Monday, March 23, 2020

Brent L. Top on the Problems of "Checklist Repentance" and the Christocentric Nature of True Repentance


Admitting that many Latter-day Saints view repentance (errantly) as a “check list” as opposed to being “an all-encompassing process of being, changing, feeling, and doing,” Brent L. Top wrote:

The remarks of Elder Theodore M. Burton of the First Quorum of the Seventy seem to confirm that this is a fairly common misconception in the Church:

Just what is repentance? Actually it is easier for me to tell you what repentance is not than to tell you what repentance is.

My present assignment as a General Authority is to assist the First Presidency. I prepare information for them to use in considering applications to readmit transgressors into the Church and to restore priesthood and/or temple blessings. Many times a bishop will write: “I feel he has suffered enough!” But suffering is no repentance. Suffering comes from lack of complete repentance. A stake president will write: “I feel he has been punished enough!” But punishment is not repentance. Punishment follows disobedience and precedes repentance. A husband will write: “My wife has confessed everything!” But confession is not repentance. Confession is an admission of guilt that occurs as repentance beings. A wife will write: “My husband is filled with remorse!” But remorse is not repentance. Remorse and sorrow continue because a person has not yet fully repented. (Theodore M. Burton, “The Meaning of Repentance,” Brigham Young University 1984-85 Devotional and Fireside Speeches [Provo, Utah: Brigham Young University, 1985], 96)

A “checklist” approach to repentance might also be called “recipe repentance.” A bread recipe contains a listing of all of the ingredients, but merely placing the ingredients in a mixing bowl does not constitute making bread. A successful bread baker knows that in addition to using high quality ingredients, he or she must carefully mix them, knead and work the dough, and then allow the yeast to cause the dough to rise adequately. Without this careful attention to the nurturing and working of the dough, the bread will be less than desirable regardless of the quality of the ingredients. Similarly the “Rs of repentance” or any other combination of “ingredients” must be coupled with careful nurturing and leavening that is obtainable only through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Elder James E. Talmage described how the “ingredients” of repentance are dependent upon the leavening of faith.

The term repentance . . . as representing the duty required of all who would obtain forgiveness for transgression . . . indicates a godly sorrow for sin, producing a reformation of life, and embodies (1) a conviction of guilty; (2) a desire to be relieved from the hurtful effects of sin; and (3) an earnest determination to forsake sin and to accomplish good. Repentance is a result of contrition of soul, which springs from a deep sense of humility, and this in turn is dependent upon the exercise of an abiding faith in God. (James E. Talmage, The Articles of Faith, 50th ed. [Salt Lake City: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1970], p. 109) (Brent L. Top, Though Your Sins Be as Scarlet [Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1989], 32-34)

Continuing, Top then discusses the deficiencies of “Checklist Repentance” as well as how true repentance is powerfully Christocentric:

When we view repentance as a mere checklist of items that must be completed for every sin committed, we fall prey to the spiritual dangers and doctrinal deficiencies of such a superficial approach. Three main deficiencies, with their potential pitfalls, are evident.

First, under such a program a person may never really get “caught up.” As one goes through the “requirements” of repentance, he will find that he has committed other sins that also need his attention. To apply the “checklist” to every sin ever committed would be like taking one step forward and two septs back. It would be impossible to conscientiously go through the process for every sin. This creates the very real dilemma of discouragement for someone who is trying to repent from a “recipe card.” Reflecting this quandary, questions often arise such as “How can I repent for things I did years ago? How can I recognize, confess, or make restitution for sins I can no longer remember?” In such a situation it would be easy for one to become so discouraged about repentance that he may actually give up in despair and slip deeper into the quicksands of sin.

A second deficiency of “recipe card repentance” is that for some sins and situations there are not enough “Rs of repentance.” For other sins there are items on the “checklist” of repentance that cannot be completely fulfilled. President Spencer W. Kimball wrote that “there are some sins for which no adequate restitution can be made, and others for which only partial restitution is possible! (Spencer W. Kimball, The Miracle of Forgiveness [Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1969], p. 194). The underlying premise and logic of “checklist repentance” would make repentance appear futile under such circumstances. Bruce C. Hafen, former president of Ricks College, warned about the pitfalls of this mistaken thinking when he taught:

Many, for whom the repentance process asks more than they can give, take for granted that they are fully responsible to compensate for their own sins; then they discover hopelessly that they lack the power to make full compensation by themselves . . .There aren’t enough “Rs” in the steps of repentance, not enough power of restoration within the limits of human ability . . . Until those in such predicaments find the Savior at the heart of the Atonement . . . there is no complete escape and final relief. Because we lack the power to compensate fully for the effects of our transgression, we are utterly dependent upon Christ, no matter how earnest our repentance. (Bruce C. Hafen, “Beauty for Ashes: The Atonement of Jesus Christ,” unpublished transcript of an address delivered at the general session of the 1988 Religious Educators’ Symposium on the New Testament, 11 August 1988, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah, p. 12)

President Hafen’s thoughtful statement also exposes the third and most important deficiency of “checklist repentance.” When we overemphasize “steps” or outward actions we tend to elevate man’s doings at the expense of Christ’s cleansing power. We make repentance appear as though it is something that we can do by ourselves. Such a serious misconception minimizes the miraculous atonement of Jesus Christ and the grace of God that grants us forgiveness. When we focus all of our attention and efforts on the things we must do to repent, we tend to overlook what he did to make repentance possible. “Repentance is one of the gifts of God to fallen man,” wrote Elder Orson Pratt. “The great and infinite sacrifice, made by the Son of God, for the sins of the world, has purchased for man the gift of Repentance, which, if properly received and exercised, will give him claim upon the mercy of God against whom he has sinned” (Orson Pratt, “True Repentance,” chapter 2 in A Series of Pamphlets by Orson Pratt [Liverpool: Franklin D. Richards, 1852], p. 17). Moroni taught that perfection and remission of sins do not come merely from our own actions, however important these acts are. They only have efficacy “through the shedding of the blood of Christ.”

Yea, come unto Christ, and be perfected in him, and deny yourselves of all ungodliness; and if ye shall deny yourselves of all ungodliness, and love God with all your might, mind and strength, then is his grace sufficient for you, that by his grace ye may be perfect in Christ; and if by the grace of God ye are perfect in Christ, ye can in nowise deny the power of God.

And again, if ye by the grace of God are perfect in Christ, and deny not his power, then are ye sanctified in Christ by the grace of God, through the shedding of the blood of Chris, which is in the covenant of the Father unto the remission of your sins, that ye become holy, without spot. (Moroni 10:32-33.)

An emphasis in “checklist” or “recipe” repentance personifies “pseudo-self-reliance.” As Robert L. Millet has insightfully stated, “We must never allow the need for self-reliance to rob us of the power of Christ which we might enjoy” (Robert L. Millet and Joseph Fielding McConkie, lectures on cassette tape, Great Doctrines from the Book of Mormon [Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1988]). Thus the worst danger of this narrow view of repentance is that it all too often causes us to leave out the most important element, the most important “R of repentance”—Redeemer. (Ibid., 34-36, emphasis in bold added; on Moroni 10:32, see Moroni 10:32 (and various New Testament texts) as being aspirational and Keeping the Commandments: Mission Impossible? Aspirational Only? Call to Sinless Perfection?)