Many Mormons have put their church and its leaders ahead of Christ, and as such are idolators. But, as a commentator pointed out, to say that all Mormons put the church ahead of Christ is taking a generalization too far. Many LDS people are today waking up to the fact that, as a group, we have had a tendency to do worship the church and not Christ, and to trust the church not the Lord to save us, and I will stand by my position that many top church leaders put the organization ahead of Christ. But many ordinary members are grateful for other members who showed us that we were doing this, and we realized our mistake. I think some of the best teachers in the church, are not the leaders, or the official teachers, but fellow members, who by their example, and a word or two, get us thinking.
I am grateful for the church for bringing us together under a common umbrella and for preserving the scriptures so that we can study they for ourselves. I hope, in this blog, I can attract and retain people who want to put the Lord first in their lives, and I promise that I will try harder not to overly generalize. This is a tendency we get into online. This trend actually started when all people had was email, when we lost that personal connection and could hide behind words. And now it’s carried over into blogs and Facebook. We all really need to watch ourselves in this.
“Christianity”, as a belief system, is nothing to be admired as its adherents place their creeds ahead of Christ, and are just as much idolators. Their idea of “faith”, for example, is not seeking revelation and acting it, but instead, their idea of faith is a set of beliefs that you must follow.
I will admit to one of my pet peeves. I really, really, really don’t like organized religion, and I tend to go overboard in condemning it. It’s just because I have seen what it can do to people who would otherwise be great friends. However, many people see great value in large organizations, and I will try to be more tolerant. To me, the most spiritual times I ever had with people was in private discussions, or in small meetings held in peoples’ homes. I grew up in small branches of the church all my life, and on my mission, and that was all I knew until I attended college in Utah.
The definition of the church of Christ and a true disciple of Christ is very simple. It’s in the D&C.
10:67. Behold, this is my doctrine–whosoever repenteth and cometh unto me, the same is my church.
10:68. Whosoever declareth more or less than this, the same is not of me, but is against me; therefore he is not of my church.
10:69. And now, behold, whosoever is of my church, and endureth of my church to the end, him will I establish upon my rock, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against them.
10:70. And now, remember the words of him who is the life and light of the world, your Redeemer, your Lord and your God. Amen.
John144 