A recent trend with Latter-day Saint scholars has been the publishing of several books that try to make Mormonism seem like Protestant Evangelicalism. I do not believe the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ is much akin to anything in Historic Christianity, and thankfully very different from Protestant Evangelicals. It is instead a return of Primitive Christianity as found in the New Testament. That is quite a different thing than what Historic Christianity has become, and almost altogether alien to Evangelicalism.
I believe the Church will advance only by acknowledging the differences, explaining them and showing what great things Historic Christianity has lost. Unless we have something different and important to offer, there is no reason for anyone to become a Latter-day Saint.
I believe the Church will advance only by acknowledging the differences, explaining them and showing what great things Historic Christianity has lost. Unless we have something different and important to offer, there is no reason for anyone to become a Latter-day Saint.
The opening statement of Christ to Joseph Smith in the First Vision ought to be the point we most emphasize. It was the many defects with Historic Christianity and its creeds which provoked the Lord to open the heavens again and start this great, final work. When we neglect that message, and try to seem like another brand of Protestantism we are neglecting the only reason for our Church's existence.
I know it is not up to me. And I do not challenge the right of the leaders, whom I sustain, to make decisions. But, if I could make a scourge of ropes and drive the social scientists out of the Church Office Building, I would. I think opinion polling and focus group results are worse than meaningless, they are misleading. It is an exercise in followship, not in leadership. If you see a trend through polling, and jump in front of it, that does not make you a leader. It makes you a clever follower.
I suppose this post is nothing more than proof of my tendency to err in judgment. But it is an honest and well meaning error which isn't being tried by the Church at present. When it was tried, in the early years, the newspapers railed against us, editorial cartoons mocked us, mobs persecuted us, and in turn the Church grew in numbers so dramatic that a single set of missionaries sent to England baptized nearly 7,000 converts. The distinction caused by the persecution was valuable. Certainly not in a public relations sense, but very much in a "harvesting of souls" sense.
Sharp distinctions give the disinterested a reason to consider our message. Persecution attracts the honest who want to know why the persecution is happening. Joseph believed, and history has proven that persecution is the heritage of the righteous. Its absence may not really be a good thing. The cost of trying to avoid it is at the expense of forward progress. This is evidenced by the decrease in convert baptisms we see at present.
I have never seen any statement in scripture affirming that becoming popular in the eyes of the world was good or desirable. On the contrary, I see the Book of Mormon listing that as one of the great evils. (See e.g., 1 Ne. 22: 23.)
Love the blog. Having read several of your books, it's nice to have a running commentary of what you're thinking on a daily/weekly/monthly basis or however often these posts end up being.
ReplyDeleteOn this topic of popularity and persecution, I find it incredibly difficult to affect change, insofar as I feel inspired to do so (e.g., my own household). We've essentially gone from a culture (inside Mormonism) which shunned "mainstream" America in the mid-1800s to one which wants nothing more than to be "mainstream" America, which wants to "shake hands" all around. At all levels, we, as individuals, want to be accepted by everyone, rejected by no one. This typically means we go must go out and "impress" others with the "things" we have, because we seemingly, though we'll never admit it, take great pride in those "things." This is equally applicable to spiritual things and doctrinal beliefs.
Just today, for example, my wife reiterated how Pres. Hinckley had once counseled the members of the church to get as much education as possible because "the world will pay you what it thinks you're worth." (republished in the April 2009 New Era, p. 19.) On its face, that statement is obviously true. The world does pay us what it thinks we're worth. End of story. Implicit in that statement, though, are many things left unsaid, especially on this topic of popularity and persecution.
I've thought that a case can be made that we have been reactionary throughout our history. The Church was abused by the United States, and as a result became uber-American, to disprove claims against us. When Reed Smoot's hearings were underway, the Church was abused by the Republican party. As a result we became uber-Republican, to purchase peace with that party. When Evangelical Christianity abused us, we have made an effort to align with them, becoming uber-mainstream. We have oftentimes "answered" our critics by changing our behavior to subtract what they criticize and add what they advocate to our behavior.
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