For behold, it is not meet that I should command in all things; for he that is compelled in all things, the same is a slothful and not a wise servant; wherefore he receiveth no reward. Verily I say, men should be anxiously engaged in a good cause and do many things for their own free will, and bring to pass much righteousness; for the power is in them, wherein they are agents unto themselves. And inasmuch as men do good they shall in nowise lose their reward. But he that doeth not anything until he is commanded, and receiveth a commandment with doubtful heart, and keepeth it with slothfulness, the same is damned (D&C 58:26-29)
In response to the claim that Latter-day Saints cannot build Zion until the president of the Church commands such, one author wrote the following which is insightful into how we should be living our daily lives:
[T]rue . . .sort of. We aren’t obligated to build Zion. In 1888, Bishop Orson F. Whitney concurred:
The command of Noah to build an ark does not make it obligatory upon you or me to build one. This Church is based upon immediate and direct revelation. It is what God says today, not what He said yesterday to someone else, that must be considered. We must not take the dead letter and with it judge the living oracle. We must not sit in judgment upon God and say, “I can not do this, because yesterday you told someone else to do differently.” We can only escape His wrath by being willing to do everything that He requires at our hands, and acknowledge His hand in all things.
About our non-obligation, Elder Abraham O. Woodruff (Wilford’s son), said in the October 1899 General Conference:
We ought to desire to build up the material Zion; and while we may not be commanded in these things, we should, as the revelation . . . says, be willing to do many things of our own free will and choice.
So, according to Elder Woodruff, we may not be obligated by commandment to build the “material Zion” but we can do it under the Good-Cause Clause of D&C 58:26-29.
Here’s the thing, “prophets, seers, and revelators” today HAVE called for Zion to be built. Have we heard the call? Consider these calls-to-action:
As we sing together “Come to Zion,” we mean . . . come to the word, the branch, the mission, the take, and give assistance to build up Zion.—President Spencer W. Kimball, Paris Area Conference, 1976.
My dear brethren and sisters, we must prepare to redeem Zion. It was essentially the sin of pride that keep us from establishing Zion in the days of the Prophet Joseph Smith. It was the same sin of pride that brought consecration to an end among the Nephites. Pride is the great stumbling block to Zion. I repeat: Pride is the great stumbling block to Zion. We must cleanse the inner vessel by conquering pride.—President Era Taft Benson, April 1989 General Conference.
If we are to build that Zion of which the prophets have spoken and of which the Lord has given mighty promise, we must set aside our consuming selfishness. We must rise above our love for comfort and ease, and in the very process of effort and struggle, even in our extremity, we shall become better acquainted with our God.—Apostle Gordon B. Hinckley, October 1991 Conference.
If we would establish Zion in our homes, branches, wards, and stakes, we must rise to this standard. It will be necessary (1) to become unified in one heart and one mind; (2) to become, individually and collectively, a holy people; and (3) to care for the poor and needy with such effectiveness that we eliminate poverty among us. We cannot wait until Zion comes for these things to happen—Zion will come only as they happen. In our families and in our stakes and districts, let us seek to build up Zion through unity, godliness, and charity, preparing for that great day when Zion, the New Jerusalem, will arise.—Elder D. Todd Christofferson, October 2008 General Conference. (Jesse F. Fisher, Champions for Zion: Remarkable Teachings on Building Zion by Early LDS Leaders [2d ed.; 2018], 188-90)
