One Sunday morning a couple by the name of Jim and Lisa, along with their two children, were in attendance at our morning worship. In the course of getting to know the new people, it was discovered that they were Mormons. My cult defense system was immediately launched. But this challenge would be different.
I wondered why they were coming to our church instead of going to a Mormon church, which was less than 5 miles away. They didn't talk Mormon, act Mormon (see blog 9/16/10) or seem different in any other way. They were nice. Really nice. That was disarming. Their Christian demeanor brought down my defense shield and raised my curiosity antenna.
One of our daughters was performing in a musical group and had landed a couple of performances at a Christian coffee house in downtown Bristol. Lois and I noticed that Jim and Lisa were there and we quickly became friends with them. They were easy to talk to and were genuinely loving. We later learned that Lisa was suffering from a kidney disease and was on a transplant list. But instead of being gloom-and-doom about it, she was joyful and encouraging to anyone she met.
Lisa would fill in at the piano from time to time, and Jim and I would often work alongside each other at church workdays or events. We became very comfortable with them.
One evening when we had them over for dinner, I fired doctrinal questions at Jim. They had previously informed us that they were with the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (RLDS). This group today goes by the name of Community of Christ. I knew from previous studies that this group had broken off from the larger group of Mormons around 1860 and settled in Independence, Missouri.
Not knowing anything about their doctrine, I questioned Jim on several things that the Mormons believed. On each major point he replied that they either didn't believe it literally or that they were open to it becoming more clear at some point in time. Toward the end of the questioning I remarked, "Jim, you're fast becoming not-a-Mormon." He laughed and said that if we visited their home church, we would be surprised to find that it wouldn't feel like a Mormon church --- or at least what we would envision, having never been to one.
After a year or so, Jim got a job transfer back near their hometown, and we had to say goodbye. There was one follow-up visit after their move when they had to come to Bristol to finish up some business. We had a great visit with them. They have truly been an inspiration to us.
We had built some great relationships over the years, but, to our discredit, we failed to maintain them, even from a distance. While it remains a touch of sadness, our hope is that we will see them again, if not in this life, maybe in the next.
More close relationships would come and go. Some of them would be affected by the change in our belief system.
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