Mormons are a missionary-oriented people. We have tens of thousands of missionaries throughout the world. We emphasize sharing the gospel with friends and neighbors. We want to share our beliefs with you (as you know). That said, not everybody ascribes to our faith. That’s fine, we have beliefs about those people too. Here are three of them:
1. We believe that whatever is good, Mormon or not, comes from God
In one of our sacred texts, The Book of Mormon, a prophet named Moroni teaches the following:
For behold, a bitter fountain cannot bring forth good water; neither can a good fountain bring forth bitter water; wherefore, a man being a servant of the devil cannot follow Christ; and if he follow Christ he cannot be a servant of the devil.
Wherefore, all things which are good cometh of God … behold, that which is of God inviteth and enticeth to do good continually; wherefore, every thing which inviteth and enticeth to do good, and to love God, and to serve him, is inspired of God.
It doesn’t matter whether you’re a Mormon or not, if you do good, we believe you’re inspired of God, and that’s awesome.
Every six months the leadership of the Mormon Church (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) gathers the membership together for an instructional conference. One of their favorite people to quote is C.S. Lewis, a non-Mormon. I have a set of his books on my shelf. They’re absolutely fantastic.
The Church partners with non-Mormon organizations often to work together towards really charitable, positive, Christian goals. We fully recognize these organizations and individuals throughout the world.
We believe that God is available to all who seek him, not just Mormons. A good person is a good person, no matter their religious affiliation.
2. We believe we can disagree without being disagreeable
There is obviously a lot Mormons and non-Mormons disagree on. Ideologies, policies, doctrines, methods, interpretations, attitudes, beliefs, etc. etc. But just because we disagree does not mean Mormons and non-Mormons have to be disagreeable with each other.
If your Mormon friend posts something on Facebook that expresses a belief you disagree with, you have every right to voice that. After all, one of our core tenets is:
We claim the privilege of worshiping Almighty God according to the dictates of our own conscience, and allow all men the same privilege, let them worship how, where, or what they may.
That said, we believe contention is not of God. We’re not perfect, neither are you, but we believe we can share enlightening dialogue without hurling insults and challenging taunts in person or anonymously online.
We believe that we can respectfully coexist and thrive together.
3. We believe that what we have can truly bless your life
As mentioned at the very beginning of this article, we’re a missionary-oriented people. Why? Because we truly believe that our faith can add even more to what you’ve already got. We don’t say that arrogantly, though it almost certainly sounds presumptuous of us. We just say it with a desire to share what makes us so happy.
It’s the same feeling you get when you try out a new recipe that works fantastically, or when you hear a hilarious joke—you naturally want to share it with others. That’s how we feel with our faith, but because it’s religion it’s an extremely sensitive subject to bring up. People get defensive (including us), walls go up, offense is taken … it can be a scary thing. Contention is not our intention.
If you already believe in God, Jesus Christ and the Bible, fantastic. We don’t want to destroy your faith, we want to add to it. Take The Book of Mormon, for instance. Its teachings go hand in hand with the Bible, it simply comes from ancient prophets from ancient America instead of ancient Jerusalem. If a friend of yours told you there was more of the written word of God available to you than the Bible, wouldn’t you at least want to read it and figure it out for yourself?
The Book of Mormon is just one example of why we’re so eager to share our faith with you, but there is so much more.
We love you
To every single person out there who is not of our faith: We love you. We love you whether or not you accept or reject our faith. We love you if you’re Mormon, Catholic, Baptist, Atheist, Buddhist or any other type of “ist” out there. We love you because no matter what our differences are, we’re all in this together. We’re all on the same team, just trying to make the world a better, brighter place.
We love you because that’s what our Savior, Jesus Christ, teaches us to do. We’re not perfect at it. You’ve probably met individual Mormons who you don’t get along with, but collectively we’re trying to practice what we preach, which is everything you’ve just read. Thank you for all you do, for the love you share and for the light you shine.
To learn more about our beliefs, click here or simply talk to the Mormon who shared this article — or don’t, and just have a great day!
