Print | Back | July 27, 2012 |
Mormanity: Abiding in Christ and the Tragedy of Pernicious Theologyby Jeff Lindsay |
I’ve had some wild experiences since moving to China from little Appleton, Wisconsin. Friends were worried about the risks I might be taking in the crazy streets of Shanghai and other parts of Asia, but fortunately I’ve been able to handle the streets so far (apart from one painful encounter with some of the more mundane laws of physics that laproscopic surgery has since repaired).
Shanghai and China have actually greatly exceeded my expectations, and I simply love this part of the world. The challenges I’ve faced in Asia are a piece of cake compared to what I think my youngest son, Mark, faces as a missionary in the Piura Peru Mission (where there is much less economic development and few of the conveniences and comforts that Shanghai offers).
I
think he is careful not to share just how difficult and dangerous
some of his experiences are, but there is no question that his
service in Peru involves a diet high in sacrifice and risk. He loves
it and has grown immensely while there. He went willingly to stand as
a witness of Jesus Christ and to testify of the power of Christ and
His Atonement, teaching and baptizing in the name of Jesus Christ.
A few days before he left the comforts of Appleton, he was
approached by one of his friends from high school, a friend who had
known my son and seen his example as a Christian for years (in spite
of parental bias, it’s still fairly objective to say that my
son is a popular and well-liked young man who is widely noted for
being religious and for having high standards). This friend, a devout
Protestant, just wanted to reach out and let my son know that, um,
Mark’s soul was lost and that he wasn’t a Christian at
all.
What? Believing in Christ, teaching of Christ, seeking to follow Christ, and putting your life at risk for two years as an ambassador of Christ doesn’t count for at least being partly Christian? No, it doesn’t count at all.
You see, it’s one thing to believe in Jesus and be saved, but if you also think you really ought to keep the commandments, then you don’t properly understand grace and, naturally, will rot in hell for this gap in theological understanding.
In
his form of modern Protestant theology, failing the Great Theology
Quiz on the semantics of grace, justification, soteriology,
eschatology, cristology, and related specialties is just about the
only way that someone who has accepted Jesus Christ can get thrown
into hell.
My son was about to put on a nametag bearing the
name of Jesus Christ (“The Church of ....”) to be a
public witness for Christ for two years. My son explained that he
fervently believed in and accepted Christ as his savior. But that
wasn’t good enough. It’s good enough for almost everyone
else except Mormons, apparently.
By coming along and adding an errant belief on the relations between grace, works, and salvation, all is lost. Eternally.
So,
in the spirit of Christian love, this good Protestant just wanted to
reach out to my son and warn him that his soul was toast. Of course,
he was trying to be loving and helpful to save my son’s soul,
and my son recognized this. The intentions were noble, but good
intentions can lead to bad outcomes when informed by horrifically
flawed teachings.
That Protestant young man was the victim of
bad theology, and that theology, perhaps reinforced by religious
bigotry from a pastor, led to an unfortunate result. A friend and
fellow Christian was condemned as non-Christian. An entire religion
of people seeking to follow Christ were denounced as a non-Christian
threat. That’s not just bad theology, it’s pernicious
theology. Tragic theology.
If that young man is reading this
blog, or for those of you who share similar unfortunate views, let me
point to one of many passages from Jesus Christ that I hope you’ll
read and ponder. My son shared a lot of Bible verses that ought to
have helped clarify the relationship between grace and our response
to it, including the importance of following Jesus not just in word
only, but to no avail, so this may not do any good. But this passage
takes a different approach that I hope will open some eyes,
somewhere.
This passage reminds us that to be truly Christian and to truly accept the grace of Jesus and be saved eternally, we need to abide in Jesus. It’s not a momentary event, but a journey. Abide. That means we endure, hang on, keep following, and not let go. Read this passage and see if you can possibly resolve what your minister has taught you with what Christ so plainly teaches.
1
I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman.
2 Every
branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch
that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more
fruit.
3 Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken
unto you.
4 Abide
in me,
and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it
abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.
5 I
am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in
him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do
nothing.
6 If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a
branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the
fire, and they are burned.
7 If ye abide in me, and my words
abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto
you.
8 Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit;
so shall ye be my disciples.
9 As the Father hath loved me, so
have I loved you: continue ye in my love.
10 If
ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have
kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his love.
11
These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you,
and that your joy might be full.
12 This is my commandment,
That ye love one another, as I have loved you.
13 Greater love
hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his
friends.
14 Ye
are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you.
15
Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what
his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I
have heard of my Father I have made known unto you.
16 Ye have
not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye
should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain:
that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it
you.
17 These things I command you, that ye love one
another.
18 If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me
before it hated you.
19 If ye were of the world, the world
would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have
chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.
20
Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater
than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute
you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also. (John
15:1-20)
How
ironic, how tragically ironic, that a young man striving to be a
friend of Christ by not just believing once, but by abiding in His
grace and keeping His commandments, should, for that very reason, be
condemned as a non-Christian whose soul was lost. That’s
pernicious theology. Tragically so.
Mormons believe in
Christ. We accept Him as our Savior. After accepting Him, we seek to
abide in His love. We seek to endure in faith to the end. We seek to keep His commandments and do what He said. That great God who
said, “If thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments”
may have a lot of issues with our failures and misunderstandings, but
I don’t believe that salvation in Christ depends on passing a
quiz on modern theology.
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