I've often heard Christians express frustration with non-believers, offering this argument: If Christianity is true, you should believe it to benefit from its advantages, not the least of which is eternal life. And if it's not true and there is no eternal reward, they reason, what does one have to lose by living the Christian life?
However, the same argument is used by Mormons — and has been used on me. If Mormonism is true, I (unlike the average “never-Mo” or someone who was never a Mormon) risk eternal damnation by continuing to reject Mormonism. The reasoning is this: Just return to Mormonism. If it's not true, what would I lose as compared to such a catastrophic loss?
The issue is truth. This business of the gain and loss of one's soul can't be done according to advantages versus disadvantages, nor according to percentages of probability, nor according to personal preference or political correctness.
Jesus didn't just say He was the Way and the Life. He said He was Truth embodied. Though faith involves reason, it is not based on our own reasoning abilities but upon one fact: Someone came to this earth, taught an unchanging message, and died for that message. But unlike any other religious martyr in history, He rose from the dead, thus vindicating everything He ever said.
That is truth, and that is worth risking everything for.
For more information, see The Mormon Mirage 3rd Edition: A Former Member Looks at the Mormon Church Today (Zondervan, 2009). Also available as an audiobook and as an expanded-text E-book for Nook, Kindle and other reading devices.
Also available by Latayne C. Scott, Latter-day Cipher: A Novel
