Richard J. Mouw president of the Fuller Theological Seminary, apologized to LDS Church members in the Tabernacle last November. He said some evangelicals have told Mormons what they believe without knowing what Mormons believe themselves — and that is a sin.

For sharing his blanket regrets, some Christians seem ready to throw Mouw to the lions. On the other side, many of the LDS faithful have chosen to "lionize" the man.

However you feel about Mouw's message, I have my own take on the matter.

I think evangelicals and Mormons — not to mention Catholics, Methodists, Mennonites and Seventh-day Adventists — all owe Richard Mouw an apology — an apology for not turning his book "Uncommon Decency" into a best seller.

I read the book last night. I had to special order it.

And it is one of the sanest books I've read.

Subtitled "Christian Civility in an Uncivil World," the book — published by InterVarsity Press — spends 171 pages teaching us about "civil obedience." The chapter headings are intriguing: "When there is no 'on the other hand,' " "How to be civil about sex," "Is Hell civil?" and "Serving a Slow God."

Mouw's writing, by turns, is both literary and popular, warm yet challenging. Here are a few "Mouw moments" for you to ponder.

On fervor:

Convicted Christians will often be tempted by the crusading spirit. So a rule of thumb is necessary: For starters, concentrate on your own sinfulness and on the other person's humanness. We become more civil by gaining a more honest picture of ourselves and others.

On sex:

The social concerns of evangelical Protestants — and other conservative religious groups such as Roman Catholics, Mormons and Orthodox Jews — do seem to focus rather intensely on sex and reproduction. We often give the impression that we do not care nearly as much about racial injustice or economic oppression or environmental exploitation. And that is unfortunate ... (but) a society that is fundamentally confused about the rights and wrongs of sex cannot be very healthy. . . . Children who have not experienced strong and reliable family bonds are not likely to grow up to be strong and reliable citizens.

On public prayer:

I don't often feel very pious when I pray in restaurants. Nor am I offended by the suggestion that it is a kind of public "showing off." In a sense, that is precisely what it is. ... I have a right to pray in restaurants, even in a highly secularized society. It is my noncoercive way of showing others that my faith is still very much a public matter, in spite of the accommodations I'm willing to make for the sake of persons who are offended by organized religion.

On civility in general:

As Martin Marty has observed, one of the real problems in modern life is that the people who are good at being civil often lack strong convictions and people who have strong convictions often lack civility. ... We need to find a way of combining a civil outlook with a "passionate intensity" about convictions. The real challenge is to come up with a convicted civility.

Bravo, Richard Mouw.

And my apologies for not discovering your book sooner and sharing it with others earlier.

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E-mail: jerjohn@desnews.com