experiences as he retells his story to his son Helaman in Alma 36.  He says he was struck with great fear. He fell to the earth and was racked with eternal torment because of his sins. He remembered all his sins and was tormented with the pains of hell. The very thought of coming into the presence of God racked his soul with inexpressible horror. He remembered his father prophesy concerning Jesus Christ. His mind caught hold of the thought, and he cried within his heart: O Jesus have mercy on me. When he thought this his pains went away. He could remember his sins no more. And then he said: "And oh, what joy, and what marvelous light I did behold." His soul was filled with joy. He had been born of God. He tasted of exceeding joy and desired others to taste of it.

Alma describes many more experiences, but the point is our experiences should be like his. We should all experience our lost and fallen state and be racked with torment because of our sins. Without these experiences we will never experience the joy of the atonement in our own lives. We must experience ourselves as sinners before we can ever taste of the exceeding joy of which Alma tasted.

Experiencing God's word as truth and light is to experience His spirit because His word is His spirit. And it is only through His word that we can experience a 'mighty change' in our hearts. "And behold, he preached the word unto your fathers, and a mighty change was also wrought in their hearts, and they humbled themselves and put their trust in the true and living God." (Alma 5:13)