The Praise of the World

In Nephi’s vision he beheld the great and spacious building that his father saw with “the multitude of the earth” who were “gathered together to fight against the twelve apostles of the Lamb.” He gave us the meaning and ultimate end of the building in these words: “I saw and bear record, that the great and spacious building was the pride of the world; and it fell, and the fall thereof was exceedingly great” (1 Nephi 11:36).  The angel confirmed again to him, “And the large and spacious building, which thy father saw, is vain imaginations and the pride of the children of men” (1 Nephi 12:18).  In the second half of his vision, 1 Nephi 13-14, a different kind of institution was introduced to Nephi; he no longer saw the great and spacious building but instead was introduced to the related great and abominable church.  What appears to time them together is the same pride at vanity that defined them both.  Nephi described the motivation of this great and abominable church: “And also for the praise of the world do they destroy the saints of God, and bring them down into captivity” (1 Nephi 13:9).  It is pride, seeking the praise of the world, that is at the heart of this church just as the large and spacious building was also built upon pride and vain imaginations. 

               Nephi’s vision of these two entities, then, begs the question to us individually: what motivates us to do what we do?  Is it the for the “praise of the world” that we are driven to act?  In our dispensation the Lord said of Martin Harris, “And let him repent of his sins, for he seeketh the praise of the world.” A few verses later in the same revelation He said of William W. Phelps, “And also he hath need to repent, for I, the Lord, am not well pleased with him, for he seeketh to excel, and he is not sufficiently meek before me” (Doctrine and Covenants 58:39,41).  For both of them they were apparently too considered with what the world thought and how they compared with others.  We should instead strive to be like Nephi the son of Helaman; the Lord told him, “I have beheld how thou hast with unwearyingness declared the word, which I have given unto thee, unto this people. And thou hast not feared them, and hast not sought thine own life, but hast sought my will, and to keep my commandments” (Helaman 10:4).  Nephi did not worry about what the people thought—he did not fear them—rather he sought only to do the will of the Lord.  He sought the praise of the Lord instead of the praise of the world. 

               When I was in the MTC my teacher Frère Mason told us a story that I’ve often pondered since then.  He was in Switzerland and received a new missionary to train, Elder Richardson.  As they took their train to travel to their assigned city, Elder Mason was astonished to see Elder Richardson trying to contact people in French everywhere he could, even on the train, though he could not yet speak the language very well.  This pattern of fearless proclaiming of the gospel by one who was brand new in the field continued, and when Elder Mason met with his mission president later he declared, “He’s not afraid of anyone!”  To this his mission president wisely replied, “No, he fears God more than he fears man.”  Ultimately that should be our attitude: instead of seeking the praise of the world we must seek the praise of God.  Instead of fearing how man perceives us we must fear more what God thinks of us.