Righteousness

I remember growing up in the church that we needed to be RIGHTEOUS. But what exactly does it mean to be that anyways?

I was thinking a lot about this, and it occurred to me that my definition and the Churches are in conflict.

To be righteous in the church means to be doing their busywork, ie. temple work, doing your calling, paying your tithing, going to the meetings, etc.

One of the big righteous things is doing the work for the dead for our ancestors and others who have not had the chance to have the ordinances while they lived on earth. It involves a lot of ritualistic stuff.

Then you have missionary work which involves going around from door to door to try and increase the size of the church.

Now I look at righteousness as doing things that will make the world a better place. Most of which involves service to our fellow men. Like working in soup kitchens, or helping an old lady to cross the street. Or teaching a skill to someone, or helping someone to build or clean a house. Mostly to me righteousness is the same thing as service, or doing actual things to make a difference.

Then the Church has things that are UNRIGHTEOUS
Killing someone. I agree that that is unrighteous, unless they are coming at you with a gun and you are defending yourself.

Having an affair on your spouse. Yes, that is unrighteous. I can agree with that.

2 consenting unmarried adults having sex. I am neutral on that one. If it hurts neither, I don't see how it is 'righteous or unrighteous' personally.

Not attending church. To the church, unrighteous. But when you think about it, which is MORE righteous, attending a meeting talking about doing good, or actually using that time to do active service?

Most of what the church wants you to do they call righteousness, but in reality, it's just a bunch of busy work that actually doesn't do anything at all to serve others or make the world around a better place.