I have to start this off with a disclaimer. I'm a libertarian. That means, among other things, that I personally support the legalization of gay marriage, marihuana and gambling. I believe that God has given us means and the power to decide for ourselves if we want to participate in these things or not. Therefore, I see no point in legally restricting them, as long as no one else is hurt or affected (unlike it is usually the case with prostitution, for example). I've made the choice for myself to live a life clean from the things I've mentioned, because I have covenanted with God to do so when I was baptized into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
So much for that. You might wonder why I just said that, assuming that those who read this blog actually know me personally and are probably somewhat aware of the things I shared. It's because of a topic I've studied a lot recently: It's agency, and its role in our personal and spiritual well-being.
I've come to some conclusions. They might not make your world shake, at least not if you are familiar with the actual doctrine of agency (and why we have it, and how we got it). But they are certainly good reminders.
The first tenant of agency is the possibility to cause self-inflicted pain. I'm not talking about extreme poverty, hunger, loss of a loved one (unless you happened to kill them), or even most diseases we may battle at some point throughout our lives. I'm talking about making decisions that separate us from our Heavenly Father, contrary to things and circumstances that tend to bring us closer to Him (like poverty or the feelings of surety about the great things awaiting us in the life to come). The things that can separate us from our Heavenly Father include, but are not limited to: Pride, giving in to lust for worldly pleasures, neglecting the "little things" of a Gospel-focused life, cutting close on the limit of what we should do, and laziness. Let me give an example and brief explanation for each:
Pride is what I would call (and what many others have called) the original sin. It destroys our own self-worth. It destroys the self-worth of those around us. But the worst thing, from an eternal standpoint, is that it alters our divine identity. Don't get me wrong; It is not generally a bad thing to be proud of one's achievements. Once it happens, I'll be proud of myself for having served an honorable Mission, or for having a Master's degree from BYU. But problems start setting in quickly when pride leads to comparison with those who have seemingly achieved more or less than oneself. Then, we forget that all humans on Earth bear within themselves the exact same divine potential.
Giving in to the lust of worldly pleasures is another kind of self-explanatory point. Most formal commandments we've received in the Church deal with those things: The law of chastity, the Word of Wisdom, and several more sacred covenants we make in the Temple. Growing up in what I would describe as an ultra-liberal society, I've heard things like "But wine and coffee have so many great health benefits!" and "not everyone who watches porn cheats on his wife" so often that if it were other things I heard, I'd probably require treatment for tinitus. Yes, you might have a point with some of the things you claim. But the fact that wine is good for your tissues does not change that it's a mind-altering substance that influences negatively your ability to make decisions and to function normally. Coffee making you feel more awake doesn't change that it's an addictive substance that you let decide whether you can function or not. Pornography not leading to an instant divorce in some cases doesn't change that it destroys your self-worth, harms your interpersonal relationships and numbs the mind - so much that the more you watch it and act on it, the less you will care for those you truly and deeply love. As someone who has had his personal exposure to both alcohol and pornography, it's surprising that so few people know and understand that. Everytime I drank alcohol or watched porn, I felt great. Everytime it was over, I felt even more crappy than I had been feeling great prior - even without knowing anything about the law of chastity or the Word of Wisdom.
Neglecting the "little things" (or Primary answers) of the Gospel might, of the five things I mentioned, be the biggest danger to the dedicated believer. Why, you might ask? Because those who humble themselves before God are unlikely to develop serious pride issues. They will usually not transgress in a serious way, "just like that". They will gladly follow the path that our Heavenly Father has prepared for us and they will find it plain unnecessary to cut close to the edge. And they are likely to serve God and others with dedication and good effort. First off, very few people are doing well with their lives but all of a sudden do something really bad. In an extreme example, very few people just randomly get the desire to commit a crime, like killing somebody. Much more usual is a pattern in which those individuals, at some point, began to neglect the things that were once meaningful to them. As they lose ground and begin to slip a little, they struggle more and more to stay on target with what they desire most. Finally, their practices and standards have been eroded so severely that they have nothing left to cling to when it comes to making decisions. The same applies to living the Gospel: The less we read the scriptures, the less we feel the Spirit, and then the more likely it is for us to lose sight of the things that matter most. The less we pray, the less we acknowledge that we have a loving Heavenly Father we can pray to. Over time, our relationship becomes less and less meaningful, to a point where we might actually forget that it once existed. This can, and does, happen to thousands and thousands of "solid" members of the Church, and I myself am certainly not exempt.
Cutting as close to our limits (i.e., the limit between righteous and sinful living) is something that's actually quite natural for children and adolescents. It helps them establish what they can permissibly do and what they can't. However, with the Gospel establishing very precisely the things that are permissible as compared to those that are not, there is no serious educational purpose in testing out our limits. That's why we are instructed to hold close to the figurative iron rod, rather than just making sure we can still see it somewhere in the distance. If we walk immediately next to a deep abyss, it only takes one small stumbling step to fall deep. We never might, but even taking the risk of it if it can be easily avoided is silly and immature in a real-world setting. The same should apply to our attitudes in regard to the laws and commandments of God.
The final point is laziness. This is important because it's a very basic characteristic of the often so condemned "natural man". If we are lazy, we do not seek to make progress. We surrender in our fallen state, with neither desire nor effort to change. Quickly, we neglect ourselves and others and we become deeply content with our situation. Well, to those who have not quite gotten the memo, we are currently not in the presence of our Heavenly Father even though every person on Earth has, at one point, made getting back to Him their biggest desire of all. To quote Elder Dube's words from last Conference: "Look at the things we still have to do!"
Now, we've been talking about stumbling stones a lot - maybe even a little more than I first intended before I wrote this post. However, the Gospel is one of hope and love, for one very specific reason. It's the Atonement. I've come to realize (and please don't haunt me if I move into speculation a little bit here) that applying the Atonement is the main purpose of our agency. Without agency, the Atonement would have been purposeless, because even if we somehow would have managed to transgress and develop actual weaknesses, we could never change! We could aspire and desire our salvation, yes, but we couldn't change because we wouldn't have the authority to decide in favor of repentance and change. Remember, because of the Atonement, we are allowed to change, and you are allowed, too! Therefore, agency doesn't only bring us into jeopardy, but it also allows us to partake of the sweetest and most wonderful feeling there is: Feeling the love of God without it being impaired by our feelings of guilt.
May we all feel so at the last day, is my prayer. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
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