Why do Mormons care whether people think they’re Christians or not?

I’ve asked myself this question a lot. Do I really care whether someone thinks I’m a Christian or not? After all, there is no objective definition of what a Christian is. When somebody says I’m not a Christian all they’re saying is “You’re not a Christian according to my definition of what a Christian is.” They can say their definition comes from the Bible, but that’s what I would say too because we all interpret the Bible differently, so it still ends up as being just their own definition based on their interpretation of the Bible.

Regardless of whether someone else is willing to call me a Christian or not it doesn’t change what I believe. What do I believe? I believe Jesus is the Son of God, that he is my Savior, and that there is no other way to be saved from the consequences of sin other than through the Atonement of Christ. I believe in order to be saved that we must do the things Jesus says we need to do in order to be saved. I try to do what Jesus taught, and I try to emulate Jesus’ example. To me, that’s what makes somebody a Christian. Other people think differently, but so what, what difference does it make?

Well, it doesn’t make a difference to me, at least not directly. Where it does make a difference to me, I suppose, is that it might confuse other people who don’t know much about Mormons. Maybe somebody else who would otherwise be interested in the LDS Church won’t be because they think Mormons don’t believe what I just stated I believe above.

Then again, I think people are attracted to controversy, and when people throw a stink about whether Mormons are Christians or not, it attracts attention. And I think open-minded people who are seeking the truth will see it in the LDS faith, regardless of the interfering noise. And then there are those people who know Mormons personally but when they hear someone ranting about how Mormons aren’t Christians they think “Man, why is this guy so angry at Mormons? I know Mormons and the way this guy is describing Mormons isn’t at all like what I’ve seen. Maybe I’ll talk to my Mormon friends about this and find out more.” So maybe this whole “Are Mormons Christians?” question is a good thing that ends up bringing more people to look into the LDS Church.