When Mormons attend the Temple to receive their Endowment they make several covenants.  One of the covenants is known as the Law of Consecration.  It is stated as follows…

“…you do consecrate yourselves, your time, talents and everything with which the Lord has blessed you, or with which he may bless you, to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, for the building up of the Kingdom of God on the earth and for the establishment of Zion.”

While Mormon I saw nothing wrong with this covenant.  However, since becoming Christian I have committed my life to Jesus Christ alone, and have started to view things differently.  I have asked myself a few questions… When I made this covenant, who was I committing or consecrating my life to?  Was I promising to give my life to Jesus Christ or was I giving my life to an organization? 

I find the wording to be very interesting… you consecrate your  lives to THE CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST OF LATTER DAY SAINTS… an institution.  It does NOT say you consecrate your lives to Jesus Christ.   Why is this? 

When I have asked Mormons about this they usually respond with something to the effect of… “When you are consecrating your life to the LDS Church you ARE consecrating it to Jesus Christ because the church is His representative on the earth.”  However, I find this argument quite weak… for it is these same individuals who are quick to distinguish the church from Jesus Christ when you point out many of the wrong things the church and it’s leaders have said and done.  They will say, “Well, the church is not perfect… it is led by men who are weak and imperfect.”  Why are they so quick to separate Jesus Christ and the Church in one instance yet so ready to tie the two together when it comes to the Law of Consecration? 

I would submit that the only thing one should consecrate themselves to is Jesus Christ… consecrating yourself to anything else is idolatry.  You are placing something else BEFORE Christ in your life.  The first and greatest commandment according to Jesus is to “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.”  Consecrating oneself to anything other than Him and Him alone is certainly NOT being obedient to this commandment.

Darrell