From the returned missionary who slackens his grooming standards, to the sister who hides her talents for fear of criticism, we all have our little rebellions.
During the Steve Young era, my little rebellion was watching the 49’ers (occasionally) on Sunday. As church-going football fans know, there are two Sabbath days: the one that ends at midnight on Sunday, and the one that ends just before the game starts.
All kidding aside, holding back a portion from the Lord comes in many permutations, but such withholding is a selfish withdrawal from our own potential.
Rebellion is a Blessing Lost
Like a plaque-lined artery, our rebellion from the Lord is a spiritual coronary waiting to happen.
These rebellions lead to a hardened heart–a heart unwilling to accept a “mighty change” (Alma 5:14). Ironically, when we refuse to surrender our will, our pride, our selfishness to the Lord, we impede our ability to give even that which we are willing to give.
I saw a striking example of this with a man we’ll call Fred. A weekend stock-car racer, Fred lived for the thrill of the finish line. Along the way, he became an expert procrastinator and master of excuses. “I’ll quit the racing-circuit when…” “I’ll accept a church calling if…” “I’ll take my family through the temple as soon as…”
On the third turn of a Sunday-night race, Fred was called home in his mid-forties. He had crossed mortality’s finish line, not someday, but now. The price of his withheld portion was a blessing forever lost. His willingness to change his ways at some elusive future date was stifled by his unwillingness to please God today.
Commitment
Consider my closet Mormon friend. He attends church faithfully, yet he refuses church membership. By his own admission, he welcomes social camaraderie but shuns full commitment.
Pleasing God rather than mammon is the test of discipleship. Some refuse their birthright in exchange for “bread and pottage of lentiles” (Gen. 25:33-34). Others “procrastinate the day of (their) repentance” (Alma 34:33) in diversion.
People who decry commitment to God are often fanatical in their commitment to the natural man. Committed to themselves, they are impotent to commit to a higher, nobler cause.
Commitment can be a daunting thing, especially for new members of the Church. After all, membership in anything worthwhile demands loyalty and time.
In the gospel of Jesus Christ, sustained commitment also requires faith. Faith fuels commitment even when intellect questions the math of duty and service.
What is your “little rebellion”?
The Master declared: “For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also” (Matt. 6:21). But even people of faith can lose focus now and then.
For this reason, the Lord is as concerned about the desires of our heart as with the outward manifestation of our little rebellions. In other words, our rebellions flower in a hundred ways but stem from the same toxic root.
For example, the person who consistently refuses church callings has much in common with the football Sabbath breaker. The lazy scripture reader suffers from the same lethargy as the casual home teacher. Selfishness is contagious.
Full price
From teenagers rebelling against their better angels, to adults whose pride is an iron anchor unwilling to budge, the cure for our little rebellions is Jesus Christ; not Christ in the ethereal, unapproachable sense, but Jesus in the genuine-friend sense.
Until our clenched fist yields to the Master’s hand, we cannot walk hand in hand with Him.
When we pay the full price discipleship demands, including the surrender of our will to the Lord, we gain the very thing we so jealously withheld: our true self-worth. As Elder Maxwell taught, “It is the only surrender which is also a victory!” (Neal A. Maxwell, “Plow in Hope,” Ensign, May, 2001, 59).
