There’s a scenario that repeats itself in our family scripture study. Last night it played itself out in a pronounced way. On a daily basis, our family members take turns reading a particular chapter of scripture, one verse at a time, until we complete the chapter.
Jack, our youngest reader, reads somewhat haltingly, though considering the advanced language contained in scripture, it’s amazing that, at age 5, he can even make it through a verse. When he mispronounces a word, we quietly correct him and he keeps reading. Some of the time, anyway. Occasionally, he’ll say “I know that!”, not wanting to acknowledge any error on his part, however small.
Last night, he was over-the-top in the pride department, not wanting us to correct any mistakes. He barked at us to stop if we even suggested a pronunciation other than the one he had uttered.
So we zipped our lips, letting him say “president” instead of “priest” or, at times, something completely unintelligible, for the sake of not correcting him. It would have been laughable if it didn’t reveal a huge character flaw.
I mean, the kid is only 5. He’s super bright, having learned to read at age 4, and possessing an uncanny number sense. (He grasped the concept of multiplication long before starting kindergarten last month).
But he’s not so bright that he knows everything there is to know at age 5. He’s not so smart that he can’t use a little correction now and again. And he might be lacking in the intelligence department if he has already forgotten who taught him most of what he knows to this point-his parents, that is.
But this isn’t really about intelligence. It’s about pride.
I mean, how many of us as adults think we know it all and have no need for correction? How many of us would do better to realize that we didn’t come this far without the help of someone whose knowledge of the universe and life and everything else there is to know is far more vast than we can even comprehend?
It’s easy to chuckle at the audacity of Jack thinking we (his parents) had nothing to offer him in the way of basic phonetics. And yet so many of us do the exact same thing, in one way or another.
We dig in our heels on our “pet” issues, thinking that we know better than the God who created us and the universe. We scoff at living prophets and apostles when their counsel contradicts our own strongly held personal beliefs. We disregard good people as hateful or ignorant when their instruction questions the wisdom of our own personal choices.
To be fair, well-meaning people have been wrong before.
It is healthy to be skeptical of any number of opinions, as long as we can keep our personal biases at bay. Even prophets and apostles have occasionally given instruction that doesn’t quite line up with what is best. However, I personally try to be very cautious about allowing my own opinions to override what we are being taught by the Lord’s mouthpiece on the earth.
A Book of Mormon prophet taught:
“Yea, wo unto this people, because of this time which has arrived, that ye do cast out the prophets, and do mock them, and cast stones at them, and do slay them, and do all manner of iniquity unto them, even as they did of old time.
And now when ye talk, ye say: If our days had been in the days of our fathers of old, we would not have slain the prophets; we would not have stoned them, and cast them out.
Behold ye are worse than they; for as the Lord liveth, if a prophet come among you and declareth unto you the word of the Lord, which testifieth of your sins and iniquities, ye are angry with him, and cast him out and seek all manner of ways to destroy him; yea, you will say that he is a false prophet, and that he is a sinner, and of the devil, because he testifieth that your deeds are evil.
But behold, if a man shall come among you and shall say: Do this, and there is no iniquity; do that and ye shall not suffer; yea, he will say: Walk after the pride of your own hearts; yea, walk after the pride of your eyes, and do whatsoever your heart desireth—and if a man shall come among you and say this, ye will receive him, and say that he is a prophet.
Yea, ye will lift him up, and ye will give unto him of your substance; ye will give unto him of your gold, and of your silver, and ye will clothe him with costly apparel; and because he speaketh flattering words unto you, and he saith that all is well, then ye will not find fault with him.”
In other words, if a prophet’s counsel doesn’t quite sit well with you, maybe it’s worth listening a little harder.
I have seen several instances in recent months where members of the church have criticized counsel from a living prophet, all in the name of agency or their right to personal revelation. They fall on both ends of the political spectrum, but in both cases, they have pitted their personal beliefs against the prophets.
I think it is reasonable to examine the possibility that the prophet does not speak for God every time he opens his mouth. Yet I am also extremely careful to check myself and not assume that I am the exception to the rule when it comes to following his counsel. Especially when that counsel comes in the form of a formal letter written to the members of the church, or a talk given in general conference.
I hope that as a general rule, I seek not to counsel the Lord, but to take counsel from His hand. I hope that I can remember that His ways are higher than my ways and his thoughts than my thoughts. I hope that humility reigns supreme in my life, and that when facing a tough issue, I will seek the counsel of the Lord and those that speak for Him on the earth.
Otherwise, I fear I am not unlike a 5-year-old kid who mispronounces word after word while reading aloud, claiming that he knows as well as his parents, whose 40 extra years of life experience mean nothing to him.
Well said, Susie. Many of us can profit from your words and your humility.