Rejecting the Praise of the World

In his address to young adults this last weekend, Elder Bednar told a story about a man in Central Ghana named Fred who in 1986 was a new member of the Church and the only member in his family.  At the death of his half-brother, the chief, Fred learned that there were some in his family that were planning to make him the new tribal chief of his village.  But he knew that some of the responsibilities of the chief and the tribal rituals he would need to be involved in would put him at odds with the teachings of the gospel.  He emphatically said, “My religion will not permit me to do this” and he tried to convince some of the family members that he could not take the position.  But they ignored his protests.  The night of his half-brother’s funeral Fred followed the family in his car to the burial, but at a juncture in the road he sped off in another direction and left the city, not seeing his family again for six months.  He later learned that had he gone to the funeral he would have been named the tribal chief that night.  He showed great courage by refusing the honors of men in order to honor the Lord and stay true to his covenants.  

               In the scriptures we see others who were willing to refuse the praise and rewards of men in order to honor the commandments of God.  Perhaps the most obvious example is that of Elisha in the Old Testament when he healed the Syrian captain Naaman.  Naaman came back and said to Elisha, “Behold, now I know that there is no God in all the earth, but in Israel: now therefore, I pray thee, take a blessing of thy servant.” But Elisha wouldn’t even think of it and responded, “As the Lord liveth, before whom I stand, I will receive none.”  Naaman “urged him to take it; but [Elisha] refused” (2 Kings 5:15-16).  Elisha wouldn’t accept worldly riches for the works of God and refused this kind of honor from Naaman (unlike his servant Gehazi).  Another scriptural example of this kind of attitude is that of Paul.  When he was in Lystra on one of his missions, he found a man “who had never walked” and who “had faith to be healed.”  So Paul commanded him, “Stand upright on thy feet. And he leaped and walked.”  Luke recorded the reaction of the people: “And when the people saw what Paul had done, they lifted up their voices, saying in the speech of Lycaonia, The gods are come down to us in the likeness of men.  And they called Barnabas, Jupiter, and Paul, Mercurius.”  Paul and Barnabus did not in the least entertain the thought of accepting their praise for having been an instrument in God’s hand.  Rather, when they heard what the people were saying, “They rent their clothes, and ran in among the people, crying out, And saying, Sirs, why do ye these things?  We also are men of like passions with you, and preach unto you that ye should turn from these vanities” (Acts 14:8-15).  They could have easily tried to use the situation to their advantage, but they would not accept worldly honors for acting in the name of the Savior.  The Savior Himself gave us the example on how to handle the praise of men.  After the miracle of feeding the five thousand when He multiplied the bread, the people said, “This is of a truth that prophet that should come into the world.”  John recorded that “when Jesus perceived that they would come and take him by force, to make him a king, he departed again into a mountain himself alone” (John 6:14-15). His purpose was not to become an earthly king but to serve, teach, and die for the people.  And like Fred, He would not let the temptations of worldly praise or power deter Him from fulfilling His mission for His father.  All of these stories serve as warnings to us about our need to “seek the welfare of Zion” instead of the “praise of the world” (2 Nephi 26:29).