This was the other talk that was used on Sunday. Guile is an interesting word. I don't think it's used much anymore. To have guile means to have sly, conniving intelligence. To be truly good, in the context of the talk, means to serve. My notes from Sunday look like this:
Truly Good vs. Guile
service Conniving intelligence
Furthers the work of Moses 1:39 Furthers selfish agenda
Once I had an understanding of the two sides of the coin, it was easy to put people in the categories. Abel v. Cain; Abel wanted to give the Lord a sacrifice, Cain wanted the Lord to appreciate his sacrifice.
While there are tons of examples I could list, I think the best one is that of Jesus v. Lucifer. They both offered to do the same thing, right? So what was the difference? Jesus said "Here I am, send me." and Lucifer said, "Sure, I'll go, but here's what I want to change about the plan. Oh and I need some glory. Let's not forget that." Jesus was ready to serve and sacrifice. Lucifer was ready to be important.
In just the two examples that I used, I think it is interesting to note that those on the guile side ended up rebelling in some pretty heinous ways. That is the danger of serving with an agenda. If we have guile, we want to be seen and thanked of the world, and given church "promotions". When that doesn't happen we become bitter and angry. That can cause us to abandon the Gospel.
While I've split truly good and guile into opposing ideas, I don't think it's all that black and white. I think there is quite a bit of grey between the two. After all, wasn't Lucifer and angel to begin with? Didn't he start white and beautiful before he slid that grey scale of rebellion? I also keep thinking of Pontious Pilate. Here was someone who believed in Jesus, enough to think he didn't deserve to die, but because he was a public figure, he cowed to the demands of the crowd. He let a man die because he didn't want to deal with rebellion. That has guile (and cowardice) written all over it.
What about us? Don't we give talks with the hope that someone will tell us we did a good job afterwards? I personally don't have the serenity of Jesus, knowing that I am doing good and never being appreciated. I often tell Kyle something I've done just for that little pat on the back. But I do try to remember the scripture that says, "That thine alms be in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret Himself shall reward thee openly." (Matthew 6:4) What kind of reward am I looking for? If my Father sees my works, isn't that enough?
If our hearts are not in the right place, our service falls flat. If I visit teach for the sake of having that 100% on my record and being able to tell people how good I am, most likely I am not caring for the sisters entrusted to me.
A final thought, though it isn't mine, President Spencer W. Kimball said, "Great women and men are always more anxious to serve than to have dominion." (Kind of makes you think of the presidential race going on, huh? I wish we had even one candidate who just wants to serve the country.)
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