Wearing of Faded Overalls to Church

Declared Sinful by LDS member

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Care to point out specifically any of my sins?

>You made the comment that anytime 
>you go into a LD$ church you 
>wear Overalls (or something to that effect)
>to show the members their pride 

My Words were:

I make a point of wearing faded overalls and a plaid shirt whenever I go to an LD$ chapel. The saints have been overwhelmed just as Nephi prophesied when he said that they would come to love their fine buildings and rich clothes more than they would love the poor and the downtrodden. I invite the saints to evaluate what they are doing. Most just shake their heads and think of me as a hillbilly, a few are vile to me, and a very precious few, actually understand what is going on.

So now it has become a sin to attend the LDS church wearing simple clothing? It is a sin to wear overalls to church? It is a sin to not get caught up in the wearing of vain and costly clothing? It is a sin to cause people to evaluate the clothing they wear when they go to church? As I have said on numerous occasions, wickedness has become virtue.

It reminds me of a missionary companion I had. He told me it was a sin for me to not lock up my bicycle while I was growing up. (Because it would tempt someone to steal it.) I left the bike wherever I cared to leave it, and never owned a lock for it, and it was never stolen. None of my 12 brothers and sisters ever had a bicycle stolen.

One of my brothers left his bike somewhere, and couldn't for the life of him figure out where it was. A year later, when he was doing the same activity as he had the year before, there was his bike, in exactly the same spot as he had left it.

>and how you can see them looking down on you. 

This is your own interpretation that you read into my writings. There is no question that I am belittled for the way I dress on those extremely rare occasions when I attend an LD$ church for family reasons. Are you saying it is a sin to be aware of peoples thoughts and actions? It is a sin to have the gift of discernment?

>You seem to be so full of your own 
>self-righteousness you are ignoring 
>your own pride in "reminding" of their 
>own pride. 

It is sinful of me to remind someone that fancy clothing is condemned in the scriptures? It is sinful to wear simple clothing that calls attention to the vainness of those around me?

I readily admit that my own pride and ego are at the center of my frustration with the LDS church. For the following reason:

After a lifetime of repenting of my sins, and self purification and sanctification, I have become a Christlike man, full of faith, and capable and able of being blessed by revelation, visions, and angelic ministrations.

During a time of my life when I was more holy, and more sanctified than at any other time, while I was keeping the spirit, and the letter of every LDS covenant and commandment, and while I was following the revelations of the Holy Spirit, I was stomped on by my Bishop and other local leaders, for walking in obedience to the revelation which I received to listen to the message of the TLC.

It was a painful and heart-breaking to come to the realization, that my priesthood leaders were not living the gospel, that they teach it with their mouths, but in their hearts they do not believe and were less capable of receiving revelation than I am and were not living the gospel as well as I was. In the end, it came down to a decision about who was living the gospel better, me or my church leaders. So I judged them, and myself, found them lacking in basic gospel living, and am now living with the consequences.

My choice was indeed wise. My bishop helped me to make the choice by saying that there are only three Christlike men in our ward, and that he was not one of them, but I was. If I am a Christlike man, then my opinions aught to carry some weight.

If I were to deny the Holy Ghost as it works within me, then I would be a candidate for perdition. If I trust in the arm of flesh, (a fallible local or general church leader), more than I trust in revelation from the Holy Spirit, then I might as well become an atheist, and roll over an die. If I cannot trust the spring of living waters which flows within me, to lead me in the paths of truth and righteousness, then I might as well quit right now.

It could be said that, I am prideful, in that I trust myself, more than I trust my local (and general) church leaders, but I believe that any person is more capable and able of receiving inspiration in regards to their own life than their church leaders are. It is against the nature of godliness for a church leader to intervene between a person and God.

I stewed over the issue of my pride for many months, but am now at peace with my current standing before God.

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