John, in preparing the way for the beginning of Jesus' ministry, preached nothing but repentance, saying "Repent ye, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand" (Matthew 3:2). When Jesus finally entered on his ministry, after choosing the Twelve, he "began to send them forth two by two...and they went out, and preached that men should repent" (Mark 6:7 & 12). The work of spreading the Gospel proceeded in marvelous fashion, but in accordance with apostolic warnings, the church eventually fell into apostacy and the Dark Ages. But again in accordance with prophetic promise eventually came the Reformation, the "time of refreshing" and the Restoration of the Fulness of Times, upon which God, in His preface to the Doctrine and Covenants, again said, "Wherefore the voice of the Lord is unto the ends of the earth, that all that will hear may hear:...he that repents and does the commandments of the Lord shall be forgiven" (D&C 11 & 32). The Church today declares the Fulness of the Gospel, the second principle of which is repentance. There are, of course, many other Teachings of Salvation with which, we are taught, we must comply if we are not only to be saved, but exalted. Among these are faith, baptism, priesthood, eternal marriage, honesty, chastity, faithfulness, and service. Why then such emphasis on "repentance"? I remember as a youth thinking that John surely had little to preach if all he had to repeat as his message was "Repent, the Kingdom of God is at hand"--certainly, his lesson was simpler than what I had to study in school: historical dates and events, rules of Grammar, chemical and mathematical formulas. And even less than I had to learn in Sunday School and Priesthood meetings. At times we receive what we call an "insight", a flash of profounder understanding of what we probably already know and think we understand, but which gives us a deeply richer new perspective and contributes new meaning to life. Such an insight often means less to others, either because they already have this understanding, or because they may lack the perspective to make it meaningful to them. I received such an "insight" in a Sunday School class taught by my Stake President Carlos Pineda in the Hermosillo, Mexico, First Ward on Sunday, June 6, 1987. I wasn't thinking particularly deeply, nor was I particularly reflecting on what I was reading as my eyes raced ahead of President Pineda in the lesson manual. My eyes focussed on the words "Cual debia ser su mensaje principal? El arrepentimiento." (What was the principal message [of the apostles] to be? Repentance.) As my mind automatically flipped back to my childhood reaction that this really wasn't much of a message, I received one of the half dozen marvelous flashes of quickened understanding that, taken together, we call"testimony". It will take me several paragraphs to recount ny deepened understanding of why repentance is both of transcendental importance to our salvation and central to both living and teaching the Gospel (as John the Baptist, Jesus, Matthew, and Joseph Smith clearly understood), though in the typically miraculous manner in which one receives inspiration, all these thoughts entered into my mind simultaneously and in perfect order. First of all, as adults, we have all come to understand the importance of keeping an open mind in order to be prepared constantly to adjust and revise our understanding of the principles of our trade or profession as increased light and knowledge cause previous theories to be discarded. And Latter-day Saints above all other people should accept that this world is a school, in which most if not all knowledge is partial or provisional. The Lord has said that he reveals "line upon line, precept upon precept" and that he has never given a revelation in its fulness because we would lack the background to understand it. He most often speaks in symbols or parables, so that even those with the least preparation can learn something from each teaching, while those whose wisdom or spirituality is greater can apprehend more. If this life is a school, we should recall that none ofus learned grammar, mathematics, or composition, without making mistakes. A wise person once said, "To understand anything one must know everything. But to learn anything, one must neglect a good deal of everything." It seems that we learn best from our errors. Any good teacher makes his tests sufficiently difficult that even the best student misses the hardest question. That is the only way to find out how well one's lessons are being learned (of course, teachers don't always succeed in this any more than students succeed in answering all the questions. Sometimes someone gets 100%. But then, at least, the teacher knows the test wasn't tough enough.) It is through restudying the corrected examination that the student learns most.
This is one of the benefits of computerized learning. The student can sit at the console and get his exams corrected instantaneously instead of waiting until next week for the teacher to return the exam. And learning is best reinforced when the reward or punishment follows immediately upon the success or mistake. Now this is exactly what "repentance" implies. If an error has been made, we are to rethink why we made it, what negative or painful results were experienced, and what we should do in future to obtain a more satisfactory outcome. In the school of life, repentance is thus the most essential of all tools. The test of life was designed by the Greatest Teacher of all, and, we are assured, it is a perfect exam. No one but He ever has or ever will pass it without making mistakes! If we are to learn the lessons of life, we must re-study our errors and revise our methods in order to do better next time. To "declare repentance" is thus the most central and profound element of Gospel teaching. Nothing simple about it. It is repentance and only repentance which can enable us to pass the final examination and be graduated as an exalted being.
At the same moment, a further understanding came to me. And that was that repentance is perhaps the greatest saving principle of the Gospel. We all need it. Who has not known some young man or woman in the Church, who after having made the grave error of falling in Word of Wisdom or sexual or other moral sin has not believed he has disappointed his family beyond forgiveness and soiled himself (or herself) beyond redemption and thus decided to "join the world"? Of course we all have learned the parable of the prodigal son and the scripture "though your sins be as scarlet". But without a profounder understanding that in the school of life "none is without sin," that the test was so designed on purpose by the Great Teacher, and that the purpose of sin and error is to encourage us to repent and choose the better way, it is too easy to fall into Satan's trap of despair. Second, there are those who may simply have become weary of putting one foot ahead of the other on the ofttimes dreary straight and narrow road of life and at one moment or another decided to take a byroad into what appears more interesting territory. Life at times can be hard, even boring, even for the more fortunate among us, just as school often was hard and boring for many of us. If we do not develop an understanding that constant attention to reviewing last week's missed exam questions in Sunday School or Relief Society is the best way to prepare for a post-adult life of increased freedom, greater joy and wider experience, we may end up working at a no-upward-mobility job in a smokestack neighborhood in the hereafter, just as shortsighted highschool dropouts do in this life. A profound understanding of repentance is no less important in the case of the best and brightest--those students with exceptional learning ability and most retentive memory, those who learn their lessons well and early. Among these there is sometimes a tendency to become so self-assured (we'll avoid the word "self-righteous") that they are unprepared to change their view when the time comes for a revision of the textbook. Yes, all knowledge in this life is provisional. The experts are constantly revising if not abandoning old theory. And the Lord has told us He's given us just a provisional understanding of the Truth, limited to our present ability to understand and accept. And as the Church grows, practices, even doctrinal understanding, will change. I think most of us now realize this given early doctrine regarding priesthood and the Blacks in a period just preceding the Civil War, but thoroughly revised in light of increased understanding following the Civil Rights revolution. Few seem to have been troubled by the abolition of Stake Quorums of Seventy, the introduction of General Authorities Emeritus, and limited terms of service for certain new General Authorities. But not a few continue to be disturbed by the work of trained historians and by non-official publications by academic or particularly studious members seeking to share their thoughts or findings with like-minded peers. The importance of being able to change one's mind (repent) for even the most spiritually advanced is classically presented in an experience of (then) Apostle (later President) Heber J. Grant who was advised by his apostolic colleague Erastus Snow "never to come to a Council with set desires of having a certain motion carried". President Grant later said, "I thank the Lord for the advice from Brother Erastus...and I can truthfully say that from that day to this, although I have a very tenacious disposition, that I have ever felt ready and willing to surrender my [personal] views [in Council]" (Reported in Heath: Notes on Apostolic Succession, Dialogue, Summer 1987). From this moment of profound insight, I came away from that day's Sunday School Class with enough spiritual food to keep me chewing for several months if not for the rest of my life. I feel (and that is a good word to describe it) a much deeper insight into just what the Savior meant when he sent his apostles into the world to declare "repentance unto all men," perhaps the most complex and far-reaching message the Greatest Philosopher and Master Teacher of the Universe could give.
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