Comfortable in the Spiritual Status Quo

One of the main themes of 2 Nephi 28 is that we should never get comfortable with the spiritual status quo in our lives.  We see this theme present in several of the teachings in this chapter:

·         “Yea, and there shall be many which shall say: Eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we die; and it shall be well with us….  [God] will justify in committing a little sin” (v7, 8).  The attitude of these people seems to be, “Relax, whatever we do is fine and justified before God” and so there’s no need to worry about changing or improving any of our actions.  They are comfortable in their current behavior, rationalizing that the sin is not so bad and justifying themselves that it won’t be a big deal to God. 

·         “O the wise, and the learned, and the rich, that are puffed up in the pride of their hearts, and all those who preach false doctrines, and all those who commit whoredoms, and pervert the right way of the Lord” (v15).  In this and other verses in this chapter the Lord condemns the proud, learned, and rich who pervert God’s ways.  These people are comfortable with themselves and their abilities, and because of that they turn from God and trample on those in need. 

·         “And others will he pacify, and lull them away into carnal security, that they will say: All is well in Zion; yea, Zion prospereth, all is well—and thus the devil cheateth their souls, and leadeth them away carefully down to hell…. Wo be unto him that is at ease in Zion!” (v21, 24)  This seems to be directed towards the covenant people of the Lord who are seduced into thinking that everything is well spiritually in their current situation.  They are comfortable in Zion, thus making no special efforts to continue building the kingdom or improving themselves.  Because of spiritual progress made in the past, they stop all progress in the future.   

·         “Wo be unto him that shall say: We have received the word of God, and we need no more of the word of God, for we have enough!” (v29)  The problem here is clear: many will reject the future words of God because they already have some of the words of God.  It is a common reason for rejecting the Book of Mormon without any real analysis of the text: the Bible, to many, is true and therefore must be a complete account of God’s words.  Nephi invites us, though, not to be comfortable with the amount of spiritual truth we have received, but to seek more: “Thus saith the Lord God: I will give unto the children of men line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little and there a little; … for unto him that receiveth I will give more” (v30).  As we take seriously the light we have been given, then God will give us more.   

It’s very easy to get comfortable with the spiritual status quo in our lives, assuming that all is well and that we don’t have any major improvements to make or more knowledge to gain.  The invitation of 2 Nephi 28, though, is to always stay uncomfortable and to “hearken unto [God’s] precepts, and lend an ear unto [His] counsel,” to learn wisdom and to continue to receive that which the Lord wants to give us.  Our attitude should be like that of Abraham: even though he was already “a follower of righteousness,” yet he sought “to be a greater follower of righteousness, and to possess a greater knowledge” and to “receive instructions” from the Lord.  He did not stop seeking the Lord because he had made some good progress—the spiritual status quo is never so good that we cannot find greater blessings from the Lord if we will continue striving to hear and heed God’s directions.