A Great Campaign of Sabtoge

What is a Rebel? You might call into your mind has piercings, tattoos, a strange haircut and odd clothing. This would be normal. When we hear rebel we naturally think of hard rock music, drugs, alcohol, or anything that breaks the ‘social norm’ of society. That’s simply the image we have been programmed by our society to think of.

What, then, is conformism? You might think of a straight laced, white collared gentleman with parted hair and a wry smile. Never doing a thing wrong and always doing everything that’s expected of him without any verbal complaints. He should be a religious man who conforms to a set of living taught to him. One might even call him a square.

I think we all naturally have a propensity for rebellion though; a thirst for individuality that we sometimes don’t believe our culture affords us. Why is this so, if what we see as rebellion is so looked down on; especially as Mormons? When I go to church and hear about commandments, being Christlike and lots of downer things about being a rebel I can begin to think that there might be a status quo that I must up hold and that there might be something wrong with me. This is worsened by the fact that I’m not allowed into anyone else’s minds, so to me I only see people who all talk about obedience and conforming that don’t seem to visibly have a problem with it. I want to break free of that, but I’m scared to do it because I don’t want to be considered a rebel.

We also have a natural pull to conformity. This one is in odd contrast to our urge to be individuals. Despite all my wants to be myself I also want to be like someone else; someone I see on tv, someone from work or from school. I see someone and I want to absorb some of whatever they are into me; be it clothes, music, movies, personality, friends it’s all the same. I think if I can just do whatever it is they do or wear what they wear I can be just like them. This mentality can pull us into supposed ‘status quos’ or lifestyles that may not be realistic. I want to be the perfect Mormon so I have to live the perfect Mormon lifestyle. I have to do everything that I would expect a perfect Mormon to do so that I can fit in and not be gawked at like a rebel.

With these two ideas casting their lots in our brains, it can sometimes feel like we’re fighting a losing battle; “My culture wants me to be one of them, to be a good Mormon. I don’t want to stick out and be the weird one. I wish I could be the Mormon like so and so down the street.” But at the same time we have thoughts like “What can I do to be noticed? I’m tired of just being like everyone else. Those people are such squares!” What do we do with seemingly conflicting ideas? Surely we have both desires in us for a reason, right? So there must be a place for rebellion/individuality and conformity within us.

It’s my belief that the true meaning of these ideas has actually been reversed in our current world. When we see rebellion and conformity as the world wants us to see it, we’re trapped in this limbo. Let’s switch it up a bit.

In a recent worldwide seminary address Boyd K Packer told the youth of the church “You are growing up in enemy territory. When you become mature spiritually, you will understand how the adversary has infiltrated the world around you. He is in homes, entertainment, the media, language—everything around you. In most cases, his presence is undetected” (How to Survive in Enemy Territory, 2012). Frequently we’ve also heard from Pres Monson that the world’s standards have long separated from ours- “I recall a time—and some of you here tonight will also—when the standards of most people were very similar to our standards. No longer is this true… Despite what you may see or hear elsewhere, these laws are unchanging.”(Dare to Stand Alone, 2011) and that ours will not change. This can offer a shift in our perspectives. If I’m behind enemy lines, how would a blend in? By Conforming to the standards of the culture I think. If I’m behind Enemy lines and I wanted to raze some hell, how would I do it? Well I’d rebel of course and do everything I could to incite it in others.

Some of our favorite movies and books are based off of a tyrannical evil leadership with a rebel group who are the good guys-not the bad guys. Think of it: rebels as the good guys. I think more today than ever is the idea of standing for one’s good ideals to the point of rebelling against any conformers.

I do not see drugs, alcohol, tattoos, piercings, mindless partying, and unrestrained human passions as rebellion; I see it as stark Conformity. Does the parlance everyone else is doing it ring a bell? I repeat; we are in Enemy territory! The things we see on tv, listen to in our music and read about in our magazines are all just the propaganda of the ruling super power-Satan. In Enemy territory we see mindless drama, superficial materialism, body modifications and violence- all these things are part of Enemy culture and accepted as the norm.

Part of the Enemies tactics is to play into our natural tendencies for both conformism and rebellion. For those who want to fit in he says that this is what everyone is doing. To be accepted by my people you must blend into my people. And for those of us who like rebellion he spins the persuasion; ‘break free, don’t go with the flow. God won’t let you be an individual.’ We are most susceptible to these thoughts when we’re young.

Now as long as we’re in Enemy territory that means that rebellion means to be a Mormon! And to be one no matter what. C.S Lewis wrote

“We are living in a part of the Universe occupied by the [Adversary]. Enemy-Occupied territory-that is what this world is. Christianity is the story of how the rightful king has landed, you might say landed in disguise, and is calling us all to take part in a great campaign of sabotage. When you go to church you are really listening-in to the secret wireless from our friends: that is why the enemy is so anxious to prevent us from going.”

With this perspective rebellion can be seen as a form of humility; courageously doing what God commands because God commands. Pres Monson has said “when a God speaks and man obeys; that man is always right” (not sure where or when he said it, but I honestly remember reading it).  

That natural inclination we have to be an individual is godly. We were born unique and separate from every one of the trillions of people to have graced this planet over its lifetime. Physically, emotionally, spiritually, mentally-there will never be another person like me or you. The mold was created and broken with each of us. Our individuality comes from God as an author creates a character in a book, says C.S Lewis. Any effort on our parts to further become an individual without God’s help will be futile and will only lead to us becoming more like someone else. So in the familiar paradox that is the Gospel-to become an individual I must stop trying so hard to be one.

This leads to our natural inclination for conformism. It is a desire put in us by God so that we would want to be like Him. Just as the Enemy wants us to be like him-miserable, carnal, vengeful and full of wrath; our God wants us to be like him-Merciful, patient, full of love, respectable and just. So the odd twist is that both parties ultimately want me to conform but for different reasons. In the Screwtape Letters, the tempter Screwtape reveals his motives; “We want cattle who can finally become food; He wants servants who can finally become sons. We want to suck in, He wants to give out. We are empty and would be filled; He is full and flows over. Our war aim is a world in which Our Father Below( Satan) has drawn all other beings into himself: the Enemy(God) wants a world full of beings united to Him but still distinct.” (Screwtape Letters). Ultimately neither party cares about my actions, they simply want me as an individual.

The results are drastically different between the two. If I gave myself to the Adversary I would become a cookie cut of him with no distinctions. By coming to Christ and giving myself to Him I have the capacity to truly be myself. No one knows who you truly are better than your Creator so wouldn’t it make sense that He could make you unlike anybody else? Physically we’re already individuals. But to be a true individual on the inside we must turn to our Maker and let him do it by doing the things he asks us to do.

This is one of those things in the Gospel of Jesus Christ that doesn’t make a lot of sense on the surface. I mean, if I try to do everything God says, won’t I be just like everyone else? To make sense of this conundrum I will turn again to C.S. Lewis who simplified it for me,

“To become new men means losing what we now call ‘ourselves’. Out of our selves, into Christ, we must go. His will is to become ours and we are to think His thoughts, to ‘have the mind of Christ’ as the Bible says. And if Christ is one, and if He is thus to be ‘in’ us all, shall we not be exactly the same? It certainly sounds like it; but in fact it is not so.

…Imagine a lot of people who have always lived in the dark. You come and try to describe to them what light is like. You might tell them that if they come into the light that same light would fall on them all and they would all reflect it and thus become what we call visible. Is it not quite possible that they would imagine that, since they were all receiving the same light, and all reacting to it the same way (i.e. all reflecting it), they would all look alike? Whereas you and I know that the light will in fact bring out, or show up, how different they are. Or again, suppose a person who knew nothing about salt. You give him a pinch to taste and he experiences a particular strong, sharp taste. You then tell him that in your country people use salt in all their cookery. Might he not reply ‘In that case I suppose all your dishes taste exactly the same: because the taste of that stuff you have just given me is so strong that it will kill the taste of everything else’. But you and I know that the real effect of salt is exactly the opposite. So far from killing the taste of the egg and the tripe and the cabbage, it actually brings it out. They do not show their real taste till you have added salt.” (Mere Christianity)

Imagine being who you really are. Wouldn’t it be awesome to truly be who you were created to be? What if there was no need to pretend to be anything else other than you? A lot of stress would be lifted from all of our shoulders. There would be no need to be ‘better’ than someone else because our goal would to be our best selves and no one else. This would shake the very foundations of the Enemy’s warfare against us.

True individuality is to be found by Coming to Christ. True conformity is to be found by submitting to the Adversary. I believe Heaven to be full of splendid individuals with rich and vibrant personalities who have all found themselves by Coming to Christ.