Review
Title: Whole in Christ
Author: Robert L. Millet
Publisher: Deseret Book Co.
Genre: Theology
Year Published: 2021
Pages: 160
ISBN-10: 1629729450
ISBN-13: 978-1629729459
Price: $17.99
Reviewed by Mark Tensmeyer for the Association for Mormon Letters
Latter-day Saints typically learn the basic concept of the Atonement of Jesus Christ after a short lesson from a parent, primary teacher, or missionary and then spend the rest of their lives figuring out how to better understand the nuances. We often struggle with reconciling the free gift of grace with the obligation to pursue self-improvement, even the daunting commission to be perfect. It is primarily this issue that Robert L. Millet addresses in Whole in Christ.
The basic thesis of the book is suggested by the title “Whole in Christ”. Millet revisits the Savior’s charge in Matthew 5:48 to be perfect and recommends substituting the word “perfect” with “whole”. To interpret “perfect” as meaning complete is a familiar concept in Latter-day Saint devotional thought. Millet defines “whole” as being “spiritually mature and complete,” that is to say, “all in” (pg. 6). One does not become perfect or complete in mortality but, in a sense, can be “whole in Christ” in this life by developing the will to follow Christ and then being in a constant state of repentance and improvement.
Millet suggests five broad steps. First, we must make Christ, his person, and sacrifice the center and focus of our religious and personal lives. Second, we descend into glory, meaning we give up worldly attitudes and consecrate our minds and will to God. Third, learn to love the way the Savior loves. Fourth, becoming more Christlike “grace per grace” by making improvements evident in how we treat people and our willingness to be inconvenienced. And finally, fifth, become “whole” in Christ by offering your “whole soul” to him.
Throughout Whole in Christ, Millet discusses the concept of grace and Church cultural attitudes towards the subject without making any comparisons or needing to differentiate from Evangelical Christianity. This is a refreshing departure from the focus on apologetics that too often dominates Latter-day Saint treatment of grace. Much is missed by trying too hard not to be Evangelicals. Millet avoids that distraction.
Beyond the imagery of wholeness, this book presents very few concepts that an adult Church member has not already heard in lessons, talks, or devotionals. This is not a fault. Millet is refreshingly unpretentious, and his presentation lacks the implication so pervasive in devotional books that the author has finally found the key to unlock the great mystery of the Atonement. Rather, Millet shares familiar concepts aimed to challenge the reader to improve while also giving them assurance to minimize discouragement. The book succeeds by putting these concepts in a logical sequence and communicating these principles clearly and powerfully.
I will share two parts from Whole in Christ that especially spoke to me as inspiring and instructive.
Millet described charity as a gift of the Spirit, a gift bestowed by God to those who diligently ask for it (pg. 72). “Service and charity,” Millet wrote, “are not the same thing.” It is not something people do or feel, though it does motivate those who have it to do service. Rather it is “the highest, noblest, strongest kind of love, not merely affection; the pure love of Christ” (Millet quotes the Bible Dictionary here). Individuals possessing this “do not necessarily plan out how they will perform works of righteousness” but will do them “spontaneously.” “They are goodness.” And good works flow from this goodness.
Another part that especially spoke to me was a moving anecdote Millet shared that illustrates the process of growing in grace. Millet accompanied his wife to a school reunion. He began to feel bitterness towards her after being left alone several times. He then all of the sudden experienced a flood of memories where he had “sensed things [he] had never sensed before” about how she had silently sacrificed for him over the years for many years, often without recognition or support from him. He prayed after stewing over these feelings and then he was “endowed with a depth of love and caring and affection that was beyond anything I had ever experienced…For days I saw things with different eyes.” This was a rebirth that he took as a “foretaste of eternal life” that he would give everything to feel forever.
I doubt that this book will be remembered with Stephen E. Robinson’s Believing Christ or Tad Callister’s The Infinite Atonement as one of the great and influential Latter-day Saint books on the Atonement. What it is, however, is quite a pleasant read that will help the reader reinforce and clarify their understanding of the Atonement. Reading Robert Millet’s Whole in Christ helped me refocus my efforts to be like Christ. If that was Millet’s intention, he succeeded.