"...little evils do the most injury to the Church" (TPJS, p. 258). Why does Joseph Smith say that?
We each get to a point in our spiritual progression where we are neither engaged in heinous, grievous sin, nor are we conversing with angels on a daily basis. This middle-of-the-road state is probably where most of us are. What keeps people from progressing beyond this state? Little sins, pet sins, the ones we don't want to part with.
Most of us want to kill off the plant of sin one branch at a time, hoping to enjoy the others before we get rid of them (which we all plan on doing "later.") But we are not commanded to keep some sins and repent of others. We are commanded to repent of all sin (see Alma 22:16, Morm. 7:5, Moro. 6:2, 3Ne. 30:2, Hel. 14:13, D&C 42:77, 49:26, 54:3, 117:4, etc.). Selective repentance is not what we are called to engage in. Total repentance is what we are asked to do.
Think of the sacrament prayers. We don't really promise to keep the commandments; rather, we "witness" (show, demonstrate) that we are merely "willing" to keep all the commandments all the time. We may be far from the finish line, but we pledge through that ordinance that the prow of our ship is pointed in the right direction—we want total freedom from sin. Sins we commit during the week between taking the sacrament are then rightly classified as mistakes, errors, tripping, rather than open rebellion. The ordinance is more than a pledge for the future. It gives us a chance to evaluate where we need to improve from the previous seven day's performance.
One thing that makes those little sins we want to keep around so destructive is that we can lie to ourselves and believe that they are "normal," even a healthy part of life. We rationalize that we are good enough, and don't need to repent. But the absence of serious transgression is not the same thing as not needing to repent. Many people in the Church have what I refer to as "Prodigal Son's Brother's Syndrome." One brother did the right thing, the other brother did the wrong thing. At first blush, it is obvious who is good and who is bad. But a closer inspection shows that one brother wanted to go out into the world and play, and did, while the other brother wanted to go out into the world and play, but did not, staying home to murmur about his distasteful duties. While it is always better to do good and shun evil, behavior alone does not qualify one for entry into heaven. Neither brother was yet fit for Celestial glory, because they both had their hearts set on the world. That's the syndrome: doing the right thing, while secretly lusting after the world, and believing that this state is the best we can be or do. But righteousness includes a change of desires as well as a change of behavior. Repentance must go deeper, or it is incomplete. Many are fooled into not repenting continuously: "And others will [Satan] pacify, and lull them away into carnal security, that they will say: All is well in Zion; yea, Zion prospereth, all is well—and thus the devil cheateth their souls, and leadeth them away carefully down to hell" (2Ne. 28:21).
Those afflicted with this syndrome are in for serious problems, in my opinion. Either they will succeed in going an entire lifetime without experiencing the mighty change of heart necessary for entry into heaven (Mosiah 27:25-26), or they may end up like King David. One seemingly minor omission (being at home instead of on the battle front) led to his downfall. Figuratively speaking, he rode the snooze button into temptation, and followed temptation to destruction. The illusion of invulnerability or entitlement to a vacation from strict standards of behavior is as big a weakness as an outright addiction, because they both give Satan a wide opening in one's armor. All is NOT well in Zion; we must keep on our toes continually, or face destruction.
Joseph Smith referred to the Kirtland Temple dedication as a "feast" (Hyrum and Helen Andrus, They Knew the Prophet, quoting Elizabeth Ann Whitney, p. 39). Many at that time felt the outpouring of manifestations and blessings signaled the end of all trouble, the arrival of the new millennium. This sense of invulnerability may have led to relaxed guard, for it was immediately followed by a period of mass apostasy. Many of the highest officers in the Church left when dishonesty combined with a nationwide depression sank the Kirtland Safety Society, their community bank. The concern for actual bread, money, the things of this earth, made a community largely forget the sweet, heavenly manna they had eaten.
The distortion of truth through skillful manipulation of words can flatter us into thinking a little wrong-doing won't hurt, or sell us ideas we would not normally buy. It is so easy to feel smart or superior, and this inflated sense of competence is a diving board into troubles and sins, great and small.
What little evils plague us today? I can only report what I see around me; I cannot look into hearts. But I do see some common pet sins cherished by my local Utah Latter-day Saints. I do not exclude myself from having participated in any of them; rather, I point them out to show where WE need to improve, if we plan on progressing spiritually.
Dances—I read an article written by Elder Perry recently, and these words describing his youth stung my conscience: "Ward dances involved the entire family" (The Tradition of a Balanced, Righteous Life, Ensign, Aug. 2011). Most Church sponsored dances I have attended featured dancing and music I would not want my family to hear or see. Why do the brethren permit them? I can think of several reasons, such as needing a way for young people to meet, and providing a better alternative than non-Church dances. But we can do better. We HAVE done better. I attended a Church sponsored date dance where the music was performed by a live band playing big-band era swing and jazz, and what I saw and heard there was was clean and virtuous.
Food—In D&C 89, the Lord's "word of wisdom" warns about "conspiring men." Drug dealers are not the only peddlers of addictive, destructive substances. Most sweet foods are addictive, and actually serve, ultimately, to intensify hunger. Heart troubles are what kill most Americans, and heart attacks happen largely because sugar changes cholesterol profiles in the blood. Large LDL particles are healthy; sugar causes the production of small LDL particles, and these are what causes arterial plaque. The difference between cigarettes and lollipops is that the lollipops are marketed and accepted as innocent and mildly unhealthy. Both are addictive, and both lead to poor health. Sugar was my emotional crutch of choice (sound like a drug addiction?) from childhood up to a few years ago. "Foodolatry" is not too strong of a word to describe the social undercurrent of Utah LDS culture. It took me about three decades before I actually experienced what the Lord describes in D&C 59—joyful fasting. The concept remained foreign to me for most of my life up to that point.
Violent entertainment—I find it strange that we can shun pornography like a disease, yet openly embrace graphic images of death and violence as entertainment. Is blood-lust compatible with the Holy Ghost? No. Video games, movies, books, etc., that glamorize violence have been warned against numerous times in General Conference, and elsewhere. "Thou shalt not...kill, nor do anything like unto it" (D&C 59:6). This world is so huge and varied, with so many people and so many things to do, and our time in it is so brief. Is the spectacle of death, explosions, murder, gunshots, sword-slashes, and the like, really the only thing we can find that appeals to us?
Worldliness—The Book of Mormon mentions clothes as a status symbol repeatedly, and the instant they go from being simple bits of cloth that protect us from the elements and keep us modest to status symbols, trouble begins for the Nephites. It never ceases to amaze me how much people can own and still think of themselves as poor. Why do we feel poor? Comparison to those who have even more than we. Following fashions religiously is like worshiping clouds. The minute you choose one, it changes and disappears. Perhaps this is bragging, but I feel a deep sense of peace and satisfaction when I hear about this or that movie, actor, or actress, and have no idea what anyone is talking about. If it is not a big deal in heaven, why should it consume my heart and mind?
I could go on, but these are just a few examples of things I see around me that keep us straddling the line between God and Satan, worldliness and heaven. Language, Sabbath observance, not dating, might also get a paragraph or two, but I hope the things I chose accepted widely enough that you were taken aback, offended even. No one likes to have their pet sins attacked, but they need to die if we are to become who we are meant to be. Thinking of any sin as "little" immediately upgrades it to a major threat, at least for the person who thinks of it that way.
