Well put, Jeff.
Let me throw in some qualification and balance, or at least try to.
I think a danger in this culture is to use the Mormon persecution
complex as an excuse to not speak up and say the hard things. This one
particular Mormon said that 9 out of 10 Christians who spoke with her
drew her into theological debate that apparently only hardened her
faith in Mormonism. Let’s be careful here though.
- This is pretty rare. Most Mormons have never had a
Christian talk to them intelligently and seriously about matters of
eternally significant truth/doctrine in a way that communicates the
gravity and seriousness of it.
- What many Mormons interpret as “bashing” or “debate” often is
really only a polite, reasonable, peaceful conversation about important
truth. As soon as one puts a sense of urgency or especially a sense of
the authority of scripture into the conversation, an isolating Mormon
defense mechanism is to brand it as hateful, “contentious”, “bashing”,
debate, etc. A lot of this is a sincere response that has been simply
built into the Mormon culture over the years, but some of it (in one
sense) isn’t genuine. It can be a very disingenuous way to play the
victim and stop an otherwise biblical and loving dialog.
- An unloving, caustic tone (like you’ll find coming from the
KJV-only “street screechers” at LDS General Conference) certainly is a
clanging symbol to anyone, but lest we forget: truth to the
unregenerate is “light”, and the darkness hates the light. I know women
who are sweeter than sugar and as gentle as my grandmother but are
viciously slandered as “hateful” by Mormons for simply standing up for
the truth. So when Mormons (or even ex-Mormon Christians with potential
baggage) respond to an evangelist or to public religious criticism, I
usually am slow to accept it without first getting a handle on the
context.
- Because of the Mormon persecution complex, we should be
oh-so-more careful to make sure our speech is salted with graciousness
and identifiable love (even if it isn’t acknowledged). We as Christians
need to go the extra mile to make our conduct so overwhelmingly
communicative of love that at the final judgment they can’t deny it for
what it really was. This practically means doing a lot of simple
neighborly and conversational things to communicate kindness and
removing from our lives unnecessary offenses.
- We need to pick and choose what we criticize (notice that I’m not
promoting the idea that evangelism should be completely removed of
religious criticism). Making snarky remarks about peripheral culture
issues is a no-no and isn’t loving. Publicly criticizing the weakness
of false idols like Yahweh did in Isaiah is not only appropriate, but
part of the global declaration of the supremacy of Christ over all
false gods. The Bible is full of polemics and contrasts between the
true and living God above false gods. Acts 17
is a great example. He positively affirms to the idolaters truths about
God and humanity from their own literature, yet also negatively
preaches “we ought not to think that the divine being is like gold or
silver or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of man.”
There is a mixture here that we all ought to aim for. He tells them how
to believe and think, and how not to believe and think at the same
time. The majority response to his message but rejection, but I’m not
about to infer from that that Paul was unloving or belligerent.
- A popular Christian response is to serenely and passively talk
about doctrinal issues with no sense of urgency or scriptural
authority, to talk perspectivally, deceitfully promoting the
conversation as a mere exchange of opinions for the purpose
of mutual increase understanding. This is a lie, the gospel is a whole
lot more than that! It’s at the same time both a gentle, winsome
invitation, and a bold, authoritative proclamation. These two strands
need to be woven together.
- A lot of what Christians say to Mormons over the years makes an
impact, even if only in truth nuggets. Who knows the collective impact
of those Christians on that ex-Mormon (even the ones that
inappropriately spoke with a belligerent attitude). That God is
sovereign should be a motivation for both outspokenness and also quiet
listening and relational patience.
- It’s certainly true that people shouldn’t have a quarrelsome attitude. 2nd Timothy 2
says we should instead be patient as we correct with kindness.
Unfortunately, many overreact to Mormonism’s persecution complex by not
really correcting at all. But that said, others sometimes make an
excuse to be callous and abrasive by believing that speaking the truth is love, no matter the tone or attitude.
Anyways, I live in Utah and I’ve seen the overreaction to the Mormon
persecution complex. That’s the context from which I’m speaking. If
anything, Utah Christians (God bless them, I know it’s tough) mostly
have a problem with not speaking up at all and saying the hard things
to save face and keep a worldly peace with their neighbors.
A fellow reformed evangelist,
Aaron | 
