A few years ago, there was a story in the news. I believe this happened in a small town in Canada. A Christmas festival was organized for the whole community, and all the local churches joined in. I imagine church choirs took turns singing Christmas carols.

The trouble started when one pastor protested. He noticed that the local Mormon congregation was participating, and he protested that Mormons were not Christians. For that reason, he did not want them to join the Christmas festival.

The last I heard, the pastor was criticized for not being inclusive, and the festival continued, with the Mormons.

A few days ago, someone talked to me about this and wanted to know how to describe their Mormon neighbors, and I remembered the story about the Christmas festival.

So, if you lived in that community, what would you say? In your opinion, are Mormons Christians?

This is a sensitive question, and it could produce some arguments, and some insulting language. Let’s try to avoid that.

The answer might surprise you. There might be more than one answer.

In our modern culture, we have levels of understanding.

1) One popular level is shallow and insincere emotion.

For example, we have many rainbow flags, posters, and even some crosswalks with bright colors. This is to show support for people who identify as LGBTQ etc.

I don’t know all the letters and symbols that come after the letter “Q” and I’m not sure who does. Yes, I am shallow about those things.

In the news, we sometimes hear about criticism of rainbow crosswalks, and then we hear about someone damaging a painted symbol. I picture a young man with a pickup truck who stops on the paint, and spins his tires. That damage is sometimes called a hate crime.

I believe it is really a collision between shallow emotionalism on one side and immaturity on the other. A crosswalk is a tool for pedestrian safety, and we don’t allow rainbow colors on other tools like stop signs and traffic lights.

But that’s just me talking.

In an event like a community Christmas festival, the main objective is to feel good and enjoy the music, with some references to religious things. Belief is probably not a priority. In that case, probably everyone belongs if they want to join in.

Our modern culture can be shallow and superficial.

2) We could take things to a different level.

Here is one example:

@joshbensontherapper

For all my brothers and sisters, please hold me accountable as I don’t want to be heretical here 😂 put a lot of time into these videos and this one especially, but I’m not immune to mispeaking. Josh Benson doesn’t decide the standard on who is/isn’t Christian. Scripture does. And there is a point where a belief system, even if it acknowledges Jesus, isn’t Christian. Back to comedy we go ✌🏻 #christian #exmormon #mormon #lds #christianity #god #jesus #christiantiktok

♬ original sound – Josh Benson

If you do an Internet search on this topic, you will find many comments, and most go to the level of being an informed believer.

There is an old saying, “We have met the enemy, and he is us.” That’s from a cartoon character named Pogo, and I think the author was making a point about modern culture. We don’t need to criticize the Mormons, the Jehovah’s Witnesses, or any other group.

How many Christians know what a Christian is? How many who take the name might fail the test?

I realize that many people who read this do not identify as “Christian” but the same rule applies. Whatever you believe, your identity, are you shallow or informed?

Are we able to discriminate?

This is not a new idea. About two thousand years ago, an entire Christian church was severely criticized, in the Bible. These are harsh words, “O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? It was before your eyes that Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified. Let me ask you only this: Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith? Are you so foolish?” (Galatians 3: 1 and 2)

People, in those ancient times, belonged to a group, but they just drifted with their ideas. The harsh correction was given to them, and not to the other religious groups that they were drifting into.

Emotional drifting is popular in our modern culture, but it can be a trap. There is another reality:

For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account. (Hebrews 4: 12 and 13 )