Agency

Freedom

Many of us have seen the old seminary video called, “Acting for Ourselves.” It describes what agency & freedom really are but sometimes we need a little reminder.   Without going thru the complete video and with a little reinforcement from Tad R. Callister’s book, The Infinite  Atonement,  here’s how the audio of the video begins:

(A young man just got home from school).  “Mom, why can’t I go?  “Mike you know our rules.”  “So?” Mike says.  “So why do you keep asking me?” His mom replies.  The teenager then stomps off angry to his room.  “This is not a home!”  He yells, “It’s more like a prison,” he says, throwing his school books on the floor.  “Whatever happened to free agency?   This is so stupid, what a joke!  These stupid rules take away my free agency.  I never have any choices!”  Then he throws his coat at the wall.

After which his alter ego, in the image of himself, a twin, says, “No thanks, you can keep it,” throwing his coat back at him.

Then his alter ego speaks:  “They treat us like babies, right?  We never have any choices, right?”  Then Mike looks puzzled and says, “Where did you get my clothes?  How come you’ve got my face?”

The alter ego responds, “We’re us.  Me, myself.  Only you don’t listen half as much as you should.”  “What?” Mike says.  “My point exactly.” remarks his alter ego.  “Want an example?”  Think of Seminary class last Thursday.  We were both there but only one of us was listening.

“I was listening,” says Mike.  “What did we talk about?” says his alter ego.  “The same thing we always talk about,” responds Mike.  “And what was that?” Ego says.  “Ah…religion!” remarks Mike.  “You’re kidding, right?  Work with me here.   Can you be a little more specific?”

“Ah…The Church,” says Mike.  “Wrong…Thanks for playing.  Try freedom and agency,” says Ego.

“That’s it, see, I got it,” responds Mike.  Ego replies, “No, you missed it.  I got it.  Remember what Brother Hansen said?  Free agency is not a scriptural term.  There is freedom and there is agency.  They are not the same.”

“Look, let’s try this again, both of us this time.  Let me show you something,” Ego instructs.  Remember this chart Brother Hansen drew?  We’ve got agency and it branches out into two parts, freedom and captivity.  Does this look familiar?”

“Yeah,” Mike says, “So?”  “So, we have agency to make right and wrong choices.  Right choices lead to freedom, wrong choices lead to captivity,” replies Ego. 

“Excuse me!” says Mike.  But in the real world, agency is the freedom to do whatever I want.  Being restricted by a rule, that’s captivity.”

Ego remarks, “Looks like we are going to have to start from the beginning. There are four things you need In order to have agency.   First, we must have the power to choose.  Controlling our destiny, that’s where the power to choose comes in.  This power is given to us from God.

Have you noticed how difficult it is to make a decision when you don’t have the power to choose?  Without the power to choose the chart would look like this.  If our only choice was to do good, how could we do anything else?” Ego goes on.  “Without the power to choose we couldn’t do anything.  We were talking about the importance of having choices.  Opposition provides us these choices.  On the one side we can choose good on the other we can choose bad.

Righteousness, versus wickedness, holiness, versus misery.  These opposites, pulling us in different directions, provide us with the choices we can make in this life.  That’s why we need the second thing in order to have agency, that is, opposition in all things.

We’ve always wanted to drive that dream car, that’s pictured on the wall right?”  Ego continues.  “Right, so?” Mike comments. “So let’s do it,” says Ego.  Suddenly they are in their dream car next to a motorcycle policeman standing next to a speed limit sign.  Mike says, “I’m in my dream car and I’m supposed to drive 55 MPH?” 

Ego says, “Rules are stupid, right?  They are too restrictive and you wish there weren’t any, right?”  “Right!” Mike echoes.   “Then let’s try it with no rules.”  The policeman and speed sign disappear.  Mike happily runs up the engine & takes off quickly down the road, screaming with joy.  They have not gotten far when a person driving a large semi truck pulls right into their lane for a head on collision.  Suddenly the dream car sequence is over and Mike says, “Did you see that?  That guy could have killed us!!” 

Ego remarks, “What did the truck driver do wrong?”  “He was in my lane!” says Mike.  “There’s a point you missed,” responds Ego.  “If there is not a law, which is what you wanted, then what rule did the truck driver break?”  “…None,” says Mike, suddenly astonished & finally admitting it, “but he was in my lane.”

“Were you in the correct lane? Ego counters.  “Yes!” says Mike.  Ego counters again, “And how do you know that?”  “Because the law…” Mike says.  “You got it says Ego.  Laws designate, what is right and what is wrong.”

Let’s see how this fits in with God’s laws.  If God didn’t have any laws could you obey them?”  “No,” remarks Mike.  “Could you disobey them?” Ego asks.  “I guess not,” says Mike.  Well, if you couldn’t obey or disobey his laws, the question is, how are you going to follow Christ, if he doesn’t have the right way?

Mike remarks, “How come I never thought of this before?  I never thought laws guided us, I always thought they restricted us.”  Ego replies, “Laws are the third thing we need in order have agency.  Laws designate which choice is right and which choice is wrong.

(From here we will state the fourth thing we need in order to have agency is the knowledge of good and evil as given to us from righteous parents, Church leaders, the scriptures, prayer and the Spirit.  We diverge from the video dialog to the words of Tad R. Callister and his book, The Infinite Atonement and quote beginning on page 257:

“Some might contend that freedom comes when there are no laws or restraints.  They contend that freedom in its purest form is the right to do anything, anytime, anywhere, without consequence.

About twenty-five hundred years ago Nephi prophesied of those misguided souls who would teach, ‘Eat drink and be merry, for tomorrow we die; and it shall be well with us’ (2^nd Nephi 28:7).  Does it not seem ironic that such a philosophy is authored by the master slave himself?

It was he who was cast out of heaven, who was deprived of a body, who will be bound a thousand years and who will ultimately be banished to outer darkness.  The freedom he promises is illusory, it is a mirage on the desert, it is the very condition that has always eluded his grasp….

Commandments are no more restrictive to the spiritual man than street signs are to the motorist.  Neither prohibits our progress; to the contrary, they enhance it by serving as guideposts or directional signs to help us find and reach our destination….

…Freedom requires a knowledge of good and evil, the availability of choices and the power to execute or carry them out.  Each of these is enhanced by obedience to God’s will.

Obedience is one of the prime keys that unlock the power of godhood, bringing freedom to its fullest and grandest measure.  Obedience is not an enemy of freedom; to the contrary, it is freedom’s best friend.  Brigham Young taught, ‘The difference between the righteous and the sinner, eternal life or death, happiness or misery, is this, to those who are exalted, there are no bounds or limits to their privileges.’  Now that is freedom!”