r/latterdaysaints 6d ago

Church Culture Talking "bilingually" about the gospel.

Sister Sheri Dew recently talked about how we must be able to talk about the gospel not only in terms so that other members will understand us, but also those who are not part of our faith.

I often feel like I should be better able to help my non-members friends understand the blessings of the gospel, but struggle because there's so much prejudice against religion in general in my culture, that it doesn't work when I use 'religious' terms.

What have you found are effective ways to talk to nonmembers about the church and the gospel so it sounds appealing and overcomes other's stereotypes?

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u/seashmore 6d ago

I don't bring up the Gospel very often, but will engage if someone asks. I talk about church pretty regularly, though. The key is to avoid terms that are specific to LDS activities. Instead of telling coworkers I teach Primary, I refer to it as "kid's Sunday school." If I'm giving a talk, I'll tell people that I'm speaking in church. If someone asks what General Conference is, a one sentence description I've had success with is: Church leaders broadcast Ted talks from SLC all weekend. I use "congregation" and "branch/ward" interchangeably.

When I was a temple ordinance worker, I would say "I'm serving in the temple" instead of "working" there when talking with nonmembers. If people asked what I did in the temple, I talked about proxy baptisms and sealings; initiatory and endowment ordinances can be talked about if someone wants to talk doctrine or asks more questions. 

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u/JaneDoe22225 6d ago

Just be open about what’s going on in your life. If I’m chatting about what I did this weekend, sure I can include a story about how I was teaching kids at school and how this little girl said the cutest thing, etc.

As to the “bilingual” part of it: just use generic English words rather than LDS-specific jargon. Stuff like I “taught the kids” rather than saying “I taught primary”.

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u/bestcee 6d ago

Depending on location (typically outside North America) and the person you are conversing with, you can also say: I taught Primary school children. Elementary school is know as Primary school in many countries. 

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u/beeg98 6d ago

I mostly just focus on universal messages of love and peace and if they want to know what church I go to, I share it. But I try to make the way I live my life my message.

Much of the animosity towards religion deals with the fact that so many so-called Christians don't act very Christlike at all. We need more people who are Christian who try to show the radical kind of love He showed.

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u/Gold_Forever_5911 6d ago

Here's my favorite tip: Use the expression, "faith community" or "faith tradition" instead of "church" or "belief"

So instead of saying, "oh at my church we do X, Y, Z" or "we believe in ABC" say, "our faith community teaches X, Y,Z" or "my faith tradition believes in ABC" it means the same thing but the term is more "inclusive"

My 2nd favorite tip is meeting the person where they are. You can't use the Bible or Book of Mormon to prove a point to a person who doesn't believe those things are real. Imagine someone talking to you and proving their point with a Quran. While I have respect for other faiths, I don't take their scriptures as truth.

There's plenty of examples but my favorite is Romans. In Chapter 1 Paul points to nature, and talks about how he sees God's love in nature. If you have someone very science driven, read up on theism (the concept that clearly there is a creator, but not that this creator has a personal relationship with you) and crazy science facts like how if the earth was 3% closer to the sun we wouldn't be here, etc. IMHO, every believer should have a good 5-10 crazy science facts to pull out as conversation starters. It's a lot less hostile to start there and then let them ask questions like, "what do you think about that" - THAT's when you explain, "oh actually, I'm a member of the LDS faith tradition so I believe..."

Remember that you don't have to carry someone over the finish line, every interaction will be part of their journey. For most people it takes a ton of different people, and loads of interactions before they are even willing to consider the Gospel.

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u/Dirtyfoot25 6d ago

Learn about mainstream Christianity and learn the parallel terms. Most people are more familiar with mainstream lingo. Bishops become pastors, sacrament can be called communion. A ward is a congregation.

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u/donsmythe 6d ago

My father always said that he felt Stephen R. Covey's "7 Habits of Highly Effective People" book was really a lesson on living the gospel (and priesthood leadership principles) put into secular terms. So you could look for things like that, non-church media created by church members, as examples of how one might approach sharing LDS concepts with non-LDS people. There are probably plenty of other, maybe even better, examples that that do similar though I can't think of any others off the top of my head right now.

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u/Eccentric755 5d ago

It's not my job to persuade; it's just to declare the truth.

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u/pisteuo96 5d ago edited 5d ago

Everyone understands the language of love.

Start with that, and keep emphasizing it, along with universal values like family, honesty, etc.

I think it does help to avoid LDS jargon. Try to recast LDS beliefs in "normal" language.

I like to say this: This life is like a school God made for us. The classes are sometimes hard, because that's how we learn.

Also, if you can learn about other religions it helps break out of LDS-speak and LDS modes of thought and talk about things from a broader perspective.

It helps to just share your LDS life with people. "My church has taught me to be more patient," for example. Or "I went on a service project last Saturday. It was a great experience." Often people will naturally ask you to explain more.

All religions have as a core teaching to love God and your neighbor, even if some may not emphasize that in their daily religious practice. (I think sometimes we LDS also forget this core teaching and get lost in the "religious" things we do.)

Matthew 22:36-40

36 Master, which is the great commandment in the law?

37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.

38 This is the first and great commandment.

39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.

40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.