A Morning Among Mormons

 The following is an essay I recently wrote as a part of a college class. The idea behind the assignment was to visit a service of a faith group other than my own. After some consideration, I decided to attend the morning service of a local Mormon church. As you read on, my hope is that you will feel as if you were right there with me.

It was a brisk Sunday morning. As I pulled into the parking lot, I dreaded stepping out into the cold. Yet, at the same time, I looked forward to the experience that was at hand. With the strong winds beating against my face, I gazed up toward the tall steeple and began walking toward the church building. Apart from the unusual cold, this particular Sunday morning was different than most. Instead of attending my own Baptist church, I found myself visiting a local Mormon church. I knew I was in for a surprise but I was prepared for whatever the morning had in store.

As I crossed the threshold through the front door, I immediately felt the warmth surround me. At first, it was in the form of heat on a cold body. Next, it was in the form of tender love and friendliness. Looking like a fish out of water, I was welcomed by some of the congregants. They introduced themselves, retrieved a church bulletin for me, and told me to feel free to sit wherever I liked. Before sitting down, I engaged in some casual discussions with various unfamiliar faces. Though I didn’t know anybody in the sanctuary, I felt as though the awkwardness quickly subsided. Before I knew it, it was time to take a seat and begin the service.

In an effort to blend in, I took a seat in the back corner of the room. I opened my bulletin and glanced at the order of worship they had scheduled for the morning. The first thing that took me by surprise was the fact that they had two speakers listed. I wasn’t exactly sure what this meant but I was intrigued. As an elderly man was making announcements, I flipped my bulletin over to the other side where I found a concise list of what they thought we should know. Of course, none of the references listed were from the Bible. Every last one was from another Mormon document. The teaching that stood out to me most was also the one that bothered me the most. Without any shame, they proudly declared that they do not believe special revelation has ended. They claimed their interpretation of the Bible is unique in that they believe it should be interpreted through continuing revelation. While I knew this to be the case with the Mormon religion, seeing it printed right before my eyes was appalling! My mind instantly went to where the Bible says, “All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work” (2 Timothy 3:16-17 New American Standard Bible). If Scripture is enough to equip man for every good work, where is the need for ongoing special revelation?

As the announcements came to a close, the congregation began singing. I realized I had missed something. That was when I noticed they were all singing out of the hymnal. As oblivious as I felt in that moment, I grabbed a hymnal and flipped to the song number as quickly as I could. Expecting to find heresy upon heresy, I was surprised to find the song they were singing actually contained no error that I could find. Though I felt they were singing the song to a counterfeit God, I could, in my heart, sing the song to the authentic Jesus Christ and mean the lyrics. We sang of Christ being a firm foundation as well as of his atoning sacrifice.

Quite fittingly, the service then transitioned into communion or, as they called it, Administration of the Sacrament. Whereas the concept of communion is a very familiar one, their administration of it was quite different from anything I had witnessed before. Instead of it being served by adults who were in good standing within the church, it was being served by teenagers. Never before had I seen children serving communion. Something else that grieved my soul was seeing children of every age partaking in the meal. Scripture states, “Is not the cup of blessing which we bless a sharing in the blood of Christ? Is not the bread which we break a sharing in the body of Christ?” (1 Corinthians 10:16). So long as a child has no relationship or unity with Christ, he should not be participating in communion. Yet, if these children had teeth, they were chewing on the bread. As communion came to a close, an older gentleman asked if the young men of the priesthood could be seated with their parents. I could go on about Christ abolishing the priesthood when he became our High Priest but, for the purpose of not dwelling on the subject, I’ll move on.

As the first speaker stepped up to the lectern, he informed us he would be speaking on the subject of faith. I was expecting to hear a passage to turn to but it never came. Instead, he began comparing faith to flying an airplane and trusting in the instruments. He compared it to driving a car and trusting in your skills as a driver. In this sense, it was nothing more than belief. He was also very adamant that one must act on his faith for it to be effective. While this may have sounded normal to the untrained ear, I heard heresy. The Mormon religion teaches that one can lose his salvation if there are no accompanying works. Therefore, for him to teach what he did made perfect sense. However, that doesn’t make it accurate. In reality, faith will make for effective works, not the other way around. Our faith makes our works effective yet our works have no bearing on whether or not our faith is effective. It only has a bearing on whether said faith is real or counterfeit.

After a brief interlude, the second speaker stepped up to the lectern. He didn’t exactly specify what he was going to be speaking on but, just as before, he also didn’t base it on any particular passage or verse. It soon became clear he was speaking on thankfulness and a grateful heart. While this is a wonderful topic to speak on, I felt as though he was taking a completely unbiblical approach to it. For instance, he declared that the Heavenly Father gave His children the gift of happiness. He even went so far as to claim that God will never demand from His children anything that will diminish the happiness He desires from them. I felt as though I were listening to a prosperity teaching televangelist. Yet, this man seemed very sincere in what he was saying. Ultimately, he linked it all to various passages within the Mormon writings. Since I reject Mormon writings as being the unbiblical teaching of another gospel, I naturally couldn’t stand behind his teaching. As he came to a close, he stated that all scriptures are the words of the apostles and prophets, both ancient and modern. Immediately, I was reminded of the blurb on the front of the bulletin that I had read upon first taking a seat in the pew. I found it ironic that the last thing I heard from the pulpit was also the very first thing I read upon arriving to the church. Sadly, neither of the speakers ever went to their Bible nor did they go to any of their other sacred writings. Instead of hearing preaching from the pulpit, it was more of a testimony sharing time.

The service closed in prayer and we all stood up to leave. I was approached by a man who saw me in the beginning. He was curious as to what I thought of the service. Out of kindness and respect, I chose to keep most of my thoughts to myself. After all, I was a guest in his church and they had treated me with nothing but kindness. He then began sharing with me why he felt the Mormon religion was true and how he had converted nine years prior. After he was finished, he appeared to be inquiring as to what my thoughts were. In the most loving way possible, I told him my main concern was that I believed the Jesus of the Book of Mormon to be a completely different person from the Jesus of the Bible. I explained that the Mormon Jesus was a created being who didn’t always exist whereas the Bible’s Jesus is eternal and is actually God Himself as the second person of the Holy Trinity. This, in and of itself, is enough to show how the two religions aren’t merely describing one person in different ways but are actually describing two different people in similar ways while still maintaining their individuality. With this foundational principle being in place, the only thing left to say was, “But even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached to you, he is to be accursed!” (Galatians 1:8). I explained that our differences will be offensive in nature but that my intention was not to offend maliciously. By this time, there were several people standing around and they were all in agreement that, while we disagreed, we could maintain kindness and love toward one another. One of the missionaries asked for my phone number in hopes that we can continue our discussion at a later point. I gladly gave my information and truly do hope to receive the call someday in the near future. I always look forward to the opportunity to evangelize to the lost. May God’s glory be lifted above all else. Soli Deo Gloria!

~ Travis W. Rogers

The Dividing Line

THE LINE. It's an interesting term that holds intrigue. As kids, who didn't want to be the line leader? As adults, we see lines and wonder where they go. Perhaps some of us even fear lines such as when we enter the grocery store...and then immediately walk back out. Perhaps you like to pretend you're Johnny Cash and walk the line. There are many different applications that you may have never thought of. In fact, ask yourself what Mormons, dots, and lines have in common? If you're curious, read on!

 

A few months ago, I received a knock on my door. As I opened it, I saw two clean cut young men standing before me wearing black slacks and white button up shirts. I instantly knew God was showing me His good favor! I stepped outside and greeting each of them with enthusiasm and a smile. After a brief introduction, I invited them into my living room so we could sit down and get comfortable. As expected, they opened with passages out of the Book of Mormon. To be honest, it was interesting to see where they were coming from. I'd had discussions with many Mormons in the past but this one just felt different. I felt more of a desire to show them truth than a desire to show them their error.

 

I presented to them the problem of reconciling the Bible to the Book of Mormon. They admitted that the Book of Mormon was viewed as being without error whereas the Bible

was not. However, they claimed that both were equally as important. That was when they brought up the subject of dots and lines. They told me to imagine a single dot. They asked me how many lines I would be able to draw through this one dot. They proceeded to tell me the dot was the Bible and the lines were the many different interpretations. They next asked me to imagine two separate dots with a line connecting them both. This represented the single interpretation when the Bible was interpreted through the Book of Mormon. Their claim was that this is the only way to accurately interpret

the Bible. Through prayer and study, they were certain that this was the irrefutable and infallible interpretation. They used something as simple as a line to show why they were right.

Our discussion continued for another half hour before we said our goodbyes. We scheduled another time to meet and I marked it in my calendar. As the days went on, I pondered their illustration. I was no more convinced than I was before we first met but I was intrigued by what they had presented. That was when it hit me. Just as they used lines to prove their point, that same line could easily be used to prove mine. What if the single line wasn't horizontal at all but was actually vertical? This would change everything.

 

Eventually, we had our next meeting. Once again, I invited them into my living room. Once again, they presented to me a case from the Book of Mormon. However, my mind was still set upon the illustration of lines. I reminded them of what they had said and they instantly appeared curious as what I was about to say. First, I brought up the case of the Roman Catholic Church. They, too, hold Scripture to be on an equal level with something else. They interpret all Scripture against Sacred Tradition. Unfortunately, they tend to not only hold it against Sacred Tradition but actually interpret the Bible in light of it. Just as Mormons are positive their interpretation is correct, so are Roman Catholics. I asked them how they know theirs is the correct one. They said the Father confirmed it through prayer. Again, I asked how this was different from the Roman Catholics. To this, they didn't have an answer.

 

 

It was at this time that I began to present my case of the vertical line. I asked them to first confirm that they held both the Bible and the Book of Mormon on equal ground. They agreed. I then asked them to confirm that they believed the Book of Mormon to be infallible whereas they believed the Bible had some errors due to years of translational differences. Again, they agreed. Lastly, I asked them to confirm that, if a text in the Bible conflicted with a text in the Book of Mormon, they chalked that portion of the Bible up to error and chose the Book of Mormon's "truth" instead. As with before, they once again agreed though they were a bit more reluctant to do so in this case. Since we had established our foundation, I felt free to proceed to my point.

 

If any part of the Bible is false, we need to throw out the entire thing. It's either God's infallible Word or it isn't. I told them, out of necessity, their own admission splits the Bible up into three categories. First, there are those parts that agree with the Book of Mormon. Since there wasn't really anything to add to this, I left it alone. Next, there are those areas that disagree with the Book of Mormon. Passages in this category are rejected as being erroneous. Once again, there wasn't much left to say on this category so I left it alone. Finally, we're left with the third category. This is the category that gives problems. It's the rest of the Bible. It's the passages that neither agree nor disagree with the Book of Mormon. The Book of Mormon simply doesn't speak on these passages so there's nothing to compare them to or hold them against. The dilemma is in whether one should accept or reject them. I dare say the latter. After all, the Mormon has already shown the Bible to contain unreliable error. How are we to know with certainty whether or not the third category is truth or not? The Mormon may say prayer will provide the answer. To that I say that prayer has shown me that the totality of Scripture is true. As a result, it would appear as if we're left with a very large third category of uncertainty. Unfortunately, there is only one way to safely handle it. Again, if the Bible has shown itself to be unreliable in any way at all, we must reject anything that might possibly contain error. To blindly accept it would be irresponsible. Thus, we're left with only the first category. We're only left with those parts of the Bible that agree with the Book of Mormon. With this being the case, what is the need for the Bible? By their own admission, the Bible is pointless and erroneous. Using basic logic and

reasoning, their illustration instantly goes from horizontal to vertical line drawing. Simply put, the Bible and the Book of Mormon are forever separated by a solid line and cannot be reconciled.

 

I took this opportunity to explain the importance of knowing the Bible to be the untarnished and infallible Word of God. I stressed that it's only through the Bible that one can know Christ and know the gospel. I urged them to find comfort in knowing that we can never earn our salvation and that it's only by the blood of Christ that we find forgiveness of sins. I made every attempt to show them that Christ was not merely a created being but is actually the second Person of the Trinity, God the Son from eternity past. We discussed a great many things as I presented the gospel to them in my living room that evening. Once again, God's favor was shining down on me as he gave me a spirit of boldness yet a heart of compassion. I can't say anybody was converted in my living room but I trust that God's Word will not return void (Isaiah 55:11). I pray that seeds of truth were planted and that God would send somebody else's living room their way in the future.

 

 

~ Travis W. Rogers