On one recent occasion, while I was pondering my freedom as it relates to how I live my faith, I was struck by the connection between freedom and service. Forgive me if this seems to be an over-generalization, but the thought crossed my mind that human beings have always lived at some degree in the following spectrum:
BONDAGE <—-> INDEPENDENCE <—-> SERVICE
Latter-day Saints young and old alike are often reminded of the Lord’s commandment to serve their fellow brothers and sisters as they read the words of King Benjamin:
“And behold, I tell you these things that ye may learn wisdom; that ye may learn that when ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God.”
In addition, priesthood holders have been counseled countless times to magnify our callings and render service to all those in need. As we apply these scriptures to our own lives, in our own day, we can be grateful that we live in a country where we are free to serve our fellow beings according to our own willingness and desires.
We are free to decide when, where, and whom to serve. But this has not been the case for many of our ancestors or even our neighbors in other nations today, and we need to ensure that our freedom to serve is never taken away by an unrighteous and controlling government in our own country.
An examination of the spectrum shown above can help us to understand the importance of freedom in relation to our ability to give service to others.
On one side of the spectrum is bondage, or slavery. Those in bondage are servants, yes, but not of their own free will. This is Satan’s plan – to force God’s children to act according to their master’s wishes – and government force is often employed in this plan. Central planners become tyrants as they dictate employment, salary, property, and life. As agency is destroyed, so is accountability, and Heavenly Father’s plan along with it. At the root of bondage is dependence, for a slave has no means whereby he or she can sustain life independently. Ezra Taft Benson spoke out against this dependence in a 1958 General Conference address:
“It is high time we awakened to the dangers of excessive government in business and in agriculture. It is time we realized the perils of too great a centralization of power, and too much dependence on public agencies.”
Our forefathers fought against this dependence – this bondage – and won their freedom through the shedding of blood. Their fight against tyranny was a righteous fight and was key in the Lord’s plan to set up his church on the American continent. The Lord knew that only in a land of independence could his children be free to do His will. But even in a state of independence, the Lord’s commandments could still be ignored. He warned all those who have lived and will ever live on the American continent that their freedom would be taken away if they failed to serve their fellow men:
“Behold, this is a choice land, and whatsoever nation shall possess it shall be free from bondage, and from captivity, and from all other nations under heaven, if they will but serve the God of the land, who is Jesus Christ, who hath been manifested by the things which we have written.”
Those in a state of independence are not forced to serve, and unfortunately many make the choice not to serve. They fail to use their talents and their freedom to benefit others. Perhaps this is also a generalization, but I find that many self-avowed “capitalists” and “objectivists” may fall into this category – this is selfish independence, where “me” and “I” are the only people who are cared for. Perhaps there is a short-lived time and place for this state of being, but it is certainly not the Lord’s way, and we have been cautioned not to fall into this trap where we fail to take advantage of our freedom.
The Lord has commanded us not to bury our talents but to multiply them. We cannot multiply our talents by ourselves, so we must mix them with the resources that God has given us and with the talents of our fellow brothers and sisters in order to create an increase. Thus, the necessity of service.
Those in a state of service have made the choice to give of themselves to benefit others. They have acknowledged the talents that Heavenly Father has given them and they have put their talents to work in order to gain a return, either in this life or in the life to come. They glorify God by serving His children. President David O. McKay spoke in defense of Christ-like service in a 1960 address to students at Brigham Young University:
“The most worthy calling in life, therefore, is that in which man can serve best his fellow man. It is not preaching; it is not teaching; it is not medicine; it is not engineering, nor any other vocation common among men. Each of these, though offering opportunities for service, may be followed by men actuated by the most selfish, the most sordid motives. The noblest aim in life is to strive to live to make other lives better and happier.”
Perhaps we should all examine the state in which we currently rest, and ask ourselves how we can do better. Those of us in this country have been blessed with freedom from masters and tyrants – and we should take full advantage of that independence to act upon King Benjamin’s exhortations. We should support free markets, which allow Christ-like service to cross borders without government interference. We should befriend the constitutional law of the land which protects our right to make these good decisions, because if we fail to serve according to our own free will then we will be forced to serve by tyrants. It is my hope that we can defend the cause of Christians, as spoken of in Alma 48:
“And thus he was preparing to support their liberty, their lands, their wives, and their children, and their peace, and that they might live unto the Lord their God, and that they might maintain that which was called by their enemies the cause of Christians.”
Defend your independence, and defend your ability to serve God and your fellow man.
