Judgment About Killing or Avenging the Death of a Loved One

You can learn a lot about how God sees things by reading the Old Testament, in this case Numbers 35 in particular.

For example, you learn that if someone kills one of your loved ones (even by accident!) the Old Testament law basically states that you have the right to kill the person who killed your loved one.

Now I don't think, with the revolution that Jesus brought about loving one's enemies that this is still in effect, plus it is against the laws of this world.  I don't think people should go around avenging the deaths of loved ones by killing the perpetrator- particularly when we have a perfectly good legal system for dealing with this.  

HOWEVER, what this DOES teach is that God sees things VERY differently, in some ways than you or I.  We assume that killing is killing, and that each death should be basically considered equally.  Now truth be told, I think juries tend to look at someone avenging the death of a loved one differently than the original murder, but it should be clear from Numbers 35 that God himself sees it much differently.  In the Old Testament, God doesn't even see the avenger as a murderer.  I think we should be careful how we look at people who kill people who have killed the first person's loved one.  That is different to an extreme degree.  I don't know what to say.  I was raised that basically to kill anyone, even if the state did it to a murderer in the form of the death penalty, is wrong, and should be avoided.  Now I'm not so sure.  Honestly I thought the death penalty should be reserved for extreme cases, such as serial murderers- now I'm not so sure.  Also, this changes how we look at people who attack people who are committing crimes against them.  It does somewhat justify some of the self-defense laws on the books, as far as how God sees them.  If you really are defending yourself, God sees that much differently than how he sees the perpetrator.

I realize that some people may not find this interesting.  Maybe it's obvious to everyone else, at least everyone else that wasn't raised Mennonite.  To me though, this was revelatory.  I don't read scriptures very often that have a profound impact on how I see things.  This scripture did, however.  I'll never look at killing people the same again.  If the Bible teaches in the Old Testament that a man has the right to kill someone who killed a loved one, how much more should we be cautious over judging a prechristian over the killing of someone who killed their loved one?  Food for thought.

Can Someone Who is LDS Be... Saved?

I just watched this video here, and Dallas basically says that he knows... Mormons that he considers to be... saved.  I want to talk about this subject at length.

After watching this video, I can't help but think that Dallas doesn't really understand the issues at hand.  The problem isn't the idea that someone in some people group couldn't be saved- I mean sure, theoretically speaking a Buddhist or a Hindu could theoretically come to Christ and somehow stay Buddhist or Hindu, but from the outside looking in that seems unlikely.  The thing is, Mormon theology is about humans earning their way to Heaven by various acts they do on earth, including tithing to the Mormon Church, having a Temple marriage, amongst other things.  They (in general) believe that Jesus's sacrifice is not enough, and that salvation requires good deeds.  The problem with this is that it means our salvation is more on us than on Jesus, and that we can look at our growing faith with pride and say in our hearts "I did that.  I earned my way to Heaven."

This is not at all what the Christian theology teaches.  Sure, we DISPLAY our faith by our works, HOWEVER we do not DEFINE our faith by our works.  These are two different things.  Displaying our faith is where the outflowing of our lives demonstrate the goodness of God.  It's the natural consequence of being loved by God.  If a feral dog comes into a loving environment, usually with time, exercise, discipline and affection, such a dog becomes friendly and beloved by the family as a good dog.  The dog doesn't do good works to earn the good graces of his master, it's simply a byproduct of being loved.  In the same way, a new Christian is changed from the inside out by the love of the master, and in time loves themselves, because they are overflowing with love.  They aren't worried about whether their good deeds are good enough to get into some level of heaven (yes, Mormons believe in multiple levels of heaven- at least, those totally familiar with all the Mormon writings that have been written do), they know their good deeds aren't worth a hill of beans compared to the knowledge of salvation that comes through Jesus and Jesus alone.

Is what Dallas said in the video above true from a technical perspective?  I suppose.  If someone in Mormonism was not overly familiar with the teachings of Mormonism over the last 150-200 years comes to believe that Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life and that no man comes to the Father except through me... okay.  If someone stays in the Mormon church to try to get people out of Mormonism, as sort of a spy working against the system- I say that's dangerous work (not only would I imagine LDS elders would take this very seriously if such a person was found out, I think spending that much time with Mormons in general probably wouldn't be especially good for one's spiritual health), but sure... if one were successful without going astray, that would be admirable work.  However, as a general rule, following Mormon theology at its core is unhealthy and leads to self centered faith rather than a Jesus-centered faith.  Mormon theology is antithetical to Christian thought, because it promotes pride, not humility.  It promotes spiritual pride, in fact.  CS Lewis thought that spiritual pride was one of the worst vices a person could have (read The Screwtape Letters if you don't believe me).  The spiritual pride of thinking you are superior to the people you know because your works help you earn your way to Heaven is disgusting to me.

To give you an idea of how much Jesus hates spiritual pride, let's look at the parable of the pharisee and the tax collector (Luke 18:9-14, NIV):

The Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector

9 To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everyone else, Jesus told this parable: 10 “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’

13 “But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’

14 “I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”

End of Quote

Jesus does not approve of having a self-centered faith.  Humility is one of the main hallmarks of the Christian faith.  Could there be Mormons that are saved?  Sure.  Are there people in Evangelical churches that aren't saved?  I believe so.  HOWEVER, LDS theology is not compatible with Christianity.  If you want to serve God wholeheartedly, you need to recognize that LDS theology is, at it's core, teaching a different gospel than what Jesus and also Paul taught, and I believe, if you buy into the thinking that the LDS church is truly based on, you are playing with serious fire.  God will not tolerate spiritual pride in anyone, regardless of what faith a person follows.  God takes this very seriously.  You should too.