During the week of Oct. 11-15, 2021, CARM Apologist and Utah missionary Luke Wayne teamed up with pastor and evangelist Bradley Campbell from the Christian ministry GodLovesMormons.com to engage in gospel outreach outside the LDS temple open house event in Pocatello, ID. Throughout the week, we had numerous great gospel conversations, handed out countless tracts, used signs to direct people to online gospel resources, and on several occasions preached in the open air to gathered crowds. God opened many doors for the true, biblical gospel to be proclaimed, and hundreds of people had the chance to hear!
In many ways, it certainly was not a dream-come-true setup. The weather was often harsh. Temperatures were frequently below freezing. More than once it snowed on us. The clouds generally denied any comfort from the sun. And far more hostile than the elements were the jeering words, icy glares, mocking laughter, and raised middle fingers of many of our detractors and passers-by. Most people simply ignored us or refused even to so much as glance in our direction. But, honestly, despite all of that, it was a genuinely good week of ministry! A surprisingly large number of people were willing to talk or at least accept a tract, and many of them engaged with us in fruitful, in-depth conversations! Let’s consider a few examples:
Do we still need a temple?
A lot of our material centered on the question “do we still need a temple?” and, unsurprisingly, many of our conversations started with people stopping to answer this question. Of course, their answer was always “yes, we do,” and most of them were content to simply shout that at us and then walk away without explaining or letting us respond. But when tried this, we would always call back, “why is that?” and many people did then pause to offer an answer. Their responses generally involved either the need for temple rituals for one’s own eternal hope or else the vital importance of baptisms for the dead to the salvation of those who “never had the chance to hear about Christ.”
Either of these categories of answers got us quickly back to the fundamental question: how does one receive eternal life? Their assumption is that baptism and various other ritual works are necessary to have true eternal life in the presence of their heavenly father forever. After establishing this, we usually asked, “how did Jesus say we obtain eternal life?” Most often, they either assumed that Jesus taught everything they were saying (though they could not, of course, point you to where he said any of it), or else they admitted that they didn’t know what Jesus said. Either way, we then would point them to some of the many places where Jesus said that we receive eternal life by faith alone, such as John 3:16, 5:24, 6:26-29, 6:40, etc. We would also point out that Jesus defines this eternal life as “knowing the only true God,” (John 17:3) and “coming to the Father” (John 14:6), so He is not talking about some lesser kind of salvation to a lower “heaven” where God the Father is not present (something Mormon doctrine allows for though the Bible does not). We would then further explain the type of faith the New Testament has in mind by turning to Paul’s potent words:
“Now to the one who works, his wage is not credited as a favor, but as what is due. But to the one who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited as righteousness,” (Romans 4:4-5).
The kind of faith that is credited as righteousness is specifically a faith that does not attempt to add our own works. If we say that we need our own deeds, rituals, or keeping of laws and ordinances to receive eternal life, then we are not really trusting in the finished work of Christ. The temple is not simply unnecessary. It is actually contrary to the gospel!
One woman stunned me by openly declaring that “no, Jesus is not enough. We need more than that.” Most people try to avoid admitting, even to themselves, that this is what they are saying. Still, many people really did listen and we had great conversations along these lines.
Is Mormonism Christian?
In addition to our “temple” material, another of our signs and accompanying tract designs posed the question “Is Mormonism Christian?” Again, most people wanted to simply shout “yes” and leave without having to defend their claim or listen to our point of view. But we would again call back with a follow-up question like “what do you mean by that?”, “what is a Christian?”, or “what makes someone a Christian?” This typically produced generic answers such as “someone who believes in Christ?” which, of course, raises the central matter of who Christ is. Paul urgently warns about one who “preaches another Jesus,” (2 Corinthians 11:4). So, who is the true Jesus in which we must believe?
We would point out that the Jesus of the Bible is not our spirit brother. He is the one true eternal God (John 1:1) and the creator of all things (John 1:3, Colossians 1:16). Mormons typically accept that Jesus is “Jehovah” of the Old Testament, but claim that God the Father was a god before Jesus and that even the Father himself attained his godhood under a previous god (and that god, in turn, from another god, and so on.). We point out that, in the Bible, Jehovah says that He alone is God and that there is no god besides Him (Isaiah 45:5). He is the first and the last (Isaiah 44:6). No god was formed before Him nor will any be after Him (Isaiah 43:10). Indeed, He says that He knows of no other god besides Himself, (Isaiah 44:8). If you are not following this Jesus, the true Jesus of Scripture, but instead believe in a different Jesus, then you are not a Christian. More important than labels, however, is that you do not know the true and living God. You are worshiping a deity no more real or able to save than Zeus or Baal!
Sidewalk atheists near the temple
While most of our conversations were with devout LDS, that was not always the case. On a couple of different occasions, an atheist pedestrian (who, each time, had no interest in the Mormon temple itself but was curious about what we were out there doing) walked over to talk. Though the men were different, the conversations were remarkably similar each time. By very briefly contrasting biblical Christianity with Mormonism, we were able to explain what we were doing and why it mattered enough to be out there. We then transitioned into a full explanation of the gospel. We leaned in on the fact that objective moral standards (and objective moral guilt) are undeniable. Yet, truly objective morality is impossible without God as its foundation, and truly objective moral guilt has no remedy without the cross of Christ! In each instance, we also briefly discussed matters of design, rationality, the origin of the universe, and the historicity of the resurrection and biblical miracles. There was respectful pushback both ways, but the conversation remained civil throughout.
I inevitably pointed out each time that existence, beauty, and so many other facets of life are things for which we ought to be thankful. Each atheist agreed, but I pressed them on the question of to whom they were thankful. The response was always, “why do I have to be thankful to someone? Why can’t I just be thankful?” I pointed out that this is exactly like saying, “Why do I have to be helpful to someone, why can’t I just be helpful!” It’s incoherent. Gratitude, by definition, requires an object. As Paul wrote in Romans:
“For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened,” (Romans 1:21).
At its heart, atheism isn’t an intellectual or evidential problem. It is a gratitude issue. The truly thankful heart cannot avoid acknowledging the one who gave them so much. Thus, we made it our aim not merely to answer the atheist’s cognitive objections but also to try and provoke them to gratitude. These comfortable atheists had much for which they ought to be giving thanks to their maker!
Not far from the kingdom
One of my most interesting and unexpected conversations came from a young man driving by near the temple in his work truck who pulled over and rolled down his window to ask some questions. He took some tracts and I asked him what his religious background was. He said that he was not part of any formal religion, but he did believe in God. When I asked him to explain, he shared that he knew there was one creator of all things, and that this creator must be outside of all time and space and must be divine. He also said that he was sure that we would not only continue to exist after death but that one day we would have to stand before this God and give an account for how we lived the life we were given. I affirmed pretty much everything he said. It was actually a great starting point!
I asked him if he thought that he had really lived a life worthy of that day of reckoning, and he admitted that he had not. I assured him that he was right, and that, indeed, no one has! I then shared with him the only answer to this dilemma, the perfect work of Jesus Christ in His death and resurrection for us. He had some honest questions about the justice of Christ taking someone else’s punishment for them, but he seemed to sincerely listen to the answers. I also briefly shared with him the firm historicity of the resurrection of Jesus and pointed out that His conquering death proved that He did what He said He had done for us. I also pointed out that this is exactly how God promised He would deal with our sin (Isaiah 53). He was very receptive, and probably would have talked longer if he had not been on the clock and needing to head to the next job, but he happily took some tracts and thanked me sincerely for my time. This conversation alone would have made the entire trip worth it!
Concluding thoughts and prayer requests from the temple outreach
While it was in many ways a challenging and exhausting week, this really was a great opportunity to proclaim the gospel to countless people. Through dozens of one-on-one conversations, preaching to scores in gathered crowds, handing out hundreds of gospel tracts, and reaching thousands with the online resources we promoted, the good news of Jesus Christ was made known to many this week. And we couldn’t have done it without all of you standing with us through prayer and partnering with us financially. Thank you!
Please pray for each of the people with whom we spoke this week. Pray for everyone who accepted a tract. Pray even for each person who so much as saw the URL on our signs! Ask that God would bring these things to their minds and convict them to act on them. Pray for other Christians and ministries who were out there the weeks before and after us, such as our good friends at Mormonism Research Ministry. And pray that God would send more laborers into this field. The harvest indeed is plentiful, but the workers are often so very few. And, if there are LDS people living or working near you, consider stepping out on faith and sharing the truth with them as well, or perhaps printing and using CARM’s “warning tract” in your area to help protect others from falsehood and promote biblical truth.
Thank you all again for your prayer and support!
