10 Things Christians Can Learn from the Mormons

[JohnOF123]

10 Things [Mainstream] Christians Can Learn from the Mormons

"Over the years that I have studied world religions, I have found it fascinating to dialogue with the adherents of these faiths. So many times I come away with a better appreciation of each one and, in turn, find ways to better practice what I believe to be true.

For instance, from Judaism I have been challenged to have a deeper love of the Bible. Whole chapters from the Torah are read each Sabbath, and the Jews so revere the written word that they will kiss their personal copies of the scripture and then touch them to the scroll as the rabbi parades it down the aisle.

From Islam I learn the value of prayer. Five times a day the devout Muslim gets on his knees and face as he turns towards Mecca to pray to his God Allah. Such devotion to what I consider to be a false God compels me to spend more time worshipping the true and living God as revealed in the Bible.

Meanwhile, Hinduism and Buddhism have taught me to better respect my place of worship. Shoes are not worn in the temples of these Eastern religions-the same is true in the Muslim's mosque-and the admiration both Hindus and Buddhists have toward their idols are obvious. While I don't see any Christian church building as anything more than concrete, wood, and carpet, the idea of coming there to commune with God should cause the Christian to enter with an attitude of awe and reverence.

Just as I have benefited from observing these world religions, so too I believe that we Christians can learn important things from our Mormon friends. So here is my personal top 10 list.

10. Dedication to the heritage and the faith.

From a young age, Mormon children are taught about their heritage and the struggles that the early LDS pioneers faced when it came to living their faith. On the other hand, most of us Bible-believing Christians have very little knowledge of our history, including the conflicts and persecutions of the early Christian church. As a result, we do not benefit from the examples of our own past.

Being an exceptional Mormon is a high priority. Nominal Mormonism is frowned upon. There are certain expectations a Mormon must meet in order to attend the temple, a place where only "worthy" Mormons can go. To get a temple recommend card, a person is not only expected to attend regular services, but he must continually wear the temple undergarments, pay a tithe to the church, and not imbibe in social or hot drinks, among other requirements. To do this often requires the Mormon to pay a price in the secular world, as co-workers and neighbors can easily misunderstand the reasons why anyone would succumb himself to what might be considered a mundane lifestyle.

9. Overall morality.

While Mormons struggle with sin just like everyone else, they are generally well known for keeping a high moral codes and abstaining from a secular lifestyle. Faithful members are not to partake in drugs, alcohol, or tobacco. Remaining chaste, personal modesty, and being honest (along with the other commandments) are important virtues in the LDS lifestyle. Of course, there are hypocrites in the LDS Church, just like anywhere else. Yet we as Christians need to be reminded that one's Christianity does not take a hiatus upon walking out the church doors on Sunday morning. Rather, our faith should influence our actions in everything we do.

8. Politics and religion mix.

The Mormon Church is willing to put its money where its mouth is when political issues warrant a moral response. Certainly not every member may like the conservative stance that the LDS Church takes. But it is admirable how the Church is willing to support those things it strongly believes in. When Proposition 22, which would have given special rights to homosexuals, came up in California's Spring 2000 election, the LDS Church spent plenty of money and was quite vocal in helping to defeat this morally decrepit scheme. They rebuffed public intimidation and stood firm on their principles. Perhaps more of our Christian denominations need to understand that politics do not have to be separated from the Christian faith.

7. Organization in its leadership.

The LDS Church is a well-oiled machine when it comes to organization, from the top down to the bottom. When the leaders make decisions, there is no second-guessing allowed in its ranks. There is no friendly opposition in the LDS Church. This can be a negative, of course, since a laity that is not allowed to question what its leaders do can easily become pawns, opening the doors to spiritual abuse. This is the reason why Martin Luther was compelled to write his 95 theses. He felt the Catholic Church had overstepped its boundary of authority upon its people. The Bible does not command Christians to be blindly led like sheep to the slaughter. The Mormons also have of way of getting people involved. Assignments from those in authority motivates members to become an active part of their church rather than just an observer on the sidelines. In many cases these "callings" have compelled members to stretch beyond what they even thought was their own potential.

When it comes time to discipline or even excommunicate a member, the LDS Church is willing to follow through with its threat. If you are caught doing something that the church says you ought not to have done-i.e. adultery, heresy, not willing to be corrected, etc.-the local leaders have the ability to end your church membership. If you are officially excommunicated, you are prohibited from joining any other LDS ward in the entire world until you have demonstrated a satisfactory repentance. A person who is excommunicated in Christianity merely means that he must leave that particular church; in too many cases nothing prohibits him from going to the next church down the street, with no repercussions to the guilty.

6. Positive peer pressure towards missions.

Many Mormon young people look with anticipation for the day when they can leave on a church mission. For the males this is a two-year commitment, 18 months for females. From an early age LDS children are taught the importance of serving their church as a missionary. Savings accounts are often started at birth, and while many young Christians are saving for bicycles, skateboards, clothes, and cars, Mormon kids are setting aside their resources for their mission. Tens of thousands of Mormon missionaries serve each year, two-by-two, all over the world. Wouldn't it be wonderful if every Christian young person were encouraged to spend two years of his or her life on the mission field? Perhaps many more career missionaries would be a result if short-term missions became a Christian priority.

5. Respecting Sundays as sacred.

Sundays in the Mormon Church are treated as a quiet day, a time to reflect and be with the family after attending the morning service at the local ward. Recreational and sporting activities as well as retail excursions are discouraged. At an LDS softball field located next to the Spokane temple, posted signs clearly prohibit anyone playing there on Sundays. While such a rigid rule can certainly become legalistic, the biblical mandate to have a day of rest is too often ignored by many Christians who live in a stress-filled, gotta-do-it-now/gotta-have-it-immediately world. We should not forget that the day of rest was created for the benefit of man.

4. Religious education for the youth.

The LDS Church is very concerned about educating its young people in the ways of its faith. First, the system is very uniform. What the LDS children learn in California is taught to another ward in Florida. When the child becomes a teenager, he is encouraged to attend daily before-school "seminary" classes at the local ward or stake center. Studies in the Book of Mormon, the Bible, church history, and doctrine are rotated over a four-year period. By the time the Mormon teen graduates from high school, he or she has been given a systematic overview of the faith's basic beliefs.

For those who end up going on a mission, the training given at a Missionary Training Center is condensed, well organized, and prepares the young person to be effective in recruiting new members. Later, when the college years come and the young adult is challenged in his faith, he will have some possible answers to help him remain faithful to his religion.

3. Helping to supply the needs of the membership.

Mormons are known for being generous, even going out of their way to help their fellow members. Many times a group of Mormons will band together to help in a project that benefits another Mormon. The LDS Church also has a welfare program, with a food pantry available for members who are out of work or in a low-income category. The individuals are expected to give back in some form of labor, including volunteering at the Mormon-owned canneries or food processing plants. Truly actions, not words ("be warm and filled"), are what it means to be part of a functioning body.

2. Preventing members from falling through the cracks.

When a Mormon fails to attend the services of his designated local ward for several weeks, he is sure to be missed. Home teachers who visit once a month will try to find out if there are any problems and figure out how to remedy the situation. It is not like there is anywhere else to go, for the Mormon is required to be registered with a particular ward. While I am not suggesting that Christian churches should become legalistic nags in order to force its membership to attend meetings and volunteer for projects, perhaps the general idea of following up on those who all of a sudden are no longer there would fulfill the shepherd role that the church is supposed to have.

1. The importance of families.

And the number-one thing we can learn from the Mormons is (drum roll, please) the priority the Mormon Church places on family life. Certainly many Christian families are very successful. Yet few churches emphasize the importance of the family like the Mormons do; they even set aside every Monday evening for Family Home Evenings to play games, talk, do devotions, etc. I would stop short of saying that Mormon family life is utopia despite the image portrayed by LDS television commercials. But I do commend them for their efforts.

Conclusion: By making this list, I certainly would not want to insinuate that all Christian churches fail in these areas. And these are certainly not reasons [to authenticate the one or in-authenticate the other]..." {credit goes to Eric Johnson}

Edited February 22, 2010 by JohnOF123

[CornMuffinsMama]

I think the only issue I have with that is the implied separation between being a Christian and being Mormon. Other than that a very good article and it has some wonderful points about the different things we can learn from other religions.

[harpangel]

I agree with the 10 things stated. Unfortunately they are not all in practice here in my ward. I am often unable to attend church for health reasons and have not had a visiting teacher at my home in more than a year. The last ones brought toddlers which they spent the whole time keeping away from the things in my unchildproof house. The Relief Society President claims I live too far away. The Bishop forgets me when I am at church where I must sit in the foyer and if my husband is not there I do not get sacrament. I have been a member since 1993 and truly believe in the Mormon church and try to live my life as an example for others in that I read my scriptures and live righteously. But I am saddened by the lack of association with members from the Ward and am feeling quite disenfranchised because of my illness. The people in my ward use the excuse of being too busy to even call me when they are talking with my husband. It has been disheartening for both of us. We Mormons need to remember we are Christians and we need to live our lives in such a way that the Lord knows we are walking the path he would have us walk. Our neighbors are all Baptists and treat us with great kindness and respect and have been very receptive to learning about our church and thankful for the corrected information we have given them. Even if they never join the church they now respect us as Christians which they didn't even think we were at first!

[JohnOF123]

I think the only issue I have with that is the implied separation between being a Christian and being Mormon. Other than that a very good article and it has some wonderful points about the different things we can learn from other religions.

Sorry, didn't mean to imply anything there. Note the top of the post, I put [mainstream] in there, but I thought people would hopefully understand; sounds like you do. I was only trying to imply the 10 things listed in the article. Hope my fellow "Christians" will read this too.

Think of it as "10 Things [many] Christians Can Learn from the Mormons"

Or I could say "10 Things Christians Can Learn from the Baptists"

It doesn't look like I'm implying Baptists are not Christians here, not to me, but sorry if it did.

Edited February 22, 2010 by JohnOF123

[RipplecutBuddha]

I agree regarding the implied separation, but only to a point. There is no denying the doctrinal differences that separate the LDS Church from a majority of other Christian religions. Does this constitute us not being Christian? Not at all, but then that very issue has been at the core of the debate for nearly two centuries now.

What I like about the article is how we appear to the objective viewer from outside our faith. Our humanity is everywhere present, just as it ought to be, but the sincerity of our intent and the importance of our faith is not attacked or degraded at all. The picture that is presented in the article is neither protagonistic or antagonistic. It presents the facts in a complete image.

a very good, and very rare, article. Thank you.

[JohnOF123]

I think the spirit of the article has died, lol

poor article

[Traveler]

10 Things [Mainstream] Christians Can Learn from the Mormons

"Over the years that I have studied world religions, I have found it fascinating to dialogue with the adherents of these faiths. So many times I come away with a better appreciation of each one and, in turn, find ways to better practice what I believe to be true.

For instance, from Judaism I have been challenged to have a deeper love of the Bible. Whole chapters from the Torah are read each Sabbath, and the Jews so revere the written word that they will kiss their personal copies of the scripture and then touch them to the scroll as the rabbi parades it down the aisle.

From Islam I learn the value of prayer. Five times a day the devout Muslim gets on his knees and face as he turns towards Mecca to pray to his God Allah. Such devotion to what I consider to be a false God compels me to spend more time worshipping the true and living God as revealed in the Bible.

Meanwhile, Hinduism and Buddhism have taught me to better respect my place of worship. Shoes are not worn in the temples of these Eastern religions-the same is true in the Muslim's mosque-and the admiration both Hindus and Buddhists have toward their idols are obvious. While I don't see any Christian church building as anything more than concrete, wood, and carpet, the idea of coming there to commune with God should cause the Christian to enter with an attitude of awe and reverence.

Just as I have benefited from observing these world religions, so too I believe that we Christians can learn important things from our Mormon friends. So here is my personal top 10 list.

10. Dedication to the heritage and the faith.

From a young age, Mormon children are taught about their heritage and the struggles that the early LDS pioneers faced when it came to living their faith. On the other hand, most of us Bible-believing Christians have very little knowledge of our history, including the conflicts and persecutions of the early Christian church. As a result, we do not benefit from the examples of our own past.

Being an exceptional Mormon is a high priority. Nominal Mormonism is frowned upon. There are certain expectations a Mormon must meet in order to attend the temple, a place where only "worthy" Mormons can go. To get a temple recommend card, a person is not only expected to attend regular services, but he must continually wear the temple undergarments, pay a tithe to the church, and not imbibe in social or hot drinks, among other requirements. To do this often requires the Mormon to pay a price in the secular world, as co-workers and neighbors can easily misunderstand the reasons why anyone would succumb himself to what might be considered a mundane lifestyle.

9. Overall morality.

While Mormons struggle with sin just like everyone else, they are generally well known for keeping a high moral codes and abstaining from a secular lifestyle. Faithful members are not to partake in drugs, alcohol, or tobacco. Remaining chaste, personal modesty, and being honest (along with the other commandments) are important virtues in the LDS lifestyle. Of course, there are hypocrites in the LDS Church, just like anywhere else. Yet we as Christians need to be reminded that one's Christianity does not take a hiatus upon walking out the church doors on Sunday morning. Rather, our faith should influence our actions in everything we do.

8. Politics and religion mix.

The Mormon Church is willing to put its money where its mouth is when political issues warrant a moral response. Certainly not every member may like the conservative stance that the LDS Church takes. But it is admirable how the Church is willing to support those things it strongly believes in. When Proposition 22, which would have given special rights to homosexuals, came up in California's Spring 2000 election, the LDS Church spent plenty of money and was quite vocal in helping to defeat this morally decrepit scheme. They rebuffed public intimidation and stood firm on their principles. Perhaps more of our Christian denominations need to understand that politics do not have to be separated from the Christian faith.

7. Organization in its leadership.

The LDS Church is a well-oiled machine when it comes to organization, from the top down to the bottom. When the leaders make decisions, there is no second-guessing allowed in its ranks. There is no friendly opposition in the LDS Church. This can be a negative, of course, since a laity that is not allowed to question what its leaders do can easily become pawns, opening the doors to spiritual abuse. This is the reason why Martin Luther was compelled to write his 95 theses. He felt the Catholic Church had overstepped its boundary of authority upon its people. The Bible does not command Christians to be blindly led like sheep to the slaughter. The Mormons also have of way of getting people involved. Assignments from those in authority motivates members to become an active part of their church rather than just an observer on the sidelines. In many cases these "callings" have compelled members to stretch beyond what they even thought was their own potential.

When it comes time to discipline or even excommunicate a member, the LDS Church is willing to follow through with its threat. If you are caught doing something that the church says you ought not to have done-i.e. adultery, heresy, not willing to be corrected, etc.-the local leaders have the ability to end your church membership. If you are officially excommunicated, you are prohibited from joining any other LDS ward in the entire world until you have demonstrated a satisfactory repentance. A person who is excommunicated in Christianity merely means that he must leave that particular church; in too many cases nothing prohibits him from going to the next church down the street, with no repercussions to the guilty.

6. Positive peer pressure towards missions.

Many Mormon young people look with anticipation for the day when they can leave on a church mission. For the males this is a two-year commitment, 18 months for females. From an early age LDS children are taught the importance of serving their church as a missionary. Savings accounts are often started at birth, and while many young Christians are saving for bicycles, skateboards, clothes, and cars, Mormon kids are setting aside their resources for their mission. Tens of thousands of Mormon missionaries serve each year, two-by-two, all over the world. Wouldn't it be wonderful if every Christian young person were encouraged to spend two years of his or her life on the mission field? Perhaps many more career missionaries would be a result if short-term missions became a Christian priority.

5. Respecting Sundays as sacred.

Sundays in the Mormon Church are treated as a quiet day, a time to reflect and be with the family after attending the morning service at the local ward. Recreational and sporting activities as well as retail excursions are discouraged. At an LDS softball field located next to the Spokane temple, posted signs clearly prohibit anyone playing there on Sundays. While such a rigid rule can certainly become legalistic, the biblical mandate to have a day of rest is too often ignored by many Christians who live in a stress-filled, gotta-do-it-now/gotta-have-it-immediately world. We should not forget that the day of rest was created for the benefit of man.

4. Religious education for the youth.

The LDS Church is very concerned about educating its young people in the ways of its faith. First, the system is very uniform. What the LDS children learn in California is taught to another ward in Florida. When the child becomes a teenager, he is encouraged to attend daily before-school "seminary" classes at the local ward or stake center. Studies in the Book of Mormon, the Bible, church history, and doctrine are rotated over a four-year period. By the time the Mormon teen graduates from high school, he or she has been given a systematic overview of the faith's basic beliefs.

For those who end up going on a mission, the training given at a Missionary Training Center is condensed, well organized, and prepares the young person to be effective in recruiting new members. Later, when the college years come and the young adult is challenged in his faith, he will have some possible answers to help him remain faithful to his religion.

3. Helping to supply the needs of the membership.

Mormons are known for being generous, even going out of their way to help their fellow members. Many times a group of Mormons will band together to help in a project that benefits another Mormon. The LDS Church also has a welfare program, with a food pantry available for members who are out of work or in a low-income category. The individuals are expected to give back in some form of labor, including volunteering at the Mormon-owned canneries or food processing plants. Truly actions, not words ("be warm and filled"), are what it means to be part of a functioning body.

2. Preventing members from falling through the cracks.

When a Mormon fails to attend the services of his designated local ward for several weeks, he is sure to be missed. Home teachers who visit once a month will try to find out if there are any problems and figure out how to remedy the situation. It is not like there is anywhere else to go, for the Mormon is required to be registered with a particular ward. While I am not suggesting that Christian churches should become legalistic nags in order to force its membership to attend meetings and volunteer for projects, perhaps the general idea of following up on those who all of a sudden are no longer there would fulfill the shepherd role that the church is supposed to have.

1. The importance of families.

And the number-one thing we can learn from the Mormons is (drum roll, please) the priority the Mormon Church places on family life. Certainly many Christian families are very successful. Yet few churches emphasize the importance of the family like the Mormons do; they even set aside every Monday evening for Family Home Evenings to play games, talk, do devotions, etc. I would stop short of saying that Mormon family life is utopia despite the image portrayed by LDS television commercials. But I do commend them for their efforts.

Conclusion: By making this list, I certainly would not want to insinuate that all Christian churches fail in these areas. And these are certainly not reasons [to authenticate the one or in-authenticate the other]..." {credit goes to Eric Johnson}

I find your post to be a little shallow. For example Muslims do not pray facing Mecca and Allah is the Arabic equivalent of the English term G-d. This is the same G-d that spoke with Abraham – I find it quite curious that you think of this as a “false” G-d.

Having been to many Hindu and Buddhists temples it is not required to remove you shoes for worship. This has more to do with local customs and traditions than requirements of their religion. For the most part Buddhists revere and honor enlightenment rather than worship a g-d or for that matter anything.

As to your reference to Mormons outside the circle of “Christians”. You are somewhat correct in understanding that LDS are not “traditional Christians” as history has defined Christianity. We believe that “traditional Christians” have deliberately separated themselves from the organization, teachings, ordnances and inter-social relationships that Jesus established as his “church” when he was here on the earth teaching mankind of his “Kingdom”.

All this aside I commend you for seeking to learn something and encourage you to continue your efforts to learn. I would, however, suggest that you go directly to Jews to learn of Judaism, go directly to Muslims to learn of Islam, go directly to Buddhists to learn of Buddhism, go directly to the Hindu to learn of Hinduism and consider learning of Mormonism from the Mormons.

The Traveler

[CornMuffinsMama]

Sorry, didn't mean to imply anything there. Note the top of the post, I put [mainstream] in there, but I thought people would hopefully understand; sounds like you do. I was only trying to imply the 10 things listed in the article. Hope my fellow "Christians" will read this too.

Think of it as "10 Things [many] Christians Can Learn from the Mormons"

Or I could say "10 Things Christians Can Learn from the Baptists"

It doesn't look like I'm implying Baptists are not Christians here, not to me, but sorry if it did.

I fgured you were just c/p'ing the article, I thought it was an article from elsewhere that was saying that. :dunno

I think the spirit of the article has died, lol

poor article

How is the spirit of the article dead?

[JohnOF123]

Hmm, let's look at all the problems you had with this post and see if you are correct with each point.

Muslims do not pray facing Mecca (you)

Muslims always face Mecca, Saudi Arabia during prayer. (reality)

About.com Islam

Allah is the Arabic equivalent of the English term G-d [of the Bible?] (you)

Allah does not like Jews and Christians (kill them where you find them if they won't convert). (reality)

Having been to many Hindu and Buddhists temples it is not required to remove you shoes for worship (you)

Customs and Etiquette

Visitors and worshipers to Hindu temples are required to remove shoes and other footwear before entering them. (reality)

Hindu temple - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I would, however, suggest that you go directly to Jews to learn of Judaism, go directly to Muslims to learn of Islam, go directly...

How does that foot taste, lolz... I'm just teasin' ya friend.

I think u might need to go "Travel" some more, hehe.

Edited February 23, 2010 by JohnOF123

[JohnOF123]

How is the spirit of the article dead?

It's not, I was just teasing..

[Moksha]

Things others can learn:

• #15 - Mormons head to IHOP on February 23 for their free stack of pancakes, one week after Mardi Gras.

I prefer to not to exclude Mormons as Christians (see title of this thread). I do this for two reasons:

1. To be congruent with the prime definition in the dictionary.

2. Because Jesus took a piece of chalk and drew a big circle that included Mankind.

[JohnOF123]

I prefer to not to exclude Mormons as Christians (see title of this thread).

mmmm pancakes....

10 Things Christians Can Learn from Catholics

Would this imply that Catholics are not Christian?

I already explained that this is not what I meant, let's not take a kind and nice thread that raises up Mormons and tear it apart.

Not sure if this is what you meant Moksha...

Edited February 23, 2010 by JohnOF123

[Moksha]

Not sure if this is what you meant Moksha...

Just didn't see the word Mainstream in the title (but it was down below in parenthesis).

I hope nobody takes this mixing of politics and religion together as a good thing. That is like mixing tobacco with whipped cream. Yuck.

.

[marts1]

E for rrr I mean A for effort there John.:)

[JohnOF123]

E for rrr I mean A for effort there John.:)

Thx man, lol. I tried...

[Moksha]

Thx man, lol. I tried...

Your point of learning from one another is not missed. You are right.

That said, there is a point to which terminology should be challenged. The label Christian is a generic one. Think of the effrontery implicit in the example of 10 things Catholics can learn from Christians. Catholics are the original Christians.

My sensitivity to this varies, but it has been primed lately by reading elsewhere of how religious people with a chip on their shoulder, who call themselves Christians, continually set themselves up as arbiters in declaring that Mormons are not Christians. If we were to swap out other generic and subgroup terms , we could have a headline reading 10 things Californians could learn from Americans. If we extend this to an ethnic thing, we could have something really insulting.

Once again, I agree with your premise that religious groups can learn from one another with my own reservation as to the items being touted as good, such as mixing religion with politics.

[JohnOF123]

Catholics are the original Christians.

Apostles are the original Christians. Then Jews, then Gentiles.

Catholics and Gnostics (not lumping them together) are the first people who brought in large organized churches and man made rules into the mix. Well the gnostics didn't really organize a large church, but they brought in non-Christian rules and stuff.

Edited February 23, 2010 by JohnOF123

[marts1]

If the word christian means follower of Christ you could start with Adam and Eve.

[Guest]

8. Politics and religion mix.

The Mormon Church is willing to put its money where its mouth is when political issues warrant a moral response. Certainly not every member may like the conservative stance that the LDS Church takes. But it is admirable how the Church is willing to support those things it strongly believes in. When Proposition 22, which would have given special rights to homosexuals, came up in California's Spring 2000 election, the LDS Church spent plenty of money and was quite vocal in helping to defeat this morally decrepit scheme. They rebuffed public intimidation and stood firm on their principles. Perhaps more of our Christian denominations need to understand that politics do not have to be separated from the Christian faith.

A better representation of this, in my opinion, is in the Articles of Faith that states: We believe in being subject to kings, presidents, rulers, and magistrates, in obeying, honoring, and sustaining the law.

That is a more powerful statement that identifies how Mormons deal with politics.

The example you raised about Prop 22 is not a fair assertion and is an injustice to our mainstream Christian friends. Just because they weren't vocal in opposition to Prop 22 does not mean that they sold out their moral convictions to public intimidation. The same way that just because somebody is Pro-Choice does not mean that they believe abortion is moral.

[MarginOfError]

8. Politics and religion mix.

This is one I wish the Church would unlearn, actually.

7. Organization in its leadership.

The LDS Church is a well-oiled machine when it comes to organization, from the top down to the bottom. When the leaders make decisions, there is no second-guessing allowed in its ranks.

This also is one I would like to see unlearned a little bit. Second guessing--in private-- is a healthy and important part of making good decisions. And sometimes, you just have to break rules to get the right result.

[pyxiwulf]

mmmm pancakes....

10 Things Christians Can Learn from Catholics

Would this imply that Catholics are not Christian?

I already explained that this is not what I meant, let's not take a kind and nice thread that raises up Mormons and tear it apart.

Not sure if this is what you meant Moksha...

Yes, having been raised Catholic and spending my childhood defending my Christianity, I would say the poor grammar is just as offensive to Catholics as it is to LDS. A proper choice of language would be:

10 Things Other Christians Can Learn from Mormons/Catholics/Pentecostals/Baptists/Lutherans/etc.

Or

10 Things Other Catholics/Pentecostals/Baptists/Lutherans/etc. Can Learn from Mormons

The fact is that the grammatical structure of the title as worded states that the object named after the preposition is not the same as the subject. Since the subject is "Christians" and the object following the preposition is "Mormons", then there is no way that "Mormons" can be "Christians". There's no subtle implication, it's clear-cut according to the rules of English grammar.

Lesson over, need an editor?