Pride and Rebellion Against God

From last week...

What I've been pondering most about last weeks reading is from 4 N 1:20... there began to be Lamanites.

Divisiveness is a result of unrighteousness. The following commentary suggests that pride is the beginning of all such divisions and the reason that some individuals “revolted from the church” and took upon themselves the name Lamanites (4 Nephi 1:20).
“Why would it matter to a people what they were called? Why would it be so important for them to be called Lamanites? Why would a group choose to forsake the transcendent privileges of unity in order to be designated by this or that name?
The answer is simple: pride. A desire to be different. A yearning to be acknowledged. A fear of being overlooked. A craving for public notice.
The righteous feel no need for attention, no desire to be praised, no inclination to demand recognition.
The prideful demand their rights, even when they are wrong. The prideful feel that they must do things their way, even when that way is the wrong way. The prideful insist that they must pursue their own path, even when the road they take is wide and broad and leads to destruction” (Joseph Fielding McConkie, Robert L. Millet, and Brent L. Top, Doctrinal Commentary on the Book of Mormon, 4 vols. [1987–92], 4:204–5).

I've thought about this in my own life, as I label myself a Mormon. 

Of course I'm not revolting from anything or creating a separation from the gospel of Jesus Christ, but I wonder if others look at us and think that we are.  Is that label so important?  Is it so important to separate ourselves from other followers of Jesus Christ?

Labels are of course good, and create clarity and organization, which I think is the intention of labeling myself a Mormon... or anyone stating which faith they belong to... or don't belong to.

We see, though, that the caution is in the pride factor, which can change everything.  If for any reason that label begins to bring about an air of entitlement, or a craving for recognition, or an 'I'm better than you' attitude we've slipped into the pit of pride.  Just something to watch for.  Where is your heart?

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And, I love this thought regarding the willful rebellion against God (Mormon 1:16)... do we see this today?  Yep!

Remember Mormon’s description of those who turned away from the true path in his day. They did not sin in ignorance. They willfully rebelled against God. It did not occur as a universal movement. It began as individual members of the Church knowingly began to make compromises with the Lord’s standard. They sought justification for their diversions in the knowledge that others were compromising as well. Those who willfully sin soon seek to establish a standard of their own with which they can feel more comfortable and which justifies their misconduct. They also seek the association of those who are willing to drift with them along this path of self-delusion.

“As the number of drifting individuals increases, their influence becomes more powerful. It might be described as the ‘great and spacious building syndrome.’ The drifting is the more dangerous when its adherents continue to overtly identify with and participate with the group that conforms to the Lord’s way. Values and standards that were once clear become clouded and uncertain. The norm of behavior begins to reflect this beclouding of true principles. Conduct that would once have caused revulsion and alarm now becomes somewhat commonplace” (“Likening the Scriptures unto Us,” in Monte S. Nyman and Charles D. Tate Jr., eds., Alma, the Testimony of the Word [1992], 8).