Doctrine and Covenants 58:26-29 says:
26 For behold, it is not meet that I should command in all things; for he that is compelled in all things, the same is a slothful and not a wise servant; wherefore he receiveth no reward.
27 Verily I say, men should be anxiously engaged in a good cause, and do many things of their own free will, and bring to pass much righteousness;
28 For the power is in them, wherein they are agents unto themselves. And inasmuch as men do good they shall in nowise lose their reward.
29 But he that doeth not anything until he is commanded, and receiveth a commandment with doubtful heart, and keepeth it with slothfulness, the same is damned.
So please explain to me why I have heard from multiple sources this week, "I don't need to worry about that until they talk about it in conference" or "well the Brethren haven't said anything about that, so I don't need to change anything" or the idea that if the church doesn't have an official policy about it that it is beneath our consideration.We each have our own journey and our own path, the things we will learn from better than others, the things that will ring truer to our heart and the things we need that no one else does for our learning and growth. The Brethren can't address every issue, this church is a church made up of individuals going through their own individual, personal and unique trials they don't address everything because with over 15.7 million members from all walks of life and all over the world they just can't. But what they do do and what Joseph Smith advocated was to teach us true principles and that we might govern ourselves. The Brethren and general leadership of the church work to advocate a life style that we can feel and be directed by the Spirit in our lives, but that means we need to be seeking the Spirit to guide us.
I'm not saying we don't heed the Prophet, I'm saying we heed the Prophets so we have the Spirit that can give us individual guidance on our individual journey. We need that individual help so much. As I sat in the temple yesterday I was struck anew by the phrase "philosophies of men mingled with scripture". My dear brothers and sisters we are living in a day when this phrase and its full meaning has indeed entered into the church. We have forgotten that we are called to be a peculiar people, that means we are different, that means we seek higher laws and a higher plain to live on, that means we are a covenant people that seek to meet Christ sooner rather than later, this means sacrifice is required, this means we seek the best things, not just the good that are only slightly different from the world. This means dear siblings that we are willing to give up the good for the best, that means that we stop seeking after darkness and wonder why our life isn't filled with light. Has anyone else noticed that Halloween is so much more popular today than it ever has been? Halloween used to be about dressing up for fun and getting candy. Now it is everywhere, freaky ads for candy showed up two months in advance. Ghosts, skeletons, witches, and jack o lanterns are on food, toys and in kids meals. I realize that all the holidays are becoming more commercialized and I realize that other than Thanksgiving (which came about later than the rest of the holidays and started as a day of prayer, though I'm sure someone could argue it represents a pagan holiday of harvest somewhere) most do come from pagan holidays. When "the church" began its work to spread the gospel to the barbarians and pagans (I'm referring to Holy Roman Empire times) they tried a frontal assault against pagan rites and religious acts and in every case they lost. People chose what they knew over what the church was offering and the church often lost converts. So overtime they tried a new tactic, placing their holy days on days of importance to pagan religions, thus instead of having to choose, people could do both, they could participate in church ordinances without forgetting their past. They never had to truly change because they were given the option to do both. (Perhaps it is time to learn the history of the things we do and celebrate without thought).
Our Heavenly Father has invited us to truly change, to leave behind the natural man and become a new creature in Christ, with new priorities and sacrificing to seek greater light and knowledge. I can't (and don't want to) prioritize anyone elses' life, I'm struggling enough with my own self to make better choices and make the sacrifices to become the person Heavenly Father wants me to be. But I will invite everyone to take a look at their life and see if there might be places where Satan has tricked us with sneaking in the philosophies of man with scripture, where he has snuck his agenda and his purpose, but because it seems like no big deal or everyone is doing it we shouldn't worry about it. But we should. Our Savior has invited us to seek Him, to avoid even the appearance of evil, He invites us to forsake the mediocre and try for the best. There are many ways to have a summer cottage in Babylon and it will be different for each of us, but the time is coming when we can't have both, we can't have one foot or even a toe in Babylon. The Lord will have a sanctified people, there have been many times throughout the generations of the earth when His truth was lost because people cared more for the world around them, than they cared about what the Lord commanded them (did you know that the name Yahweh had been revealed to Adam, Abraham, Issac and Jacob -just to name a few- but due to unbelief the name and the covenant had been lost until Moses at the burning bush, the knowledge was lost because overtime people cared more for the majority than the covenant). We are standing at just such a time. Satan through the disguise of the world is actively seeking to destroy us, but he does it by degrees, every time he can get us to say "it isn't a big deal" or "that is important, but I'll do it later" he has chipped away at our spiritual foundation. (Noah started building the ark before there was a cloud in the sky, the sky is starting to get clouds on the horizon). If the Lord from the beginning of time has called us away from the world, perhaps it is because He realizes there are some less than good things in the world disguised as the greatest. We have a choice to make, we are standing on the edge of the knife, we are in the last days when the harder right choice must be made. Our Savior needs a special people to prepare the world for His coming, we have been called, but we choose ourselves.
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