I Am An Anti-Mormon
I am an anti-Mormon, not by choice but by reputation. A few years ago a good friend left the Mormon Church (I never call it "the church" because it isn't) and insisted that she was going to do things differently.
She was going to be conciliatory ("Done that", I said).
She was going to give the full name of the Mormon church ("Done that", I said).
She was going to ask honest questions and not meddle with side issues and hearsay ("Done that too" I said).
All-in-all she was going to be the sweet and charitable person she is in her witnessing.
"It won't make any difference", I said.
"Why not?" she asked.
"Because no matter how you wrap it up, couch it in endearing terms and make it smell nice you will be an anti-Mormon unless you agree 100% with the Mormons."
Nonsense!" she replied.
Sometime later I got a phone call and a plaintive voice at the other end said, "They called me an anti-Mormon. I don't understand it."
I allowed my silence to speak for me. Eventually she asked, "What's the matter with these people?"
They're Mormons", I replied. "It’s all they know how to be."
I became a Christian 24 years ago and left the Mormon Church. I love Mormons and that is why I witness to them. They call me anti-Mormon because I love them enough to tell them the truth.
"Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account" (Mt.5:11)
I am not an anti-Mormon in truth. Someone asked me once, "Why did you turn your back on the church?" I replied, "I didn't turn my back on the church. I turned my face to Christ and found the church behind me." I am a Christian and I want my Mormon friends to be Christians too.
She was going to be conciliatory ("Done that", I said).
She was going to give the full name of the Mormon church ("Done that", I said).
She was going to ask honest questions and not meddle with side issues and hearsay ("Done that too" I said).
All-in-all she was going to be the sweet and charitable person she is in her witnessing.
"It won't make any difference", I said.
"Why not?" she asked.
"Because no matter how you wrap it up, couch it in endearing terms and make it smell nice you will be an anti-Mormon unless you agree 100% with the Mormons."
Nonsense!" she replied.
Sometime later I got a phone call and a plaintive voice at the other end said, "They called me an anti-Mormon. I don't understand it."
I allowed my silence to speak for me. Eventually she asked, "What's the matter with these people?"
They're Mormons", I replied. "It’s all they know how to be."
I became a Christian 24 years ago and left the Mormon Church. I love Mormons and that is why I witness to them. They call me anti-Mormon because I love them enough to tell them the truth.
"Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account" (Mt.5:11)
I am not an anti-Mormon in truth. Someone asked me once, "Why did you turn your back on the church?" I replied, "I didn't turn my back on the church. I turned my face to Christ and found the church behind me." I am a Christian and I want my Mormon friends to be Christians too.
wow I really understand where you are coming from... I feel like I am either the most loved or most hated man in the world, depending on what email I read or blog I look at...
ReplyDeleteBut it is all worth it! As Thelma Granny Geer once told me as we traveled in Utah witnessing along the way.. When we speak up for truth, people get to go to heaven..
Hang i there, Mike.. Jesus loves you and so do a lot of us anti-Mormons.
Thanks for your encouragement Ed. I am in the UK of course where Mormonism is not the phenomenon it is in the US. If I lived in Utah I think they would drive me crazy with their double-talk and hypocrisy. God bless you in your ministry.
ReplyDeleteIsn't it discouraging to think that no matter what you do, they'll always look at you like something they stepped in, because of this terrible prejudice?
ReplyDeleteMike,
ReplyDeleteWonderful post. I was like your friend you mentioned. I wanted to leave "peacefully" and share the truth I found with my LDS loved ones in a spirit of love. But oh my. They attacked me, called me "anti" and got down right ugly. They said I must have sinned, transgressed, been offended. One friend of mine told me that the Devil was in my house and deceived me!
I realize now, that this is the natural response of the LDS person. They can not accept us, because to accept us is to accept Christ living in us, and that would mean they would have to admit they are wrong. That is much too scary for them to do.
I loved your last line : " I didn't turn my back on the church, I turned my face towards Jesus, and found the Church behind me". Wonderfully said, and I can't agree more!
God bless,
gloria
Gloria, The local Mormon bishop told folk that I was the most demon posessed man he had ever known. It goes with the territory I am afraid.
ReplyDeleteCarla, it can be depressing to think of it but it is wonderful when someone realises and comes to know Jesus as we do. The important thing is to always be there and faithful to God because in their hearts they want you to be right and are watching to see if this is working for you.
I spoke to a man who left the Mormon Church after so many years of membership. He had sat on the Stake High Council that excommunicated me when I left (they did that then). I asked him what prompted him to take this line and levae the church. He said, "When we excommunicated you you shared your simple testimony and it has bothered me ever since."
This was twenty years before and I had no theology, just a simple faith. Press on.