Let me intensify/exaggerate things for a moment for the sake of a point:

Imagine you are in a room with a dozen people deeply, negatively, emotionally, spiritually impacted by Kimball’s The Miracle of Forgiveness, and you are the only Mormon who outright rejects the book and understands that the real repentance that brings forgiveness is not so perfectionistic, but immediately available and more of a simple, imperfect change of heart-orientation (which doesn’t guarantee the sin won’t be committed again).

Now imagine that an evangelical walks in the room and, with a sense of spiritual compassion and zeal for the gospel, starts engaging the theological orientation of the dozen Kimball-infected Mormons, and you chime up and totally distract the evangelicals from the Kimballite theology and instead get them to interact with BYU professor Stephen Robinson’s theology as though it is somehow more representative of the religion you are in.

That ends up being cruel. It defends a version of Mormonism at the expense of dealing—with integrity and openness—with the stark reality of the common Mormon individuals.

It’s great that some Mormons, for example, reject traditional Lorenzo Snow couplet theology, and positively affirm that God was always God and never had a change in character (being consistent with Moroni 8:18). But if the elephant in the room—the existence of mainstream Mormonism—-isn’t explicitly and openly addressed, then I think it’s a part of cold-heartedness that Jesus wants no part of.

Part of what I desire so much is that neo-orthodox Mormons show that they really love their fellow Mormons by engaging in a serious and open social activism for reformation within their community, even if that takes making the Church institution not look as reliable as is commonly assumed.

He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” Peter was grieved because he said to him the third time, “Do you love me?” and he said to him, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep.” (John 21:17)