What might it mean for a church to look at itself and discover that it has moved beyond Christ? I don’t think it is much different than a child of God looking at themselves and notice that they have strayed beyond Christ. In one of the more exciting dilemmas of Christianity, God invites us to move forward in a very tumultuous sea. We can’t just drop anchor and stay in the same spot. We have to move amid the wind and the tossing sea that can knock us off course.

A living church

And also those to whom these commandments were given, might have power to lay the foundation of this church, and to bring it forth out of obscurity and out of darkness, the only true and living church upon the face of the whole earth, with which I, the Lord, am well pleased, (D&C 1:30)

A living church lives! The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints lives, and in living, it can sin just like the mortals that make up its life. In living within a community of others, the Church affects and can be affected. I appreciate that a living church of Christ moves to the tree of life, but, in moving, may trip and wander just as a person in Christ does. As we navigate the waves, we will make the best choice of that day. We may fall off the optimal course in the depth of a storm, and changes will be needed. God’s church and children both live as they redirect their course towards Him.

Lehi’s vision helps us understand the varied paths to the tree. Lehi’s story is one example within our canon of scripture. We can use our scripture to help us redirect our Church back into the optimal path.

Lehi’s dream

I find it interesting how Lehi’s dream exemplifies three different paths to the tree of life. I worry that in our telling of Lehi’s dream, we ignore the varied possibilities of arriving at the tree. As you watch the Church’s depiction of Lehi’s vision, notice the three different paths.

1. Lehi starts in the dark wilderness: He finds the truth by the guidance of an angel at first. But then he must grope in the darkness, looking to a light beyond his position.
2. Lehi’s faithful family: They too wander in the wilderness and are brought to focus on the light by a call from Lehi.
3. The Rod of Iron followers: They had to move through darkness and mist while being persuaded by a significant multitude that antagonized them by holding onto the rod.

I worry that we see the dream as describing a person’s path instead of elements of a person’s way. Some of our testimony of Christ comes through the iron rod; some comes through heeding our parent’s voice or the prophet’s voice; yet more comes from yearning for the light of Christ alone in a dark wilderness.

I don’t think the Church’s journey as a follower of Christ is any different. Parts of the restoration have come and continue to progress through each of the above paths. The organizing of priesthood quorums, how we meet for Sabbath worship, the way we work as the body of Christ, the temple endowment are all excellent examples. Christ sets the direction we head (think the location of the Tree of Life), but the path to Him varies for different elements of our faith at different points in time.

Francis Chan’s Mormon Church

Francis Chan is a great speaker, and he appears to be authentic in his journey towards the tree of life¹. I enjoy his exegetic intent. I found him on YouTube when I was looking for a short definition of Exegesis vs. Eisegesis. Clearly, the way we read scripture isn’t as interesting as his views on Mormonism as the previous video had 16k views, while the following video has over 1 million views.

I wish he would spend more than 30 minutes with two 20-year-old missionaries to figure out the complexity of the two issues he raises to say we are not biblical. His explanation of deification falls way short of our beliefs. The way he explained our views on the priesthood ban on blacks (around 2 minutes) is entirely wrong. I will give him the benefit of the doubt as he is using these examples to challenge his congregants to look at their meanderings away from Biblical Christianity.

Interestingly, our views of deification and priesthood are two topics that have wandered in the wilderness. Those are two great topics where there isn’t a straightforward ‘iron rod’ to guide us to the tree. We have struggled with both in how they relate to Christ and the body of Christ. To me, they are both a witness of a church that lives.

Chan’s church is about more than esoteric doctrines

I found it quite interesting that Chan’s journey to Christ forced him to give up on his congregation. He looked at the body he built under the inspiration of the spirit and decided it got knocked around in the waves and that he was too far off course.

He then realizes that the body of Christ is about each member participating in the journey to God. Listen as he describes his We are Church and recognize how he built the early version of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. If his church grows, I think it will end up much like the organization of our Church today. His guiding principles;

1. Each of the church members must contribute their gifts, not just sit and listen.
2. The church should leverage local lay leadership and ministering.
3. We should love one another (even outside of their little clicks).
4. Can we be known for being a Zion people.
5. Can the gatherings be in groups where each person can use their gifts.
6. Can all of the members read through the Bible every year on the same reading plan.
7. All the pastors are sent out in twos and work for free.
8. The people grow because they have responsibility.
9. The local leaders learn on the job through the struggle of caring for those in their neighborhood.
10. The church group becomes family, not just a Sunday activity.
11. When it is family, it is messy. That is what Christ wanted.

Christ’s living church

I wish Chan would live in an LDS congregation for a year. I think he would see the Church of Christ.

I hope we could realize that we are a living church. Living in time is messy, and the church will trip and fall at times. However, we are family. We may not be the coolest family in the ocean, but we reach to God.

Whether deification is being like God, Being Greater than God, or Being other than God may not matter as much as loving each other as if they were Gods. Yes, making a mistake on how we live as the body of Christ is much more problematic.

We are a living church family! In living, weirdness and hate happen. However, I see love as a common occurrence. I can forgive my church just as much as I can forgive my brother. In both cases, I find God in me and God in them.

I am reminded of C.S. Lewis’s quote on God;

It is a serious thing to live in a society of possible gods and goddesses, to remember that the dullest most uninteresting person you can talk to may one day be a creature which,if you saw it now, you would be strongly tempted to worship, or else a horror and a corruption such as you now meet, if at all, only in a nightmare. All day long we are, in some degree helping each other to one or the other of these destinations. It is in the light of these overwhelming possibilities, it is with the awe and the circumspection proper to them, that we should conduct all of our dealings with one another, all friendships, all loves, all play, all politics. There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal. Nations, cultures, arts, civilizations - these are mortal, and their life is to ours as the life of a gnat. But it is immortals whom we joke with, work with, marry, snub, and exploit - immortal horrors or everlasting splendors.

I appreciate Chan’s motives and desire to bring God’s children into the fold. He is yearning for Christ and helping others find the way. I love The Church of Jesus Christ because it lives. I love the bumps and the vistas that come from living. As we work toward’s His second coming, we will become Christ’s Christianity.

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