I wanna play a game. I call it, "Where's Jesus?" The rules are simple: Watch the following video and tell me where Jesus is in its content and purpose. And I'm not talking about Jesus-esque behavior, either - just Jesus Himself. For the first installment, I decided to go with one-o'-them "... and I'm a Mormon" videos. You know what I'm talking about. If you aren't in the mood for deep thinkin', just count how many times Jesus is mentioned.
If you got more than none, you did better than me. This is the primary problem I have with this new series of videos (and, in fact, with most of what the Mormon church does): Jesus is virtually absent. He is not completely absent from the entire religion, of course, since He is mentioned frequently in the standard works and in the title of their religion, and there is an eerie statue of Him (henceforth referred to as "Space Jesus") in the Salt Lake Temple Visitor's Center, so there's that. Jesus is a key figure in Mormonism, I must admit: but His glory does not appear to be the main goal here, and He does have to compete with Joseph Smith for attention and praise. It seems to me that any religion which desires to be called "Christian" must have Christ alone as its center and purpose. I don't see that in Mormonism. When I listen to General Conference, for example, I don't hear much about Jesus (except when His name occurs in the obligatory blessing at the end of each speech. I'm beginning to think that the name "Jesus" is the Mormon equivalent for "Goodbye" or "Class dismissed."). I do hear several ridiculously old people speaking - in a tone so soft as to make a psychiatrist feel inadequate - about how important it is to play nice with others and wash behind your ears. How can anyone claim to have entered into a deep, abiding fellowship with Jesus - the very creator of everything - without being compelled by something deep within him to tell every human being on the face of the planet about how great the LORD is? This is why the Apostles were so intensely bold about the Gospel (Rom. 1:16). The LDS leadership, in contrast, has always seemed more concerned with getting the word out about how great the Mormon church is. Don't believe me? You might have noticed that these videos always feature someone who does something particularly noble and/or remarkable, like taking in mentally challenged children or being a professional surfer. And did you see how everyone was smiling? And how well-dressed they all were? And how picturesque that porch was? Everyone is happy and prosperous. Don't get me wrong: Taking care of kids like this is a wonderful thing, and I'm glad this woman chose to do it. But the underlying message of this video series is not simply that Mormons are normal, decent people (though I would agree that they are). The message is that Mormons are able to do good things and live happy lives with happy families primarily because they are card-carrying members of the LDS. No mention is ever made of sin or salvation or the work of Christ in someone's life because it is so much more important for everyone to know what church these noble people belong to. The body of Christ does not exist for the purpose of advertising itself, but for advertising the person and work of Jesus Christ, which is the Gospel.
Don't believe me?
