Spiritual Complacency

In 2 Nephi 28, Nephi wrote about the last days and the wickedness that would be on the earth. One of the themes in this chapter is a warning against complacency in various forms. We see this first in the famous statement of the wicked: “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” (v7). In other words, these people say, “Don’t be so worried about doing good or being righteous—it will all be just fine in the end.” But Nephi did not mince words in his warning to this group who “pervert the right way of the Lord” for they will be “thrust down to hell” (v15). He further warned that a sense of complacency in spiritual matters comes from the devil: “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” (v21). This “all is well” refrain is of course not the kind of “all is well as we put our trust in the Lord and follow Him no matter what happens” that the pioneers sang of, but it is rather an “all is well so don’t worry about repenting or changing” attitude. To this latter attitude Nephi’s words speak out boldly to us: “Wo be unto him that crieth: All is well!”

Other passages in this chapter similarly warn against spiritual complacency. The devil seeks to suppress feelings of guilt we might have over our sins by flattering us into disbelieving in him and hell: “And behold, others he flattereth away, and telleth them there is no hell; and he saith unto them: I am no devil, for there is none” (v22). Those who fall into this trap, have much to fear, for “they are grasped with death, and hell” (v23). Nephi also warned about complacency as it relates to receiving the word of God. He said, “Yea, wo be unto him that saith: We have received, and we need no more!... 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!” (v27,29) We should never think that we have enough of the word of God or have received all His instructions, for He promised, “Unto him that receiveth I will give more.” But if those in an attitude of complacency think, “We have enough” then “from them shall be taken away even that which they have” (v30). Of course, though we as Latter-day Saints might be quick to point fingers at those who reject the Book of Mormon, these words certainly are just as important for us as we evaluate how we accept and treat the words of the Lord He gives us through prophets today. Overall Nephi’s message for us is summed up succinctly in these words: “Therefore, wo be unto him that is at ease in Zion!” (v24)

             The antidote to this attitude is clear and is given in the chapter’s final verse: “I will be merciful unto them, saith the Lord God, if they will repent and come unto me; for mine arm is lengthened out all the day long, saith the Lord God of Hosts” (v32). Coming unto the Lord through consistent repentance is the cure for complacency, and President Nelson has frequently encouraged us to repent more frequently, including multiple times in this most recent general conference: “We are here on earth to be tested, to see if we will choose to follow Jesus Christ, to repent regularly, to learn, and to progress.” He also said, “Embrace your new normal by repenting daily. Seek to be increasingly pure in thought, word, and deed.” Similarly he declared, “It takes persistent, rigorous spiritual work to repent and to put off the natural man through the Atonement of Jesus Christ. It takes consistent, daily effort to develop personal habits to study the gospel, to learn more about Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ, and to seek and respond to personal revelation.” Nephi’s warning to us all is that we must guard against spiritual complacency, and we can best do so as we heed the prophet’s call to daily repentance.