Will there be a falling away of members in the church?
Question
Gramps,
First of all let me say I love this site and your answers are very helpful. But Eric from Washington asked if there will be a falling away before (or when) Christ comes again. You answered that the church will never be taken from the earth again. You didn’t say if there would be a falling away by some of the saints. I’ve heard it said that there would be a falling away, but have no scripture to back it up. Your thoughts?
Becky
Answer
Dear Becky,
It can be easy to get confused because falling away can have different meanings depending on context.
In the context of will the church be lost and removed from the earth like it was in ancient times then the answer the Lord has given us is clearly no.
If however we are talking about individuals, well, that happens all the time. We are also taught in the parable of the Wheat and the Tares, that the two types would be gathered together and wouldn’t be separated until near the end. Look at all of the issues we see in the media these days that are separating members in their opinions and beliefs.
To me this says that within the church there are both wheat and tares. As we near the end it makes sense to me that events will happen to sift the tares out of the church. This could easily be seen as a large falling away of individuals that you mention, just not enough to destroy the church.
Just look at the gals recently marching on Temple Square trying to get into Priesthood session of General Conference. Or those members who post favorable likes on Facebook about alternative marriages. They have no association with the Holy Ghost, and no comprehension of the mind and will of the Lord. Yes, there is a definite sifting of the wheat from the tares. So many members are so caught up in the “ways of the world” these days that they have no comprehension what it means to be a Zion society. Folks like these never got translated with the City of Enoch thousands of years ago.