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| The Principle of Free Agency |
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30. 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 (DC 93:30, italics added). Free Agency is part of the definition of eternal reality. There is no reason for man on earth, there is no reason for any higher organized existence, without Free Agency. Why? We might never know but for the Book of Mormon. No other scripture is so clear on the nature of Free Agency. Samuel the Lamanite reminded the Nephites of their Agency: 30. And now remember, remember, my brethren, that whosoever perisheth, perisheth unto himself; and whosoever doeth iniquity, doeth it unto himself; for behold, ye are free; ye are permitted to act for yourselves; for behold, God hath given unto you a knowledge and he hath made you free (Helaman 14:30). Samuel recalls for them their personal responsibility for their actions. The agency is to each of them, and any condemnation is brought willfully upon their own heads. Samuel highlights two key aspects of Free Agency; first, that God has given them knowledge, and second, that they are free to act upon that knowledge. Alma explains that these two aspects of Free Agency were the direct results of the Fall: 31. Wherefore, he gave commandments unto men, they having first transgressed the first commandments as to things which were temporal, and becoming as Gods, knowing good from evil, placing themselves in a state to act, or being placed in a state to act according to their wills and pleasures, whether to do evil or to do good... (Alma 13:31). The ability to exercise Free Agency, the ability to act, is a direct result of the choice made in the Garden to eat of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. It is only as a result of our ability to recognize those two polar opposites that we are placed in a position to freely act upon that knowledge. Significantly, it is this very fact of being able to act upon the knowledge of Good and Evil which makes us as the gods. Lehi's exposition of this principle of opposition in Free Agency is one of the most important and enlightening passages in all scripture: 11. For it must needs be, that there is an opposition in all things. If not so, my first-born in the wilderness, righteousness could not be brought to pass, neither wickedness, neither holiness nor misery, neither good nor bad.. (2 Nephi 2:11). Even Lehi's explanation is full of oppositions. Notice that not only could righteousness not be brought to pass, but wickedness would also be impossible. The theme of paired opposites continues as he matches holiness and misery, good and bad. Lehi does not stop at saying that good things result from the principle of opposition, he says that without it nothing happens! Lehi later discusses the "future" Adam and Eve would have faced in the Garden had they not partaken of the fruit: 23. ... they would have remained in a state of innocence, having no joy, for they knew no misery; doing no good, for the knew no sin. 24. But behold, all things have been done in the wisdom of him who knoweth all things. 25. Adam fell that men might be; and men are, that they might have joy (2 Nephi 2:23-25). In the context of man's Agency, as well as our earlier discussion of the meaning of "joy", verse 25 takes on even more meaning. It might be rephrased "Adam fell that men might be (for otherwise there was no purpose in his creation (2 Nephi 2:12)); and men are that they might have eternal exaltation to godhood". In that path to godhood, Free Agency is the key underlying principle. Why does Lehi suggest that without the principle of opposition nothing would happen? He clarifies that very point: 16. Wherefore, the Lord God gave unto man that he should act for himself. Wherefore, man could not act for himself save it should be that he was enticed by the one or the other (2 Nephi 2:16). The principle of opposition underscores the essential ineffectuality of Lucifer's proposal before the Council in Heaven. Lucifer would have eliminated the principle of opposition. How much free will do we exercise when we follow the only course available? In Lehi's terms, it is as if we were not acting at all. When we do only the single option before us, we do not truly act for ourselves. Notice that in all of the scriptures which describe Free Agency, the operative word is always act. It also does us no good to have Agency, if we do not act upon that agency. Free Agency is the underpinning principle which allows us to progress. It requires three things: that we be given the freedom to act, that we have real options to act upon, and that we act. Merely being upon the earth is no guarantee that we will fulfill our part of the equation, even though the conditions of freedom to act and knowledge of good and evil have been given to us. Those are enabling conditions. We must enact them. The best way to envision the way in which our acting aids our progression is to look at what we must do when we act. In addition to highlighting our responsibility to act, all of the scriptures dealing with Free Agency point out that we must deal with opposites. It is not the presence of opposition that matters, but that we make a choice between the opposites presented us. The ways in which we make choices directly determines how effectively we are using our Agency to work out our exaltation. There are two types of choices we make on a daily basis; passive choices and active choices. Passive choices are those which require very little of us. While we may act, there is frequently little volition in our acting. For instance, while my children were very young, their attendance at church was to them a passive choice. Mother and Father made sure they were dressed, gathered the troops and hauled them off to church. There was really very little they could say about it. While they had admirable attendance records, that does not really mean that they were making the choice to attend. In a similar vein, there are other choices which are fairly well made for us. Students may select certain classes, but will find that someone else has a say in what the requirements for that class will be. We always find ourselves in situations where other circumstances dictate or limit our real choices. Passive choices are also those which are the result of habit. I may make some small choice when I brush my teeth in the morning, but it is mostly the result of my habitual morning routine. Returning to the example of my children attending church, I suspect that there are many times when I arrive at the Chapel door purely from habit. Of course I made a choice to create the habit somewhere in the past, and I frequently am conscious of my desire to attend, but there is still the force of habit in my worship. There is the force of habit which sends my family to the same pew on the same side of the aisle. We have been sitting there for at least ten years. That is so much a part of our habits that sometimes I actually feel irritated if some visitor comes and sits in our seats before we get there. I have secretly wished to reinstate the old New England tradition which would place labels on the pews so everyone knew which was whose. Habit. There is no conscious part of me that would think that any of this is right, only that it is what I am accustomed to do. Passive choices are still choices, but they are automatic. They may be good habits. Surely all of the dentists and dental hygienists in the world would applaud my passive choice to brush my teeth (while holding out the expectation that I will get a similarly entrenched habit to floss), but I can't say that there is much moral virtue in my choice. It is a good habit. Passive choices may also be clearly bad. Peer pressure may push us into a situation we would never put ourselves in otherwise. Whenever we do anything because we are blindly following another's lead, we are making a passive choice. Any time we take the easy way out, without examination, we are making a passive choice, whether the action itself be good or bad. Lucifer's plan would have placed us in a situation where all of our choices would have been passive. Our capacity to progress towards godhood increases as we make correct active choices. Let me illustrate with an example of the interaction of two people with the Word of Wisdom. I am the first example. I grew up in the church, and the Word of Wisdom was taught from my infancy. I suppose I have had to resolve to continue living the Word of Wisdom, but my early training made that choice close to passive. I can't stand the smell of smoke. I worked in a carry-out store as a teenager, and couldn't stand the smell of alcohol when I had to mop up a bottle which had toppled from the shelves. All of my training led me to the correct choice to live the Word of Wisdom, but my compliance has required very little struggle. I am sure my adherence is of benefit to me, but in other people, I have seen the Word of Wisdom work miracles. When I was on my mission in Spain I was transferred into an area where the previous Elders had just found a golden contact. Brother Linares was enthusiastic, intelligent, and everything you could ever want in an investigator. It was especially exciting because at that time, good investigators were very few and far between in Spain. Brother Linares was the best I had encountered. After a few discussions where he drank in the Spirit, I told him that he should probably quit smoking and drinking because during our discussion the next week I was going to require it of him. He was aghast. He told me that he had to smoke, and he had to drink, just a little. A Doctor had told him that he needed to smoke to relax him, and to have a single shot of whiskey on a daily basis as a tonic for his heart (my estimation for a certain Spanish doctor was pretty low at this point). Here was my best investigator of my entire mission telling me a doctor was requiring that he smoke and drink! Brother Linares firmly believed that it was in his personal best interest to keep up with these prescribed "remedies". I informed Brother Linares that a more knowledgeable "doctor" had given us the commandment, and I was nevertheless going to require his obedience to the commandment at our next meeting. I suggested that he start practicing. I approached the discussion that next week with great trepidation. As we got to the point where we were to commit him to live the Word of Wisdom, I asked him how it was going. He told me that he had prayed and received his answer. He had already begun living the Word of Wisdom. The changes in his spiritual character after making that serious active commitment to the gospel were glorious to behold. My own experience with the Word of Wisdom pales beside the spiritual strength he derived from that experience. I am convinced that the reason that we are told that the Word of Wisdom is "adapted to the capacity of the weak and the weakest of all saints, who are or can be called saints" (DC 89:3) is that it is a tangible point upon which we can make a clear choice. While many who join the church find complying with the Word of Wisdom a difficult thing to do, it is nevertheless a question to which there is a definite answer. When asked if I am living the Word of Wisdom, I know what that means, and I can answer unequivocally. I do not have so ready an answer when I must answer if I love my neighbor. When anyone comes up against the Word of Wisdom, they must make a choice. For some, it is nearly passive, and the Lord will bless them for their obedience. For many, however, living the Word of Wisdom is a hard, active choice. For those who make the active choice, the spiritual rewards are significantly greater than for those who make the passive choice. The difference is not that the obedience differs, but that the personal exercise of agency has required more of the individual. We all make choices. We make good ones, we make bad ones. We make passive ones, we make active ones. To the degree that we learn to make correct active choices, we learn the attributes of divinity, and we begin to make the changes in our soul which are required if we are ever to become as God is. One of the biggest problems we face in this process of active decision making is that it is much harder to act for ourselves than it is to have someone else make decisions for us. Even within the church we seem to spend an inordinate amount of time begging Lucifer's plan to come back. I no longer remember where I heard this story, but it is my favorite example of how we frequently attempt to abdicate our Free Agency. As I remember the story, the editor of the church magazine (then the Improvement Era) came to President David O. MacKay with a problem and asked his help. The editor said something like "we have two photographs that can be used for the cover of one of our editions. They are for the issue that focuses on Hawaii, and they were both shot during a luau at night. Now one of these is clearly the better artistically, but the other is also good. The problem is that with the better of the two, off in the shadows, is sort of appears that there may be some women who are topless." "Now it is isn't true," he was quick to add, "and if you look carefully you can see that it isn't true, but it just kind of looks that way on a quick glance. We were wondering which of the photos we should use for the cover". President MacKay just looked at him for a few minutes, then said, "You had to ask?" Anyone who has ever been involved in a Ward organization knows how often the membership asks similar questions. "How do you want me to run this program?" "What is the church policy on such and such (when there is no church policy)." The recent efforts of the Church to make teaching manuals into brief outlines with references is an effort to allow for the individuality and personal inspiration of all teachers. In the "good old days", when lesson manuals were much more complete, I remember being called into the office of the Branch President of one of the BYU branches. We had two Elder's quorums and I was teaching one of them. A couple of the brethren had complained that I didn't use all of the examples from the manual like the other teacher did, and they felt they weren't getting the proper message. I was admonished to follow the manual more strictly. It did not matter that it was a simple matter for them to read the references they were missing, but there was no way to "read" the discussions we had during class. Church members are not immune from the most insidious aspects of Satan's desire to keep us from our eternal destiny. It is true that temptation to sin is one of his strong suits, but I suggest that an even more subtle but powerful tool is the temptation to abdicate our agency by making passive decisions. Having someone else make all of our decisions for us, even if they are all righteous, cannot exalt us. It could not do it when Lucifer presented it as a plan, and it cannot do it now. We are exalted to the degree we make righteous active choices. There may be some who feel that the only way to demonstrate an active choice is to make a different one. A teenager might feel that the only way to demonstrate agency is to not attend church. This is a facile intellectual trap. Of course any form of rebellion shows the independence of the rebel, but making active choices which do not follow the will of God actively lead us in another direction. Active choices of evil will bring us down faster than passive choices of evil. Agency is important, and active agency is the best way to move, but we progress only when we actively choose the right. It is entirely possible to make an active choice to obey God. That choice can be made by any individual, even if many others are making that choice. There are those who fear blind obedience to authority, and with good reason. As a general case, blind obedience (clearly a passive choice) has been at the root of many terrible occasions in the history of mankind. Faithful obedience need not be blind. It is our obligation to follow the precepts of the gospel, to faithfully follow our righteous leaders, but it is our obligation to do so with eyes open, and to actively understand our options, and choose that path. Many Mormons hit a level of comfort in their church activity. They attend church on a regular basis, and meet normal obligations. Of course this is good, but it can also become another set of fairly passive choices. The scriptures clearly point out that we cannot be exalted if we merely follow the crowd, even if it is a good crowd. 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 no-wise 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 (DC 58:26-29). Read verse 26 carefully. The Lord is extremely clear that we are to act on principles of righteousness even when there is no "commandment" to do so. In the example I used earlier of the editor with the photographs, the power was in him to make the correct decision, and yet he went looking for a "commandment". Now notice the consequence of merely following commandments; "wherefore he receiveth no reward". What is the reward? God speaks only of one reward and that is eternal life and exaltation. To quickly paraphrase verse 26, if you do more than follow commandments, you cannot be exalted to be as God. As verse 27 emphasizes, we must be anxiously engaged in doing good. Doesn't anxiously engaged sound suspiciously like actively choose? The scariest verse in all of the scriptures is found in Luke. What frightens me most is that in this verse Christ is talking to his apostles. 5. And the apostles said unto the Lord, Increase our faith. 6. And the Lord said, If ye had faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye might say unto this sycamine tree, Be thou plucked up by the root, and be thou planted in the sea; and it should obey you. 7. But which of you, having a servant plowing or feeding cattle, will say unto him by and by, when he is come from the field, Go and sit down to meat? 8. And will not rather say unto him, Make ready wherewith I may sup, and gird thyself, and serve me, till I have eaten and drunken; and afterward thou shalt eat and drink? 9. doth he thank that servant because he did the things that were commanded him? I trow not. 10. So likewise ye, when ye shall have done all those things which are commanded you, say, We are unprofitable servants: we have done that which was our duty to do (Luke 17:5-10). It is the last verse that devastates me. How am I to be more than the apostles, who were calling themselves unprofitable servants. Fortunately, the context of the verse is positive, the Lord is responding to their request that he increase their faith. When the Lord responds to that request, he does so by letting them know that they have a long way to go. If their faith were as a mustard seed, they could perform miracles. Of course, this was from the Savior, who had performed miracles. Christ is pointing the way that the apostles could increase their faith from what it was at that time, to the level that Christ had attained. He instructs them in how to increase their faith by telling them a parable of a master and a servant, using normal human behavior to point out an eternal principle. That principle is expressed in verse 10. The key to expanding their faith is in doing more than is commanded. When I discuss the nature of faith, we'll find out why the exercise of our Free Agency might develop the kind of faith of which Christ speaks, but for now the issue is that this principle of Free Agency requires our active, free participation in the work of righteousness. When we wait for "commandments", or to be told what we should do, we abdicate our free agency for a time. To the degree that we make passive choices, even when the passive choice is to follow the gospel, we effectively slow down our individual progression. |
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| by Brant Gardner. Copyright 1998 |
What is so important
about Free Agency that a war would be fought in heaven over it, and an entire world be created in which to exercise
it? Lehi tells his son Jacob that without Free Agency "there would have been no purpose in [man's] creation"
(2 Nephi 2:12). The Doctrine and Covenants tells us that:
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