"How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can they preach unless they are sent?"...Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ." (Romans 10:14-15,17)
You & I probably wouldn't disagree on how someone is introduced to Christ. So, no the Gideons aren't wasting their time. [We'd probably disagree on which Christ they were being introduced to...there is "another" Jesus--see 2 Cor. 11:4]
These messages come from Paul's epistles. Letters. Living letters, nontheless, but not the same thing as a living relationship. These are simply the introduction to the relationship to the Son of God.
What if I told you, upon entering your Marriott Hotel room, that there was a bag of letters from God there that would introduce you to Him (courtesy of Gideon). This introduction is crucial. The communication from God is crucial. But a relationship is ALWAYS a two-way street.
Keep in mind that these letters are the introduction; but your covenant relationship is the "engagement." (Heaven is the marriage). Your covenant relationship is eternal life NOW and forever. I believe a relationship with Christ can be lost (unlike other evangelicals here & elsewhere). But LDS also believe salvation can be lost.
Scripture is kind of like spiritual E-Harmony.com. It's the introduction. I'm sure couples who met via E-Harmony say this was their vehicle for marital "salvation." That minus this, they would still be single. But these couples' engagement & marriage was forged in relating one to another.
(As an aside: May I encourage all folks to pick up that Gideon-placed Bible while staying at Marriott & other Hotel chains...rather than access the devil's "intro" offered there: hotel porn. [& is it true, then, that 10% of the porn profit gleaned by Mr. Marriott winds up in the coffers of the LDS church?])
Can it be true that the church one attends or does not attend prior to Jesus confronting them matters more that Jesus’ own words?
No. I would think that Color Country's experience proves that. In fact, my post #553 says just the opposite of what you say here:
{It's a big problem to]...assume that Lord Jesus is only linked to folks by the institutional umbrella they have a membership in...You assume that mass priesthood=automatic salvation of some sort. I don't think any Scripturally based evangelical would say being a mere appendage to the body--no matter how orthodox--is what saves you. Too many LDS practically rewrite Eph. 2:8-9 to be: "You are saved by membership thru faith in Joseph Smith." Surely you've heard the phrase, "God has no grandchildren."
So, then, salvation is by works, and it is not by grace.