Do you notice a variation in beliefs even within your own group? Do groups outside your own appear monolithic, so that if you know one you know them all? This is easier to do the less you know about them, or the fewer individuals you know that belong to the group. But if you press on and take the time to get to know members of the group you will find that they are as unique and nuanced as you and your own group. Even atheists range from militant to hopeful skeptics. This can be understood in terms of the spectrum, such as visible light. Do you think I find this acceptable?

My Word teaches you to love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself. Do you see these as two separate commandments, or are they expressions of the same principle? In other words, is there a difference between the way you love God and the way you love your neighbor? There is additional guidance in the Bible to resolve this question. How can you claim to love a God you cannot see if you cannot love your brother whom you can see, who, by your doctrinal affirmation, is made in the image of God?

Do you admire principles like courage, generosity, and gratitude? It is one thing to express affirmation of these values as detached abstractions. It is quite another to see them as embodied manifestations. Do you admire the people who can implement these things successfully? Does the open display have a profound effect on you that calls for a response? Leaders understand the value of leading by example, and virtue is contagious. If others let their light shine before men that their good works are visible to you, then go and do likewise, and let your light shine as an example to others.

When people came to me to be healed, what did I ask them? Do you want to be healed? Does this sound so simple as to be a stupid question? Who wouldn’t want to be healed? Yet consider what I didn’t ask. Do you belong to my group? Have you been following the commandments? Is there any sin in your life that you need to repent of? Have you been supporting the Lord’s work financially? Do you recognize and affirm that I am the Son of God? In asking only if they wanted to be healed I set the bar really low. And when I healed them I declared that it was their faith that made them whole.