Witnessing to Those Who Believe They're Persecuted

“Indeed, all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted” (2 Timothy 3:12, NASB). There is almost nothing about this verse that is true of the Latter-day Saints, though I am certain they would disagree with me =). Alpha and Omega Ministries spent our Friday and Saturday evening handing out tracts at the Mormon temple in Mesa, AZ. It was painfully obvious that this people group believes that anyone opposed to their faith is there to persecute them. True, the King-James-Only groups were there to mock them and stir up all sorts of emotions, but many non-Latter-day Saints were there just to talk.

AOMin has attended the Mesa Easter pageant and both General Conferences put on by the LDS Church since 1983 – I was approximately one year old (sorry James, I had to mention it =)). This was my eighth year handing out tracts at the Easter Pageant, and fourth year since I’ve officially been a part of AOMin. My style and motivation for witnessing has certainly changed over the years, but my message has remained the same: I desire Latter-day Saints to believe in the one true and living triune God of the Bible, and not in the god and gods of Mormonism.

I have spoken with hundreds, if not thousands, of Latter-day Saints, and you would think that after all of those conversations I would grow accustomed to watching Mormons pass me by with an evil glare. But I never have grown accustomed to it. Entire families would cross to the other side of the street to avoid being asked to read one of our tracts. You’d think we had the Black Plague or something =). Rich Pierce, President of AOMin, put it best when he described Mormons as having a “persecuted chip on their shoulder.”

In the face of such massive rejection, why do we spend the time handing out tracts to this people group? First and foremost, we desire to bring honor and glory to God by the faithful proclamation of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Secondly, we pray for the salvation of Latter-day Saints … that it might please God to grant them saving faith and repentance unto life. The Mormons are one of the most unreached people groups in the United States, and … my God can save anybody. No cultic system that spends time training their members not to read or consider opposing ideas can stand in the way of the Holy Spirit of God who saves to the uttermost those whom He has chosen to save.

Both nights felt like productive nights. Between Friday and Saturday I had five or six good conversations with folks. One conversation was with a convert from Roman Catholicism. Most of our time was spent discussing the Trinity, and how the Latter-day Saint belief that the three divine Persons are three beings contradicts the clear teaching of Scripture. We reached a point in our discussion where this gentleman understood the problem his beliefs were in the face of Scripture and attempted to divert the point by suggesting that the existence of the Roman Catholic Church proves the true church fell away. I let him know that (1) Christ’s Church was not set up like the Roman Church exists today, as a single organization; (2) the Roman Catholic Church developed over time as power centralized around Rome; and finally (3) that the true church could not have fallen away because Paul wrote that Christ would be glorified in His church throughout all generations (Ephesians 3:21). This LDS was a bit surprised by this information, especially the statement by Paul. I explained that Christ’s church has existed from the beginning, though not as the Roman Church, and concluded our conversation by urging him to turn from the false gods of Mormonism unto the one true God.

Emily joined us Saturday night, and was able to watch an interesting conversation started by a Mormon shot out a one-line jab, not really intended for a meaningful conversation. Thankfully the light turned red as he went to cross the street, and so I walked right up to him =). I handed him my tract with a question on the front: “One god, or many gods?” Inside are excerpts from one of Joseph Smith’s famous sermons he delivered at a funeral. I began by asking him the question on the front.

He responded with a chuckle: “There’s only one god.”

I followed up: “Which one? Because according to Mormonism the Father, Son and Holy Ghost are three separate beings and three gods.”

LDS: “Well, we only worship one god … our Heavenly Father.”

Me: “I understand that, but you still acknowledge the existence of more than one god?”

LDS: “And?”

Me: “The reason this is important is because the Bible says that there is only one being that is God.”

LDS: “So you believe that the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost are all the same?”

I spent a few moments explaining the doctrine of the Trinity: One Being of God, three distinct Persons sharing God’s Being, and that the Persons are all coequal and coeternal.

Me: “As a Mormon, is it fair to say that you believe the Bible says that Elojim is the Father while Jehovah is the Son?”

LDS: “Yes.”

Me: “There are numerous places where the Bible says that Elohim is Jehovah. One verse is Psalm 100:3. Let me ask you: how can this verse make sense from your religious perspective? However, it makes perfect sense from a Christian Trinitarian perspective because the Bible describes each of the three divine Persons as Jehovah.”

We wrapped up the conversation shortly after this so my LDS friend could grab a seat. Though it may not sound like it, this entire conversation was less than five minutes long. My hope is that those few brief moments remain fresh in that gentleman’s mind and that his heart is troubled by the false teachings of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

I’ll spend some more time reporting on fruitful conversations in a later post, including my favorite conversation with some high school boys. Yup, I saved the best for last =).

Until next time,
Rusty