Greetings from Salt Lake City! One of the things that always strikes me about this city is how wonderful it looks. The streets are so clean, the people are generally so pleasant, and yet, there is a spiritual darkness that lays over this city that is almost palpable. It reminds me of how Jesus described the Pharisees: whitewashed tombs. They look nice on the outside, but inside they were decaying corpses. The local people, the vast majority of whom are Mormon, do an excellent job of presenting themselves as wonderful Christian folks. They are friendly, they love their families and promote family life, and they would be happy to talk to you about Christ. However, the Christ they desire to share with you is decidedly not the Christ of Scripture. They are no different than the person who doesn’t believe in God at all. They remain dead in their sins (Ephesians 2:1).
On the one hand, it can be very easy for us to get upset with them for proclaiming a false Messiah and leading people astray. Indeed, we need to be sure to proclaim the true Gospel message in contrast to man-made belief systems such as Mormonism. This is much easier than you may think, because the difference between the Gospel of Christ and all others is grace. False religions all hinge on what you do to get to God or what you do to get God to forgive and accept you. The Gospel of Christ is based on what He has done to redeem you, because you could not redeem yourself. When we see people being deceived by those who follow a false religion, one of our first reactions can be to get upset at those who are doing the deceiving. When they show up at our door, it is upsetting to us.
Yet, as I see these folks, I see many people who are themselves deceived. They are sharing a belief that they sincerely hold, even though it is false. So many of the words are the same as ours: Jesus, God the Father, the Spirit, salvation, heaven, and so forth. The meanings, though, are very different. My heart, rather than getting mad, is heartbroken for them. What I see – and what I hope you see as well – are people who need to meet the real Jesus. People who need to be freed from the bondage of sin and the bondage of a works-based religion. People who think they are on their way to heaven, but are really on the broad road which leads to destruction. People who we shouldn’t avoid, but should engage with the Gospel. This does mean that we have to spend some time learning about what they believe and how to respond, but I think it’s worth it so that we might be available for God to use. Not all of us will be in a place like Salt Lake City, where such knowledge is critical, but all of us will engage at some point with someone who holds to a different belief system. Which one is most prevalent in our backyard of Battle Creek? Are you willing to spend the time researching and preparing, so that you might be able to give an answer to those who ask you why you have hope in Christ (I Peter 3:15)? Just something to think about…
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