Will the Real Jesus Please Stand Up?

Note: I wrote this blog post a little while ago, before the whole Jeffress/Romney/Cult thing. It was inspired by something completely different, but I decided to post it now because given the current events it seems rather relevant. 

I am going to write about something that I hope I can convey with sensitivity. However, I am also about to make some bold statements. I hope I can find a happy medium. Please forgive me if I fail.

If you know anything about my church - The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints - you probably know that we consider ourselves Christians. It is in the very name of our church. We affirm, as the popular hymn states, that we believe in Christ.

And we talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we preach of Christ, we prophesy of Christ...that our children may know to what source they may look for a remission of their sins.
2 Nephi 25:26, The Book of Mormon

And yet, some of my Christian friends don't believe this. I have heard those of other faiths claim that I don't believe in the "real" Jesus and that they pray I will get to know the "real" Jesus. If you want to pray for the welfare of my soul, please do. I probably need it. But who is this real Jesus? Why I am being accused of worshiping a fake one?

The Jesus I believe in is the Jehovah of the Old Testament. He is the one who gave us the sermon on the mount. He is the one who suffered in the garden of Gethsemane. He is the one who was slain on the cross. He is the one who was resurrected on the third day.

According to my belief, there is only one Christ. You either worship Him or you don't. With all the energy of my soul, I proclaim that I do.

But this is why some other Christians think I don't (at least, this is my understanding). I don't believe in the doctrine of the Trinity. I believe, as the First Article of Faith states, "in God, the Eternal Father, and in His Son, Jesus Christ, and in the Holy Ghost". But I believe they are separate beings. I know, this is a huge doctrinal difference between me and some other Christians. We have different beliefs about the very nature of God. That difference affects a lot of doctrine. I get that. 

But I find it very insulting when I am accused of not knowing the "real" Jesus. To all my wonderful Christian friends, please stop using this phrase. It is so degrading to my faith. We worship the same being. I know that to me, Christ probably looks a little different than he does to you--but we still both believe in the same person. We just see him colored a little differently. However I assure you I am not worshiping a false Christ. I am worshiping the Christ of the bible. The only one Christ there is. The one who ransoms my soul. The one who made salvation for me possible.

I don't need other Christians to validate my status as a Christian in order to worship my God. However, I would plead with you to examine what I believe about Christ. We share more similarities than differences, I promise you. Imagine what we could accomplish if we could accept our fundamental similarity as disciples of Christ. Imagine how we could be uplifted by sharing our testimonies with one another.

When it comes down to it, this is how I see things:

I love Jesus.
You love Jesus.
Jesus loves us.
Jesus commanded us to love each other.

And that, to me, is real.