The Most Dangerous Apostates are Social Media Influencers

Before I can even address the dangers of apostates, I want to ensure you understand what apostasy is. Modern apostles and prophets repeatedly warn us about personal apostasy. Yet, when you ask most people to define apostasy they struggle. If pressed, many people erroneously will say apostasy is when someone rejects the entire gospel. This is not the case with almost any apostates. This inability to define apostasy is leading to an increasing number of spiritual casualties. Unlike the sinner, whom Christ commanded we never cast out, the Lord commands in Alma 5:59–60 that we drive out the apostate wolves to protect the flock. But because we cannot call a spade a spade, apostate wolves are permitted to tarry in the Church, many times being given speaking opportunities and direct access to the youth, and they are feasting upon the lambs of the flock.

So what is apostasy? The Church handbook clearly outlines what apostasy is. Section 32.6.3.2: Apostasy goes over membership councils and disciplinary actions, formerly referred to as excommunication, it says:

As used here, apostasy refers to a member engaging in any of the following:

• Repeatedly acting in clear and deliberate public opposition to the Church, its doctrine, its policies, or its leaders
• Persisting in teaching as Church doctrine what is not Church doctrine after being corrected by the bishop or stake president
• Showing a pattern of intentionally working to weaken the faith and activity of Church members
• Continuing to follow the teachings of apostate sects after being corrected by the bishop or stake president
• Formally joining another church and promoting its teachings (Total inactivity in the Church or attending another church does not by itself constitute apostasy. However, if a member formally joins another church and advocates its teachings, withdrawing his or her membership may be necessary.)

Today I want to focus on points 1 and 3, as they are, in my experience, the most common forms of apostasy we are witnessing. In essence, apostasy, as I will use it today is when someone attacks any aspect of the Church (Doctrine/Policies/Leaders) OR repeatedly attacks the faithful members with the intent to weaken their faithfulness in the gospel. The final thing to define is what I mean when I say Influencer/Social Media Influencer. I am referring to any author, therapist, blogger, YouTuber/Tiktalker, podcaster, musician, fireside circuit speaker, public personality, or pundit who uses Social Media to exert influence.

The most dangerous apostates are Social Media Influencers

All apostates are spiritually dangerous. Because they, like the original apostate, seek to bring others down with them. They attack the faith of family, friends, and ward members. I have even personally seen missionaries reaching back out to their converts in attempts to destroy their faith too. With Social Media, an apostate’s ability to reach out to these people is virtually immediate. This is one of the reasons that The Church handbook warns that “Issues of apostasy often have an impact beyond the boundaries of a ward or stake. They need to be addressed promptly to protect others.” (Section 32.6.3.2: Apostasy).

But I believe that the most dangerous apostates are Social Media Influencers. All too often these Influencers are held to a lower standard compared to the general membership of the Church because what they do online is dismissed as “only on Facebook/Instagram” and therefore is not as serious. If I stood up in Church and advocated that the prophet is fallen, the Church is corrupt, or our doctrines or policies are bad/need to change, I would be reprimanded, and if I continued I would be held in contempt and have my membership called into question via a membership council. AS IT SHOULD BE.

Yet Social Media Influencers often put up a faithful facade in real life. They “look faithful” and then once on Social Media, they spew the most cancerous of apostate messages to their followers. They actively attack the policies and even the doctrines of the Church. Many influencers attack the Family Proclamation as homophobic or dated. They seek to destroy the member’s faith in the Family Proclamation by dismissing it as merely a legal document or policy, and then they hold up the alternative LGBTQ lifestyle as what is most Christlike! If I did this in Church, I would have my membership withdrawn aka be excommunicated. Yet often they are permitted because “It is only online.”

But what is even worse, if I stood up in church and said these things, I would reach only the immediate congregation. But these Social Media Influencers are reaching millions of people. To give you some perspective, I am a small fry in terms of being a Social Media Influencer, across my pages and accounts I only have just over 500,000 followers. Yet in the last 28 days, over 5 million people have seen my posts. The danger of a Social Media influencer apostatizing cannot be overstressed, but neither can the power of a faithful one!

When we fail to act, we become accomplices to apostate wolves.

One of the primary duties of a Bishop/Stake President is to be a shepherd in Israel, which not only seeks out the “lost sheep” but also defends the flock from the wolves! They ensure that there are no wolves in sheep’s clothing waiting to devour the precious lambs. Alma made this clear, he taught: “I say unto you that the good shepherd doth call after you; and if you will hearken unto his voice he will bring you into his fold, and ye are his sheep; and he commandeth you that ye suffer no ravenous wolf to enter among you, that ye may not be destroyed.” (Alma 5:59–60)

I do not doubt that almost all Bishops/Stake Presidents would be willing to lay down their physical and social lives in defense of the flock, if they but knew what their duty was. But the problem is that many can’t define what apostasy is, and they don’t turn to the handbook for assistance, they unwittingly allow apostate wolves to tarry in the flock.

And this is the key, most Social Media Influencers use their “active” membership as an indirect endorsement of their message and to gain more followers. If people knew they were excommunicated for attacking the Church’s doctrines and policies on LGBTQ+ issues (or any other issue), then those weak/young in faith would realize they are apostate wolves. They would reject them.

But these Influencers and their followers cite their activity or their calling (or their spouses’ calling) to deflect accountability to their online actions. They use their continued membership as an endorsement of their apostasy. In effect, they are saying, “What I am doing is right, what I am teaching is true. My Bishop and Stake President do not think I am apostate. Therefore they agree with me!”

When it comes to apostasy, Dietrich Bonhoeffer was right, “Silence in the face of evil is itself evil: God will not hold us guiltless. Not to speak is to speak. Not to act is to act.” When we allow evil to grow within the Church we are, in fact, accomplices to that evil. When we say one thing, but then tolerate another, we become authors of confusion. God is not an author of confusion.

Therefore what?

So what am I suggesting we do? Well, first and foremost we must guard against apostasy by realizing that we must sustain the prophet and not criticize the brethren. We MUST hold to the Iron Rod. Remember, no one at the tree is murmuring, that is an exclusive trait of the great and spacious building!

Secondly. If you are a leader, I recommend keeping a close relationship with an influencer in your ward. Be near so that if they start down the road to apostasy they can hopefully be turned back before they are lost. But remember, you MUST act to defend the flock. You MUST ensure the leaders under your stewardship are examples of faithfulness. Never should a leader under our stewardship become a wolf in shepherd’s clothing. You must follow the handbook regarding apostasy. God will hold us accountable for the sheep we sacrifice if we shirk our duty out of laziness, ignorance, or to save face. If you are not a leader, then I suggest that you counsel with your bishop, and express the confusion at what you are witnessing. Ask them to read and explain the handbook to you regarding apostasy. And just like if you saw someone committing apostasy in your local ward, when you see a Social Media Influencer who is engaging in online apostasy, attempt to reach out to their leaders to let them know what is happening.

And finally, raise a voice of warning about apostates when you witness them. One of the ultimate tools Satan will evoke is the false idea that we “judge not.” He wants us to think that when we see apostasy it is wrong to say something or to do something. And that to do so would be “judging” someone. Instead of buying into Satan’s lie, follow the Savior who commanded us to “Judge not unrighteously, that ye be not judged; but judge righteous judgment.” (see JST Matt 7:1-2). Be merciful, but when you see your friends sharing the content of apostate Influencers, warn them about their apostasy. From my experience, merely highlighting apostate views/posts from an Influencer is enough to cause people to unfollow them.

For example, when I shared this video, I had dozens of people thank me and inform me that they unfollowed her afterward:

Let us follow the prophet and unfollow false prophets.

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