Not long ago I wrote a post about Big Tent Mormonism being like a Church of Anything Goes.  After reading several blog posts and interacting a little bit, it seems like a church of anything goes may be just what many want.  Perhaps the only doctrine of such a church might be that one must accept all beliefs and behaviors as equally valid, and that to say anything otherwise is to hate.

I have begun to put together what appears to be the common characteristics of those who put forward such a culture.  And I thought I would introduce them.

Tolerance of the Saints

Tolerance can be a great thing.  And a church of anything goes will need tolerance as a core value.  For such a church culture to exist there must be extreme tolerance for everything – except a lack of tolerance.  Fellow members will need to fully embrace all beliefs and behaviors whatever they might be.

Fallibility of Prophets

The difficult thing about prophets and apostles is that they have a tendency to teach people what they ought to believe and how they ought to behave.  So to forward an anything goes culture the idea of fallible prophets must be kept in mind constantly.  One must bring up things like Mountain Meadows or the priesthood ban at nearly every turn.  Only when the idea that church leaders might all be wrong about everything will a church of anything goes get any real traction.

Salvation by Grace Alone

Yep, God needs to get in on the act as well.  Eventually only a salvation by grace alone will do in such a church.  There must be no conditions whatsoever, except maybe love (i.e. tolerance for any kind of behavior).  The closer one can push grace alone salvation the better.

It is easy to see why such a church would be attractive to many – not a soul would be lost.