Apparently I'm not finished thinking yet. :)

I love being Mormon.  I do.  I believe the gospel it in its *entirety.*  I focus my life on it.  I mourn my family and friends who have lost the influence of the goodness of the gospel of Christ as restored and revealed to modern-day prophets, through modern-day scripture. 

But I understand sometimes why people leave.  People are people, and Mormons are no exception. 

One thing that has recently bothered me, not about our doctrine but about our CULTURE, is that as Mormons we put a lot of focus on WORKS.  And works are important.  FOR SURE!!!  The commandments, ancient and modern, are meant to bring us peace and progression.  Numerous scriptures, quotes from general authorities, even secular theories tout the importance of building good habits and living a good life.  I firmly believe that actions speak louder than words, that living righteously makes us worthy of the Spirit and revelation that follows, that you can't have a solid democracy/republic without the virtue of its citizens, and that hyposcrisy, contention, drugs, laziness, etc. are of the devil. 

The problem is not in teaching righteousness, but in teaching it separately and compartmentalized from the Atonement.  I know this is a main factor in most of my family leaving the Church.  We focus an awful lot on our duty to the law--the Word of Wisdom, the Law of Chastity, For the Strength of Youth standards, tithing, and a million other laws to follow and things to avoid because, let's face it, that's what we can CONTROL.  And we have to teach these things, by word and example.  But all of these things are appendages to the gospel, not the gospel itself.  BEING GOOD PEOPLE IS NOT THE GOOD NEWS!  The good news should MAKE you a good person.  Sometimes I feel like we teach these things backwards, like "after all we can do" comes BEFORE the "it is by grace that we are saved" part.  Does that make sense?

This makes me remember something else I read earlier this week, an article by someone of another faith. (You can read the whole thing HERE) who was pondering the reasons kids leave church, even for a short while.  The whole thing is great, even if we have different faiths we agree on one thing: the doctrine of CHRIST MUST be at the center.  Forgive me, I am just going to quote some of my favorite parts because he says exactly what I've been thinking much better than I ever could:

"The evangelical church isn’t catechizing or teaching our kids the fundamentals of the faith, we’re simply encouraging them to “be nice” and “love Jesus”. (Insert any other "doing" law here.)  When they leave home, they realize that they can be “spiritually fulfilled” and get the same subjective self-improvement principles (and warm-fuzzies) from the latest life-coach or from spending time with friends or volunteering at a shelter. And they can be truly authentic, and they jump at the chance because…

They can’t do it. They know it. All that “be nice” moralism they’ve been taught? The bible has a word for it: Law. And that’s what we’ve fed them, undiluted, since we dropped them off at the Noah’s Ark playland: Do/Don’t Do. As they get older it becomes “Good Kids do/don’t” and as adults “Do this for a better life”. The gospel appears briefly as another “do” to “get saved.” But their diet is Law, and scripture tells us that the law condemns us. So that smiling, upbeat “Love God and Love People” vision statement? Yeah, you’ve just condemned the youth with it. Nice, huh? They either think that they’re “good people” since they don’t “do” any of the stuff their denomination teaches against (drink, smoke, dance, watch R rated movies), or they realize that they don’t meet Jesus own words of what is required. There’s no rest in this law, only a treadmill of works they know they aren’t able to meet. So, either way, they walk away from the church because…

Our kids are smart. They picked up on the message we unwittingly taught. If church is simply a place to learn life-application principals to achieve a better life in community… you don’t need a crucified Jesus for that...As we jettisoned the gospel, our students are never hit with the full impact of the law, their sin before God, and their desperate need for the atoning work of Christ. Now THAT is relevant, THAT is authentic, and THAT is something the world cannot offer."

Something to think about as we teach our children, our primary and youth classes, our wards...are you putting it all into perspective of the PLAN OF SALVATION?  Is Christ REALLY at the center of your lessons, your lives, or is He only in words?  Because if not, you are treading dangerous, exhausting waters.  In my humble opinion.

Thank goodness for a Heavenly Father who stands ready as our lifeguard, every moment!  And the Savior is the lifesaver He throws to us.  We can tread water and swim like pros, set our course and do our best, but it won't get us out of the water.  "He, Only One" can do that for us--and, in fact, He already has and continues to do so every day we let Him.