Journey to Understanding God's Grace with BJ Allen

In a world obsessed with achievement and performance, many of us struggle with feelings of inadequacy. We wonder if our efforts are sufficient, if our contribution matters, and if we're doing enough to be worthy of God's love. These questions often lead to spiritual perfectionism that can damage our relationship with God and rob us of the joy that comes from true discipleship.

BJ Allen, a professor of marketing at BYU's Mary School of Management, understands this struggle intimately. As the faculty director for the BYU Sales Society and author of multiple textbooks including "Professional Selling: A Guide for Modern Sales Professionals," Allen has achieved significant professional success. But it's his latest book, ‘The Compensating Power of Christ’ that reveals his most profound insights. Drawing from his personal battle with religious OCD and perfectionism, Allen offers a perspective on the atonement that speaks directly to those who've ever felt they weren't "enough."

In a recent episode of Why We Believe, Allen shared how understanding Christ's compensating power transformed his relationship with God and helped him overcome the crippling anxiety of never measuring up. Through personal stories and scriptural insights, he illuminated an aspect of the atonement often overshadowed by discussions of sin and repentance – Christ's ability to make right all that is unfair in life and to complete our insufficient efforts.

Discovering the Missing Dimension of the Atonement

Most discussions about Christ's atonement focus on its power to cleanse us from sin or comfort us in times of trial. While these aspects are vital, Allen noticed a line in Preach My Gospel that sparked his curiosity: "All that is unfair about life can be made right through the atonement of Jesus Christ." This statement prompted him to explore what unfairness the atonement addresses and how exactly Christ makes it right.

Through years of study and personal reflection, Allen came to understand what he calls the "compensating power" of Christ. This is the dimension of the atonement that not only forgives our sins but actually compensates for our weaknesses, the imperfections of others, and the inherent unfairness of living in a fallen world. It's the power that takes our incomplete efforts and makes them sufficient through divine grace.

This perspective transformed Allen's understanding of his relationship with God. Rather than seeing Christ as someone who merely magnifies our abilities, he began to see Him as one who compensates for our efforts to make them complete. This shift was liberating – it meant that Allen didn't have to be perfect on his own; Christ's atonement would make up the difference between his best efforts and what was required.

From Spiritual Perfectionism to Grace-Filled Living

Growing up, Allen struggled with what he describes as "perfectionism" and "religious-based OCD." He constantly worried about whether God was disappointed in him and whether he was doing enough to earn divine approval. This mindset created significant anxiety about his relationship with God and left him feeling perpetually inadequate despite his best efforts.

A turning point came when Allen's brother, who was serving a mission and struggling with similar feelings of inadequacy, reached out for guidance. The brother felt he wasn't a good enough missionary – he wasn't seeing results, and he worried that his shortcomings were preventing people from accepting the gospel. As Allen prayed about how to respond, he received insights about Christ's role in making our efforts sufficient. He came to understand that God isn't disappointed in us when we make honest mistakes – He's only disappointed when we consciously rebel. The realization that Christ compensates for our weaknesses rather than condemning us for them brought Allen profound peace.

This new understanding helped Allen recognize that the perfectionism he had struggled with was based on a fundamental misunderstanding of God's expectations. Rather than demanding perfect performance, God asks for sincere effort and relies on the atonement of Christ to make that effort complete. This perspective allowed Allen to let go of the crushing weight of trying to be enough on his own and instead embrace the liberating truth that Christ makes him enough through grace.

Finding Christ in the Everyday

While Allen had always had a strong testimony of Heavenly Father, he admits that his testimony of Jesus Christ developed more slowly. He initially saw the atonement as something that happened 2,000 years ago, relevant only when he needed to repent of serious sins. This limited view of Christ's role made it difficult for Allen to feel a personal connection to the Savior in his daily life.

As Allen began to understand the compensating power of Christ, he discovered how present Jesus is in everyday experiences – from making dinner to teaching a gospel doctrine class to parenting his children. He realized that when Christ said, "My grace is sufficient for you," He meant it's sufficient for everything, not just for overcoming sin. This comprehensive view of the atonement helped Allen see Christ as a friend who is intimately involved in his daily challenges and victories.

The shift from seeing Christ as a distant historical figure to recognizing Him as an active participant in daily life transformed Allen's religious experience. He no longer viewed his relationship with God as a performance to be evaluated but as a partnership in which Christ constantly compensates for his weaknesses and helps him become his best self. This perspective brought a joy and peace to Allen's spiritual life that had been missing during his years of perfectionism.

The Transformative Power of Scripture and Grace

One of the most powerful stories Allen shared from his mission in Detroit involved a teenage boy who was initially quiet and seemingly disengaged during lessons. After weeks of minimal response, the young man suddenly became animated when asked about his experience reading the Book of Mormon. "I don't know what that book's doing to me," he exclaimed, explaining how reading the scriptures was changing him in ways he couldn't fully understand. Without being taught specific principles like the Word of Wisdom, he had already begun making different choices – declining invitations to drink with friends and prioritizing scripture reading over social activities.

This experience illuminated for Allen how bringing Christ into our lives through scripture triggers a transformation that goes beyond intellectual understanding. The Holy Ghost works through the word of God to change our desires, behaviors, and nature in ways that we often can't achieve through willpower alone. It demonstrated how God's grace works in our lives to help us become something better than we could become on our own.

For Allen, this missionary experience parallels the way that understanding Christ's compensating power has changed his own life. Just as the young man was transformed by reading scripture before he fully understood all the doctrines, Allen found that embracing Christ's grace changed him in profound ways. It made him more patient with his own imperfections and those of others. It helped him see that there's more fairness in life than we often recognize because God looks at the totality of eternity when considering how we're blessed and compensated.

Applying the Compensating Power of Christ in Your Life

Understanding Christ's compensating power can transform how we approach our spiritual lives. Here are several ways to apply this principle:

● Stop measuring your worth by achievement: Rather than evaluating yourself based on what you accomplish, recognize that your worth comes from your divine identity as a child of God.
● Invite Christ into daily challenges: Ask for His help not just with sin but with every aspect of life where you feel inadequate.
● Practice self-compassion: When you make mistakes, respond with the same patience and understanding that Christ offers you.
● Look for evidence of compensation: Notice the ways God has made up for unfairness or difficulty in your life, whether through unexpected blessings, personal growth, or divine assistance.
● Focus on progress, not perfection: Remember that becoming like Christ is a lifelong journey facilitated by His grace, not a performance to be graded.

By embracing these practices, we can experience the freedom that comes from truly understanding how Christ's atonement compensates for our weaknesses and makes our insufficient efforts complete.

A Call to Trust in Christ's Sufficiency

If you've ever felt the burden of not being enough – as a parent, a church leader, a missionary, or simply as a disciple of Christ – the message of the compensating power offers profound relief. Christ isn't waiting for you to reach some arbitrary level of goodness before He's willing to help. He's actively involved in your life from the moment you invite Him in, making your sincere but imperfect efforts sufficient through His infinite grace.

This week, challenge yourself to identify one area where you've been struggling with feelings of inadequacy. It might be in parenting, in a church calling, in your professional life, or in your personal discipleship. Take time to pray specifically about how Christ's compensating power applies to that situation. Ask Him to help you see how His grace is already at work making up the difference between your best efforts and what's needed.

As you move forward, remember that the restored gospel offers a unique understanding of Christ's atonement – one that shows us not just how to be forgiven of sin but how to be made complete despite our weaknesses. Through prophets like Joseph Smith and scripture like the Book of Mormon, we gain insights into the totality of the atonement that help us experience the joy of discipleship rather than the anxiety of perfectionism. In Christ, we are always enough – not because of what we achieve on our own, but because of what He achieves in and through us.