What Do I Say?

I am very excited about how this Community group is going. The discussions are lively and fun and a blessing to me. I pray that the same is true for you. The question that we will be looking at this weekend has to do with what we say when someone like Mormons or Jehovah's Witnesses come to the door. I think we can expand this as well to talk about the ways that we are able to share our faith and how to live it out. So how do we share our faith with others in a way that is real and genuine and does not feel like a labored sales pitch?

Allow me to share two experiences that I had with some of the Mormon missionaries at two different times. One I am proud of, and the other, well, not so much.

When I was in college I ran across a couple of missionaries on campus one day. They asked if we could talk and I invited home for conversation. At the time I was living and working at my church so for them to come to my home was for them to come to my church. We had our initial conversation and they asked if they could come back. I told them that I would look forward to it. I then proceeded to learn everything that I could about Mormonism. I looked for all the inconsistencies in their doctrines and scriptures. I learned the ins and outs and soaked up all the information that I could find. When they came back, I raised objection after objection. The next week, two guys came back, one was different. Same thing. The following week three guys showed up. At which point I felt pretty good about myself, because they needed three guys to be able to talk with one of me. Yet, this is the story I am not proud of.

The second one occurred sometime in October. The missionaries came to the door. I told them that I was a Lutheran pastor and that because of such I was pretty much convinced of my beliefs. Therefore I had no intentions of converting. However, I love to talk with people and to especially have discussions about theology. I promised that they would find a conversation that was respectful and loving and would not demean or attack them. I offered to serve lunch and told them that they would always be welcome. Let's face it, most of the Christians they encounter can be pretty nasty, and I did not want to become part of that statistic. Of course they did not take me up on my offer, but this story I am much more proud of.

Our God has given us the greatest honor of all. He has sent us into the world to make his love, grace, mercy and forgiveness in Jesus known. That comes out in our actions as well as our words. I am looking forward to having this conversation with you and to hear some of your stories and experiences.

I pray that God's grace and peace in Jesus would be a constant source of comfort and strength for you.

Sincerely,
Pastor CJ