NT 8: We Can Make It

We don't need to worry about wide-spread apostasy in the church anymore as Paul warned the people of his day.

But personal apostasy is a very real concern.

As I've grown up, I've seen people fall away. I've often wondered how it happens. I've wondered how they could leave what they knew to be true. I don't know if there is always an easy answer, but there are two things that come to mind.

The first is complacency.
God says that if we are lukewarm, and not hot or cold, he will spue us out of his mouth. (Revelations 3:17) Those who live the Gospel halfway aren't really living the Gospel at all. To be lukewarm doesn't mean "imperfect." We are all imperfect. It doesn't mean we don't make mistakes or sometimes make the wrong choice. We all make wrong choices and mistakes.

To be hot or cold is to have chosen what side you are fighting on. It sounds to me that God has very little patience for fence sitters. We have to choose what side we are fighting for and FIGHT. If we are not on the Lord's side, whose side are we on? There really isn't any middle ground. If we aren't fighting each day by reading our scriptures, praying for help, and following the prophets (in other words, becoming complacent) we aren't going to make it.

The second is overzealousness.
This is the opposite of complacency, and yet both can result in apostasy. I have noticed that when people get too focused on being perfect and doing everything right, they get major burnout. They don't accept themselves, they place themselves under more pressure and demands than the Lord does. They focus on their own efforts instead of His grace.

Elder Larsen of the Seventy said that "overzealousness is at least as much to be feared as apathy."

Isn't that interesting?
Why would that be?

I think that the problem with both complacency and overzealousness is that your focus turns away from Christ. Isn't that depressing? The very thing that overzealous people avoid so well (complacency) has a very similar cause.

How do we avoid both complacency and overzealousness?
We step in the right direction.
And then we take another step.

If we are prone to complacency, we must remember to keep walking in the path.
If we are prone to overzealousness, we must remember to refrain from trying to sprint the whole time.

When we do give our efforts to following his path, and keep our focus on the Savior, we don't need to worry about apostasy. We will know that it is His grace after all we can do that will help us make it.

One of my favorite quotes by Elder Maxwell eloquently expresses exactly what we need to be doing.

"Oh, how glorious and wonderful is “this Jesus Christ”! If contemplating the doing of all these things – to become more and more like Him – makes us feel discouraged, intimidated, and overwhelmed, we need to remember that He never said it all had to be done in a day. Rather, if we could not travel fast, we could at least be steadfast and press forward, doing things in wisdom and in order and in a pattern of paced progress, first achieving correct direction and then added momentum. It is the labor of a lifetime and more." Even as I Am, pg. 33-34.

It's possible. Let's stay on the path and remember that it is possible because of Him.