From ‘Following Christ’ by Stephen E. Robinson (deceased):
Besides the external opposition of the world to the Saints, there is an internal opposition that often goes unrecognized for what it is. The carnal man within us despises our walk by faith. It is an affront and an abomination to him. The carnal self rebels and rages that he is morally blind and needs a guide, or that he is not to rule but must be in subjection. The scriptures tell us that the natural man is an enemy to God (Mosiah 3:19), and some of us don’t realize that that enemy was not totally vanquished at baptism. The natural self, the carnal man or woman, still resides within us, is still a part of our mortal test—and given its own way is still an enemy to God. Unfortunately, many of us don’t recognize this domestic enemy, this sneering would-be traitor within ourselves who responds with immediate and irrational irritation, condescension, or hostility whenever the subject of Zion comes up.
I see these little treasons, for example, in some BYU students who habitually talk about their university or about Utah in a sneering or condescending way. No matter that they may come from cities where you can’t safely walk the street at night, from high schools with the moral standards of a TV series, or from rural areas that are intellectual wastelands—some still having this sneering disrespect for “Happy Valley” and BYU. Why? Because at some level of their consciousness, they associate these things with the Church and the kingdom of God, and the not-yet-completely-vanquished carnal self within them is an enemy to God. Time and again I have seen even faithful members grow hot and hostile or sneering and contemptuous at the suggestion that they might subscribe to the Church magazines or support the Church Educational System or read a “Church book.” People pretend to themselves that this native resentment of Church cultural is rational, but it never is. It is natural, and we seldom recognize our resentment for what it is—the natural man or woman sniping from ambush within us at the cause of Zion.
Many otherwise faithful Saints who are trying to follow Christ in most ways nevertheless allow themselves the resentment and irritation of this carnal grudge against some aspect of Christ’s kingdom. In every ward there are those with a chip on their shoulder, who are not sinful or wicked or even “inactive,” but whose carnal self just resents being subjected to the Spirit, so irritation and resentment becomes their habitual and normal responses to Church leaders and programs. Their carnal self isn’t strong enough to keep them in Egypt, but it does sabotage the wagons all the way to Canaan. If we are obliged to serve God with all our heart, might, mind and strength, and to build his kingdom, can we in good faith resist, resent, or attack any part of that kingdom?~Stephen E. Robinson (deceased) Following Christ (Salt Lake City, Deseret Book, 2019) 422-24 Dwarsligger® edition (continued. . . .)
