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Two nights ago, I had an awesome experience. I really felt that the Lord was there, helping me along, and it just makes me so happy :clap: yay for Heavenly Father!This made me think more about the church (I sure do think a lot about it lately!); what do I like about it? As this is a community of LDS members who are going through FC’s and FT’s, I thought that maybe we can talk about positive things in the church. I know that the church as an organization seems to be what many of us struggle with, myself included, but I believe that there are some good things about the church.
My favorite aspect of church is learning about the life and teachings of Jesus. He is an amazing role model, and I’m grateful to have had Him as an example since the time I was young. I do wish our lessons and such were focused MUCH more on Him, but I’m lucky to have been taught about Jesus, because I truly do strive to be like Him. I love walking into the church building and seeing His picture on the wall, not on the cross.
What do you like about the church? What keeps you going, and what about it makes you want to stay a part of this religion? If you don’t mind sharing, that is
I like that in general it does encourage people to be better people and it generally teaches people to do it for the right reason. I used to not have nearly as many “general” ‘s in that statement.
That goes for me. It does push me to be a better person.
I will refrain from the “, but sometimes” as Just a Girl asked about the positive.
You might like this thread from last year: “
Some Things the Church has Right” ( http://www.staylds.com/staylds/forum/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=4767&hilit=things+I+like Personally I think the main thing the Church still has going for it is that Church members are by and large relatively nice and decent people that are sincerely trying to do what they honestly believe is right the best way they know how. I also think the Church provides a relatively positive social support structure that wouldn’t necessarily be as easy to replace as some critics claim. For example, looking back, I think that I could have easily gotten into some serious trouble as a teenager if I hadn’t been around other Church members most of the time. I just started a new thread about one of the things that has always attracted me to Mormonism: the questions and rich discussions we used to have. It doesn’t seem that common to me anymore except on the blogs, but it’s one of the things I like about the church. Another thing I like about it that I never liked when I was younger is the people. I would have said that I didn’t like most Mormons. They weren’t cool, interesting, or even nice usually. But overall, they really are trying to be good people, they welcome my kids, they offer rides, they help people move, they are kind-hearted. Perhaps it just depends on which Mormons. Same here — you get to rub shoulders with good people. I also liked a couple leaders who were true leaders. They not only cared about the programs, they cared about ME. One got me into a really good business school, and that has blessed my life economically, and intellectually until this day. I also had a great mission president who gave me a lot of good leadership experience, and paired me with talkers — extroverts from whom I learned how to talk to people. People are very surprised when I tell them I’m an introvert. It’s partly because of the spontaneous talking skills I learned from the zone leaders my mission president intentionally paired me with — it provided me with a whole new set of social skills on which I draw today.
And although industry doesn’t seem to care one iota about this — I got some good leadership experience. I made a ton of mistakes in the church from a leadership perspective (not interpersonal, but operationally, mostly) that prepared me to be an effective leader in the local business community. I credit the experiences I had as a leader in the church with a leadership style that is characterized by deep respect for the efforts of volunteers, and a drive to figure out how to show appreciation, while also encouraging high standards and levels of performance at the same time.
My reaction to church volunteerism shaped my philosophy of what it means to be a leader of volunteers and even paid employees in other contexts.
As others have said, I like the sense of community and people who desire to do good and try to do good. While there are bad apples in every bushel, the good ones far outweigh the bad ones. I have also come to appreciate that the church really does teach core truths – things like love your neighbor. Granted there’s lots of other stuff in there as well, but I can focus on the pure core teachings. I love the theology. I really love the theology. I really, really, love the theology. It’s expansiveness still blows my mind on a regular basis. Obviously, I’m not talking about what gets taught as theology too often. I’m talking about what I see as the pure theology. It’s stunning.
I like that it asks us to practice what we believe. I agree the theology is great. But I find the value in living it with others around me. So it is kind of that mixture that I like. The backdrop or stories that we come together with others in Zion, while struggling to actually make changes in our lives, or sacrifices, that help us experience the gospel by stretching our faith (and many times patience with others).
As someone that participates in several Christian churches – I am very impressed with the amount of engagement we LDS get from our youth and especially the YM. I believe that the combination of priesthood advancement, boy scouts, temple covenants, mission, emphasis on education, parenting, and family etc. Produce a higher than average degree of participation and eventual leadership (in church, family, and business) from this group.
This is a very specific example, but lately I’ve been really thankful for the sacrament. The love the prayers and no one, and I mean no one, can intrude on that time. I like the silence. I’m there with my thoughts and two hundred other people breathing in and out, taking one day at a time. I look forward to it now in a way I never did as a full-on believer. I agree, Ann. Some things like the sacrament are good for me, so not everything is just about being social or classes for learning, but sacraments and emblems to our worship that take our thoughts to a higher realm. I think they are important. Sacrament, baptisms, ordinations, setting aparts, temples. All good things. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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