The church of Scrupulosity versus the church of Christ

(For my friends at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints)

Scrupulosity refers to someone living their religion out of anxiety. The point of the actions is to reduce feelings of guilt, shame, and anxiety. Scrupulosity is a variant of obsessive-compulsive disorder. With a compulsion, I feel anxiety and then I perform a compulsion for my anxiety to dissipate momentarily. After a few seconds, the anxiety resurfaces and then I perform the compulsion again. With an obsession, thoughts and fears (usually about my character) intrusively enter into my mind and I argue with the obsession, but without resolution. These obsessions are usually about the things I fear the most. With scrupulosity, I have obsessions, but in a religious context. I perform compulsions but in a religious context.

Scrupulosity is very narrowly defined and very specific. I’m going to take the liberty of generalizing the term, in order to demonstrate the differences between the way church can be burdensome or it can be light. I’ll call a burdensome adherence to church, “The Church of Scrupulosity” and the light adherence to church, “The Church of Jesus Christ.”

I will start by giving examples of how Christ presented his church and how the Pharisees presented their church. In Matthew  (11:28-30) Jesus proclaimed, “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” In contrast the Church of the Scrupulosity was said to “bind heavy burdens and grievous to be borne, and lay them on men’s shoulders (Mathew 23:4). The Bible Dictionary says, “[The Pharisees] prided themselves on their strict observance of the law…The tendency of their teaching was to reduce religion to the observance of a multiplicity of ceremonial rules…”

The Church of Jesus Christ asks us to put burdens down. Our largest burden is the one we give to ourselves in the form of our expectations. Much of Christ’s sermon in the Beatitudes is about letting go of our expectations. Matthew 5:4, it’s okay to mourn. You are not expected to be happy all the time. Matthew 5:5, it’s okay to be meek. Power doesn’t create peace. Matthew 5:6 says, sometimes you won’t have enough food, but that’s okay. The important thing is that your mindset is one of righteousness. Matthew 5:7, it’s okay to be merciful. Let go of your expectation that everything has to be just in this lifetime. Mathew 5:8, you don’t need to have sexual exploits to be happy, in fact, a chaste life is better. Mathew 5:9-12, sometimes people are going to be mean to you. The important thing is that you don’t lose your ability to be kind. This sermon continues for the next three chapters. It challenges our expectations. When we have expectations that we cannot achieve, it causes us pain and low self-worth. Letting go of those expectations, and embracing expectations that we can achieve, causes peace and a feeling of contentment with who we are.

In contrast, the Church of Scrupulosity demands justice. It demands perfection. Power is the means to control our situation. It taunts us with a promise that if we only do what Scrupulosity demands that we will be happy. It tells us that all those around us are happy and we are only failing because we are not good enough.

Scrupulosity would have us believe that religion is a demanding taskmaster. One of the most misapplied verses is Matthew 5:48, “Be ye therefore perfect even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.” Scrupulosity would have us chase perfection in a never ending chase, whipping ourselves along the way. Christ would have us understand that the commandment wouldn’t be given unless it could be accomplished and it should actually be viewed as a promised hope. Do no not worry, you will get there, but you will not get there Scrupulosity’s way, you will get there Christ’s way.

Let’s take a look at Christ’s way of arriving at perfection. In the parable of the Talents (Mathew 25: 15-30) Jesus didn’t start off by making everyone equal. The idea of needing to be as good as everyone else is the religion of Scrupulosity. He gave one person 5 talents, one person 2 talents, and one person 1 talent. The person with 5 talents invested and doubled the talent, likewise the person with 2 talents. The person with 1 talent did not invest at all. In verses 21 and 23, both servants that invested received the same reward. They were not equal in what they started off with or with what they accomplished but they got the same reward. It was only the servant who did not invest who did not get the same reward. In Jesus’s explanation of the parable (Mathew 25: 35-46), He explained that He wants us to be kind and merciful towards others. He wants us to impart what we are capable of imparting. What Jesus did not say, is that there is an abstract expectation that can only be defined by comparing ourselves to what we think other people have the ability to accomplish.

Jesus laid out another example of perfection that flies in the face of mortal definitions of perfection. In the parable of the vineyard (Matthew 20:1-16), Jesus described laborers who came to work in a vineyard. Some laborers came at the start of the day, some at the 3rd hour, 6th hour, 7th hour, and 11th hour. When it came time to be paid, they all received the same wage. The church of Scrupulosity believes that a lifetime of personal achievement is the method of achieving perfection. The church of Jesus Christ, explains that perfection can be achieved rather quickly, even in the 11th hour. What then is perfection?

Christ’s atonement can heal all things, except our will. He gives us our own will. Our own decisions. Perfection is something that already exists. It is within our grasp. It was achieved through the “blood of the Lamb (Revelation 12:11). What we have to do is align our will with Christ’s. When King Lamoni’s father achieved salvation, what did he say? “…I will give up all my sins to know thee… ( Alma: 22:18)” When Alma the Younger converted to Christ what he did do? He accepted Christ’s atonement (Mosiah 27:23-25). When Saul became Paul and changed his ways what did he do, he accepted Christ as his personal Savior (Acts 9)They were all changed in an instant. How did it happen? By giving up their sins and accepting what Christ has already offered.

President Uchtdorf in his talk, “Living the Gospel Joyful,” explained it like this. He said that if what we want and what God wants is the same thing, we will not view God’s commandments as a burden. We will view them as something we naturally want. If what we want is not the same, we will view God’s commandments as something difficult, distasteful, and burdensome. I will give an example. If we already do not want to kill people, then the commandment to not kill is simple. If we already enjoy drawing near to Christ on Sunday, then the commandment to keep the Sabbath holy is joyful. If we already enjoy the peace that comes from not coveting, then the commandment comes naturally. The commandments are simply ways to make your life easier and bring peace to your heart. The “work” in the church is less about becoming and more about letting go. Letting go of ideas that create burdens and accepting ideas that do not.

Moroni explained this phenomenon (Moroni 10:32-33). “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 Christ, which is in the covenant of the Father unto the remission of your sins, that ye become holy, without spot.” Christ has already perfected us. Our job is to learn to love the same things that Christ loves. This is what happens when we love God with all our hearts. This is what happens when we love our neighbor. This is what happens when we make covenants and practice the covenants. It is as Brad Wilcox says, “ We are not earning heaven, we are learning heaven.” (https://youtu.be/yLXr9it_pbY?si=oy3qZdswNpfPcRLj  & https://youtu.be/dU-a94190JQ?si=hPXOeNXAjZRUSXWZ )

Scrupulosity is very sneaky. He tries to take good things and make them burdensome. He creates abstract ideals that can never be reached. Because these abstract ideals are not measurable, they are not obtainable. As a result, we chase them forever like a child chasing a rainbow. Scrupulosity will tell us, “You must become the perfect wife, husband, or child.” You must be a perfect ministering brother. If your spouse is not happy, you are a failure. If your child is not perfect, you are a failure. Look at everything that is unkept in your home. You are a failure. You don’t know how to harvest, grind, and bake your own bread? You are a failure. Your lesson isn’t as good as Sister Smith’s? You are a failure. Like the Pharisees of old, the burden is heavy and impossible.

Scrupulosity hides its toxicity by prescribing medicine in a toxic manner. This medicine, if taken as prescribed, would be healthy. Scrupulosity prescribes the medicine in a way that causes pain and destruction. For example, it is good to be a good wife. It is not good to have an unachievable expectation that cannot be reached within a time frame that could never occur. For example, if I measured my ability to be a good husband based on the response of my spouse, I would never achieve my goal. If I measured my ability by a small, measurable, achievable goal, then I could definitely achieve it. If I measured my ability by my desire and by what I was capable of giving at that present time, I could definitely achieve it.

If I tell my spouse I love her and she is depressed, she might not respond in kind. If I measured my success based on her response, I would consider myself a failure. If I measured my success based on my desire to be kind and the energy and opportunity I had in the moment, I would be a success.

When we are burdened by the Gospel of Jesus Christ, it is not the Gospel of Christ that is the burden. It is our perception of the Gospel of Christ.