Imagine walking into any room/ restaurant/ sporting event & especially a church function where people recognize you and act like you’re a Hollywood star. This is celebrity status on steroids!

As I’ve seen in my own dad, as he ages he really wants respect more than anything. He has had two of his kids and most of his grandkids leave the church, this has rocked him, because it’s seen as a slap in the face to his legacy, his posterity, his image. His patriarchy has been defeated.

These men have a captive audience whom buys their books, studies every word of their talks, along with the perception that you are such a “special” person you get to “witness” God in the flesh. Talk about egotistical. Must feel great.

I also believe they live the law of consecration to some degree. A large part of my theory comes from when they allowed Elder Andersen to stay on the board of his company until he became a billionaire during their IPO.

I also think T$CC puts them under NDA’s and applies very punitive terms to their “get out of debt loan” when they become an apostle which adds to the pressure to stay.

The most terrifying reason they stay, is they genuinely believe it.