Why Your Dysfunctional Family Belongs In The Mormon Church

Editor’s note:  A great reminder that no one’s family is perfect and we all have issues but that’s the point of our church, to take imperfect individuals who make up imperfect families and make them a little bit better. This piece was originally shared on Normons.com

[wp_ad_camp_1]I once showed a picture of my brother’s family to a friend at work: happy couple, three beautiful children, adorable outfits, all smiles. The reaction was, “OK, they’re perfect. I guess that’s what all Mormon families are like, huh?”

From the outside, it might appear that in order to be Mormon, you need to have a “perfect” family. At times even from the inside some of us may feel like that. But the truth is, Mormonism is not about having perfect families. It’s about FAMILIES — who are striving to be a little more perfect.

Don’t believe me? Fine then, I’ll prove it!

As Mormons, we treasure the stories told in the scriptures, and nearly every famous scriptural story centers on families. And like all good Disney movies, the presence of “perfect” family stories is virtually zero. Here is a simpler-than-cliff’s-notes recap on a few of them:

 

Adam and Eve’s Family:

 

They start out as companions in paradise. They live in a beautiful place, they have everything they need, they are naked and they have no clue. Then they partake of the fruit from the tree of knowledge and suddenly are launched into a world where pain, sickness, and evil abound. Their lives go from beautifully simple to terribly complicated, and they must navigate through a new world together.

 

 

Cain & Abel’s Family:

 

Brothers with serious competitive issues. Abel, the perfect child, gives an offering that is accepted by the Lord, while Cain, the naughty child, gives one that is not. Out of jealousy and greed, Cain kills Abel.

 

Read the rest of the examples they use starting off with Moses’ family here.