3 Nephi 27:24-33

27:25-33 - Jesus is still teaching his disciples and he next teaches that the books of scriptures that are available to the people will be the standard by which they will be held accountable, saying, “out of the books which have been written, and which shall be written, shall this people be judged, for by them shall their works be known unto men.” It’s an interesting concept to be judged by the scriptures, I guess because by the world’s standard there are so many different interpretations of them, and they can seem so confusing, so it can appear that it’s not fair, or that it’s not a good standard. But it is what’s available to the people, and the Lord has promised guidance is we seek him, so it’s a doable standard. The IM quotes President Joseph F. Smith as teaching, “The Lord will make a record also and out of that shall the whole world be judged. And you men bearing the holy Priesthood- you apostles, presidents, bishops, and high priests in Zion- will be called upon to be the judges of the people. Therefore, it is expected that you shall set the standard for them to attain to, and see that they shall live according to the spirit of the gospel, do their duty, and keep the commandments of the Lord. You shall make a record of their acts. You shall record when they are baptized, when they are confirmed, and when they receive the Holy Ghost by the laying on of hands. You shall record whether they attend to their duties as priests, teachers or deacons, as elders, seventies or high priests. You shall write their works, as the Lord says here. You shall record their tithings…’ but we shall judge the people, first requiring them to do their duty. In order to do that, those who stand at the head must set the example.” I know that I talked about this when the concept of being judged by the elders of Israel topic came up in the beginning of the Book of Mormon, and I was whole heartedly opposed because I only wanted to be judged by Jesus, the God that I know and love and I didn’t trust any other men to tell me what I deserved. As I learn and grow in the gospel, I have come to trust more and more Jesus and know that he loves me and wouldn’t allow any of his servants to misjudge me, to treat me poorly, and in the eternal judgment, I will be loved and protected and rewarded justly, and I know that the Lord would oversee it personally. Don't get me wrong, I'm still a little bit apprehensive about it, a lifetime of distrusting men isn't overcome that quickly, but I'm ok with it. It's interesting because the Lord tells the disciples that they will be the judges at the last day but then immediately goes into making sure that they know that this is not a blessing but a responsibility, saying, "And know ye that ye shall be judges of this people, according to the judgment which I shall give unto you, which shall be just. Therefore, what manner of men ought ye to be? Verily I say unto you, even as I am." I was just talking to my kids about this today because we listened to 2 Nephi 1 today and in verse 25 Lehi tells L&L, referring to their hatred of Nephi, "ye have accused him that he sought power and authority over you; but I know that he hath not sought for power nor authority over you, but hath sought the glory of God, and your own eternal welfare." Here we have an excellent example of leadership, Nephi didn't want to be in charge of his brothers, in fact, many times he implored them to take the righteous head of the family by reminding them that he was their younger brother. Nephi did not seek for "power not authority," his only motivation was that he could be a righteous leader and bring glory to God. He was not interested in serving himself, but as Lehi reminds them, he only worked for the "eternal welfare" of his family. So my reluctance was understandable, and the Lord is teaching them how to be just judges. The IM quotes Elder John M. Madsen as teaching, "To receive Him and know Him, we and all mankind much, as Moroni exhorts, 'come unto Christ, and be perfected in him.' In other words, we must come unto Christ and strive to 'become' like Him. Said the risen Lord: 'what manner of men ought ye to be? Verily I say unto you, even as I am.' The meaning of the word ought, as used in His question 'what manner of men ought ye to be?' is crucial to understanding His answer, 'Even as I am.' The word ought means 'to be necessary' or 'too be help or bound in duty of moral obligation, suggesting- and the holy scriptures, ancient and modern, confirm- that it is 'necessary' and that we are 'bound,' as by covenant, 'to be,' as He declared, 'even as I am.'" That last bit was a little bit confusing, but in layman's terms it seems like he's saying that the Lord meant, I assume referring to their duties during the judgment, "to be an adequate judge, what manner of men must you be?" Or "to be an adequate judge, what kind of men are you obligated to be?" I think that it's interesting to note that he didn't say "what manner of judgment must you dispense?" Meaning, he's not saying "it doesn't matter what kind of person you are, as long as you deal justly with those whom you judge," he's saying "you must be inherently, deep within your soul the kind of person that I am. You must BE kind and loving and merciful and just, you can't just DO what's kind and loving and merciful and just." I've learned that there is a difference between being something, and doing something. When I was doing business stuff they used to have a saying that went something like "it's not do, have, be... it's be, do, have." Meaning it's not "do what successful people do, and you'll have what successful people have, then you be who successful people are," what they are saying is, "if you are the kind of person that successful people are, then you'll do the things that successful people do, and you'll have the things that successful people have." It was basically the idea of personal development, that you had to be a successful person inside before you'll ever have success on the outside. This is a similar, Jesus is telling them, and all of us really, that before we can make righteous judgments we must first be who He is, all the love, kindness, mercy, and justice that he embodies.