Nephi makes his warning universal. “Yea, they have all gone out of the way; they have become corrupted.” (2 Nephi 28: 11, emphasis added.) We act at our peril when we re-write this to apply blame and guilt to “all others” but not ourselves. “All” must include us for Nephi’s warning to be of any value to the reader. When we look into that abyss, and see ourselves among the corrupt, we begin to realize just how little cause we have for pride and condescension. “The Church is true!” we proclaim. “So what?” Nephi retorts; “you are not. So get your own life in order
Nephi continues: “Because of pride, and because of false teachers, and false doctrine, their churches have become corrupted, and their churches are lifted up; because of pride they are puffed up. They rob the poor because of their fine sanctuaries; they rob the poor because of their fine clothing; and they persecute the meek and the poor in heart, because in their pride they are puffed up.” (2 Ne 28:12-13.) Are we proud? Just listen to our own comments in any given weekly meeting and reach your own conclusion. The General Authorities tells us relentlessly to beware of pride. Read any General Conference transcript and see if our arrogance and pride does not get regularly addressed. Every Prophet in my lifetime has addressed this failing. Recently President Hinckley has asked us to become more open, more friendly to others who are not of our faith. We tend to be aloof, which is prideful. President Hinckley is echoing Nephi’s warnings, though he may use different words to do so. Inspiration looks the same, even when coming from divergent speakers.
Do we have false teachers? Of course we do. Not just in Gospel Doctrine classes, where we sometimes go far afield, but also in many “popular” books and writings. We do not require our “teachers” to be inspired before we will listen to them. Instead, we adopt trends and fashions in our thinking, and allow ourselves to be “tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine,” as Paul put it. (Eph. 4: 14.) Silly, even insipid books by LDS writers get consumed by the Saints. We can almost hear Joseph saying: “How vain and trifling have been our spirits, our conferences, our councils, our meetings, our private as well as public conversations—too low, too mean, too vulgar, too condescending for the dignified characters of the called and chosen of God, according to the purposes of His will, from before the foundation of the world!” (DHC 3: 295, also found in TPJS p. 137.) Nephi soberly comments the condition of our hearts. We are much more likely to accept direction from another person than we are to seek and obtain direction from God. There is no safe-harbor here. We are either following God, or we are following men. We alone decide who we follow.