Complacency Kills: Why Even a General Authority Can Fall

When my husband Jimmy first joined the Marines, he was so excited to be a part of defending his country (and getting to play with weapons and work out all the time). But he also found out that staying safe in the field meant remembering his training and following it to the T. In fact, they all had a saying that they remembered, especially when they were serving in Iraq:

Complacency Kills!

It was usually when a Marine became complacent (i.e. they didn’t hold their weapon correctly, didn’t pay attention to their surroundings, were not diligent in their duty, or didn’t follow protocol because “nothing had ever happened before”) that eventually led to their demise. The enemy literally videotaped the Marines, looking for weaknesses or complacency. And if the enemy spotted a Marine without his helmet on or walking sloppily with his gun slung behind his back, that was usually the first Marine he would attack (because it was most certainly a kill). But if a Marine stood alert, had his gear on correctly, and followed his training, he would stay safe and see the threat before it could overtake him. But as my husband admitted, sometimes it was hard to follow protocol when you were hot or hungry or tired. If nothing ever happened before, you wondered if you could skip it just this once in order to make things “easier”.

When he described this phrase “Complacency Kills” to me, I thought about how, too, it is important to remain at attention in the gospel because spiritual complacency—not reading your scriptures, praying, or going to church—will lead to spiritual death.

In fact, there is never a point where a member of the church is in a safe zone (i.e. a point where they couldn’t fall away).

I remember looking at General Authorities before and thinking how nice it must be to be that spiritual and KNOW for certain that everything is true so that they’d never fall away. But that is just NOT the case! A General Authority still has to follow the same commandments that we do in order to stay spiritually strong.

When I first got called into a stake position, I couldn’t believe the strength and intensity in which Satan hit me from all sides. I had tons of temptations. I got depressed. I felt like I wasn’t good enough for the calling which I had been called to. And at one point, I struggled in my studies and prayer. But through continually attending church, I was reminded to study my scriptures and say my prayers daily, so I made a new commitment to do so. It still wasn’t easy. But I felt like I had the power to overcome those temptations and trials which came my way. Over time, it became a little easier to fight them, but always the temptation was there to skip scripture study or prayer because I was “so busy.”

This is why I was not surprised to see the news that a General Authority Seventy, Elder James J. Hamula, was recently excommunicated. (See the whole story here.) If I as a stake leader was being hit by Satan so strongly, I KNOW that General Authorities and the Presidency of the Church must have an army of Satan’s best poking and prodding at them constantly to check to see if there are any chinks in their armor of God. And wouldn’t Satan love it to see a General Authority fall? So of course that’s the one he’d tempt and try continually.

Elder Hamula shared this thought perfectly in his talk "Winning the War Against Evil": "Make no mistake about it—the focus of his [Satan's] war is now on you—you who seek to 'keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.'"

Elder Hamula knew. He knew that Satan was focusing on him, trying to make him fall. And while I don’t know Elder Hamula personally, I know that he is human, and, therefore, not temptation-free or trial-free. We all have our “favorite sins” and, unfortunately, one of those may have taken precedence in his life. (I don’t try to speculate. It’s not my place! I just know we all sin!) However, I feel sadness for him and his family as the consequent actions have been shared throughout the world and sometimes ridiculed, used for anti-Mormon purposes, or treated lightly.

But what is great about the Church is that excommunication is not a punishment. Rather, it’s a new beginning so that he can go through the repentance process and eventually come back to the church once again. Honestly, it’s when one lives with the sin neatly tied up and tucked in their pocket for no one else to see with no desire to repent or change that one is in more danger of hell-fire than at any other time. But the Lord loves each one of us and knows our weaknesses and wants to help us strengthen those and become God Strong through Him.

Does Elder Hamula’s excommunication negate the amazing talks that he’s given in the past? (See his talks “Winning the War Against Evil” and “The Sacrament and the Atonement.”) Absolutely not! While his spiritual status may not be up to General Authority standards at the time, it was once and those talks continue to be the word of God.

When I was a youth, I had a Sunday school teacher who made the scriptures come alive to me. He brought excitement and joy into my gospel learning, and I never forgot the lessons he taught. Years later, I learned that he became a bishop of his ward but was then put in jail a while after because of information that surfaced from past sins that happened years before I met him. While this information saddened me, it did not take away the wonderful things that I learned from his class nor tarnish the respect that I had for him at that time.

Elder Hamula, too, had return missionaries (from his time as a mission president) say that he touched their lives, and that they wouldn’t be the same person without his influence. (See the full story here.)

Even the scriptures hold examples of those who were extremely righteous who fell (sometimes temporarily, sometimes permanently). David gave into temptation when he saw Bathsheba, but that does not take away the faith and strength that we can receive from his story of relying on God to defeat the giant Goliath. Judas, a chosen disciple of Christ, exchanged his master for 30 pieces of silver, but that in no way takes away from the lessons he taught side-by-side with Jesus. Jonah tried to run away from his mission in the first place and was swallowed by a fish, only to come back to his mission and do exactly what the Lord asked of him and bless many people.

I guess the main thing that I’m trying to say is that none of us are safe from falling into sin no matter how high up we get in the church. We all have our weaknesses. And tests and trials are a part of this life. We knew that before we came here. Therefore, it is absolutely pertinent that we stay strong in our scripture study, prayer, and church attendance because those things will keep us alert and spiritually alive. They help us to identify those things we need to change and the things we need to repent of.

Because remember…

In both the military and the gospel,

COMPLACENCY KILLS!

So I invite all of you to read Elder Hamula's two talks (they are excellent) and re-commit yourself to live the gospel with vigor so that you can remain strong against future temptations and in future trials.