Don't "Share the Gift", Be the Gift

What is this "Gift" That Mormons Keep Talking About?

As previously mentioned, Mormons LOVE to share how Christian they are. As a part of this, we are seeing a push to "share the gift" of Christmas, with said gift being the birth of Jesus Christ. On the website Mormon.org/christmas it discusses "Why the Gift Was Given", "How to Embrace the Gift", and "How the Gift Is Relevant Today". It is all the pretty standard stuff here. God gave us Christ as a show his love for us and redeem us from sin, we can follow Christ through his teachings (aka: JOIN OUR CHURCH!), and through Christ we can find self worth, purpose, peace, etc.





This is all great and dandy, it really is. I do not meant to diminish the value that Christ has in people's lives, I know it brings people peace and joy; but, we can do better.





Being the Gift

I propose this instead, an open invitation to all Christians, and Mormons especially; be the gift. Stop telling people how Christ is so awesome, without actually helping them. This defeats the purpose of your own theology, and does not do society any good. If you really want to show people how Christ is a gift in your life, go and volunteer, make a difference in people's lives instead of simply pointing them to Christ. And no, cleaning your church or teaching a lesson during Sunday school does not count in my book as service.





And for all of us post Mormons, atheists and agnostics; I think this really is our time to shine. We have a great opportunity to show how we are actually more ethical, and more beneficial in people's lives. Let us be a gift to people this holiday season through our service and donations. I think they will appreciate our help a lot more than some canned message about Christ. I would often joke to my parents that society would be a lot better if we spent the 3 hours a week volunteering instead of sitting in church, and the same applies here.





We hear so often that we are somehow less moral, that we are bad for society, that we are lost. This is simply not true, but we already know that.





So go find your local homeless shelter, food bank, soup kitchen, or LGBT outreach center. Go, volunteer, make a visible difference in people's lives. And if you do not have the time, make a small donation at least to a real charitable organization (sorry, LDS church does not count here either).





Because what the world really needs, is actual help. Not some convoluted self righteous message about how they be absolved from intangible and immeasurable sins and defects that don`t actually exist.





Happy Holidays, and next time the article will discuss "Come, Join With Us" by Dieter F. Uchtdorf.





A Useful Guide To Charitable Organizations:

























As a former Mormon who is very much still surrounded by faithful and active Mormons (mostly my family and those I knew from church) I have been seeing quite a few posts about "sharing the gift" this Christmas time. I however, would argue: why "share the gift" when you can be the gift?Personally, I think the whole campaign is rather hilarious. I mean, are Mormons really THAT obsessed with proving how Christian they are? If you really are super Christian, let your actions speak for themselves. If you truly are a Christ centered faith, people will see that; you should not need a massive organized campaign to prove how Christian you are. Aside from that, who cares how your religion is viewed? But I digress from the actual point of this posting.