When pride enters into our hearts we stop seeing the right way to live. In Helaman 3:33-34 and 36 we read:
33 And in the fifty and first year of the reign of the judges there was peace also, save it were the pride which began to enter into the church—not into the church of God, but into the hearts of the people who professed to belong to the church of God—
34 And they were lifted up in pride, even to the persecution of many of their brethren. Now this was a great evil, which did cause the more humble part of the people to suffer great persecutions, and to wade through much affliction....
36 And it came to pass that the fifty and second year ended in peace also, save it were the exceedingly great pride which had gotten into the hearts of the people; and it was because of their exceedingly great riches and their prosperity in the land; and it did grow upon them from day to day.
Contentions among the people and dissensions in the church (Helaman 4:1) take away the peace the Nephites just months earlier. The rebellious group of Nephites are kicked out of the land. They go to the Lamanites and after a few years persuade the Lamanites to attack the Nephites. The faith of the Nephites has diminished so much due their pride that they no longer had the strength of the Lord. The Lamanite armies succeed in taking half of the Nephite land. The Nephites are slaughtered in those parts of the land.
Why did this happen?
In Helaman 4: 11-12 we read that loss ... the great slaughter... would not have happened had it not been for thier wickedness and their abomination which was among them; yea, and it was among those also who professed to belong to the church of God.
So something is going on with members of the church as well as the non-members.
In verse 12 we read, And it was because of the pride of their hearts, because of their exceeding riches, yea, it was because of their oppression to the poor, withholding their food from the hungry, withholding their clothing from the naked, and smiting their humble brethren upon the cheek, making a mock of that which was sacred, denying the spirit of prophecy and of revelation, murdering, plundering, lying, stealing, committing adultery, rising up in great contentions, and deserting away into the land of Nephi, among the Lamanites—
The first four things mentioned as reasons why the Nephites lost the strength of the Lord and were slaughtered are related to the helping poor. The fifth item seems to have something to do with continuing to participate unworthily in things that are sacred. As these members continue down this path of pride, they deny spiritual gifts and begin doing the general list of wicked things. But, isn't it interesting that choosing to not help the poor is the first four things mentioned. These members stopped following the order of the church established by Alma in giving their substance to the church for redistribution to the poor. They decided to withhold their substance from the poor and spend it on themselves.
My take on these verses is that the members started to get rich and decided not to give their surplus to the church. Pride had entered in and they want to keep their wealth for their own use. As the humble members of the church also got rich they chose to fast and pray becoming humbler and humbler, yielding themselves to the enticings of the holy spirit until they were sanctified. There apparently is a cross roads when a christian is tempted with riches. Does he stay humble and give abundantly to others or does he enjoy the comparison he is making noting that he has more than others. He thinks of all good things he can puchase as well as being able to provide the finer things of life to his children (education, skills, a start in life) and begins to justify the use of his riches to aggrandize himself (cars, home, liesure time, etc.) and his family. He, in a tacit sense, is mocking others by lifting himself and his family above the other members of his congregation. Since he can justify everything he does, he deceives himself into thinking it isn't pride. You see, he is thanking the Lord in his prayers night and day for great blessing bestowed on himself and his family. He is thanking the Lord of his great capacity to make money. He has done his part by thanking the Lord. He ceases to view substance as a gift from God to be freely shared. He continues participating in the church but he has lost a fundamental tenant of the gospel: love thy brother as yourself. In Alms'a church he may have been reprimanded and called to repentance. He now has another choice point: repent or continue believing that it isn't pride that has got a hold of him.
I would enjoy hearing counter positions for what I have just written. I have heard so many growing up in the church. I can accept a few: We are ignorant of the principle; the principle hasn't been freely taught us; we haven't been asked this principle fully yet.
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