‘Because I’m scared’… ‘I’ll lose too much’…11%…
Yesterday I came across a website that reminded me of why I’m in ministry. Today I renewed my efforts to be more zealous in the call He’s laid upon my heart. Today I hit my knees and cried out to Him again to save my people, the Mormons.
All of this stemmed from someone liking an article we posted on our Facebook page and because the name of the visitor’s website intrigued me (Undercover Mormon Leader), I went to check out his site. He posts articles from various ministries, calls out the Church on their erroneous, clandestine history, and asks the Mormon community at large some hard questions – be sure to check it out! And please pray; for everyone involved.
On this guy’s FB page was a link for ‘Why Mormons Leave’ that I’m convinced every Mormon should read. That site was created by Open Stories Foundation and Mormon Stories Podcast. On their site they presented a survey, asking specific questions for Mormons and ex-Mormons alike. After the results came in they published the study and opened their format for discussion.
It gives great insight into the world of how and why people leave the Church and gives us reason to pause and reflect on why they stay.
The 11% I noted at the top of this article represents the percentage of Mormons who leave and become born-again Christians. The percentage of those who leave and become atheist is 4x greater than those who accept the Lord.
‘Because I’m scared’ is a quote from numerous people on the site who wrote in to explain why they stay in Mormonism.
‘I’ll lose too much’ is actually a synopsis of why the majority stay in the Church. Their reasons why ranged from losing jobs, families, and homes to missing the social climate of Mormonism.
While reading some of the responses I felt the old familiar heartache I’m too well acquainted with make another appearance. Living in Mormonism is so dismal and while there are some nice aspects to it, the bad far outweighs the good.
Being Scared
When I left Mormonism in the spring of ’93, I had two daughters who were still in diapers; the oldest was 26 months and the youngest was 5 months old. Life was crazy busy and filled with new experiences of the new God I was worshiping, trials and errors of being a new mom and going through the exodus process of leaving Mormonism.
The one thing that stands out to me even all these years later is the fear I experienced each day. My thoughts were engulfed by real and imagined threats because of my decision to leave.
At times my thoughts bordered on the side of paranoia which caught me off guard because it didn’t reflect who I was then or now. One day unfounded panic took front and center stage and it took my 2 year old to snap me back into reality.
I was a stay-at-home mom and one afternoon an unexpected knock on the door threw me into unknown regions of dark spiritual warfare. I grabbed both kids and threw them into our shower in a small restroom. I stood there with the door locked tight and waited.
After a few minutes my oldest daughter asked why we were hiding in the shower and her sweet little voice jarred me back into reality. As it turned out, the knock on our door was from the milkman wanting to know if we’d like to have a larger bin for our milk order each week. It was an insane way to live and not being a mature Christian, I fell for Satan’s trickery.
Losing Too Much
I lost a lot when I became a Christian. Aside from two or three people, I lost my entire family and all but two or three friends I held near and dear to my heart. I lost all family ties, a significant inheritance, and the ‘unconditional’ love I thought I had from my parents…
And yet in the overall scheme of things, I was blessed. My husband didn’t leave, I didn’t lose my home or children, and while the death threats were scary, I didn’t lose my life.
The majority of Mormons who leave will face opposition on some level. Depending on where they live, how long they were in Mormonism, how many generations they came out of, their level of activity, etc.; these things and more play an integral part of the opposition and spiritual warfare all ex-Mormons go through. It’s something every Mormon will need to come face to face with. Is it going to be Jesus or Joseph?
Death threats are a rare occurrence when Mormons leave the fold. Not everyone experiences the level of animosity from family members that I did. The threats I still receive today are a result of my work in ministry and not from personal family issues.
Life After Mormonism
As you grow in Christ, the Lord is at the forefront of thought life, not people around you. You learn a new normal, if you will, and incorporate new traditions with a spouse, kids and friends. You become a new creature in Christ as Paul explains in 2 Corinthians 5:17, and settle into the peace Jesus promised us in John 14:27.
The first time I read Philippians 3:8 I received another confirmation from the Lord I had done the right thing.
“Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ”.
Indeed, what I ‘lost’ is nothing compared to who He is. As Christmas is upon us, I can’t help but think of the carol ‘O Holy Night’. As the song says, all I can do is fall on my knees in awe for who He is. Christianity is about Jesus, not you, not me and not a church.
When you’re on the inside of Mormonism looking out, it’s hard to imagine Jesus will give you more friends than you had before, but the blessings He showers on believers can’t be compared!
The survey results on the website I mentioned are a sad reminder of the trouble we find when we don’t follow the true Jesus of the Bible. It’s difficult to say whether the eleven percent is a true reflection of all ex-Mormons, we pray that it’s not as our experience at the ministry has shown otherwise.
Please, pray for those who don’t know Christ and Him crucified won’t you? Pray that as they read the account of the babe in the manger, they’ll be prompted to look beyond that glorious night God came down in human flesh.
With Love in Christ;
Michelle
1 Cor 1:18
1 Corinthians 2:2ESV
For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.
FAITH ends fear. Faith comes from the Holy Spirit by reading and hearing God’s word in the Bible alone. (Hebrews) You can stand on that solid rock of faith; all other ground is sinking sand.
————–
Hymn: My Hope is Built
(Matthew 7:26-27English Standard Version (ESV)
26 And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. 27 And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.”)
My hope is built on nothing less
Than Jesus’ blood and righteousness.
I dare not trust the sweetest frame,
But wholly trust in Jesus’ name.
Refrain
On Christ the solid rock I stand,
All other ground is sinking sand;
All other ground is sinking sand.
When darkness seems to hide His face,
I rest on His unchanging grace.
In every high and stormy gale,
My anchor holds within the veil.
Refrain
His oath, His covenant, His blood,
Support me in the whelming flood.
When all around my soul gives way,
He then is all my hope and stay.
Refrain
When He shall come with trumpet sound,
Oh may I then in Him be found.
Dressed in His righteousness alone,
Faultless to stand before the throne.
Refrain
http://www.hymntime.com/tch/htm/m/y/h/myhopeis.htm
I can understand… when I was considering leaving Judaism, I was worried about being cut off from my people. Fortunately, the Lord arranged it in a two step fashion where I was sick of Judaism and hypocrisy (and angry with my Rabbi, which helped)… then when I finally came to grips with who Jesus Christ is, it was easier having made that first step.
Use your testimony as much as you can! It has power to reach people. The ones that won’t listen to facts and logic will hear the fear and the sensation of being trapped, and may respond.
With you being a Messianic believer I’m certain your story and mine have many similarities that aren’t even on the site you have…
It’s funny w/ my call into ministry – I was never the type to be in public like I am now. I loved being around people, just not in front of them. 😉 God’s funny that way – He’ll see things in us we never would have imagined. 🙂
I have a few friends who are Messianic Jews, a few that are ex-Muslims and between those and the Mormons I’ve discovered we all have more in common than I thought imaginable.
The one thing that surprised me the most about shunning came from my friends who are Messianic believers. The level of animosity they endure is remarkable and for some reason I just expected it to be different for them considering Christians and Jews both believe in the historical aspect of Scripture.
It proved to me yet again events from the Bible are true. The hatred that came from the Israelites to those who accepted Yeshua was as real then as it is now. Bless you my friend!
Michelle
I don’t have enough time to get into it here, but there’s as many serious doctrinal issues with most Messianics as there is from Mormons. Both emphasize a works based salvation, etc. I’ve written about it pretty extensively.
I’m just a saved Jewish man who can;t keep his mouth shut! Saved by the same grace as you.
Once you’ve taken the very difficult personal and spiritual step of adding up all the things to don’t hold up to close inspection in Mormonism, you’re going to apply the same process to the Bible and Christianity. I’m sorry to say that the Bible and Christianity hold up little better to objective scrutiny than the Book of Mormon and Mormonism.
And just how does God’s word fall short? It’s a sad testament to your relationship with Jesus and for that we’re sorry for you. Know we’ll be praying for you Alan.
The remarkable thing about God is that He performs supernaturally through the life of the believer and as His word states, He gives us a new heart of flesh – Ezek. 36:26. We can question, analyze, critique and yes, even doubt, but His word never comes back void – Isaiah 55:11. There are no lies, no further revelation, etc., because all those things were fulfilled in Jesus. The long awaited Messiah arrived and He (not us) fulfilled the Laws required, thus giving us access to God and assurance of salvation – all without works. Ephesians 2:8-9.
I’ve carefully examined the bible and Christianity. When I left Judaism, I scouted around for the religion that was the truth. What convinced me was an empty tomb in Jerusalem. The Bible has hundreds of prophecies that were fulfilled to the letter.
It holds up miraculously well under scrutiny.
Amen! Isn’t it awesome? That seems like a lame word, but there’s no other word in the English language to describe it. It’s interesting to me what factor convinces people to believe. For me being Mormon, Jesus being God was the final straw for me and Mormonism. I spoke with a guy several years ago who told me that on his way home from his mission a Christian handed him a bible and had dog-eared Galatians 1:6-9. He read it on the bus after leaving the airport and by the time he got home to his parents house, he accepted the Lord! Cool stuff!
As I keep trying to figure out why people make comments/accusations like the gentleman did earlier, I’m left to also wonder why they won’t respond when we reply to their comments.
We refer to them as ‘drive-by’ accusers. Many times they don’t want to hear the truth which is really sad.
Michelle