Christ-like vs "Christian"

"Latter-day Saints need to move beyond simply claiming to be Christian, but becoming Christ-like in actions." This was the take-home message from the Mormonism and the Public Mind conference.

We sometimes get defensive when our church is under attack because we are close as a body (we often refer to our "ward family") and insults towards the church are taken personally. Maybe other Christian faiths do not feel as personally attacked when their doctrine is questioned or their symbols and sacred rites are belittled (i.e. the cross or their own ceremonies) but my experience is they get very defensive about their view of what Christianity is - accepting only that limited definition as proclaimed in the Nicene Creed and are insulted when LDS church members claim to be Christian, but have different tenets. They find it offensive because we do not subscribe to the Nicene Creed as the complete, true and correct definition of Christianity, though we recognize it as that which is generally accepted amongst most Catholics and Protestants.

Because we believe the original gospel of Jesus Christ was restored through prophets called in latter-days, just as they were called in Old Testament days, we believe we have the part of the gospel that was omitted after the original church floundered. The addition of the Priesthood and modern-day revelation means we diverge from this creed in defining Christianity because it is only partially correct. We believe truth has been restored; not reinvented. We believe God still talks to His people through prophets and decisions are not made by vote. But because we follow Christ as the head of our church, we tend to feel insulted that other "Christians" try to deny us that descriptive title and actively work against us - telling others we are not Christian. Our definition is a bit different and perhaps we would better be called "Christ-like" to apease the protestants who prefer to disallow us as fellow Christians, even though we believe that is the definition of "Christian."

If not accepting this popular definition of Christianity makes us non-Christian, then people are narrowing their own view of what Christianity is. We believe being Christian is being Christ-like in thought, words, and action. Do we always live the belief perfectly? Of course not as fully as we should or would like. Of course there are "bad" people everywhere - our church is no exception since it is a church made up of humans. Fortunately, we also believe in the Atonement and forgiveness and we know we will not achieve perfection by ourselves in this life.

If others choose to believe erroneously about us, it is their right and it does not change truth. If others would rather look away from the acts of Christian service and teaching that are integral to our church and beliefs and would prefer to detract from the good we do, that too is their right. It doesn't seem very "Christian" to me, but of course it is their right. If you are interested in what we believe, a summary is in the Articles of Faith. If you want to see what our modern-day prophets are actually saying, as opposed to what non-believers say they are, tune in to General Conference today. It is broadcast throughout the world, translated into 96 languages and can be found on BYU TV (Cable) and local Utah TV, KSL. Transcripts are also printed and video streaming is available on the internet at LDS.org. Visitors are always welcome!