To My Evangelical Brother/Sister

I think doctrine matters--the truth is critical to our salvation. However, on a day to day basis in this life, you and I are not all that different. In fact, I'm not sure we don't agree more than we disagree when it comes to some basic points of contention.

Grace and works. You say it is grace that comes through confessing Jesus as your Savior by which we are saved, not works. My initial response brings me to question if works matter at all. "So, as long as you professes your faith in Christ, it doesn't matter what else you do?" Your typical response is, "but if one truly believes in Christ, one will do good works because one loves Him." So, in other words, a true believer will also live a Christlike life.

I say, it is by grace that one is saved. Works cannot save you, but works matter. If you really accept Christ, you covenant with Him to be a disciple, to try to live like Him, knowing you will fail, but that your intent and effort to keep that covenant matters. Without striving to keep your end of the covenant, Christ cannot keep His end of it. To the casual observer, the life of a converted Mormon and a converted Evangelical will seem very similar in that both will profess Christ as their Savior and both will be striving to live a Christlike life. The whole grace vs works dichotomy is somewhat an issue of semantics--I think we are actually pretty close to agreement, particularly when you break things down to day to day living and faith. Yeah, we talk about them a little differently, and there are technical doctrinal differences, but I think there is sometimes a tendency to exaggerate those differences.

On the identity of Christ. You believe Christ is divine, the "Son of God," the savior of the world, the only perfect being to set foot on this earth, and the only name by which we can be saved. So do I. You say I believe in a "different Christ" because I believe that Christ has a Heavenly Father. Yet, you do too. I say they are separate, but you do too. You say they are one...so do I. If you get very technical, you start talking about them being co-eternal and of the same substance, and that Mormons have some strange beliefs about the origin of God. I will say that you can't have it both ways--one AND separate, and that the origin of God does not change the facts that Christ is the Savior of the world.

I don't know if I really worship a different Christ than you do--but I believe we both try to worship the same being who was born of the virgin Mary, lived in Jerusalem, died on the cross, and resurrected on the third day. Frankly, the whole "different Christ" rhetoric is a tool used by non Mormons to justify calling us non Christians and a cult. In reality, even though we have some different understanding of the vast mysteries of the origin of God and the exact distinctions and onenesses of God the Father and Jesus Christ, we are worshiping the same being. Again, there are some doctrinal differences, but on a day to day practical level, I think we are very close.

So, why are my Mormon colleagues out trying to convert you if we are so similar? Good question. In short, we think that as a believer in Christ, you would be particularly interested in all of Christ's words, all His available commandments, all His available ordinances, and all His available guidance. You say you have them, and I respect that. We just want to give you the opportunity just to be sure.

So, why must you shut me out as a fellow Christian; why spend your energies and time in your own churches preaching the evils of Mormonism? Yes, I realize that if you find us blasphemous that you would want to protect your flock from us. I realize that any religious group that proselytizes is a threat to a congregation's membership numbers. Yet, once we've either agreed to agree or agree to disagree, can we unite in our many common values and goals and work together to create a wave of hope and security for our rising generation? Heaven knows there is a powerful current working against us. I know this is all very simplistic but if we keep it at that level, we can work well together. Let's give it a go.