By: Michael Flournoy
While a freshmen in college, I made the mistake of setting up for myself hours and hours between classes. I had given myself more than enough time to do homework and study, and before I took the low road to insanity I began attending an on-campus Bible study once a week. And no, I wasn’t there to sabotage anything, I was simply bored. And as I’ve learned, delving into God’s word with anyone, regardless of their religious affiliation, can be a pleasurable experience. At one point during our scripture study we arrived at John 15, verses 12-13 which state: This is my commandment, that ye love one another, as I have loved you. Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. The man leading the discussion made a statement I had never before heard. He claimed that the Greek word used for ‘life’ in verse 13 could also mean ‘opinion’, and stated that giving up our opinions was the greatest expression of love we could give.
The purpose of this blog is not to argue about whether this man was correct, or to weigh the difficulty of forfeiting ones life versus ones opinion. I am going to assume that the giving up of opinions to some degree is required to express love. After all, how am I supposed to love Evangelicals if I only think of them as avid Mormon haters or if I refuse to acknowledge the good within their culture and doctrines? In all my writings I’ve made it a point to argue that LDS doctrines are the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. However, today I shall lay down my opinion (not my testimony) and proclaim that in many ways Catholics and Protestants are doing things right.
Over the years I’ve known countless Catholics and Protestants. In my High School there weren’t many Christians, but they did stick out because they were different than many of my worldly peers. My two favorite teachers were Catholic, and outstanding members of society. For a year before I served my mission I worked at Hill Country Community Ministries and my coworkers were all from various Christian denominations. They were easily the best people I’ve ever had the honor to work with. I’ve yet to meet a Lutheran who wasn’t affable towards me, and let’s face it, Baptists do make the best BBQ.
While on my mission, Evangelicals taught me some of their songs like “All in All” and “Shout to the Lord”. I’ll tell you, they get stuck in your head. Some Christian hymns are so good, that we Latter-day Saints couldn’t help but place them in our hymnals. Some of these include: “How Great Thou Art”, “Nearer my God to Thee”, and “I Know that my Redeemer Lives”. I’ll say this too, the few times I’ve attended a Protestant church meeting, I’ve noticed that they are far better at fellowshipping new people than we are in most LDS wards. I owe a great deal of debt to an Evangelical whose conviction of the Bible as God’s holy word helped my own testimony of the Bible to grow.
Latter-day Saints and Protestants alike can celebrate great reformers like John Calvin, Martin Luther, and John Wesley. Neither of us can deny that these men were inspired. Latter-day Saints and other Christians alike can rejoice in the Bible, for we all know equally it is true. Most importantly of all, the Christian’s I’ve met love the Lord. This fact alone makes it impossible to condemn Christianity. After all, a friend of Christ’s is a friend of mine, even if we do disagree about some things. So for all those Christians out there who have made an impact on my life, who have taken the time to discuss the scriptures or Christ’s influence on their lives, or who fed me on my mission, or set a good example of what it means to be a disciple of Christ, I just wanted to say I’ve noticed and thank you.
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