While the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS) is built upon a foundation of serious theological errors—including a rejection of the Trinity and a works-based view of salvation—we can still observe how their commitment to organization and family life puts many evangelical churches to shame. By looking at their “all-in” culture, Christian leaders can find helpful reminders of how to better structure our own ministries around the true, biblical gospel.
A High-Bar Culture
In many evangelical circles, we’ve made it so easy to belong that we’ve accidentally made it easy to leave. The Mormon church operates on a different frequency. They expect a lot from their members, and surprisingly, people stay because of it. Whether it’s the expectation of tithing, abstaining from certain substances, or the massive commitment of a two-year mission, LDS members are asked to sacrifice.
Jesus didn’t call us to a low-bar life. He told us in Luke 14:27 that “if you do not carry your own cross and follow me, you cannot be my disciple.” When church leaders lower the bar to be “relevant,” we often lose the very thing that makes the gospel transformative. We can learn that people actually want to be part of something that costs them something. When we call our people to serious prayer, deep Bible study, and radical generosity, we aren’t driving them away; we’re inviting them into a life of purpose.
The theological foundation for this “high bar” in the LDS faith is often rooted in a works-based system rather than a response to grace. While we can admire their discipline, we have to recognize that their motivation is often tied to achieving specific levels of exaltation or maintaining worthiness. As Christians, we don’t raise the bar to earn God’s love; we raise it because Jesus already earned it for us. Their error is turning a joyful response to salvation into a requirement for it.
Prioritizing The Family
One of the most striking aspects of the LDS faith is their relentless focus on the home. They’ve mastered the art of equipping parents to be the primary spiritual leaders of their children. Their “Family Home Evening” concept is a simple but brilliant way to ensure that faith isn’t just something that happens at a church building once a week. It’s a dedicated time for families to learn together.
As Christian leaders, we sometimes fall into the trap of thinking our programs are the “main event.” But the Bible places the weight of spiritual formation on the parents. Deuteronomy 6:7 tells us to repeat God’s commands to our children “when you are at home and when you are on the road, when you are going to bed and when you are getting up.” We can learn to stop trying to replace the family with youth groups and start focusing our energy on coaching moms and dads to lead at home.
While their focus on the family is admirable, Mormon theology takes this concept to a point that contradicts the Bible. They believe in “eternal marriage” and that families are sealed together to eventually become gods in the afterlife. Their mistake is making the human family the ultimate goal of eternity rather than the worship of God himself. The Bible, however, is clear that our primary identity in eternity is as the Bride of Christ.
A System Of Community Support
The LDS church has created a “lay-led” infrastructure that ensures almost no one falls through the cracks. Every member is assigned “ministering brothers” or “sisters” who are responsible for checking in on them. If someone loses a job or gets sick, the local congregation (the ward) is often there with a meal or financial help before the person even thinks to ask.
We often talk about “community” in our churches, but it’s frequently more of a feeling than a functioning system. The early church in Acts 4:34 was famous because “there were no needy people among them.” We can learn to move beyond just “greeting” people in the lobby. We need to build better systems where every person in our pews is known, named, and cared for by someone else. True biblical community isn’t an accident; it’s the result of intentional organization.
The downside of this structure for Mormons is that it can often lead to a culture of performance and surveillance. Because their community support is so tightly tied to their ecclesiastical standing, the pressure to “look the part” can be overwhelming. In many cases, the help provided is contingent upon staying in good standing with the church leadership. Biblical community, by contrast, should be a place where we can be honest about our messiness because our standing is based on Christ’s perfection, not our own.
A Culture Of Shared Identity
Every Mormon knows who they are and what they believe. From a young age, they’re taught a specific narrative and a clear set of values. This creates a powerful sense of “we.” A Mormon can find an LDS member anywhere in the world and find an instant connection. They’re proud of their heritage and their identity.
In our desire to be inclusive, Christian leaders sometimes dilute our unique identity in Christ. But the New Testament is clear that we’re a “chosen people” and a “holy nation” (1 Peter 2:9). We don’t need to be weird for the sake of being weird, but we should be distinct. We can learn to lean into our shared identity as followers of Jesus. When we clearly define what we believe and how we live differently from the world, it creates a bond that is much stronger than a common interest in a Sunday morning service.
The theological problem here for Mormons is that their identity is built on a “restorationist” claim that the true church disappeared from the earth for centuries until Joseph Smith arrived. This ignores Jesus’ promise in Matthew 16:18 that the gates of hell would never prevail against His church. By claiming the original church failed, they’ve built an identity on a foundation that undermines the power and sovereignty of God. Our identity should be rooted in the historical, unbroken line of the global church that Jesus has sustained for 2,000 years.
The Takeaway
While we stand firm on the biblical gospel of grace alone through faith alone, we can appreciate the organizational strengths of the LDS church. By raising the bar of discipleship, equipping families to lead, and building better care systems, we can lead our churches more effectively. Let’s take these practical “best practices” and fuel them with the life-changing power of the true gospel of Jesus Christ.
