As a non-Mormon who has lived in Utah for years, I was struck by President Dallin H. Oaks’ concern at General Conference about members with “diminishing faith in Jesus Christ.”
From outside the church, I wonder if its leaders are diagnosing the wrong problem.
Maybe people leaving the LDS Church aren’t losing faith in Jesus. Maybe they’re losing faith in the institution that claims unique authority to speak for him. Those are profoundly different things.
The teachings attributed to Jesus — like care for the poor, compassion for the marginalized, forgiveness, humility and love of neighbor — hardly seem to have lost their appeal. What appears increasingly difficult for some members is reconciling those teachings with their confidence in the institution itself and its choices.
Describing those who question the institution as having diminished faith in Jesus conveniently makes Jesus and the institution interchangeable.
They aren’t.
In fact, questioning religious authority has a rather prominent precedent in Christianity. Jesus did quite a bit of it himself.
Perhaps church leaders should ask not why people are losing faith, but something more uncomfortable:
What have we done to lose theirs?
Charlie Boas, Salt Lake City