Progression is a Process – Choice and Accountability

Although Who's Packing Your Parachute was posted in December it was really a catch up post for November. December's post is below.

One of the Young Women Values – Choice and Accountability – has sparked my interest. When embracing this value young women of the Church promise:

I will choose good over evil, and will accept responsibility for my actions.

Such a commitment requires long-term dedication to the gospel and the Great Plan of the Eternal God (GPEG – Alma 34:9). Learning to choose good over evil is a lifelong process. Knowledge is the key to right choices. We cannot make good choices if, because of lack of knowledge, we cannot recognize a good choice. I have used the following quote from Mary Wollstonecraft before, but it seems appropriate here:

No man [or woman] chooses evil because it is evil. He [or she] only mistakes it for good; the happiness he [she] seeks.

Mistaking evil for good is the result of a lack of eternal knowledge concerning good and bad choices. Among other things, learning to differentiate between good and evil is why we are here in mortality.  During the April 19,^.2015 Music and the Spoken Word program Lloyd Newell said this:

…progression is a process, and we resist putting undue pressure and unrealistic expectations on others—or on ourselves—knowing that it will only hinder growth and create frustration.

It is a great comfort to me to know that the Lord does not expect me to become perfect in one fell swoop. He knows that I will not always make the best choices. Rather, He hopes that we will begin at the age of accountability (or whenever we become converted to the gospel), when our accountability is very small, based on our simple knowledge of the gospel. We begin to travel the return path to our eternal Father by acquiring knowledge, spirituality, and testimony. Doing so increases our accountability slowly and at a pace that we can accommodate. As our knowledge increases, so does our understanding of what we must do to progress. Elder Neal A. Maxwell, in his book, Men and Women of Christ, said this;

Paced progress not only is acceptable to the Lord but also is recommended by Him. Divine declarations say: "Ye are little children and ye cannot bear all things now" (D&C 50:40); "I will lead you along" (D&C 78:18). Just as divine disclosure usually occurs line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little and there a little, so likewise we will achieve our spiritual progress gradually (see D&C 128:21; 98:12).

In my mind, accountability is a very complex doctrine. It seems obvious that a child of eight cannot be held accountable for the doctrine of the new and everlasting covenant of eternal marriage. Nor would the Lord hold a new convert accountable for that most complex and beautiful doctrine, because a convert’s “age of accountability” begins with their baptismal date. But those of us who have received the eternal gift of endowment and accepted the very solemn covenants we made in the temple will be held responsible for our actions with regard to these sacred things.

Accordingly, as we grow in knowledge we grow in accountability, faith, and understanding. But rather than accountability (properly understood) becoming a burden, broader and deeper knowledge of the path to salvation propels us along the path to the celestial kingdom with less and less deviation and more and more resolve.

As we grow in accountability, we grow more able to shoulder the burdens of this life and we gain in understanding of the joys of mortality and the world to come. But it is equally true that we will not be held accountable for those things we have never been taught, or did not understand – if we truly had no opportunity to receive them. There are myriad nuances that must be considered as part of this doctrine. Luckily for me and you, the Lord will be the judge of circumstances and opportunities as they apply to our eternal progress and accountability.

It seems to me that accountability is a gift rather than a burden. We are counseled to study, ponder, and pray about the scriptures and the doctrines of the gospel. As we do so, we gain eternal knowledge and truth. What follows defines for me four steps to the freedom that the Savior talked about. As we gain knowledge, our accountability increases. As our accountability increases, so does our ability to live our lives in a way that pleases the Lord. As we please the Lord and use the knowledge we acquire, our agency increases. The key to agency is knowledge and accountability – the more knowledge we have, the more agency we have. Choices are limited when knowledge is limited. When we have knowledge, we have the ability to make good choices based on eternal truth rather than our own mortal and flawed reasoning. Then we gain the freedom that the Lord spoke of in John 8:32, when he said:

And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.

That’s why I see accountability as a gift without which we could not obtain what we seek eternally. I see the sequence leading to becoming free as follows: Knowledge, accountability, agency, and choice, which leads to true freedom. As a matter of fact, all of these are gifts bestowed upon us by our Father-in-Heaven; gifts which properly used will lead us back to His presence.

But as we grow in knowledge, we learn that constantly seeking knowledge and understanding and constantly growing in righteousness and love for the Lord are responsibilities distinctly defined and identified by the GPEG.

If we let it, knowledge can become a burden that exerts pressure on our souls and stultifies our ability to gain further light and knowledge. We find that we cannot raise our heads to look up at the eternities, or even to look for the comfort that comes from true knowledge of the joy and happiness that comes from the gospel.

This is another of Satan’s counterfeits: “It’s too much. You can’t do it. You will never live the gospel adequately. You are weak and wicked. You might as well quit now. Give it up and just enjoy life.” Satan whispers to us daily of these things, but a true understanding of our accountability and the great gift that it is brings eternal joy rather than the despair that the adversary would have us feel.

Knowledge and agency without accountability is anarchy and  chaos. It would be impossible to achieve perfection without accountability. Knowledge and accountability give us the ability to choose and to repent. The adversary would have us believe that we need not be accountable for our actions. Anarchy and chaos are exactly what he seeks. But without accountability and agency, there is no progress.  In 2 Nephi 31:20, we read:

Wherefore, ye must press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope, and a love of God and of all men. Wherefore, if ye shall press forward, feasting upon the word of Christ, and endure to the end, behold, thus saith the Father: Ye shall have eternal life.

Eternal life in the celestial kingdom is “the good, the happiness we seek.” As we gain in knowledge by pressing forward, seeking further light and knowledge, we will prepare ourselves to hear the Lord say, at the judgment day, as he is quoted in Matthew 25:21:

Well done, thou good and faithful servant.: Thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy Lord.

True eternal knowledge, together with service and charity, is the key to this joyful approbation being pronounced upon our heads at the last day.

So at this Christmas season, let us be grateful for the gifts of knowledge, accountability, agency, and choice that God the Father has so graciously bestowed upon us, which leads to the fifth gift of the true freedom of which the Savior spoke.