This is how...

In our ward scripture study this morning we read the great lament of Mormon when he cries for his people “O ye fair ones, how could ye have departed from the ways of the Lord… how could ye have rejected that Jesus… how is it that ye could have fallen!” Mormon 6:17-19

“They were once a delightsome people and they had Christ for their shepherd…. but now they are led about by Satan.” - Mormon 5:17-18

HOW?  

This is how….

4 Nephi - Mormon 4

• began to be lifted up in pride, the wearing of costly apparel, and … all manner of the fine things of the world. (their “appearance” mattered most) - 4 Ne. 1:24
• had their goods no more common among them (caught up in competition or selfish indulgence) - 4 Ne. 1:25
• began to be divided into classes (they became “clicky”)  - 4 Ne. 1:26
• they built up churches unto themselves (more concerned about having “followers” than being a disciple of Christ.)  - 4 Ne. 1:26
• began to deny the true church (it became “inconvenient” for their “lifestyle”) - 4 Ne. 1:26
• they hardened their hearts (this is what happens when pure love or charity is absent) - 4 Ne. 1:34
• led by many priests and false prophets - (people who made them feel “comfortable” in their iniquities and in their view of the "inconvenient gospel")  - 4 Ne. 1:34
• they smote the people of Jesus (this could also mean verbal “smack”) - 4 Ne. 1:34
• they did dwindle in unbelief (no faith- no action - leads to less and less believing and more and more wickedness) - 4 Ne. 1:34
• eventually they did willfully rebel and taught their children that they should not believe (by their words and by their example) - 4 Ne. 1:38
• hated the things of God and taught their children to hate it too  - 4 Ne. 1:39
• built up secret combinations  - 4 Ne. 1:42
• proud in their hearts - filled with vanity  - 4 Ne. 1:43
• wanted nothing to do with the Lord’s beloved disciples  - Mormon 1:13
• sorrowed that the Lord would not suffer them to take happiness in sin  - Mormon 2:13
• didn’t recognize the Lord  - Mormon 3:3
• boasted in their own strength  - Mormon 3:9
• boasted of their own strength  - Mormon 4:8
• repented not but persisted in wickedness continually  - Mormon 4:10

As I read these things a couple of talks from the Elder Jeffrey R. Holland came to my mind on how to prevent this downfall:

"And as you labor to know [God] and to know that He knows you; as you invest your time—and inconvenience—in quiet, unassuming service, you will indeed find that “his angels [have] charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up.” (Matt. 4:6.) It may not come quickly. It probably won’t come quickly, but there is purpose in the time it takes. Cherish your spiritual burdens because God will converse with you through them and will use you to do his work if you carry them well." - Jeffrey R. Holland - The Inconvenient Messiah

The Cost and Blessings of Discipleship