From a Christian:
Just wanted to write and say that you guys are truly missing the boat when it comes to what God is doing through Shawn McCraney's bornagainmormon.com ministries. I understand that you think what Shawn says is confusing to christians and misleading mormons into thinking they can become mainstream christians and still remain mormon. THAT IS NOT WHAT HE IS SAYING! If you asked Shawn point blank "do you think that someone can accept the Jesus Christ of the bible and remain a devout Mormon for the remainder of their life"? he would answer "NO". He is focusing in and trying to get LDS people to understand who the real Jesus is. He exposes through his website, TV shows and book that the LDS Jesus is NOT the biblical Jesus. Once people can understand what it means to be "born again" and the necessity, they can commit their life to Jesus (of the bible) and they will eventually work there way out of the Mormon church. I don't understand why christians have to be our own worst enemies???!?! I live in Utah and have for 14 years as a Christian. I attended BYU as a christian and feel that I am very well versed in Mormon doctrine and the surrounding "culture" here. The church I attend has consistently grown over the years to be a church of over 600 people now, of which more than 50% are former mormons!! God is doing some great things in the mormon ministries and he is absolutely using Shawn to accomplish some of it. Have you ever watched his show?? You can do it on his website. I don't think there is any question that Shawn has been born again, has eternal life secure with God in heaven and is fulfilling his part in the great commission by bringing people out of mormonism and into the true body of Christ...albeit maybe some unconventional and controversial means, he's doing it. I for one am thankful that God has given him the background he did in the Mormon church and has brought him to Himself and now has given him to us christians in Utah to help spread the light, beauty and power of the gospel of Jesus, to God be the glory!!! <><
My Response:
Thank you so much for contacting me. I apologize for taking so long to respond...I am only now getting to a backlog of emails. I just did not want you to think I was blowing you off. I try to answer everyone who emails me. I can see that you have some very strong feelings about Born Again Mormon Ministries based on your personal experiences. I can see that you are passionate about the Lord and about sharing the truth of Jesus Christ to others. You’ve seen a phenomenal work being done among LDS in Utah and I can certainly exclaim right along with you “to God be the glory!”
Like you, I can only speak from my own experience. Two of my ten children returned to Mormonism in large part because of Christians who have blurred the lines between Christianity d Mormonism. I understand what you are saying when you wrote that Shawn McCraney is not saying that someone can accept Jesus and remain a devout Mormon the rest of his or her life. I have observed, however, that it is not always what we say, but how it is perceived that has an impact.
For example, in the case of my sons, the older one gained the perception that a person could be Mormon and Christian too. He got this idea from talking with Christians who were not grounded in the Bible or did not know sound doctrine. He had a Christian friend tell him that he didn't see anything unbiblical in the Doctrine & Covenants. His Mormon friends bore emotional testimonies to him about knowing the Church is true, in contrast to his Christian friends whose testimonies did not seem as sure or convincing. He read "How Wide the Divide: a Mormon and an Evangelical in Conversation;" which increased his faulty perception. He experienced little "coincidences" that he interpreted as signs that Mormonism was true (coincidences as simple as running into an old LDS friend out of the blue, or seeing an advertisement by the LDS Church on TV right after praying, as possible examples); and being introduced to the growing mindset of many Mormons and Christians that are blurring the lines between Christianity and Mormonism as a result of efforts by ministries like Standing Together and Born Again Mormon.
I am confident that had all my children been given the “Born Again Mormon” alternative as they were coming out of the LDS Church, they would have jumped on it as a safe excuse to stay in Mormonism, regardless of what Shawn might really have meant. My good friends, Dennis and Rauni Higley of H.I.S. Ministries, were flooded with emails when Shawn’s book hit the market. Ex-Mormons whom the Higley’s helped deliver from Mormonism were writing to ask if they had made the wrong decision in leaving the Church. They said, in essence, “You mean we’ve endured strained family relationships, in some cases lost marriages, and everything we knew to follow Christ, and now we find out we could have stayed in the LDS Church and just privately worshiped the real God? We could have saved ourselves a lot of heartache and trouble!”
It might be true that some people have eventually come out of Mormonism with the BAM approach, but there are an overwhelming number of people who have become confused by it and had their budding testimonies of the biblical Jesus crushed and who actually returned to the LDS Church.
I cannot help but think of the apostle Paul as he preached the gospel to the gentiles. Corinth (among other cities of the time) was well known for its worship of the goddess Diana. I don’t see anywhere in the Bible where Paul told new converts to continue attending the Temple of Diana to reach out to their pagan family and friends. I can’t find a single verse where he says it’s okay to keep participating in the orgies with temple prostitutes as long as they were focused on Jesus while doing so. No! In fact, Paul commanded them to “come out from among them!”
The real church, the “ekkelsia” are the “called out ones.” Our Lord never said it would be easy; He said He came to divide houses, to set mother against daughter and son against father. He said that he who hates not his father or mother is not worthy of the kingdom. Of course, Jesus was not saying we should hate our families! We know this from other scripture that commands us to honor our fathers and mothers, etc. But He was saying that we should love God so much that the love we feel for our families is like hate in comparison; that we must be willing to sever our ties with loved ones if that is what it takes to follow Him. If we have to choose between having friends and having Jesus, we must choose Him to be a true disciple. If we truly love Him we will choose Him over friendships, family, comfort-zones, and anything else that stands in the way.
Please don’t misunderstand me. I am not saying that those who get saved but continue to attend their LDS wards do not love Jesus. What I am saying is that we must follow the biblical mandate. I think the BAM philosophy blurs the lines and can actually hamper the spiritual growth of new believers as they try to sort out false teachings from true ones. It is hard enough for someone to enter the kingdom of light from the kingdom of darkness without prolonging the process. I have counseled with literally hundreds of people during the course of my ministry as they were coming out of Mormonism and know of the devastation that came from trying to keep a foot in the LDS Church and a foot in their new Christian faith for the sake of family and friends.
It doesn’t matter how much success a particular ministry or approach is having if it runs contrary to scripture. God spoke to Saul through Samuel saying that “obedience is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams.” The point is not whether Shawn is being more effective or if he has some unconventional new program that seems to be working. The point is that God commanded us to come out from among those pagan practices we knew before salvation.
Paul did not attend the Temple of Diana to get converts to Christianity! He stood on neutral ground, speaking in public places, to share and spread the gospel of Christ with the Gentiles. In regard to the BAM approach, what if Mormons were to pull the same stunt in Christian Churches; setting up camp so-to-speak, in order to bring Christians out of Christianity and into Mormonism? I’ve actually seen LDS missionaries visit my Baptist Church back in Las Vegas, mingling after the service to invite people to the LDS Church! It was absolutely shameful, despicable in fact! If it is wrong for Mormons to do that, it is just as wrong for Christians to attend LDS wards to get converts. I cannot stress enough how imperative it is that we do things God’s way!
To say, “Well we know this is the right way and that God is blessing our efforts because it’s working and it feels right,” then it is no different than Mormons or Jehovah’s Witnesses or Buddhists, or devout believers of any other religion because they, too, feel right about their ways and are getting results. They, too, say that God is blessing their efforts! Success is not always an indicator of God’s blessing. Consider the prophet Jeremiah’s ministry. He had no success whatsoever by human standards, yet God’s hand was on him and with him. If our methods conflict with God’s revealed word, we cannot experience His blessing, regardless of how much success we believe we are having.
I have never met Shawn, but from his website bio he and his wife look like a delightful couple. I am in no position to judge the state of his salvation. From what I’ve seen on his website, I don’t doubt his sincerity or motives. My concern is not with his character, however. My concern is with his approach to evangelizing Mormons. Shawn has a lot of zeal for what he believes is right. That being said, I must state I think he is wrong. Concerning the Jews, Paul observed, “They have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge.” This is what I fear holds true about Mr. McCraney.
I appreciate you taking the time to email me and share your perspective. I hope I have not come across as disrespectful in any way, for that certainly is not my intent. I can respect your position even though I strongly disagree with it. We will just have to agree to disagree. I would not want to break fellowship over our differences, so please feel free to stay in touch!
Warm regards, Tracy Tennant
----------------------------------------
Copyright © 2007 Equipping Christians Ministries - All rights reserved