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Book Review
The Mormon Faith of Mitt Romney: What Latter-day Saints Teach and Practice by Andrew Jackson

Did you know:

• That John Huntsman and Mitt Romney are distant cousins?
• That Romney’s family, two generations ago, moved to Mexico so they could practice polygamy?
• That Mormons once raised a militia to combat the US government?
• That Joseph Smith “translated” Egyptian funeral documents into Mormon scripture?

These are among the many rather startling facts that grace the pages of Andrew Jackson’s book, “The Mormon Faith of Mitt Romney.”

Jackson writes from a Christian perspective while tracing the history and development of Mormonism from the early days of Joseph Smith’s visions of Moroni to the relatively more recent changes in LDS doctrine. Rather than taking a position that is polemic and argumentative, Jackson draws on Mormon sources to connect the Romney family to its religious roots and then turns to a more systematic look at Mormon theology and practice.

This book is not an intimate look at Romney’s personal views about Mormonism. Jackson makes the points that Mitt has more or less avoided giving that sort of interview. He calls on Mitt to be more transparent with the public about this faith.

It is clear, however, that Mitt is not a nominal Mormon. He is a Mormon leader who has overseen the construction of temples, participates in the Mormon priesthood, and is a part of an important Mormon family. You will learn about the turning point in Mitt’s life, when he decided to not simply “go through the routine” of being a Mormon, but became a devoted follower and propagator of the Mormon faith.

Particularly for Christians, the chapter on the Mormon worldview is helpful. It encouraged me to avoid applying a Christian hermeneutic to Mormon theology.

Are Mormons Christians? Jackson considers this question in detail. Rather than just saying “no,” Jackson provides an analysis of Mormon doctrine in light of the historic Christian faith. Jackson looks at Mormon beliefs of who God is, soteriology (salvation), and revelation. A damning picture of Mormonism comes forth that may give you pause about the Christian nature of Mormonism.

If you are looking for a book that is combative and negative about Mormonism then this is probably not the book for you. On the other hand, if you are looking for a book that affirms your hope that that Mitt is a good Christian man you will be disappointed. This very readable overview of Mormonism and Romney’s association with it.

It is timely and I recommended it to you in this highly charged political season. Would I vote for a Mormon for president? That might be a good topic for a future post. I do understand a lot more about Mitt Romney after reading, “The Mormon Faith of Mitt Romney.”

For full disclosure, I got my copy from Jackson’s editor, who is a friend and co-worker.

It’s that time of year again. You know, that cheerful time when the guerillas of political correctness launch their counter insurgency against Christmas. What’s a Christian to do? On the one hand, defending the Christmas tree isn’t something that the apostle Paul bothered with, so Christians don’t want to either. Yet, it’s apparent that that the real reason for the season of suppression is a desire to oust Christianity from its cultural stronghold.

Christmas, we are told, is a pagan holiday after all, co-opted by the church in its quest for domination of the European continent. That tree? Scandinavian paganism. Misteltoe? Solstice worshipping druids. Gift-giving? Roman saturnalia. What?! How can a Christian defend these practices?

Herein lies one of the glories of Christianity. It can be wrapped up in many different types of paper, but the gift inside remains essentially the same.  Its embrace of cultural pluralism stands in stark contrast to the cultural imperialism of other religious faiths (including, by the way, secularism, which is really struggling with the presence of Christian influence in our society).

That Christianity was birthed in a Jewish tribe but quickly leapt out of this provincial setting onto the world stage culminates in the council of Jerusalem, found in Acts 15, making this one of the most important passages in the Bible. No longer must you be a Jew to be a Christian. No longer is Jesus a prophet in a tribal religion.

Christmas always reminds me of the Jewishness that pervades Jesus’ ministry. Matthew, for example, gives a decidedly Jewish account with strong allusions to Moses:

•    Miraculous events saved them both from death as babies.
•    They both came from Egypt to lead people out of bondage.
•    They both went into the Jordan and then the Promised Land (Jesus was baptized in the Jordan, within view of Jericho where Moses first led the Jews into Israel).
•    Jesus spent 40 days fasting in the wilderness and Moses fasted 40 days on the mountain before receiving the law.
•    Both Moses and Jesus rejected royal kingships (Moses left the royal family in Egypt and Jesus rejected Satan’s offer to rule over all he showed him).
•    They both went “up the mountain” in order to deliver the Law to the people (Moses in Sinai and Jesus gives the “new law” in the Sermon on the Mount).
•    Both Jesus and Moses interceded to God on behalf of the people.

I could go on, but the point is that Jewish readers would be saying, “Ah, This Jesus is the second coming of Moses!” He fulfills the prophecy of Deuteronomy 18:15 “The LORD your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me (Moses) from your midst, from your brethren. Him you shall hear.”

At the same time, “Moses talk” meant nothing to Greeks. So, in contrast, John’s gospel speaks of all things mystical and spiritual. It is filled with metaphors that appeal to the ethereal:

•    Jesus is the Living Water.
•    Repeated images of Jesus as the light of the world.
•    Jesus is the Logos (the Word of God).
•    Jesus speaks of spiritual rebirth.

John writes with a metaphoric, dynamic, and abstract form that is quite different than the concrete Jewish worldview’s emphasis on the Torah. It is an appeal to the gnostic thinkers of the first century. I can almost hear a first century Gnostic Roman saying something like, “Dude, that Living Water meme is really awesome.”

This cultural elasticity, embedded in the New Testament, is what makes the message of Jesus the Gospel for all nations.

I am mostly Danish. My ancestors were ruthless, Christian-killing marauders, rapists, and murderers. The Vikings of course! But they also had their own culture with many wonderfully creative and beautiful aspects. As the Danes came into contact with the Gospel (probably initially through their slaves) the truth of Christianity bathed the Danish worldview. In the process something unique emerged which was fully Danish and yet Christian at the same time. Like the Jews, their religion was no longer bound in provincial tribalism.

Contrast this with Islam. To read the Quran requires that you know Arabic – it is not considered valid in a translated form. You must pray to an Arab city. You must make pilgrimage to Arab lands. You must dress in Arab garb. You must, in essence, embrace Arab culture.

No so with Jesus’ Kingdom. It is a permeating, yeast-like ooze that fills our cultural forms, at times opposing them, and at times embracing them, at all times seeking to redeem them. We shouldn’t feel sheepish that our traditions have cultural roots from before the expansion of the Gospel in that culture. They might have. But they have been washed in what Lamin Sanneh calls “the translation principle;” the Gospel’s ability to transcend culture, avoid syncretism, and maintain the truthfulness of its message.

We should also recognize these traditions for what they are: European culture. Does that mean we allow the trampling of these traditions?  No, as American citizens we have every right to them and the secularist position that “no religion is good religion” is both legally and culturally un-America. But, to challenge these traditions is not the same thing as challenging the truth of the Gospel.

So this year, when you stand under the mistletoe, remember that the blessing of Christmas traditions stem from something amazing about the Christian faith. Jesus transcends culture and redeems it for the glory of God.

It’s the Good News for all nations, peoples, tribes, and tongues.

(Note from Ted: This appears over at WikiBam. I just “re-discovered” it and thought I would cross-post it here as well.)

There has been a lot of talk in the past few years about Business as Mission (BAM) and its implication for the “traditional” mission agency. I work for Pioneers and I don’t like it when people say we are a traditional agency – probably more because of my pride than anything else. Lately, however, I have begun to wonder about what it means to be traditional. Could it be that BAM really is the “traditional approach?”

As I write this I am sitting in a roomful of BAM practitioners – about 75 of them from around the world of Pioneers – a small representation of the many BAM staff in our movement. There are over 40 types of business represented in the room, from cottage industries to some of the largest manufacturing firms in their sector. Many in the room are among Pioneers’ finest missionaries. As we have heard from case studies, speakers, theologians and, most importantly, missionaries who are businesspeople (or is it “businesspeople who are missionaries?”) a few things stick out to me.

The first observation is that many of these people have never felt embraced by the missionary community. If people within Pioneers are feeling this (I am biased, of course, but I consider Pioneers to be fairly forward thinking) I can only imagine what others have felt. It is time for agencies to fully embrace the BAM model of ministry. This means re-thinking our structures that are mostly built around the full-time Christian worker mentality. God will continue to call people into “full-time service,” but that doesn’t mean that we should continue to be one-key pianos.

Another point that has been repeated by these business oriented church planters is that we must focus more attention on the holistic nature of ministry. Holistic ministry meets the needs of people. BAM is a natural outgrowth of a ministry philosophy that stresses this holism. Business meets many of the needs that people have. Who doesn’t want to see their family provided for in a way that is not only financially sustainable but also empowering? Commerce is a cultural universal. If we are serious about transforming societies it must include business.

Yet another theme that I heard was a need for pragmatic assistance. BAM practitioners are often working in business-hostile environments with high taxes, corruption, and poverty. There is a complexity introduced by cross-cultural realities. It is tempting for me to write that, “Agencies need to cope with these issues.” That’s the wrong answer – the church is full of experts that can help with these issues. Agencies need to learn how to make a connection for these experts and then get out of the way.

A final observation was that a BAM philosophy benefits from good missiology. Missiology is no more than the accumulated theology, learning, and experience of the “church on mission.” The men and women at this conference were eager to hear from others who are in business and seeing spiritual fruit. Analyzing these various models together and highlighting the things that worked was very well received. It was a rich time of learning for all.

There was a small businessman (whom I have never met) that got a yearning to love a very unreached part of the world. Church leaders derided him as ill prepared – even questioning the value of his vision. He did his best to get appropriate training before setting off but was never fully embraced by his denomination.

He landed in a hostile country. His goal was to create a self-sustaining model using commercial enterprise. Opportunities were very limited in his new home but he soon found himself managing a small production facility, creating inks for the textile industry. As he worked he learned the local language and culture. He found new opportunities and built up a printing business. As he went, he shared his faith and soon had a small group of believers meeting and worshipping – the first in this people group. His business was burnt to the ground, rebuilt, his wife went mad, and he was physically threatened. Yet he persevered.

This small businessman was, of course, William Carey, now known as the founder of the modern missionary movement. He was a holistic entrepreneur. He not only conducted business, he learned the language, dress, and customs of the people among whom he worked. He knew the scriptures and took difficult positions for the sake of the gospel. Carey’s model has reverberated throughout the past two hundred years and continues to influence what we know as “mission.”

If it’s true that the modern missionary movement was based on a BAM model, lets return to our roots. Here are specific steps, culled from BAM practitioners, that agencies can take: recognize the valuable role that BAM is playing in the world today, focus on holistic strategies, provide practical assistance, and encourage good missionary practice. There are some structural issues to address as well. The businessperson who does not raise their funds through donations needs to sit at the table alongside other missionaries as full members of our agencies.

The traditional approach to mission might not be as old fashioned as we think. It’s a BAM approach!

If you are interested in opportunities with Pioneers, please visit www.pioneers.org for more information.

This past year I read Philip Jenkins excellent book, “The Lost History of Christianity.” He describes the disappearance of large swaths of Christianity. In particular, the Nestorian and Jacobite churches were all but overrun within a few generations by Islamic conquerers. While Muslims are quick to describe the bloody and abhorrent behavior of the Crusaders, they don’t mention the horrific genocide of these eastern Christians. As I read this book I kept thinking, “How could this happen? Where were the church leaders in other parts of the world standing against this?” According to Jenkins, rivalries between Christians and general apathy were at least a part of the reason. Corruption in the church played a role. Overall, though, the pattern is clear: Islamic military and cultural pressure either killed Christians, ran them off, or they converted to avoid persecution.

This leads me to write about the current war on Christians taking place in the Middle East. As I type this post, Fox News is reporting that 100,000 Christians have left Egypt in the past few years. Iraqi Christians have fled wholesale, leaving just a few behind in an embattled minority. Israel, often thought of as a bastion of liberalism, applies pressure on its Christian minority. Iran persecutes its Christian population with zeal. The very few LIbyan Christians cower in fear of what the future might hold now that Ghaddafi has been removed. I could go on, but you get the picture.

Christians in the Middle East are an endangered species.

Why is this? Certainly the militant Islamic movement is the main reason. The Arab Spring is apparently giving way to the fall of Christianity in these nations. If the events of Egypt are any indication of what we can expect in other Muslim countries, then I can certainly understand why Christians there are choosing to flee.

I don’t know what sort of positive things we as Western Christians can do to help out. Protestants don’t get too cranked up about the plight of Coptic Christians. Catholics aren’t so eager to assist the Orthodox. I often see commercials run by organizations pleading for cash to assist poor, elderly Jewish people in Israel. My sense is that these are tailor made to appeal to an Evangelical audience. Should we prioritize elderly Jewish people in Israel over Christians suffering from persecution in their Muslim-dominated homelands?

Will, in our generation, the Christians of the Middle East be eradicated?

Some folks advocate a “soft sell” when it comes to outreach to Muslims. Part of this is avoiding the words “Christian” and “Church.” Here is Ted’s take on this:

For the next few hours (maybe days!!) I will be working to "unhack" my website.

Sorry for the inconvenience.

- Ted

A few years ago, a friend gave me a little article he wrote (not published, so I can't send it to you) that he entitled, "How to Think about Leadership." It was an overview, a set of categories actually, of the various ways that people have written about leadership. I've long since lost it, but it was a helpful tool when evaluating authors who write about leadership.

As I read for my PhD I have noticed that there are also categories of missiology. These might help to understand an author's perspective and how the text is intended to be used. There are four broad categories, with a myriad of smaller subcategories underneath them. FYI, my working definition of missiology is "The study of God's movement in time and place."

Observational Missiology
The first of these three categories is observational.  Historical research and analysis is applied to the question of how Christian movements have formed and grown.  In this school of thought, understanding movements is essentially a study of Christian history.  Getting a comprehensive view of Christian history is a challenging task.  There are, of course, the standard problems in recreating any historical account and this is the challenge of observational missiology. Autobiographies, historical accounts, reports from the field, and a great deal of research is a part of this branch of missiology.  This category seeks to answer the question of "What happened or is happening?"

Applied Missiology
Another category is applied missiology.  These authors are most concerned with how Christians should carry on their work in order to create or support Christian movements.  Their work is often filled with prescriptions and recommendations for how church and mission is to be conducted.  Often, there is a sociological root to the views expressed by these missiologists. How-to courses and manuals intended for churches or missionaries, prescriptions on church planting strategies, community development paradigms, various "special interest" missiologies (i.e., children at risk, environmentalism) would fall under this broad category. Applied missiology answers the question, "How should we go about our work?"

Theological Missiology
There is, of course, much theology embedded in the first two categories.  However, some missiologists focus more exclusively on the theological basis of mission. Systematic theology, Biblical theology, and other theological pursuits are similar in nature but have distinct emphases that are different from missiology. Examples of this sort of theological missiology includes NT Wright's, "Jesus and the People of God," Christopher Wright's, "The Mission of God," and a lot of Newbiggen material. The overarching question that theological missiology seeks to answer is "What is mission?"

Local Missiology
Local missiology utilizes any of the previous three categories but is tied to an underlying worldview, culture, or region. This might be the author's own perspective or it might be the authors reflection on another culture. The emergent church authors, for example, are distinctly concerned with postmodern, Western, missiology. It does not translate well to the plains of Africa, where a much different missiology has developed. Because we are all trapped by our culture, all missiology might be considered local at some level. However, this category is reserved for those authors that are writing about missiology in a specific context. It answers the questions, "What does this cultural context say about mission?"

The best missiology happens when these categories are fused together. They are not independent of each other, but work together to form a whole. Unfortunately, this is often not the case.

Have You Ever Wondered… from Pioneers-USA on Vimeo.

Here is a goofy little poem I wrote about the paradox of faith and assurance from reflections on Hebrews 11:1

Paradox

The less assured, the more to risk.

The more to risk, the more faith.

The more faith, the more assured.

The more assured, the less to risk.

The less to risk, the less the faith.

I have been taking a break from blogging, as you can tell.

Current writing projects (which have knocked blogging down the do-list a few rungs) include:

• Working on my dissertation
• Studying for comprehensive exams
• Prepping for a speaking engagement in New York in early August
• Writing an article on Framing and movement theory
• Working up something for the internal Pioneers' journal on Church Planting Movements – Fad or Ancient Wisdom?

I will get back to regular posting some time…

- Ted