Life After Ministry

One of the first verses I came across as a new Christian was from a passage in Isaiah listed here. I felt the Lord’s pronouncement on the Israelites’ behavioral problem was identical to the same situation He had just rescued me from in Mormonism. The cat and mouse games they play by diverting attention away from real issues is seen in our dilemma today and reminiscent of what the Israelites were doing 2,500 yrs beforehand. 

Jeremiah 3:1-2; “They say, If a man put away his wife, and she go from him, and become another man’s, shall he return unto her again? shall not that land be greatly polluted? but thou hast played the harlot with many lovers; yet return again to me, saith the LORD. Lift up thine eyes unto the high places, and see where thou hast not been lien with. In the ways hast thou sat for them, as the Arabian in the wilderness; and thou hast polluted the land with thy whoredoms and with thy wickedness.”

Today we’re looking at some interesting stats on the growth of the Mormon Church in light of internet usage. The following info can be found at Cumorah.com, hosted by Matt Matrinich, a very active member of the LDS Church. Info retrieved 5/18/2015.

Mr. Matrinich posted an essay he wrote to identify “…aspects of the internet that favor and deter LDS Church growth”.

Our purpose in today’s dilemma is to look at a few of the key elements in his essay and briefly explain why his analysis is flawed. I want to clarify something before we continue. While I wholeheartedly reject his philosophy of Mormonism, as well as the wholesale excuses he gives for why the Church has grown or is stagnant, I do trust the statistical info he provides, thus, our inclusion of referencing his site here.

The one thing we can agree with Mr. Martinich on is how the internet has, without a doubt, been one of the ‘greatest changes in society within the past couple decades’. Social media has forever changed the lives of most throughout the world and indeed, while some of it’s useful, the majority of it isn’t.

Let’s take a look at some of his key points –

“Factors that Favor LDS Growth

Improving accessibility to correct information on LDS teachings, meetinghouse locations, church literature, and how to send a request to meet with missionaries constitutes one of the greatest benefits of the internet on LDS growth.”

We know this is the only benefit of the internet for the Church. Everything else they provide electronically, or otherwise, has no beneficial qualities for anyone. The gospel is false, and their message holds no hope as it leads people away from God, not to Him.

“Factors that Deter LDS Growth

Online communities of former and disaffiliated members pose a major obstacle in the Church’s efforts to spread the gospel online.  These individuals can disrupt the Church’s efforts to use the internet as a medium to effectively preach the gospel by posting negative comments on news articles published on media websites, building websites that specifically aim to ridicule and “debunk” the Church, and spreading rumors, little-known controversies, and negatively-biased information…”

If someone has the truth as the LDS Church claims it does, what could a few websites do to influence outsiders? – 1 John 4:4 – ‘Greater is He that is in you, than he that is in the world’…

“Anti-Mormon websites possess the potential to reduce member activity rates as those with fragile testimonies in the Church can be particularly vulnerable to counter-proselytism efforts and become disaffiliated and inactive.  There are many reports of these websites disrupting the faith of many active members as well.”

My heart breaks for those who have to live through the nightmare of finding out you’ve been lied to all your life. I speak from experience and know only too well what it does to someone. On this side of the cross, all ex-Mormon Christians can tell you they’re grateful someone took the time to tell the truth, but in the interim nothing could be more devastating.

“Information on the LDS Church online appears primarily negative or inaccurate in many, if not most, languages.  It can be difficult to locate web pages officially created and maintained by the Church in a given language in a timely manner if any exist in that language at all…”

This is a broad based accusation with no foundational proof. While there are many sites who post fallacious and/or erroneous information, the vast majority of ‘anti-Mormon’ websites provide truth based on empirical evidences from LDS Church history.

In this next segment, take note of the contradiction and excuses –

“Analysis…

Top Ten Countries with the Highest Percentage of Internet Users…

Most of the ten countries with the highest percentage of internet users experienced noticeable congregational decline during the 2000s.

All ten countries experienced a decline in the number of congregation or no change at all.  In many cases, the decline in the number of congregations was nearly equal to that of the increase experienced in the 1990s…However based on missionary and member reports, the decline in the number of wards and branches in most of these countries occurred due to changing church policies for minimal standards for wards and branches to operate and church leaders advocating for the consolidation of units with few members to create larger ones to provide more resources to church membership…” – [emphasis mine]

Were there noticeable changes or not? Why the discrepancy?

“Bottom Ten Countries with the Lowest Percentage of Internet Users…

…LDS membership increased by over 100% in most of these countries between 2000 and 2010.  The Church reports rapid growth and a recent church establishment in virtually all ten of these countries where internet users comprise a tiny percentage of the population…”

This is very telling don’t you think? The greatest growth was found in countries with no access to extraneous information. Imagine what is was like before 1993. People like Ed Decker, Walter Martin, the Tanners, McKeevers, and myself included, were relying on Xerox machines and our feet. We pounded pavement as the saying goes, and spent countless hours handing out pamphlets one at a time.

The times have indeed changed and along with it, the number of people we see coming to the Lord through use of technology. PTL!

“Internet Use and LDS Growth in the United States

With over six million members on church records, the LDS Church in the United States has not exhibited any noticeable changes in growth over the past 20 years despite the major rise in internet usage…Membership increased by 22.5% between 1989 and 1999 and 18% between 2000 and 2010…” – [emp. mine}

Think about this for a moment.

What is this man’s definition of ‘noticeable’?

Isn’t an 18% increase noticeable? It seems this is a fair amount of people signing up…

“…Conclusion…

LDS growth rates indicate that the positive and negative influences of the internet on LDS growth are nearly equal in strength resulting in little to no fluctuation in membership and congregational growth…Congregational growth rates have remained stagnant or have declined in the past decade in many of the countries with the highest rates of internet usage, but this has been largely the result of other factors.”

Okay, so here we go again with the contradictions –

First this man said the positive and negative influences of the internet are equal –

Then he said this resulted in no fluctuation in membership –

Then he said the congregational growth is stagnant or declined

He knows full well the comments made by Mormon General Authorities who’ve stated that Mormons are ‘leaving in droves30′.

And lastly, the cause of all this isn’t because of the internet, rather, it’s from ‘other factors’. Translated, this means the Church is shuffling around members, and closing ward buildings in order to make the bottom line look better on a spreadsheet.

The data from our dilemma yesterday is another indicator they’re not telling the truth about their overall membership. If 20% of names on their roles are in the ‘address unknown file’, then why pray tell, are their membership roles bigger than what they should be? Why do they keep people on the roles until age 110 even if/when they’re dead?

Although the mess they’ve created is self-inflicted and has nothing to do with ‘anti-Mormons’ picking on them, our charge is to pray. If it hadn’t been for the body of Christ witnessing to me about the false teachings of Mormonism, who knows where I’d be today.