Everybody Loves Nephi... Except the Labans

I've never once heard someone who didn't laud Nephi--and for good reason. He was one of the greatest, most righteous prophets in the Book of Mormon. (For those of you who aren't too familiar with Nephi, http://eom.byu.edu/index.php/Nephi_1 is a starter.) Nephi deserves nothing but praise.

However, there is one class of people that detests Nephi, even if it's unconsciously. The Labans. Why do the Labans hate him? And who are they anyway?

These Labans don't hate Nephi just because he killed them. It's much more personal than that--it's that Nephi was right to do so.

That is the unforgivable element in the scenario.

Nothing does my heart greater good than seeing the bulldozer of Righteous Progress plow over somebody or something. I get up and cheer. I make some crass jokes. I pop some popcorn. But if I ever find myself in the path of the bulldozer, it's the world's greatest injustice and heads will roll! (Incidentally, it isn't all too uncommon, though not universal, for the people whom God entrusts with driving the bulldozer not to feel elation at pancaking something or someone for the sake of the greater good. Think Nephi again. I think such a phenomenon would be universal if we were all on a higher spiritual plane.)

The cornered righteous defend themselves viciously and irrationally. It's as though finding themselves in Laban's shoes triggers a primitive, previously hidden reaction in them. They become impossible to deal with.

It's basically a manifestation of pride, that most dangerous of sins. Righteous people begin to feel proud of being righteous. When they find themselves blocking the path, on the ground at Nephi's feet and a sword above them in the air, all of a sudden things look awful different. It's because their pride is at stake. Why is their pride being at stake so important? It's because pride is the antithesis to God, and just as God demands all or nothing, so does pride. If we make the foolish mistake of allying ourselves with pride, then the day when the premises of that pride are legitimately threatened is our own private End of the World. (Imagine the reaction of believers all over if one day irrefutable proof were to come out that God had died. It is more than obvious that this would never happen, but you get the image.)

But why such a strong reaction? After all, pride is often threatened in day to day life. They're so angry because it's such a thorough condemnation. When one person dislikes you, or when you frustrate the plans of Tom, Dick, or Harry down the street, who cares? They're just people. You're in the right. Your precious pride is protected. All is well. But when you find yourself in opposition to something from God--well, my friend, we're in a right sticky wicket then. There's no way to escape and save some of that precious pride.

Now for the good news. I'm going to go out on a limb and say (my own opinion, mind you) that I believe that nearly all, if not all, righteous people at some time or another in their lives find themselves, often inadvertently, in opposition to God.

In other words, if the bulldozer is heading your way, it's not the end of the world.

God understands that we're imperfect, and even people who have good intentions will accidentally do bad stuff sometimes.

You just have to move. That's what He asks. (Moving does imply repentance.)

Think the Brother of Jared in the Book of Mormon, (or Peter in Galatians 2 in the New Testament). The Brother of Jared went for quite a while without praying, to the point that he was chastised by the Lord Himself for hours on the mountaintop. (Freaky!) The Brother of Jared, one of the greatest prophets of all time, had inadvertently put himself somewhere he wasn't supposed to be. He repented and got out of the way of the bulldozer. A short time after, he was privileged to participate in one of the most amazing revelatory experiences recorded in modern scripture.

It is clear from this example that finding oneself in the wrong spot will not kill us. It will only kill us if we refuse to budge and instead try to chide the driver of the bulldozer (and, by extension, the Lord Himself) for wanting to handle things the way he does.

Everybody loves Nephi, and should, both consciously and unconsciously. So when we find ourselves in Laban's shoes, as we all probably will at some point, and probably by accident, the best possible thing we can do is swallow our pride, apologize to God and any other concerned parties, and quickly get out of the way of the bulldozer, and love the driver for bringing it to our attention.

If we do this, our success in life is guaranteed.