Most of us have experienced the doorbell ring on a Saturday morning. It’s always on the mornings you want to sleep in or at least be a lazy person and enjoy a day off without interruptions. But, alas, the doorbell rings, and you peek out of a window hoping the person at your door doesn’t notice you looking. Of course, it’s Mormons! Finally, they get the message and leave without you answering the door. You breathe a sigh of relief, victory! You think, I get my Saturday morning back to do what I want to do without being bothered.
I can remember going to work the one Monday after ignoring a Mormon knock and telling my colleague Alycia Wood about the incident. She was perplexed at my snubbing and after a few moments of silence looking out her office window, she turned to me and said something that has stuck with me to this day. “Christians in this country are willing to go all over the globe to share the gospel, but when God brings someone to our house, we can’t even open the door.” She didn’t say it in an accusatory way, but the conviction I felt in that moment was almost tangible. So, I began to pray about it and to ask God to send people to my house so I could share the gospel with them.
Within a couple of months of asking the Lord for this, another set of Mormon missionaries showed up at my house. Unlike the other times, I rushed to my front door and probably scared them a bit by how quickly I invited them in. Four years later, I’ve had the privilege of speaking with dozens of Mormon missionaries in my living room and am expectantly waiting on the Lord to send me a new group to speak with today. So, what changed? Well, besides being convicted by my co-worker’s challenge, I realized that God was giving me the privilege to meet with people who needed Jesus in my own home.
But Are Mormons Christians?
I can remember one such conversation with a Mormon that really opened my eyes to what they believe. There were two missionaries in my living room telling me how the gospels and New Testament had been corrupted overt time and the full truth of the gospel was missing. Which is why Joseph Smith was charged with producing the Book of Mormon, to make up for this error. I paused for a moment to think of how I wanted to respond to that claim when a verse popped into my head. Which happens often in these conversations. In the Gospel of Matthew chapter 24, Jesus is talking about things to come: the destruction of the temple, signs of the end times, and the coming tribulation. A theme that comes from what Jesus wanted us to know through his teachings is the things we cling to on this side of Heaven are temporary, and eventually will pass away. In verse 35 though, we see what won’t pass away,
Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.
Matthew 24:35
I read this verse to the missionaries in response to them claiming the gospels were corrupted. After reading them this verse, I asked them this question: “Who should I believe about what happened to the words of Christ, Jesus or Joseph Smith?” The silence in the room after that question was deafening. My heart sank the longer the silence lasted as I assumed this was an easy question to answer. Sadly, for these Mormon missionaries it was not.
This is why I continue to open my door. These missionaries are going around door to door with a book that won’t give them the one thing they need, the right answer to my question. Not only do I want to open my door, but I believe I must. Those of us who have bent the knee to Christ have the privilege to share Him with those we encounter, not out of boasting because we know the truth, but out of love because we know the truth of who Christ is and what He offers to those who come to Him.
I will continue to open my door as long as the Lord keeps sending people who don’t know Him to it. I would encourage you to seek the Lord to see if He would have you do the same.
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