Sometimes, someone in authority will remind us that our leaders are not infallible. But people tend to believe the opposite — the teaching to “follow the prophet” is so strong that we tend to forget to think for ourselves, as Hugh Nibley has lamented:
This law of free agency and total individual responsibility has one great drawback: it requires that every member seeking to be properly led, so live as if he or she was the Pres[ident]. – for each one is just as eligible (and therefore responsible) for receiving revelations as he is.
How much more easy, economical, and simple is the Roman Catholic system of identifying infallibility automatically with utterances given from a certain office. Above all, we do not need to ponder things in our own minds, to ask God for personal revelation, and to live so uprightly as to be able to receive it – that is a rough road. How much pleasanter to say simply: “Whatsoever pleases the Brethren is all right with me!” (Hugh Nibley)
One Sunday, in my husband’s high priest quorum, one of the men (a highly educated psychiatrist) said, “I like to study, but I have no intellectual curiosity about the gospel.” Another man agreed, saying that he and my husband are entirely different characters as they view the gospel. My husband is always seeking greater light and knowledge — as Joseph Smith recommends:
“This principle [the doctrine of election] ought to be taught (in its proper place) for God hath not revealed anything to Joseph, but what he will make known unto the Twelve, and even the least saint may know all things as fast as he is able to bear them, for the day must come when no man need say to his neighbor, Know ye the Lord; for all shall know him (who remain) from the least to the greatest.”
Seek. That is a big word, not meant to be taken lightly. Nor does it mean to just check off the boxes. It’s more than listening to regurgitated talks over and over again. We can’t be the donkey with the yoke that just keeps going around and around the mill, never getting anywhere. We have to move from the parroting stage of learning.
I always think of the game, “hide and seek” — which helps me define the word. I believe we must actively search for the hidden gems if we expect to receive higher gifts. We simply cannot unknowingly follow the leader — and expect to become a leader one day in eternities. We must know the Lord — personally. It is our sacred duty. Otherwise, we make a mockery of what is called our free agency. The Lord promises,
…every soul who forsaketh his sins and cometh unto me, and calleth on my name, and obeyeth my voice, and keepeth my commandments, shall see my face and know that I am. (D&C 93:1.)
If we want to see God, we must seek diligently:
Draw near unto me and I will draw near unto you; seek me diligently and ye shall find me; ask, and ye shall receive; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. (D&C 88:63)
The church has said to its members that it is ok to have questions — almost like it is not good, but it is ok. However, I believe it is not just ok, it is necessary. Hugh Nibley said we must have questions — must. If we are diligently seeking, we have questions. This is how we come to know the Lord.
Moses is a good example, he tells Satan to depart because he has more questions to ask God:
I will not cease to call upon God, I have other things to inquire of him: for his glory has been upon me, wherefore I can judge between him and thee. Depart hence, Satan. (Moses 1:18)
Questioning is not bad; questioning is good. You may recall someone who warned against searching the internet for medical help and instead, advising that you should just follow your doctor’s recommendations. The internet is a blessing, and you will find truth and error. But I definitely think it is good to seek. Even in the story he shared, I know of many who have come up with answers to medical problems through their own diligent searching on the Internet and then, with the help of doctors, found the best treatments. The story was not just about following your doctor. I get it.
But the gospel is not so simple as some people pretend. Joseph Smith revealed a great deal more than what the Christian churches of the day had to offer. All that Joseph revealed is available still, for those of us who believe and seek diligently. After all, we need to use our agency for more than avoiding temptation. We can use our agency to obtain personal revelation. As Nibley said, “we need to get out of the broom closet.”
How did Joseph learn about God? He had questions and he went to the scriptures and then to God. He was ever-seeking to understand. Read the scriptures without commentary, see what you can learn without someone else’s interpretation. We have to be careful of relying on others and ingesting what Isaiah identified: “All the tables are covered with vomit and there is not a spot without filth.”
“That kind of ‘searching’ is a requirement that is built into the very fabric of prophetic writings, enlightening the mind of the person who persists in searching but darkening the minds of those who labor under the premise that they already know.” (Endtime Prophecy, Avraham Gileadi Ph.D.)
Nephi went to the Lord to understand what his father was saying. His brothers, Laman and Lemuel, did not. They followed their father into the promised land, but that was not enough. Following without seeking and knowing is not enough.
Updated 2020, originally posted Nov 5, 2015
