It is a privilege to speak to you today and I pray that the Spirit will help all of us receive a very personal message as I share my remarks. I often ask my students, what one condition is required for personal growth. Think about it yourself. What one condition, if you could choose only one, would enable the greatest degree of personal growth in your own work, learning, and throughout your life? More often than not, most discussions with my students eventually point to the power of personal agency. Today I would like to explore this theme of agency and personal growth.
I will begin my message with a story about a friend from Boston, whom I will call Junior. His story, at least the part I will share today, is about three choices that have had a profound impact on his life. Junior was a teenager growing up in a rough part of the city. His parents were converts to the Church who had immigrated to the United States from the Dominican Republic-good people with strong testimonies of the restored Gospel. But Junior wasn't sure how he felt about his own testimony. He liked his non-member friends. He was considering joining a band, and he had the dread-lock hair style to fit the part. Junior was willing to attend Church, but he really went in support of his parents.
Six years ago Junior responded to an invitation to attend a youth conference. Unsure whether he wanted to spend an entire weekend with a group of religious people, he initially declined. The night before the conference, he felt a spiritual prompting. To the surprise of many of his leaders, Junior made the decision to attend. Something happened that weekend where, for the first time, Junior felt that God had spoken directly to him. The seeds of a personal testimony began to grow. A year later, and at the encouragement of his younger brother, Junior made the decision to attend BYU-Idaho. Leaving the familiar setting of Boston and moving to Rexburg, Idaho was a big change. But with the transition came many blessings. Junior was matched with great roommates, a strong spiritual environment, and caring faculty. One of his roommates was a returned missionary from New York who also shared a Dominican heritage. All Fall semester, Junior talked with his roommate about the impact a mission would have on in his life. No one in Junior's family had ever served a mission, but through the example of his roommate and direction from the Spirit, Junior made the decision to serve a mission.
Junior has become a powerful missionary and is a different young man than the boy I met six years ago. But while he always had divine potential, it was his decisions that shaped who he has become. In each of these decisions, Junior received encouragement from good shepherds-a young men's leader, a sibling, and a college roommate. But in each situation, all of the influence in the world would not have mattered if Junior, exercising his personal agency, had not made a decision and acted on it.
Today I'd like to explore with you the Power of Personal Agency. In the Doctrine and Covenants Section 58 verses 27 through 28 the Lord teaches: "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; for the power is in them, wherefore they are agents unto themselves." Each of us has divine potential-The Lord explains: "The power is in us," but it is only when we use our agency wisely that our decisions lead to divine potential. As President Monson has taught: "Decisions Determine Destiny."[1]
I would like to explore the power of personal agency by considering three key ideas:
- The Role of Agency in the Plan of Salvation
- Ways to Expand Our Agency
- The Need for a Savior to Overcome the Effects of Bad Choices
The Role of Personal Agency in the Plan of Salvation
A key to understanding the power of personal agency is to recognize that it is one of the core doctrines underlying the Plan of Salvation itself. In a revelation given to the Prophet Joseph Smith we learn: "Man was also in the beginning with God. Intelligence, or the light of truth, was not created or made, neither indeed can be. All truth is independent in that sphere in which God has placed it, to act for itself, as all intelligence also; otherwise there is no existence. Behold, here is the agency of man."[2] It is our agency that made us who we are and it is the use of our agency that will shape who we become. God knew that for us to become like him, we needed the ability to choose, to act, and to grow. But Satan sought to take away this power. In Moses we read: "[T]hat Satan . . . came before me, saying Behold, here am I, send me, I will be thy son, and I will redeem all mankind, that one soul shall not be lost. . . Wherefore, . . . that Satan rebelled against me, and sought to destroy the agency of man, which I the Lord had given him."[3] And he led others away: "And also a third part of the hosts of heaven turned he away from me because of their agency."[4] The tragic irony is that gift they were trying to deny in that Council in Heaven, was the very condition that allowed them to disagree in the first place.
In the Russian novel The Brother's Karamazov, we read an allegorical story set in the Spanish Inquisition where the dominant church has worked hard to control the behavior of its people. When the Savior returns to earth, the Grand Inquisitor intercedes to challenge the Savior by saying: "Thou wouldst go into the world, . . . with some promise of freedom, which men in their simplicity and natural unruliness cannot even understand. . .Instead of taking possession of man's freedom, Thou didst increase it." The argument was that our limited capacity would make us incapable of wisely using such a powerful gift as agency. I am sure these and many other arguments were put forth in the Council in Heaven. And it is clear that they were persuasive enough to deceive a third part of the host of heaven. But no matter how passionately advocated, all of these arguments were wrong. The only way we could grow and become like our father was through the righteous use of our agency. God cannot force personal growth-our very nature required the preservation of agency. Our ability to unlock our divine potential could not happen without the ability to make choices and learn from consequences.
Ways to Expand our Agency
The Adversary is Still Trying to Steal our Agency. The battle over agency continues in our lives today. Satan continues to do everything he can to steal the agency of man. The cleverness of his approach is that he sets traps that cause us to ensnare ourselves. President Monson compared this to a Tongan Fisherman's snare called a maka-feke.[5] Note that the trap is simply constructed-it consists of a shell, lashed to a line that is lowered over a reef to lure an octopus. Once the octopus grabs onto the bait, the fisherman begins to pull his victim to the surface. At any point in the process, all the octopus needs to do is to simply let go. But its desire to hold on is so powerful that the victim is eventually led to it's destruction. While there are many maka-feke's that cause us to forfeit our agency, I would like to focus on four: False Traditions, Addiction, Financial Bondage, and Sin.
- Following False Traditions: Righteous traditions in a home can be powerful mechanisms to preserve family values and teach true doctrine. But false traditions can also enter our lives, often without our recognition. These false traditions can keep us from using our agency and making our own decisions. King Benjamin spoke of how the Lamanites would not accept the principles of the Gospel "because of the traditions of their fathers, which are not correct."[6] The reason for their unbelief was not intellectual or even spiritual, though these arguments were certainly put forth. The reason for their unbelief was tied to false traditions that kept them from becoming "agents unto themselves." Students who come from a home where education was not important will have to overcome that tradition. Individuals who grew-up in a community where inappropriate media is the norm, will have to work to change that norm in their own lives. President Howard W. Hunter encouraged us to: "Measure whatever anyone else asks you to do, whether it be from your family, loved ones, your cultural heritage, or traditions you have inherited-measure everything against the teaching of the Savior. Where you find a variance from those teachings, set the matter aside and do not pursue it. It will not bring you happiness."[7]
- Addiction: Another way we can limit our personal agency is by giving in to addiction. The following statement is taken from the Church resource on addiction recovery: "Some people consider addictions to be simply bad habits that can be conquered by will power alone, but many people become so dependent on a behavior or a substance that they no longer see how to abstain from it. They lose perspective and a sense of other priorities in their lives. Nothing matters more than satisfying their desperate need. When they try to abstain, they experience powerful emotional cravings. As they habitually make wrong choices, they find their ability to choose the right diminished or restricted."[8] As President Boyd K. Packer has taught: "Addiction has the capacity to disconnect the human will and nullify moral agency. It can rob one of the power to decide."[9] If anyone here is struggling under the trap of addiction, I encourage you to visit with your Bishop and use the resources the Church has provided to help restore your agency.
- Financial Bondage: We can lose our agency when be become trapped in financial bondage. President Monson has taught: "I urge you to live within your means. One cannot spend more than one earns and remain solvent. I promise you that you will then be happier than you would be if you were constantly worrying about how to make the next payment on nonessential debt."[10] In the Doctrine and Covenants we read: "Pay the debt thou hast contracted. ... Release thyself from bondage."[11] You may need to borrow for your education or for a future home. But as you enter college and later join the workforce you will be tempted to seek immediate gratification by buying things you cannot afford-both financially and spiritually. Too many borrow unnecessarily and are burdened with interest payments the rest of their lives.
Sin: Following false traditions, submitting to addiction, and becoming burdened with debt all share a misplaced perception that our natural impulses will make us happy. But, "The natural man is an enemy to God, and has been from the fall of Adam, and will be forever and ever, unless he yields to the enticing of the Holy Spirit and putteth off the natural man, and becometh a saint through the atonement of Jesus Christ the Lord. . . "[12] When we follow our natural impules in any form, we forfeit our agency and become the outgrowth of our impulses. We are not choosing our destiny, but rather, we are programmatically responding to the natural man.
Korihor tried to turn this logic on Alma when he accused the Nephites of being trapped by their obedience to the commandments of the God: "Ye say that this people is a free people. Behold I say they are in bondage."[13] Similarly, Cain mistook the murder of his brother for freedom: "And Cain gloried in that which he had done, saying: I am free."[14] We live in a world where society will tell you that following your desires will make you free and happy. But "wickedness never was happiness."[15] The Savior declares in the Doctrine and Covenants: "Wherefore, hear my voice and follow me, and you shall be a free people." The only way to preserve our agency and to truly be free is to overcome the natural man and avoid the bondage of sin.
Expand Our Agency
As we try to avoid the traps that destroy our agency, we can also take efforts to expand our ability to make good choices. I will focus on four actions: Self-Management, Focusing on What We Can Control, Listening to the Sprit, and Following the Savior.
- Self-Management. This winter I was asked to teach the Personal Management Merit Badge to my son's scout troop. In the class we discussed time management, goal setting, budgeting, and principles of self-reliance. It was after one of the classes when my son asked me, "Dad, it seems like all of these things really just help you become what you know you can be and not just let things happen to you." That was a profound statement for a 12 year old boy. Think about it, when you plan and manage your time, you are choosing how to use that scarce resource rather than just reacting to what happens around you. When you set goals, you are choosing where you want to go, rather than just taking things as they come. And when you set a budget, you are choosing how much you will spend before you become subject to the impulse purchase or frivolous expenditure. Calendars, goals, and budgets are all tools to help us expand our agency.
Focusing on What We Can Control. Many people let external determinants shape their sense of opportunity, rather than focusing on what they can control. One blessing of my life is to have worked with the Heber J. Grant program at BYU-Idaho. The more than 2000 students who participate in the program come have overcome difficult backgrounds. These students often come from broken homes. Many are first generation members of the Church. Most are first generation college students. And many have little or no financial support. But rather than focus on the challenges they face, the students focus on the opportunities they now have at BYU-Idaho. As one student told me: "Brother Gilbert, I've had some terrible things happen to me before I came here. But I could let it define me or choose to focus on where I wanted to go from here." What matters with our agency is not what we have been given, but how we choose to respond. I believe this is what President Clark means when he says the Lord works on the "frontier." Each of us has our own personal frontier-if we want to know Him, we can find Him at the limits of our abilities and efforts.
For the more mathematically minded student, another way to think about this is to consider the slope of two lines. Recall the formula for the slope of a line: y = mx + b, where m is the slope and b is the intercept. Now consider two lines. Line one has a high intercept, but very little (or no) slope. Line 2, starts with a much lower intercept, but its positive slope means that overtime the second line will cross and eventually surpass the first line. What matters in eternity is a constant upward slope. Too often, the world focuses on the intercept. But I believe God is much more interested in where we are headed than where we began.
- Listening to the Spirit. If decisions determine destiny, then I know of no more critical window in your life than where you are now. President Hales has referred to this period as the "decade of decision."[16] Indeed, in the next few years each of you will have made choices that will shape the rest of your life. This includes: whether to serve a mission, what to study, the choice of friends, who to marry, when to start a family, what career to pursue, and where to live and work after graduation. Fortunately, Heavenly Father gave us the Gift of the Holy Ghost so that we could choose between good and evil, right and wrong. Listen to the Spirit to make wise choices.
- Following the Savior: Finally, one of the surest ways to expand our agency is to choose to follow the Savior. In the parable of the rich young ruler the choice to follow the world is juxtaposed with the choice to follow the Savior. In Matthew 19 we read: "And, behold, one came and said unto him, Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life?" Christ reminds him of the commandments, to which the young ruler replies, "All these things I have kept from my youth up: what lack I yet? Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me. But when the young man heard that saying he went away sorrowful: for he had great possessions."[17] I remember when I was preparing to leave a former career and come to BYU-Idaho. We had received a clear answer that this is where the Lord wanted our family. Still, it was hard not to consider that I was only six months away from a promotion that I had spent 10 years working toward. But the Lord had something better, if only I could let go of the path I was on. All of us have something that we hold onto, even as we are obedient in so many other ways. But to truly follow the Savior, we have to choose to follow Him rather than be governed by our possessions, pride, or personal identity.
Lessons from the BYU-Idaho Experience
I learned the power personal agency can play in the lives of others when I served in a stake young men's presidency. We gave everything we had to the youth of that stake: knowing their names, investing in their lives, and serving them in every way we knew how. This is a picture of that young men's presidency taken at 2:00 in the morning as we prepared on the eve of a youth event. But there is one thing that is wrong with this picture (besides the fact that it is 2:00 in the morning). There are no youth in the room. In our desire to serve, we had excluded the youth from the very activities that would have lead to their greatest growth. Fortunately, we soon ran into an experience that would change our service forever. In planning for a youth conference, we wanted to explore how perceptions of "what is cool" can be shaped by media and popular culture. Well, try as we might, four married men working at desk jobs were not going to tell the youth "what was cool." We were forced to involve the youth in developing the themes, writing the content, and leading the discussions. Our responsibility to direct and sharpen the experience did not diminish. But the youth were engaged in a role we had never experienced. By doing less, we had allowed our youth to do more. For me this story had implications not only for my service in the stake, but as a parent, a leader, and a teacher. Preach my Gospelexplains, "While learning from a good teacher is very important, it is more important for you to have meaningful learning experiences on your own."[18]
As you reflect on your experience at BYU-Idaho I hope you will recognize how you are being given opportunities to act and take responsibility for your own growth. Consider for a moment the types of experiences you are having at BYU-Idaho. The following language comes directly from the mission statements or guiding principles of some of the programs that are so much a part of our lives at this university:
Personal Honor Responsible for Behavior Student Living Personal Accountability and Individual Responsibility Activities Program Act, Participate, Choose Heber J. Grant Program Self-Reliance and Stewardship Learning Model Act and Take Responsibility for Learning
One of the purposes of Personal Honor is to teach us to be responsible for our own behavior. Student Living helps teach personal accountability and individual responsibility in the apartment. Three of the guiding principles of the BYU-Idaho Activities program are to help students act, rather than be acted upon, participate rather than be spectators, and choose their own level of participation. The Heber J. Grant program focuses on self-reliance and stewardship over decisions and opportunities. Perhaps more clearly than any other effort, the BYU-Idaho Learning Model encourages all of us to act and take responsibility for learning by preparing and teaching one another. These initiatives were developed independently, but I do not believe that it is by chance that the principles of personal agency can be found in each of the mission statements or guiding principles of these efforts.
The Need for a Savior to Overcome the Effects of Bad Choices
As I conclude, I would like to return to the beginning of our discussion of the Council in Heaven. I mentioned earlier that one of the key doctrines of the Plan of Salvation is agency. However, the doctrine of agency had to be complemented with the doctrine of the atonement or the plan would have been incomplete. Our Heavenly Father knew that for us to grow and become like him, we would need to use our agency to act and make our own decisions. He also knew that this would also allow us to make mistakes. Regardless of the source of our sin, all of us are imperfect and fall short of the expectations of our Father. The demands of justice will not allow us to return to Him without an infinite atonement. The Savior explained this in a revelation to the prophet Joseph Smith when he said: "Therefore I command you to repent-repent, lest I smite you by the rod of my mouth, and by my wrath, and by my anger and your sufferings be sore-how sore you know not, how exquisite you know not, yea, how hard to bear you know not. For behold, I, God have suffered these things for all, that they might not suffer if they would repent; But if they would not repent they must suffer even as I."[19]
President Henry B. Eyring shared an insight that came as he pondered this passage on atonement: "First, if I could not repent to qualify for His atonement for my sins, I must suffer to the limit of my power to suffer. And, second, with all the requisite suffering of my own, with all I could bear, it would still not be enough. I would still be forever shut out. . . In that moment the penalty for taking chances with sin or with forgiveness loomed larger than I had ever imagined it could."[20] In 2 Nephi we are taught that "it is by grace we are saved, after all we can do."[21] Certainly it is so important for us to use our agency to do all we can, but we are still saved by His grace. Agency gave us the ability to grow and improve, but we can never grow into our true potential unless we choose to accept the atonement in our lives and follow the path of repentance.
In conclusion, I hope you have used our time together to reflect upon the importance of agency in the plan of salvation and in your own personal growth. I pray that we will avoid the self-entrapment of false traditions, addiction, financial bondage and sin. Moreover, I hope we will expand our agency by strengthening efforts at self-management, focusing on what we can control, listening to the Spirit and following the Savior. As we make efforts to expand our agency, each of us will be blessed with increased intellectual, professional, and spiritual growth. But I also pray we will remember the companion doctrine of the atonement and repentance. I leave my witness that it is through His atonement that we find the growth each of us will need in order to return to our Father in Heaven. I leave these things with you in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
Notes:
[1] Thomas S. Monson, "Pathways to Perfection," Ensign, May 2002
[2] D&C 93: 29-31
[3] Moses 4:1, 3
[4] D&C 29:36
[5] President Thomas S. Monson, "True to the Faith," Ensign, May 2006
[6] Mosiah 1:5
[7] Church College of New Zealand, "Counsel to Students and Faculty," 12 Nov. 1990
[8] Addiction Recovery Manuel p. v.
[9]Conference Report, October, 1989, 16
[10] President Thomas S. Monson, "True to the Faith", Ensign, May 2006
[11] D&C 19:35
[12] Mosiah 3:19
[13] Alma 30:24
[14] Moses 5:33
[15] Alma 41:10
[16] Robert D. Hales, "To the Aaronic Priesthood: Preparing for the Decade of Decision," Ensign, May 2007
[17] Matthew 19:16, 18-22
[18] Preach My Gospel, p. 17
[19] D&C 19:15-17
[20] Henry B. Eyring, "Come Unto Christ", Brigham Young University Address, October 1989
[21] 2 Nephi 25:23