Motives – Sunday, March 21, 1943
It is historically true that he who makes a bid for leadership in any field of thought or action, almost invariably will represent that his first interest is the welfare of the people or the cause, that he has no ulterior motive, that he cares nothing for office or power, that his only desire is to serve. Now, if such claims were always true, or even if they were always untrue, choices would be easier to make. But the difficulty is that sometimes a man who makes a bid for leadership is actually what he says he is, solely interested in the welfare of his fellowman—and sometimes he is interested in their welfare only so long as such interest serves his own position and purposes.
These facts bring us to the necessity of examining the motives of men, looking behind all they say, looking beneath all that appears on the surface—and we may find ourselves asking at times what prompts this man’s interest in us? Is it because he is truly a humanitarian, solely in the service of his fellowman, or is it because he has personal ambitions? Because he has an ax to grind and wants to use our grindstone to do it? Because he has a pattern in mind and wants to crowd others into it? The motives of men are sometimes easy to discover, sometimes difficult, but to be safe we must discover what those motives are; we must determine whether a man’s methods are devious or direct; whether his speech is straightforward or obscure; whether he shifts with popular favor or follows a course of pre-announced principles; whether or not what he said last year is consistent with what he says this year.
There are in the world, and there have been before now, great humanitarians who would sacrifice their own ambitions, their personal fortunes, their power, their influence, if by so doing they could serve sincerely their fellowman. There are also others, and have always been, who would sacrifice their fellowman if by so doing they could serve themselves—such as were described tersely in this sentence of scripture: “. . . David knew that Saul secretly practiced mischief. . . .” (I Samuel 23:9)
There are many, before and since Saul, in all the ways of life, who have secretly practiced mischief. And so, before men commit themselves, they would do well to examine motives. If there are two possible ways of doing a thing, one of which encourages freedom and one of which leans toward loss of freedom, the way a leader chooses may be an indication of the ultimate end he has in mind, because usually when a man takes a step or two in a given direction, he probably has in mind going further in the same direction. Yes, the motives of men are more full of meaning than the words by which they explain their motives-whether unto good or unto evil.
By Richard L. Evans, spoken from the Tabernacle, Temple Square, Salt Lake City, Sunday, March 21, 1943, over Radio Station KSL and the nationwide Columbia Broadcasting System. Copyright-1943.
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March 21, 1943
Broadcast Number 0,709