Understanding What You Believe

Do you truly know what you believe as a follower of Christ? Or are you merely borrowing someone else’s belief system and passing it off as your own? I was reminded of these questions last week when I was out in my yard minding my leaves, my own business and asking God to give me some wisdom about a message I would be teaching the following day.

A pair of twenty-something young ladies, Sister Smith and Sister Gurr, came walking down my street. I must be out of touch with Mormon life because I had no idea women were now allowed to go on mission to advance the beliefs of Joseph Smith, but that’s what these young ladies—from California and Utah—were doing in Mount Juliet. I greeted them and asked them how people in our town were treating them. They didn’t give me the general impression they were warmly welcomed and they seemed a little intrigued that I cared about them or how they were treated. I told them I was just as concerned about their well being and salvation as they were about mine.

Since we had gotten off on a postive note, I asked them if if was OK if I peppered them with a few questions. When they agreed, I asked if they believed:

• All of us could become gods.
• Jesus was the brother of Satan, and only fully man and not fully God.
• Smith’s prophecies were as accurate as those recorded in the Bible that have come to pass. (For example, his failed prophecy that a Mormon temple would be built in Independence, Mo. during his lifetime.)
• It was safe to add on to the Bible.

They immediately became jumpy and nervous and asked if they could come back and talk again. About two hours later , Sister Smith came back with another missionary, Sister Nielson, and they had clearly prepped for our second meeting. They had some answers, but they did not effectively answer my questions. They were very friendly, very kind and sadly, very lost.

This time I spent with these women really bothered me and continues to bug me. How could three obviously intelligent people with so much going for them have gotten caught up in all of this without having a clue about what Mormons truly believe? When I asked specifically about the human to god transition, it was clear to me neither of the women had any idea what I was talking about.

How many followers of Christ have the same issue, though? Do you know why the virgin birth of Jesus is an essential of the Christian faith? Do you know why multiple paths do not lead to the same God? Can you find verses from the Bible to support what you believe or are you just putting together your Christian beliefs on the fly?

If we don’t contend for our faith, become a student of the Bible and fully understand what we believe, we can be led away to counterfeit belief system in the blink of an eye, just like these young women.

If you would like to understand more of what Mormons believe, the North American Mission Board has a very helpful resource on that subject.