“See how much money Mormons raised for the shooter’s family! See how Christlike we are? How could anyone say we aren’t Christian?”
Well, it all comes down to what definition of “Christian” you want to use.
If you use the definition of being a forgiving, compassionate person or doing those sort of actions, then many atheists are going to be deemed Christian and many Christians are going to be deemed atheists.
But yes, compassionate, forgiving behavior has been called “Christian behavior.” So it’s not far off. But maybe that’s a misnomer when it comes to defining Christianity.
Christianity as a religion is not actually about behavior. We as Christians are not defined by our behavior.
We are defined by the righteousness of someone else entirely — the works and merits of Jesus Christ.
This is a religion not about our goodness, but about our insufficiencies, our failures and our brokenness as humans.
The entire crux of Christianity is that DESPITE our imperfect behavior, we can be deemed worthy of heaven based on the righteousness of Christ, being credited to our account as if we had been good!
That’s the definition of Christianity.
So actually, the more you go around touting how holy and Christlike your people are, the less you are grasping this.
Mormons have wonderful intentions and lives pointed to God. But somehow they’ve missed the mark — looked past the simple principles of falling short, needing grace, and receiving a salvation we do not deserve. Paid in full by Jesus Christ, with nothing left for me to prove.
All I Possess 