The Danger With LDS Influencers and Authors (myself included)
When I first moved into my current ward a man came up to me and welcomed me as "Gogo" and said he loved my blog. This man is now on my stake high council. He recently asked me, "Can you write something about the danger of LDS influencers?" At first, I was taken a bit back, as I am an LDS Influencer, but as he explained his concerns I realized how badly this message is needed.
So as an LDS Influencer, I want to raise a voice of warning regarding a dangerous trend among the Saints that I am seeing in regard to LDS Influencers, and when I say influencers throughout this article I include Life Coaches and Therapists as many of these use social media to influence people. I want to use the framework of Dallin H. Oak's hallmark address: "Good, Better, Best." but with the addition of a fourth category: Bad.
Bad Content
Bad LDS Influencers and Authors are those who engage in priestcraft. It is not only getting paid (as institute teachers get paid), it is requiring people to pay to learn 'the gospel.' They want people to sign up for classes, courses, or sessions to make money off them. And in seeking to make money they have started to alter the gospel to be more pleasing and therefore gain more clients and followers and therefore be more profitable. This content is designed to lead people away from gospel truth. It is the philosophies of men mingled with scripture.
These influencers feast on Saints who are spiritually malnourished and offer them worldly "solutions" to living the hard part of the gospel. Whether it is a gospel principle or an aspect of church history that someone struggles with. They give them just enough scripture/facts to sound authoritative but then lead them astray with their conclusions.
When the source of what you are reading is faithless it can't and won't produce faith. A bad tree cannot bring forth good fruit. Just ask yourself, "Is this influencer or author an active member of the Church?" Followed up with the vital "And are they promoting that I follow them or the Prophet?" If they are not active or are setting themselves up as alternatives to the prophet, aka teaching contrary to the prophets, they are false prophets. Consuming content from bad influencers will fill you up with worldly alternatives that leave you feeling "full" but in reality, you remain malnourished. It is like going to a Chinese Buffet and eating scraps off the floor. You would never do it. So why are you feeding your spirit the scraps off the floor?
NOTE: By nature therapists and life coaches charge for their services, this does not mean they are automatically engaging in priestcraft. Extra caution must be exercised with them as the allure of money corrupts many good influencers over time.
It is also important to realize that almost all bad LDS Influencers don't come out and say the prophet is fallen, they are wolves in sheep's clothing. They claim to teach the gospel, but it is not the same gospel taught by the prophets and apostles. They teach cafeteria discipleship where you can selectively obey/ignore the prophet. Influencers like Julie Hanks fall into this category. When I see friends following and sharing her content it is only a matter of weeks before I see a post about how they are leaving the Church. For years I refused to ever call her out by name, but then in a short span I had 4 friends leave the Church after following and posting her false teaches and I realized that my silence was causing spiritual casualties. See the below video "prophets or influencers" juxtaposing Julie's teachings to the prophets.
Good Content
Good LDS Influencers are those who attempt to produce faithful content. They truly have desires to uplift others. This category includes a lot of LDS Influencers and Authors who write about a variety of subjects that affect Church members. From Polygamy to where the Book of Mormon happened. This content is interesting but ultimately fails to reach the better or best categories because it is trivial in eternal terms. It does not matter how many wives Joseph or Brigham had, or if the Book of Mormon took place in South America, North America, or both. What matters is gaining a testimony of the gospel and acting on it.
This content is often created by gospel hobbyists, they feel like their particular part of the gospel is sooooo important that everyone needs to focus on it more. Good content does not lead you away from the Church like the bad, but often it is used by Satan as a distraction from what matters most. If he can keep the Saints arguing about the heartland model, or being fixated on seer stones then they will never be a threat to his offensive against the Church. Consuming this content is like going to a Chinese Buffet and eating the small section of American food they have. Who goes to a Chinese Buffet and eats the corndogs and pizza? Children. Spiritually speaking, those who are children in the gospel love this content.
Better Content
Better content seeks to keep the gospel in perspective, it seeks to be faith-promoting. It points to the words of the prophets and says "Follow them!" Better content seeks to address real issues and provide gospel-oriented faith-centric ways to deal with them. These influencers truly have the desire to share the gospel. These are the influencers who follow the Spirit and write what they feel they should, even if it costs them readers and page followers.
Many Come, Follow Me podcasts, blogs, websites, and social media influencers, and authors fall into this category. I strive to fall into this category. Why don't I strive for the best content? well, just wait a minute and you will find out. But these influencers contain many of the best people on social media. These are the influencers that the Church will periodically call together and ask for a united effort on a specific issue (like the Church's Easter and Christmas campaigns). I have been privileged in the past to go to these meetings and rub shoulders with these influencers.
This content sounds pretty good, right? Well, it is more than good, it is better. But, it is not the best (feel free to groan at my dad joke, you're welcome). Too many Saints spend all their time reading, listening to, and consuming this content. If you only consume better content it is like going to a Chinese Buffet and seeing someone else's plate that looks good and asking them if you can have it.
NOTE: Rarely do content creators move up from 'bad' to 'good' to 'better', but sadly I have seen many amazing influencers fall from 'better' to 'good' to 'bad' (with some going straight to 'bad'). Because of this, I am not listing the many of the influencers I follow and I consider as 'better' because they might not be that way next year.
Best Content
Ultimately, the best content is not created by LDS Influencers and Authors. The best content is the scriptures and words of the modern prophets. I hear too many Saints in gospel doctrine and on social media saying things like, "While listening to X podcast, or reading X book I learned this cool insight." It is very rare that I hear Saints saying, "While studying the scriptures in this week's Come, Follow Me I learned..."
That is the difference, the best content is when we go into the source material. It is when we read the scriptures, when we read the conference talks, and when we "study it out" for ourselves and thus receive personal revelation on applying the gospel principles to our lives rather than relying on LDS Influencers to do the grunt work and receive the revelation on our behalf.
The best content is like going to the Chinese Buffet, you might see the food on the floor (bad), but you won't eat it. You will see the American food (gospel hobbyists) and you might try a single slice of pizza, but you quickly move on. You see someone with a plate of stir-fry from the Mongolian Grill and it inspires you (better), but ultimately you get up, and you do the work to get your own food.
Church History
This same model of bad, good, better, and best can be applied to learning about Church History. I see many Saints devoting hours and hours to studying Church history topics like polygamy or blacks and the priesthood who are neglecting to feed their spirit and thus leave the Church. This model prevents that.
- Bad: Studying content from authors who have left the faith.
- Good: Studying from 'interesting' faithful sources.
- Better: Studying from sources that seek to promote covenant keeping.
- Best: Realizing that you won't be quizzed on Church history to get into heaven but that you will be judged by how well you followed the prophets. So instead of being consumed by studying random Church history study the scriptures and conference reports.
This is NOT saying studying Church history is bad, but I see far too many members who are not reading and studying the scriptures yet consume hours and hours of podcasts and books about Church History. Imagine getting to heaven and telling God, "I did not study the Book of Mormon as You told me to, but I did study the history of Polygamy!" You gotta feed your Spirit food before you feed your curiosity Twinkies. I love this quote from the August 1978 Ensign regarding the Journal of Discourses that can be applied to all of Church history:
Having taught seminary and institute classes for more than twenty years, I have tried to follow my own advice. Because I also love to read, I have read the scriptures many times, all of the general conference reports, and finally, all volumes of the Journal of Discourses.
Frankly, one of the main reasons I read the Journal of Discourses was so I could answer students’ questions about them with some knowledge of what they were about. Though I enjoyed reading them, gained some new insights, and was inspired by the spirit of the early brethren, except for the needs of students, there was no practical benefit that I could not have obtained from current conference talks with less effort, much greater clarity and more economy.
For me, the most pertinent discussion of gospel doctrines and answers to life’s problems and source of spiritual inspiration in today’s world comes from the standard works and our living prophets.
Gerald E. Jones, director, LDS Institute of Religion, Berkeley, California (
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I really appreciate this article. I've gotten a ridiculous amount of grief for not taking the word of a few of these folks. So many of their podcasts/posts are "spiritual Twinkies"; they sound nice and validating, but there is no truth or nourishment in them, as it were.
Very good comments and concepts.
I don't get a chance to read too much (outside of scriptures). I do have a couple of favorite "fiction" books that I enjoy. They tend to suggest that God is real, that He cares about us. They are not always written by LDS authors, but still imply a belief in God and a need to be good. I don't read these books for clarification in life, but rather for entertainment and I recognize the difference.
I steer clear of those who are, as you described them the worst of the group. Apostates and such I especially steer clear of. They having nothing good to say.
The truth and nothing but the truth is we need to very careful to ourselves
What do you think of someone like Johnathan Decker? I used to watch his content, but he has said some things that I found to be troubling. There were moments where he and his friend would speak badly of straight, white men, which I think is not Christ like at all. He claimed that members of the LGBTQ+ community are literally doing nothing to anyone, but there's mountains of evidence that say otherwise. He comes across as someone who is begrudgingly in the church where his politics don't align with the gospel and he's a member because the spirit told him to stay. Yet, he has said that he would never claim that Joseph Smith was a prophet because he hasn't seen definitive proof. It's really disheartening because he genuinely wants to help people, but he seems to be at war with politics and the gospel.
Jon is my wife's uncle. I know he is a good guy with good intentions, I can't argue with your concerns or conclusions. I think many members, especially therapists, fall into the trap of loving others with Terrestrial love. (See https://mylifebygogogoff.com/2023/06/why-so-many-latter-day-saints-are-leaving-the-church-over-the-lgbtq-movement.html)
@Jeremy,
Wow! Small world. I'm sorry if my question offended you, it's just something I've noticed and it has me concerned because there are so many LDS therapists falling into those behaviors. I'm not saying he's a bad guy with bad intentions. I can tell that he genuinely cares about people.
I know and I'm related to a number of people who are not as influential, but do fall into that Terrestrial love and it's heartbreaking to see them so internally conflicted. So many people are more concerned with temporary, secular things than the eternal.
I love your insights and, again, I'm sorry if I offended you. You mentioned Julie Hanks and that's what got me thinking about Johnathan Decker.
Oh no worries, I am not offended. Jon knows I disagree with him a lot.
People like Julie Hanks and other “bad influencers” kept me in the church for years longer than I would have without them because they validated and openly addressed the concerns I had while still promoting faith and community, they gave me hope, and I certainly didn’t leave because of them. Who are you to judge what’s “good” and what’s “bad” for someone else?
People should not be keeping you in Christ's Church, you should go because of Christ not people. That is the danger with influencers, when you stay/go to Church because of people and those peoples teachings, then you are not truly converted to the Lord and His gospel, but rather the influencer. Those who insert the philosophies of men to make living the gospel 'easier' might delay someone leaving the Church, but it corrupts their concepts of the gospel so badly it oftentimes ruins their ability to return, thus making them worse off than if they had simply left sooner but were in a state to return to Christ.
I've been speaking out against Priestcraft for years. It's far more rampant than people think. I've left most of my FB Groups and denounced the endless YouTube money-making people making several videos daily to get more viewers. There is great danger in this.
And I'm here to tell you that anything related to the Heartland Model of Book of Mormon geography is to be avoided. The endless seminars, forums, archeological digs, books, tapes, and YouTube channels are flat-out wrong. You will never prove the Book of Mormon with Physical Evidence. Never, yet that is what they are purporting to do. It is leading people AWAY from reading the world's greatest book and causing endless contention. Leave it alone. We don't need to know the location of any events because they will be revealed someday, and we will realize we should have spent our time just reading the book.
@Kelly Smith, I appreciate your outlook.
I confess, I am interested in Book of Mormon Geography and have my own favored theories on it. Its not something that consumes me, or occupies my time. I don't go out of my way to find supporting maps or try to create a list of supporting scientist. With me its more like: "That sounds possible". But what it comes down to for me is that the Book of Mormon is true and that which Mormon and Moroni warned us against is happening all the same - "Be not as we have been".
Over the years I have had many faithful to the end friends and many who pulled out the first time gospel living became unpleasant. As for me and my house, to borrow Joshua's sentiments, we are trying, in spite of our imperfections, to the serve the Lord. I attend church because of the covenants I have made and not to see how good the "program" will be (in fact, I cringe every time the "program" is announced following the passing of the Sacrament. To me, the Sacrament is most important, and the EDIFICATION which follows helps to buoy us up once again.
@Kelly Smith, So the BYU supported Mesoamerica model is correct? Your comment should have included equally harsh comments about any archeological 'proof'. You are correct in saying these things will never prove the BofM true, but the knowledge available is worthwhile. You seem to be dripping with contempt for the heartland approach. Be careful with your conclusions.
Gentlemen, you are making my point. The models don't matter, they are a gospel hobby. They create so much contention within the Church and those who advocate their model elevate it out of proportion to become a central pillar of the gospel, which it is not. I know many who follow each model who are good, but also many who are nuts. Belief in a model is not criteria enough to judge someone.
Thank you for writing this. So many times I see something while scrolling, I click. After a few paragraphs I leave. I leave for the reasons above. My spirit about jumps put of me letting me know not to continue. Not only do I scroll by but I click on the area that content like that is not for me so I see less. I have many family members and friends who have left the church. For many reasons they say. I say,get your head back on and your heart straight. Some are just lazy, some have been led astray, some are mad at policy. I believe not everything is perfect with members and how they do or say things but I believe the church is perfect therefore forgiving the unperfect people/leaders is the path I choose.
@Angi, Several months back, a good friend in my ward forwarded me an article regarding some statue unveiling in India which caught his attention and then explained his concern that some of the Brethren were leading us towards idol worship -- as some of the Twelve had attended the unveiling which included a nice status of Jospeh Smith (apparently this university in India was trying to honor Peace Makers in the world). I think Martin Luther King Jr. was another of the dozen or so statues featured.
I read the article and responded that I saw no evidence what so ever that the Brethren were leading us astray --- he responded by unfriending me and telling me he would never listen to my responses again.
I think we need to try and continue to love people, but we cannot support notions and concepts that would demean our prophetic leaders and the Master, Christ, who they and we strive to follow and serve.
I'd be curious to know why you didn't list Jesus and Heavenly Father in the "best" category?
I did, we hear their words via the prophets and scriptures.
Thank you for writing this article. It is a long time coming. Perhaps also it might be worth a mention, something I did not notice in the article, the influencers/magazines often do not address the church and a way that includes Jesus Christ in the churches name. What I mean is often, even today in Church is referred to as “LDS“, Mormons as its members. And that’s a hard thing to deal with today, in writing.
I hope you don’t mind me, saying, it seems to be pertinent to the article.
Yes, using the Church correct name is very important. After the prophets message I went through and updated like 80% of my articles I had written about "Mormons" and changed them. It took a long time.
The other hard give and take is that the Church's full name (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) is 47 characters long, Google wants you to keep all titles to less than 60 characters. If you go over that limit they demote your content. So using abbreviations is all but required.
As it was, this articles title was technically over the limit barely, I was going to use "Latter-day Saint" instead of LDS, but it would've cut off the part where it says "myself included" and I felt it was more important that I am included as an influencer who people understand is not "best" rather than people think I was simply acting holier than thou art.
It is a hard balance, but I agree, we should strive to use as full of name as is feasible when talking about the Church.
By lumping all LDS life coaches and therapists into the “bad” category, you are making a generalization. There are plenty of them who do a lot of good, sometimes working one-on-one with people and helping them through trials in their lives. You try to make a disclaimer, but overall, the message is that LDS therapists and coaches are “bad”. That’s not fair to those who are genuinely trying to help others, and comes off as extremely judgmental.
I’m sorry if it came across like I’m saying they are all bad, I am not saying that. There are many good and better life coaches and therapists.
I’m merely warning that due to the nature of their work, they are extra prone to falling into priestcraft so be careful. If I thought they were all bad, I would’ve said so. But I don’t, so I didn’t.
@Jeremy, I would suggest that you rethink that due to the nature of their work they are "extra" prone. Is a brain surgeon also extra prone, or an orthopedist? Someone who is working to support the mental health of another is no more extra prone than a heart surgeon. The problem I see is the influencer, regardless of their skill - when they choose to "influence" they are extra prone. This could apply to a blogger, politician, grocery store clerk, or anyone else for that matter.
Someone who has a financial incentive is extra prone to priestcraft.
GREAT Article Jeremy! I agree 100% with your categories and explanations. I am subscribed to a few podcasts and have been thinking about who to continue/discontinue as I was feeling some of the things you spoke on. I just wasn't able to clarify exactly in my mind how I felt and you hit it spot on. Thank you for your willingness and bravery to speak out so clearly about this. It is definitely something that's going to become more of an issue as I see more and more "members/non members" jumping on the bandwagon complaining about something in the Church (or Church members, leaders, etc.) I think most of us get that...YES, bad things happen (happened)...and YES, people do have and have had bad experiences with members. Hence, in the last days even the elect need to be cautious and careful or we/they will fall. The Holy Ghost can help us overcome obstacles and help us see things as they really are. I love the Gospel, I know it's true in spite of others and my own weaknesses.
Again, thank you for this article and God bless you with your righteous desires.
And see, I considered removing that specific call out, but every time I did I felt constrained not to. So I did not. And I have had many people message me saying that reviewing her in light of what I said caused them to unfollow her and they thanked me.
It always is more palatable when bad is left unfaced, but sometimes it needs to have its mask removed.
A few months ago I was asked to speak in Stake Conference on this very subject. I used Jacob 7, mostly verses 4 and 5, to describe the differences between the sources of each man's "education," Jacob and the antichrist Sherem. Those are powerful verses for describing the deeper meaning of this article subject. There's no reason why each of us can't be unshaken in our testimonies as Jacob was. Thanks for sharing. This has been on my mind a lot lately.
Many years ago, while I was at work, someone knocked at the door to sell us a subscription to DVDs focused on religious topics. My wife tried to decline by explaining that our budget was really tight and didn't know if we could commit to the $30 a month, or what ever it was, that what little extra money we had we were putting towards a date night. The salesman told her that buys these DVDs should take priority over "date night". Now, if someone had said -- "paying tithing should take precedence", I'm all in favor of that. But more than once I have seen church members trying to sell products with the sales pitch that righteous members have these products in their homes.
I think this goes along with trying to sell members on theories and opinions which sound nice, but are not aligned with prophetic counsel.
Oh my gosh I love this article! I have watched many LDS influencers change as they’ve become more popular and have made more and more money. Every single one of the female influencers has started to wear immodest clothing that can’t possibly be worn with garments. I’ve seen many start to make dietary choices that don’t follow the word of wisdom, they’ve started to say things that have made me cringe. It’s so sad! And it worries me for the younger generations who are on social media all the time. So many of the influencers are super cute and trendy and they look like someone you want to be like. I guess this sounds really judgmental and I don’t mean for it to be that way but I’m tired of it. I’m tired of the wolves in sheep’s clothing. We just have to be so careful and make sure we’re staying closest to the Lord, listening to the Spirit always.
Great quote by Holland, but that is about people wanting to repent. Julie is willfully and actively and CURRENTLY rebelling. If Julie was to denounce her priestcraft, and publicly pull a 180 admitting she was wrong and instead started to encourage people to wear the garment, live all the commandments and the Law of Chasity, I would gladly accept it. BUT SHE IS NOT. Just this last month (since this post was written) she shared the notion that garments are not for everyone, and that you can pick your own sign of your covenants. Utterly false doctrines.
@Jeremy, I’m just curious how does this pertain to authors? This was a great article by the way. I have a friend that is constantly researching and trying to get my his and I to watch something. Often I have felt almost sick as they have shown us things or talk about certain topics. I feel that I’m being led by the Holy Ghost and I use him as my compass when things just don’t feel right. I will then pray and ask for the truth.
Hey Sheri,
Many authors use social media to communicate to their fans. So really this applies to anyone who uses social media and has a following. Be they bloggers, vloggers, authors, musicians, podcasters, therapists, or anyone else.
I so needed this article. Not so much because I follow folks in the “bad” category, but because I am guilty of focusing my time, efforts and study on the “Better” category rather than the “Best” category!
I have always enjoyed exegesis; scripture study using concordances and study Bibles. I thrive at BYU Education Week classes. I have volumes of scripture study guides for every book of the Standard Works. Societal backgrounds, discussion of languages of translations like Greek vs. Aramaic vs. Hebrew vs. “King James scholars” vs. current translations all are so interesting and enlightening to me. And I understand them.
I have recently realized I’m being very lazy by spending so much of my time on the “Better” stuff instead of the “Best”. It is much harder for me to stop, pray, read, pray for inspiration, and listen than for me to read the words of others. It is much easier for me to trust the intellectual conclusions or their perspectives than to trust that I will get my own personal revelations.
Thank you for this article.
Michael B. Rush has a large following regarding his views on the Last Days. I find his views interesting and sometimes fascinating but I think some people see him as a prophet, while not even realizing it.
I've never heard of him before.
Elder Bednar’s most recent conference talk, In the Path of Their Duty, was in my opinion, a long-awaited talk. Ten years ago, I started noticing members of the church create YouTube videos, blogs, and Vlogs, where the spotlight was more on them than on Christ. It was unsettling to me back then, and the impression I received was to not do the same. I have an Instagram account, solely for informational purposes where I follow the Church’s official instagram account, and our prophet and apostles and other general leaders. However, because of those clever algorithms, other stuff pops up on my feed. A very popular LDS influencers’ latest post popped up and it was a self made video, with a great message about Christ-the words flashing on the screen, but behind those words was this influencer. “Hamming” it up big time and over dramatically for the camera. It was so conflicting for me in that moment. My thoughts were, “do I focus on the true words of Christ or do I pay attention to you trying to pose and model and look alluring? Why are you trying so hard to ham it up and look spiritually enlightened and alluring? This is so fake. There is nothing uplifting or inspiring about this. I feel unsettled and the spirit has fled. I have to stop watching this ridiculous video”.
President Hunter’s words rang through my mind: “If you feel that much of what you do this year or in the years to come does not make you very famous, take heart. Most of the best people who ever lived weren’t very famous either. Serve and grow, faithfully and quietly.”
I hope we all take that message to heart and focus on growing a little more faithfully and quietly.
Thank you, thank you, thank you for being brave enough to call out by name some who are 100% leading many out of the church.
Thank you for this article. It is sorely needed by many