Revisiting Born Again Mormon: What I learned from Shawn McCraney

            The large man sitting across the table peered at me from behind thick black plastic-rimmed glasses, which were kind of a cross between aviator goggles and Buddy Holly’s sixties-style spectacles. He wore a black shirt, unbuttoned enough for a mass of salt and pepper chest hair to extrude from underneath an array of necklaces reminiscent of what Harley Davidson riders might wear. His smile was warm and genuine; his manners courteous; his name Shawn McCraney of Born Again Mormon Ministries.

            “I didn’t come to argue or to criticize you. I just wanted to get things ‘right from the horse’s mouth’—you know, not depend on what other people say about you,” I paused as he stared at me blankly. “You don’t know who I am, do you?”

            Shawn shook his head, saying my name a few times, “Tracy…Tracy…what’s your last name again?”

           “Tennant,” I answered, “Tracy Tennant.”

           “That sounds so familiar,” he responded.

            “Tracy Tennant of Equipping Christians Ministries,” I nudged. “I wrote a somewhat critical article about your methods a few years ago. We had a rather lively email exchange. I got in the last word.”

            “Tracy Tennant!” Shawn exclaimed, “All this time I thought you were a man!”

            Despite an occasional miscreant chin-hair, I’m 100% woman. A young waitress (probably a Mormon; we were in Utah, after all) brought our order to the table and asked sweetly if she could get anything else for us. After assuring her we had everything we needed, we turned our discussion to the matter at hand; what did Born Again Mormon Ministries really stand for and had anything changed in the six years since raising the ire of countless evangelicals and counter-cult organizations. We hashed it all out between bites over the next two hours.

            The premise of Born Again Mormon (hereafter referred to as BAM) is that a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS) can come to know the true and living God of the Bible and receive salvation through being born again. So far so good, right? The issue that caused concern originally—from about 2006 and the few years following—was found on the BAM website; “To help Born-Again Mormons appreciate and support positive aspects of [LDS] Church membership while simultaneously (but politely) reject any doctrine or practice contrary to biblical truth and authentic Christian belief.”[1]

Do not yoke yourselves together in a team with unbelievers. For how can righteousness and lawlessness be partners? What fellowship does light have with darkness?  What harmony can there be between the Messiah and B'liya'al? What does a believer have in common with an unbeliever? (2 Corinthians 6:14-15, Complete Jewish Bible).

It didn't make sense to encourage people to stay in the LDS Church and be subjected to teachings that contradicted the Bible.

            To gain a better understanding of how the teachings of the Mormon Church differ from traditional Christianity and why those who have been spiritually “born again” must separate themselves from those whose theology is antithetical to the gospel, it would be helpful to be familiar with some of the more unique doctrines of Mormonism.

            Unlike traditional Christian doctrines based on the Bible alone, LDS doctrines spring out of new revelations received by founder Joseph Smith, Jr. and subsequent leaders of the church, who are considered by faithful members to be prophets. Foundational Mormon teachings espouse the concept that man—having been literally sired as spirit beings by God and one of his goddess wives—is divine in nature, having the potential to progress to a state of godhood in the eternities.[2] Consequently, “Every person who was ever born on earth is our spirit brother or sister.”[3] Jesus, as our elder brother, was elected by a heavenly council to become the Savior and progressed to godhood.

            Additionally, according to Mormon teachings, the Bible, alleged to have been corrupted through the centuries[4], is not sufficient to guide people to salvation. Three other volumes thought to be Scripture form of bulwark of Latter-day Saint theology; the Book of Mormon, the Doctrine and Covenants, and the Pearl of Great Price. The preceding books contain untested and unsubstantiated revelations purportedly given by God to Mormon prophets Joseph Smith, Brigham Young, and Wilford Woodruff.

           Perhaps the idea most at odds with the Biblical instruction that Jesus is “the way, the truth, and the life and that no one comes to the Father except” through him (John 14:6, CJB), is the mandate requiring membership in the Mormon Church, as well as keeping all the commandments and paying a full 10% tithe of one's income to the church in order to live in the presence of God in heaven.

            With that in mind, I looked Shawn in the eye and asked pointedly, “Do you know and understand that the God and Jesus of Mormonism are not the same ones in the Bible?”

            He looked perplexed. “Have you not listened to any of my programs? I say that all the time!”

            “I just wanted to be clear,” I said, reaching for another French fry. The truth is, I’ve watched many of Shawn’s programs and have seen quite a change in his position over the last couple years in particular. “You used to say that LDS people coming to saving-faith in the biblical Jesus should stay in their church and try to change it from within. Do you still believe that?”

            “I encourage people to leave the [LDS] Church and find a good, solid Christian church to attend. But think of it this way; if I tell a Mormon he has to leave the church he loves, do you think he’ll listen to anything else I have to say? There are teenagers here [in Utah] who would be ostracized by their peers if they stopped going to church youth activities. When I tell them they can stay in the church, it’s with the idea that once they come to know the truth, the Holy Spirit will lead them out.”

            Shawn’s words brought to mind my recent interview with Sandra Tanner, great-granddaughter of Brigham Young and founder of Utah Lighthouse Ministries. Sandra explained how she and her husband Jerald continued to believe in the Book of Mormon for some time after they rejected all the other teachings of Mormonism and accepted the biblical gospel. I also thought of my nephew who just this week decided he could no longer attend the Mormon Church in good conscience after coming to faith in the Jesus of traditional Christianity. He was LDS when he became “born again,” and like Shawn said, the Holy Spirit led him out of the Mormon Church when he was ready.

        “And partaking of the LDS sacrament?” I asked, still unsure of where he stood.

        “Blasphemy,” he responded.

        All the objections I thought I had to Shawn’s methods of reaching Latter-day Saints with the biblical gospel evaporated as he demonstrated we were “on the same page” in regard to the essential doctrines of salvation. Where I once adamantly took a stand against Born Again Mormon Ministries, I now see that Shawn has made significant changes over the last few years as he’s developed an even greater understanding of evangelism and outreach. Or maybe his critics (me included) misunderstood his message all along. Probably not the latter, I mused.

        Shawn picked up the tab for our meal and we walked out to his truck to say goodbye. I hugged the man who was a wild cross between pilot, biker, hippie, teddy bear, and pit bull, thanking him for his time and friendship. We parted company, but not ways. And I’m still getting in the last word.