Not Getting Over It
The LDS Church has had a successful media campaign with their phrase, “…and I’m a Mormon.” Slick ads with real people talking about their faith. Yesterday at an evangelical church in California, Glenn Beck changed the slogan.
Let me first say, I like Glenn. I think he’s funny, well-read, a family man, and I’d want him as my neighbor if he moved to Arizona. I think he’s right about getting our country back to the Constitution. He was certainly right about buying gold a couple of years ago.
But when Glenn stood in a church yesterday and held up a Bible and said, “This is what we need to get back to,” and the 2,000 in the congregation applauded, something felt off.
Glenn’s Church thinks the Bible has been corrupted. Perhaps mistranslated is the better term. They say it can’t be trusted in certain places. That’s why you need other books. Their books.
Glenn said, with a wry smile, “I’m a Mormon. Get over it.”
There was some applause. Some scattered laughter.
There are two ways to interpret this statement:
Interpretation 1. “Look, I believe something different about God than you evangelical Christians. I don’t believe in the Trinity. My Church has other books, other testaments we add to the Bible. And there are many more differences theologically. But let’s not let our theological differences keep us from joining hands and working for the common good of our country.”
If this is what Glenn meant, I understand and agree. I have Mormon neighbors. One helped me with my irrigation line in our front yard over the weekend. Our kids play together. We can join hands and work together for the common good, no question.
Interpretation 2. “Look, I’m a Christian just like you. I believe in Jesus. He’s my Savior. I pray to him every day. He talks to me. God is leading us together. Get over my Mormonism.”
If Glenn meant this, I have a BIG problem. Because Glenn is not just talking about “common good,” he is talking about a “common Lord.”
Here’s why I’m leaning toward Interpretation 2:
Immediately following his statement, “I’m a Mormon. Get over it,” he said he believed in the same “God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob” that Christians do. He also said to a room with 2,000 believers, “We are the team. We are the ones to prepare the way of the Lord.”
Really? Which Lord? Which coming? I’m confused.
After the Restoring Honor rally in 2010, Chuck Colson pondered some good questions on Breakpoint. He wondered what “gospel” was being spread at the Lincoln Memorial. “What ‘God’ are we supposed to turn back to?”
They were good questions then. It’s a good question now. This is a Chuck Colson moment. What “team” are we on that’s preparing the way of which “Lord?”
I’m not trying to be divisive. I love and respect the pastor who organized the Sunday event in California. I know he wants us to get our country on a good path. Perhaps he regrets this small part of what went on there yesterday.
But we stand at a crossroad bigger than the next election. We stand at a crossroad of truth and error. And the path we choose and the way we lead those who follow have eternal consequences.
Let me first say, I like Glenn. I think he’s funny, well-read, a family man, and I’d want him as my neighbor if he moved to Arizona. I think he’s right about getting our country back to the Constitution. He was certainly right about buying gold a couple of years ago.
But when Glenn stood in a church yesterday and held up a Bible and said, “This is what we need to get back to,” and the 2,000 in the congregation applauded, something felt off.
Glenn’s Church thinks the Bible has been corrupted. Perhaps mistranslated is the better term. They say it can’t be trusted in certain places. That’s why you need other books. Their books.
Glenn said, with a wry smile, “I’m a Mormon. Get over it.”
There was some applause. Some scattered laughter.
There are two ways to interpret this statement:
Interpretation 1. “Look, I believe something different about God than you evangelical Christians. I don’t believe in the Trinity. My Church has other books, other testaments we add to the Bible. And there are many more differences theologically. But let’s not let our theological differences keep us from joining hands and working for the common good of our country.”
If this is what Glenn meant, I understand and agree. I have Mormon neighbors. One helped me with my irrigation line in our front yard over the weekend. Our kids play together. We can join hands and work together for the common good, no question.
Interpretation 2. “Look, I’m a Christian just like you. I believe in Jesus. He’s my Savior. I pray to him every day. He talks to me. God is leading us together. Get over my Mormonism.”
If Glenn meant this, I have a BIG problem. Because Glenn is not just talking about “common good,” he is talking about a “common Lord.”
Here’s why I’m leaning toward Interpretation 2:
Immediately following his statement, “I’m a Mormon. Get over it,” he said he believed in the same “God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob” that Christians do. He also said to a room with 2,000 believers, “We are the team. We are the ones to prepare the way of the Lord.”
Really? Which Lord? Which coming? I’m confused.
After the Restoring Honor rally in 2010, Chuck Colson pondered some good questions on Breakpoint. He wondered what “gospel” was being spread at the Lincoln Memorial. “What ‘God’ are we supposed to turn back to?”
They were good questions then. It’s a good question now. This is a Chuck Colson moment. What “team” are we on that’s preparing the way of which “Lord?”
I’m not trying to be divisive. I love and respect the pastor who organized the Sunday event in California. I know he wants us to get our country on a good path. Perhaps he regrets this small part of what went on there yesterday.
But we stand at a crossroad bigger than the next election. We stand at a crossroad of truth and error. And the path we choose and the way we lead those who follow have eternal consequences.
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