Individual Responsibility

What do the words "Individual Responsibility" mean to you?

What are the things are we responsible for?

These questions set the tone for the lesson that I taught in Relief Society yesterday: Chapter 23 from Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Joseph Fielding Smith.

We listed many things we are responsible for on the board, everything from teaching our children and doing laundry to gaining a testimony and missionary work.

Then we focused on our temporal responsibilities:

… The Lord said, “Thou shalt not be idle for he that is idle shall not eat the bread, nor wear the garments of the laborer.” [D&C 42:42.] That is good sound sense, isn’t it? Why should a man in idleness partake of the industry of the industrious—provided that this man who is idle, is in a physical condition that he can work? I am not at all in sympathy with any kind of movement that tends to destroy manhood by encouraging men to be idle, and I don’t care what age that is. It doesn’t matter how old he gets, if a man is physically strong and is able to perform services, he should take care of himself; that the Lord expects him to do.

President Smith passed his work ethic on to his children. He told them: “People die in bed. And so does ambition.” With this principle in mind, he and his wife made sure the children arose early every morning and did their part to keep the home clean and organized. “Somehow it seemed immoral to Dad for us to lie in bed after six o’clock,” recalled one of his sons. “Of course I only tried it once. Father saw to that.”⁶ President Smith helped around the house as well. When he and Louie were newly married, he did as much work as he could on the construction of their first home. Over the years, he did most home repairs himself, helped in the kitchen, and helped pick fruit in season and preserve it in bottles.⁷ 

After reading the preceding quote, we discussed how we teach our children to work.

We are here for a great purpose. That purpose is not to live 100 years, or less, and plant our fields, reap our crops, gather fruit, live in houses, and surround ourselves with the necessities of mortal life. That is not the purpose of life. These things are necessary to our existence here, and that is the reason why we should be industrious. But how many men spend their time thinking that all there is in life is to accumulate the things of this world, to live in comfort, and surround themselves with all the luxuries, and privileges, and pleasures it is possible for mortal life to bestow, and never give a thought to anything beyond? 

If our purpose isn't to build up riches on earth, what is our purpose on earth? (Here we switched gears to talk about our spiritual responsibilities.)

The object of our being here is to do the will of the Father as it is done in heaven, to work righteousness in the earth, to subdue wickedness and put it under our feet, to conquer sin and the adversary of our souls, to rise above the imperfections and weaknesses of poor fallen humanity, by the inspiration of the Lord and his power made manifest, and thus become the saints and servants of the Lord in the earth.¹² 

Our first concern should be our own salvation. We should seek every gospel blessing for ourselves. We should be baptized and enter into the order of celestial marriage so that we can become inheritors in the fulness of our Father’s kingdom. Then we should be concerned about our families, our children, and our ancestors.²¹ 

In my own words, I told the story of Brother D. Arthur Haycock:

Brother D. Arthur Haycock was walking toward the Church Administration Building one day when he saw that President Joseph Fielding Smith was unlocking the side door. Needing to enter the building, where he worked as the secretary to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, Brother Haycock “hurried up the stairs, two or three at a time, to get his foot in the door before it closed. He barely made it. As he got inside the building he hurried again to catch up with President Smith to walk to the elevator with him. He commented to him, ‘I hope I can be that lucky to squeeze into heaven through the door you open.’” At first President Smith did not reply, and Brother Haycock worried that in his attempt to be humorous, he had said something wrong. But “as they reached the elevator President Smith said, with a twinkle in his eye, ‘Now, brother, don’t ever count on that!’”¹ 

Through sermons and actions, President Smith repeatedly taught the principle he shared with Brother Haycock: He emphasized that although Latter-day Saints should diligently help others receive the blessings of the gospel, salvation is an individual responsibility. He also encouraged the Saints to be self-reliant and to work industriously in temporal pursuits. “That is what life is all about,” he said, “to develop our potential, and especially to gain self-mastery.”² 

Whose responsibility is our salvation? We discussed that while each person is responsible for their own salvation, others can help, including parents, church leaders, descendants (through vicarious temple ordinances), and God himself.

It is an important fact, shown by direct acts and by implication in all the scriptures, that God has done for men all that men cannot do for themselves to secure salvation, but he expects men to do all for themselves that is in their power.

What does agency mean, and particularly, what does it mean for us?

This great gift of agency, that is the privilege given to man to make his own choice, has never been revoked, and it never will be. It is an eternal principle giving freedom of thought and action to every soul. No person, by any decree of the Father, has ever been compelled to do good; no person has ever been forced to do evil. Each may act for himself. It was Satan’s plan to destroy this agency and force men to do his will. There could be no satisfactory existence without this great gift. Men must have the privilege to choose even to the extent that they may rebel against the divine decrees. Of course salvation and exaltation must come through the free will without coercion and by individual merit in order that righteous rewards may be given and proper punishment be meted out to the transgressor.¹⁷

While we have agency to make choices, we are also responsible for the choices we make.

It is so easy for humankind to blame somebody else for their own mistakes, and so easy for us, because of our human nature, to take credit when the thing that is accomplished is something that pleases and benefits. But we never want to shoulder a responsibility for our mistakes that do not please, and so we endeavor to place that kind of responsibility somewhere else and on others. … Let us shoulder our own responsibilities, and not endeavor to place them somewhere else.¹⁴ 

As an example of this, I mentioned Adam and Eve, and how when confronted about eating the fruit of the tree of knowledge, each gave their excuse (The woman gave me the fruit, the serpent beguiled me) but also took the responsibility and admitted their transgression, "I did eat."

We also need to allow others the privilege of using their own agency.

Joseph Smith was asked how he governed so great and diverse a people as the Latter-day Saints. He replied: “I teach them correct principles and they govern themselves.”

How does this apply to us, and to how we guide our families?

To close, I talked about how we will ultimately be accountable before God. After we are resurrected, with our perfect bodies and perfect memories, we will be brought before God's judgement seat to account for our actions on this earth. If we have done the best of our ability to fulfill our responsibilities on this earth, repenting of our sins and striving to keep the commandments, then through Christ's atonement we can have confidence that we will be saved.