visitors

I meet with friends to read through the book of acts on wednesday nights. we switch meeting places and who leads the discussion each week. last week we were at christine's and as we were reading and about to start discussing, the doorbell rang. outside stood two young men in white shirts, ties, and backpacks. they wore nametags.

yes. the mormon missionaries showed up at our bible study.

and we let them in. and we listened. politely. but secretly I think we were all praying against them in some way, most of us already fully aware of their beliefs. several of us are very aware of the history and founding of the church, of when and how different practices and doctrine entered their belief system. I think they were surprised in some way to learn that we weren't from any specific church. we're just friends who love jesus.

what impressed us most was how the two young men ("elders") focused on their organization as jesus' church. if jesus were alive today, they said, he would be in their established organization. they noted the bible as a guide to be happy, while we all thought you've got to be kidding me. i suppose that's an okay way to look at it at first... but if you read psalms, for example, it seems to be about 70% frustration and/or anger. the entire bible is full of stories of imperfection and redemption, not necessarily rules of how to be happy.

I love mormons. and I'm not totally sure why. because from my theological standpoint, they're a greatly misled, confused, and oppressed people group. I say oppressed because when a decision's been made, the thinking has been done> or so I hear that's what they say. and from my practical experience from knowing mormons, that seems to be the case.

I went to junior high in utah. and I remember moving to colorado and being overly challenged when asked to write a position paper, any kind of personal essay, or a thoughtful response to a literary tale. you see, in utah, we were given the answers to our spanish tests, we took them home to memorize them, and spat back the answers on test-day. in english class, there were always right and wrong answers to interpretations. I distinctly remember my english teacher in 9th grade asking us to listen to the song where the streets have no name, and as we looked at the lyrics on the overhead she asked us to consider meanings and interpretations of what the writer was saying. I remember being really confused. as was the rest of my class. that sort of thinking just wasn't normal. (but on side note: in 8th grade home economics, I learned that vanilla extract pretty much always comes with a cap that, when full of liquid, measures exactly 1 teaspoon. it's been very helpful knowledge.)

back to the wednesday group though: before they came in, we had just read through the passage in acts 19 where paul does miracles and people try to copy him, claiming miracles in jesus' name without the power of his name. it backfires on them, and we all found it all too coincidental.

they might come back. we'll see. one of the guys in our group had met them before through a mutual friend. if they do come back, I hope it will be to participate in a healthy discussion and sharing of thoughts, lives, stories. but they're welcome to leave their flip charts at home. we're not into flip charts.