Worship and Individual Faith
Live from Salt Lake City, Utah, this is Heart of the Matter ESPRESSO! where we do all we can to worship God in Spirit and in Truth. I’m Shawn McCraney, your host.
You know, as we’ve done these interviews you can tell that for most of them I have not shown up with notes of any kind. I’ve done this so that I can let the guest say what they want with the hope that the Spirit will guide and reveal something important as we visit together. In the same vein, I do not prepare by doing background work on the guest speaking. I may ask them some questions prior to airing, but even this is a rarity. The interview with my parents was no different.
Reflection on Parental Faith
Last week when we aired the interview with my Mom, I genuinely had no motive or objective – except to let her “speak her life” and then use it to address the standard Evangelical views about hell. Admittedly, I had the same intent with my Dad whom we will see interviewed in just a minute.
In the case of my Mom, we had a woman who has prayed her whole life, has served others in God’s name, has been a faithful wife, mother, citizen, volunteer, and who turned to Mormonism when the missionaries explained to her that God was so loving He gave us His Son. I know this was the motivator in her mind because she always referred to the Lord in her motherly communications to me as a youth. My Dad is going to take us to the other end of my parental spectrum – and I look forward to you hearing from him.
But before we do, I had not heard my Mom’s interview until last week when it aired. And I sat right here with you and listened very carefully to what she had to say. I think the things she shared have reinforced to me the opinion that we have made a tremendous error when we associate the church a person attends with the character of that individual – especially when we link the church a person attends to their standing before God. What a foolish mistake – yet one reinforced by the religious institutions themselves.
Differences in Doctrinal Focus
You may have noticed when listening to my Mom that there was nothing doctrinal in her presentation – excepting that God so loved us that He gave us His Son. She didn’t mention anything about the Doctrine and Covenants, the Pearl of Great Price, or even the BOM. I know she has read them and used them in her church lessons and such. But they were absent from the content of her interview. Neither did she mention prophets or living apostles – not that she doesn’t listen or look to them – but she didn’t mention them. And we heard nothing about Joseph Smith or Brigham Young.
What I did hear was a woman who was courted at eleven years of age (by my 15-year-old Dad), who got married at 14, had a child at 15, and then raised five more. I heard someone who felt inadequate in this world and felt blessed by the church for helping her guide her young family, to have opportunities to teach, and who appreciated the acts of benevolence she has seen through her church's welfare system. Almost everything she said in appreciation of her church was based on how it helped her and her family grow.
Personal Needs and Church Choice
This overt (and perhaps unintended) message hit me hard as I listened to her speak. If she had been a Catholic, she would have praised what it did for her; if she had been a Lutheran, the same. And I realized something really obvious but so often overlooked in the topic of religion – human beings seek out and attend the church that best suits them and their personal wants, needs, and desires.
My Mom, being very young and feeling incapable of accomplishing much, found a church that helped her raise her kids. And she sees the hand of God in this. Other people find churches that allow them to shout “hallelujah to the Lord” week in and week out or that teaches them the Bible or that relentlessly condemns them of sin. There are churches that encourage tongue speaking, churches that have great international ministries to the poor, and churches that focus on demons and hell-fire – the supply is almost as endless as the demands.
The Importance of the Heart in Faith
Churches that give them what they are hoping to receive in life – whatever it is. In this sense, I see churches as no different than the schools, hair salons, or gyms people frequent. And if a church fails to supply a person with what they need and want, that church will be abandoned – I guarantee you. In light of this, perhaps God is about as concerned as concerned with the church people attend as He is concerned over where they do their grocery shopping or where they get their car serviced. To me, He seems to care much much more about the heart of the person in the church not the church that they are in.
The Heart Over the Institution
There is an old saying that says: It’s not the dog in the fight but the fight in the dog. Perhaps that’s how all of this will play out before God when it comes to religious observances. Perhaps God will say something like: It’s not the person in the Church but the heart in the person in or out of the church that matters to me. Evangelical and Mormons alike have made a huge deal out of what church a person attends. I think we know why. But instead of a denominational focus perhaps we ought consider far more important the person themselves, their selflessness, their genuine humility, their kindness and compassion, their Godly love.
A Personal Reflection
Last week my Mom gave us some background on my Dad. He came from a difficult home life and as she said when she met him at fifteen his parents were in jail for neglect. My Dad’s parents were alcoholics – and from a very young age he learned to fend for himself. Always a hard worker. Always a provider to his family of eight. And one of the most remarkable men I have ever met. But not a man of faith. Over the years my LDS siblings have tried to reach him with the LDS message. I too, have attempted to reach him with the message of God. But I think something happened here as we spoke. I think that some part of the heart of the man called my Dad harmonized with a basic religious truth we all share – that God is love. So here we go.
Next week – Cassidy McCraney
Please tell everyone you know to tune in to our New Show Launch Come Oct 31 – especially the Evangelicals in the Salt Lake Valley as we are going bold and brash . . . here on HOTM.
