The Visiting Teaching Message for the month of October is titled Enfolding with Love Those Who Stray.
The message encourages those who have loved ones who have left Mormonism to love them and to speak to them kindly, and not speak to them in anger, or harshly. My first thought was, if the Church members need to be reminded to do this, then they have bigger problems than someone leaving the Church.
In my own walk with the Lord I’ve experienced an adult child turning his back on God, and the biblical principles I raised him in. I would never dream of speaking to him unkindly or harshly, only lovingly. What I want more than anything else for him is to see how much he needs Jesus in his life, and see the value in walking with the Lord, versus the world.
However, based on my time in the Mormon Church I don’t believe Mormons are concerned with their loved ones coming to Jesus, so much as they want them to come back to the Church. When we look at how Mormons view Jesus, and compare it to how Christians view Jesus, we see a huge contrast. Jesus is everything to the Christian, to the Mormon, not so much.
It all comes down to religion, or relationship. I want my son to have a relationship with Jesus, I want him to know Him, to desire to live for Him. If I was still was Mormon, I’d be more concerned with my son’s standing in the Church. I’d wonder how his behavior will affect my family in the eternities. In Mormonism family is everything, and keeping your family together in the Celestial Kingdom is a Mormon’s primary concern.
I pray that Mormons will see that knowing Jesus and having a relationship with Him is so much more important than returning to a religion.
In Christ,
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