There are only two churches

I was reading in 1 Nephi 14:10 this morning, and I began to consider some things I have tried to consider in passing. Perhaps it is time to consider them more fully.

From the verse, "Behold there are save ^atwo churches only; the one is the church of the Lamb of God, and the ^bother is the church of the ^cdevil; wherefore, ^dwhoso belongeth not to the church of the Lamb of God belongeth to that great church, which is the mother of abominations[.]"

What does this mean then? At first glance, if you are not a member of Christ's church, then you're done for. What does that mean, to be a member of Christ's church? Does that mean that if you perform the correct rites (baptism, etc.) that you are in, and if you don't you are in the church of the devil? That doesn't make sense to me.

I think C.S. Lewis had it right in his book, The Last Battle. Consider the Calormen guard who was honest, and believed his commanding officer when told that his benevolent god, Tash, was in the wooden shed. When this good man went into the shed, he entered not into the presence of the evil demon Tash, but into the presence of Aslan. And remember, Lewis does everything but say the words "Aslan is Jesus" in his writing. Now, the guard was rather confused, as he didn't expect to be in the presence of Aslan, yet Aslan kindly explained that as the guard had done the works that were those Aslan desired, good, righteous works, he truly worshipped Aslan, whatever title he may have placed on him, and however he may have pictured him to appear.

So this is the clincher, the real burning question for each of us: Do I belong to the church of Christ or to the church of the devil? Being able to do great works in the name of Christ does not mean that I belong to His church - I shall still be cast out if my heart really isn't in it, is not really given to the Lord. Do I continually dedicate my heart to the Lord? Am I constantly His? Or do I "try to live in Zion and have a vacation home in Babylon?" I fear being more like Lot's wife than I would admit.

I have found it easy over the years to say "well, I am in the church of Christ, and people in [any certain group] are in the church of the devil." Perhaps it is not so cut and dry, and perhaps the ground on which I stood at such a judgmental time was not nearly as solid as I believed.

If I have hurt you by judging you so harshly and being so condescending, I truly am sorry.