Unapologetic Christian

Thursday, I had the privilege of attending a religious dialogue on the priesthood. For our monthly activity, our ward invited about two dozen evangelical students from Biola University and their pastor for a Q&A session on the subject. A religion professor from BYU represented the LDS perspective, and it all was very interesting. I admit that I gained new insights on the priesthood as we define it, on top of the new knowledge gained about views on the priesthood outside my own church. It was altogether a very enlightening experience.

After the Q&A, many of us stuck around for some smaller-group discussion. It was very interesting to hear a more in-depth explanation of a less-familiar perspective on the Atonement, the nature of God, the scriptures, and the Plan of Salvation. I felt that my testimony of Christ grew not only from things my ward members said, but also from words spoken by our visitors. Many expressed how nice it was to be able to discuss differing opinions in a non-hostile atmosphere, and dozens of us enjoyed the accepting attitudes of our new friends so much that we lingered until the lounge closed at 11.

However, amidst all of the Christian charity and acceptance, I was a little bit bugged by one thing I noticed. It seemed that there was a trend common to all of my ward friends. I even noticed myself doing it at times. Each time one of our new friends expressed one of their beliefs, an LDS member quickly jumped in to assure them that our beliefs were very similar. We once spent ten minutes trying to explain how our understanding of the Godhead was so near to their understanding of the Trinity. This approach bothered me just enough to make me think about it for days afterward.

The truth is, while there are similarities in our beliefs, the Godhead is not the Trinity. According to LDS doctrine, God the Father and the Son Jesus Christ are distinct persons with bodies of flesh and bone. They are immortal and perfect, but they are tangible and separate. The Holy Ghost acts with them and accomplishes the same purposes, but He is also separate from the Father and the Son. Jesus Christ is the literal Son of the Father. He is our Mediator to the Father. He is our loving older brother and Heavenly Father is the literal father of our Spirits. Although the three members of the Godhead work together, they do not compose the Trinity of the evangelical faith.

I think that we all know that the Godhead is not the Trinity. We understand it very well. That (among other reasons) is why we are LDS and not Baptist, or members of any other denomination. So why do we have such a natural reaction to emphasize similarities and deemphasize differences in religious beliefs?

I think our reasons are often well-founded, if slightly mistaken. Perhaps the strongest reason, obvious or not, is the desire to declare to the world that members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints are Christians. The thought is a simple one, but it is crucial to the lives of millions of saints. Maybe we believe that others will accept us as Christians if they can only see that we worship the true Christ---the very same Savior that they do. In some ways, I supposed that the opinions others have toward the church is important. Their understanding of our beliefs in Christ is often the first step in the acceptance of the gospel.

Maybe another reason is the eagerness of church members to share the gospel they are daily shaped by. It is good and right to be a missionary-minded people, but at times I fear that we are so zealous to bring others into the church that we unintentionally blur points of dispute. I understand that it is appropriate to be welcoming and accepting of those with beliefs that are not our own. However, I feel that I myself need to be more unequivocal in my everyday declarations of truth. I need to bear my testimony more, and apologize for it less.

Maybe this means I need to take interest when a high school friend posts a Bible scripture as her status on Facebook. Maybe it means that I need to express my testimony more often to those people who I assume already know what I know. Maybe it means that I need to thank God more often for His tender mercies as I have worked to obtain that testimony. In any case, it probably warrants more thought (and action!) than I can give tonight. But it is something I would like to explore…

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