NOM

Today we happened to go to SM...our first time in over a year.. only to find out it was Ward Conference. Ugh! In his concluding remarks the SP told the members they needed to be actively engaged in rescuing lost sheep (less-actives) and bringing them back into the fold. "Whether your motives are REAL OR FAKE, offer to help them out in any way you can, in order to gain their confidence".

This is why mormon motives are often perceived as suspect by the "lost" and non-members alike. Their approaches seem mostly calculated and self serving.

Notchet wrote: ↑Mon Jan 23, 2017 9:40 amWhether your motives are REAL OR FAKE, offer to help them out in any way you can, in order to gain their confidence".

Surely they realize the LDS missionaries are guilty of the same tactics. It's not like they only let a young man or woman go on a mission who has demonstrated pure love, testimony, and desire to bring souls to Christ. I certainly had to fake it a lot of time even as a believing missionary. It was somewhat easier as a full-time missionary because I had a pure desire to not enduring the boredom and embarrassment of knocking on doors if I could get in and teach lesson.

As a believer after my mission I was primarily driven by guilt in the few times I really tried to share the gospel. The guilt was "real" as was a sense of duty to try to be a missionary in this church. But these motives might have been classified as "fake" since it was not necessarily the pure of love of Jesus Christ motivating me.

Here's what happens when motives are fake:

Doorbell rings: Hey RR, we thought we would stop by and say hi. We were out doing EQP visits and thought we would bring you a box of donuts.

RR: gee thanks.

EQP: how's work?

RR: great! I'm doing this blah blah blah blah blah blah blah.

EQP: tuning me out and looking at his watch, says we've missed you.

RR: why isn't he listening?

Notchet wrote: ↑Mon Jan 23, 2017 9:40 amToday we happened to go to SM...our first time in over a year.. only to find out it was Ward Conference. Ugh! In his concluding remarks the SP told the members they needed to be actively engaged in rescuing lost sheep (less-actives) and bringing them back into the fold. "Whether your motives are REAL OR FAKE, offer to help them out in any way you can, in order to gain their confidence".

Good old Building Relationships of Trust. Whether real or fake. SMH. Does he not see how saying to use a fake motive to gain confidence (trust) is messed up?

This gets to a couple of issues with the church. First, there is an ever-present ulterior motive that makes every relationship fake. My relationships with my parents and siblings are conditional upon my activity and belief in the church. If they see me as anything but a believing and active member then the relationship changes and my reactivation becomes the first priority. Same with the bishop or any leaders. Same with any TBM.

The second is how bad behavior is regularly justified by how important salvation thru the mormon church is. It's an "Ends justify the means" card that is constantly in the back of people's minds. As a missionary you get so used to being a nice jerk that you lose touch with the fact that you are being very manipulative.

Linked wrote: ↑Mon Jan 23, 2017 12:37 pm This gets to a couple of issues with the church. First, there is an ever-present ulterior motive that makes every relationship fake. My relationships with my parents and siblings are conditional upon my activity and belief in the church. If they see me as anything but a believing and active member then the relationship changes and my reactivation becomes the first priority. Same with the bishop or any leaders. Same with any TBM.

I was going to post something to this effect. This has been my experience: Pretty much EVERYTHING in / about "the church" is fake.