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 
That first sentence is quite the provocative broad statement. I am currently a member of said church. I assure you that I have NOT put this church nor (and especially) its leaders ahead of Christ (at least consciously). After all – I’m here reading. I have not yet been instructed to leave. But if I were, I’m gone before the hat hits the floor. However, the last 18 months has taught me that I’m willing to put all of my “current knowledge paradigm” on the altar. So I’m willing to listen if you care to expound.
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This was a general question that somebody posed on Facebook, but it’s a common question that comes up quite often. The typical response from most people outside Mormonism, who consider themselves Christian, is the Mormon are not Christian because they don’t share the same creeds (set of beliefs). I wanted to be provocative. To say that all Mormons put the church and its leaders ahead of Christ, is, of course, an over-generalization. I do know some church members who do not believe that, and in fact, these are the people who pointed out to me the error of our ways, and got me thinking about it. I agree. This was an unfair generalization, and I am going to back off a bit. Thanks for pointing this out, and I hope my change comes across in a better light.
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I’ll just say that it was somebody at church, a former stake president no less, who turned me onto Stroud and essentially got this ball rolling for me about 18 months ago. I feel like I won the knowledge lottery which opened my eyes to the possible. I mean I still don’t know anything, but in my mind, I’ve scratched the surface enough to believe there’s no excuse for me now. There are others at church I should talk to and have been talking to. I desire true fellowship where ideas are encouraged. My path to Christ is real. Some dross is already falling off. My siblings think I’m turning “anti” and going off the rails. Yet I feel like a nuclear bomb that is self contained under my roof. I’m retired. I don’t get out much. I want to blow the roof off. Anyway, I thank you for your courage, for all your writings, study helps, and laying it out there, including your article below.
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