Sharing the Gospel: A Delicate Balance

This depiction of Heavenly Father's Plan for Man's Salvation may seem goofy and even pretentious to those of other faiths, and perhaps to some of my own faith. Still, we believe it to be true.

The LDS church unabashedly proclaims itself to be "the only true and living church on the face of the earth." However, the Church also concedes that, although it does contain all the principles and ordinances essential for salvation, it does not possess everything that is true, but we welcomes it. So here is the issue. By telling others that we have the only true church, it implies that their church or system of beliefs is false. How can I boldly share the gospel with my brethren and sinners sisters of other faiths without offending them? (<---little :="" be="" br="" don="" joke.="" offended.="" t="">
God's true church was personally organized at the beginning of the age of man. When God formed Adam and Eve, he taught them personally, thus establishing the earth's first religion. Any guesses to what the second religion was? That's right! It was a form of Satanism. The Serpent beguiled Eve by introducing himself as "[her] brother" and told her to worship him. As we learn from Moses and his staff, in the Old Testament, the serpent is a religious symbol for Christ. Therefore, what Satan was attempting to pass himself off as in the Garden was Christ. We read in 1 Nephi 14:10, "And he said unto me: Behold there are save two churches only; the one is the church of the Lamb of God, and the other is the church of the devil; wherefore, whoso belongeth not to the church of the Lamb of God belongeth to that great church, which is the mother of abominations; and she is the whore of all the earth."

Since the days of Adam, apostasy has splintered the Truth and caused thousands of religions to be formed. We have learned from modern day prophets, such as President Gordon B. Hinkley, that although these man-made religions lack proper priesthood authority and correct/complete doctrines, that does not mean that they do not have pieces of Truth and have something to offer members of the LDS faith.

We know that God inspires those who seek his light. Examples of such great, religious leaders include: Confucius, Mohammad, the Reformers, and philosophers like Plato, Aristotle, and Socrates. Many of the revelations received by these men were truly inspired by God and serve to augment our own understanding of Christ's gospel. Their ideas changed the course of entire civilizations for the better.

President Hinckley suggests that the path to the heart is not achieved by drilling down to it by the strength of our doctrine but by the light of our examples. The following is an excerpt from a BYU devotional entitled, "The BYU Experience."

Not long ago I was asked to speak at a convention of the Religion Newswriters of America. Following my talk I invited questions. I was asked, "What are you going to do when 15,000 or 20,000 Baptists visit you in Salt Lake City next summer and try to proselytize you?"

I replied, "We are going to welcome them. We are going to do everything we can to make them feel at home. These are our brethren and sisters. They accuse us of not being Christian. I hope that our people will try to show them, by the very manner in which they act, that we are truly disciples of the Lord."

I said to these professional journalists, "As all of you know, we carry on a vast missionary program in the Church. But it is not argumentative. We do not debate. We, in effect, simply say to others, 'Bring all the good that you have and let us see if we can add to it.'"

We have no worry about the strength of our doctrinal position. We need only explain it--not with vociferous argument, but in a quiet and friendly manner. [Emphasis added]

Experienced missionaries will agree that "bible bashing" or criticism of any kind makes for less-than-effective religious discussions. We should all heed President Hinckley's counsel and see our brethren, not as heathens that are in need of the truth, but as fellow brethren who have already been blessed with a degree of our Father's light and knowledge. In fact, the odds are that they have valuable insights about the Truth that we don't; especially the "wicked ones."

To help me facilitate more effective trans-faith discussions, I have signed myself up for a "World Religions" class at USU. I hope the experience will further open my mind and heart to inviting more truth into my own life as well as enable me to be more conversant with others on the subject of their own faith.

p.s. I'm reminded of a quote that I heard years ago, but have forgotten who to attribute it to. It may or may not be LDS, but I want to say that is sounds like President Kimball's voice. "We are not earthly beings having a spiritual experience, but we are all spiritual beings having an earthly experience."