On Sept. 25, 2021, the Hare Krishna temple in Spanish Fork, UT held its annual celebration of the Hindu festival “Holi.” This event is more commonly known in the west as the “Color Festival” because of the multi-colored powder thrown into the air as part of the celebration (typically leaving celebrants’ skin and clothing dyed various colors over much of their body.)

This year, CARM Apologist and Utah missionary Luke Wayne went with a small team and a crate of gospel tracts to share the good news of Jesus Christ on a public street just outside the temple grounds. The spot was perfect, as the thousands of attendees¹Official counts have not been published at the time of this writing, but the Krishna Temple that hosted the event posted an estimate of 10 to 15 thousand on their Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/krishnatemple/posts/10158403068688364 (Accessed 09/29/2021) had to walk down that road on their way in and out of the event. While some of these participants were Hindus and others were vaguely spiritual New Age Americans enamored with vague ideas of “Eastern spirituality,” most of the people were actually Mormon (especially large groups of young college-age LDS sporting BYU gear). Thus, the conversations often did not go the way one might think when standing outside a festival where people are worshiping the Hindu god Krishna. Still, it was a valuable opportunity to share the gospel with countless people who are lost and in need of God’s grace!

It was a hot, cloudless day. We stayed out there talking with people and handing out tracts from 9:30 am until after 5:00 pm. The occasional heckler pelted us or our box of tracts with leftover colored powder from the festival. But, honestly, it was a good day of ministry. The vast majority of people were polite and civil, a large percentage were willing to at least take a tract, and we had a number of worthwhile conversations. Let’s consider a few representative examples:

A pluralistic Mormon who thinks all religions are true

Before the gates even opened, one of the first conversations of the day was with a young man from Argentina. He identified as a member of the LDS church but claimed that there was really only one god of all religions and that everyone just called that god by different names. On his view, Krishna and Christ are really one and the same. He insisted that there was no point in disagreeing with others over matters of religion. “As long as people are talking about god, they are right and good.” This was a difficult wall to penetrate.

We affirmed that he was right to say that only one God really exists. We explained to him, however, that the God we worship was very different from Krishna (and from the Mormon “Heavenly Father,” for that matter). Entirely contradictory definitions of who and what God is cannot all be true. We respectfully but clearly pushed back on his claim that there was no point in talking about such disagreements, and told him that the best way we can really respect both God and our fellow man is by seeking to know who God really is and then to make Him known to others.

After a bit, he sidestepped by asking questions about our personal and family backgrounds. We briefly indulged him, but I then segued from talking about my adopted children to explaining how the gospel is itself a message of divine adoption. We read a couple of passages of Scripture:

“But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name,” (John 1:12).

“But when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law, so that He might redeem those who were under the Law, that we might receive the adoption as sons. Because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, ‘Abba! Father!’ Therefore you are no longer a slave, but a son; and if a son, then an heir through God,” (Galatians 4:4-7).

Through these, we presented the good news that, though we have broken God’s law and deserve His wrath, God has redeemed those who believe on Jesus Christ. We are not God’s children by nature, but He adopts us through Christ! We are slaves to sin and death, but God sets us free in Jesus! Shortly after this, the event opened and he took some tracts from us and then went on in. Please pray for him!

A Mormon who claims that worshiping Krishna is not idolatry

One young LDS man of Indian descent was intrigued by our tracts and wanted to know more about what we were doing there. We talked with him a bit about the true God and the sin of idolatry, and he pushed back a little. He said that it was not idolatry because he is Indian and thus this festival is part of his culture. We explained that the songs he was singing were religious mantras and, by definition, acts of worship to the false god Krishna. Should a Canaanite convert keep bowing down and reciting prayers to statues of Baal because it is part of his culture? Could an ancient Greek man sacrifice goats to Zeus and then say it’s not idolatry because that’s just part of being Greek? Culture is not a license to worship other gods.

He took that part of the conversation well. The second part, where we had to explain that worshiping the Mormon god and performing LDS temple rituals was equally idolatrous and that he needed to repent of that as well and turn in faith to the true and living God, well, that was more than he was ready to swallow. He excused himself and left, but did so respectfully and took a tract. Pray that he will read it, and that God would soften his heart and open his eyes!

A New Age couple who claim to be gods

One of the hardest conversations of the day was with a New Age couple who claimed that they were gods and every sense of the word and were genuinely equal to any other being that I might call “God.” Not only was this rank blasphemy and self-delusion of the highest order, but the conversation was made even more difficult by their incoherent and constantly changing views on most everything else. One minute morality is a myth, the next minute it’s “real but subjective,” and then suddenly some things are really and truly wrong for all people everywhere. One minute we all create our own realities, the next our reality is defined by a definite and consistent “human experience” in which we all share, and still the next there is no reality. I should consider myself as much a creator as God because I have children (who are, according to her, my “creations” in the very same sense that things are God’s creation), and yet my child’s disabilities are not my fault because I had no power over his formation. The list of self-contradictions goes on and on.

Nevertheless, we took the time to wade through it and present the gospel as plainly as we could. By all appearances it fell on deaf ears, but God can do amazing things with blind, hard-hearted people (otherwise I wouldn’t be saved myself!) May these two turn from their self-idolatry and discover the might and grace of their true maker!

The ex-Mormon looking for answers

Perhaps the last conversation of the day was with a woman who had already left the Mormon church. She said that she still believed in God and in Jesus, but did not believe that all the laws and rituals of the LDS church were required for salvation, which was an encouraging starting point! We talked about sin, the need for God’s grace, why hell is just, and why the gospel is such good news. She was leary about formal church because of how burned she felt by the Mormon church but was very open to the gospel. It was an encouraging dialogue and a great way to close out a long and exhausting but fruitful day!

Concluding thoughts on the Krishna Color Festival outreach

It was difficult to stand for hours at the base of a pagan temple and hear the countless voices chanting the praises of a false god. As with Paul and the idols of Athens, it provokes one’s spirit. Still, it was a great opportunity to proclaim the good news. Hundreds if not thousands of people received the biblical message of the true God and the real Jesus in one way or another. As imperfect as our efforts were, I truly believe that God was glorified.

Please pray for every person who received a gospel tract. Pray that they will read, understand, believe, and seek out Christian fellowship. Pray specifically for those men and women who spoke with us and who heard thorough presentations of the good news. Pray that God would soften their hearts, convict them of sin, and call them out of darkness and into His marvelous light. Pray that God would turn people from false idols and that temples like the one in Spanish Fork would be emptied. Lastly, please pray that God would raise up more Christian laborers who will give of their time to take opportunities like this to proclaim the true and living God and our Lord Jesus Christ to all the lost souls ensnared in false religion.

Thank you all for your prayer and support!