DR. BRYAN HURLBUTT The Power of a Simple Invitation
Summary
When the Samaritan woman encountered Jesus in John 4, she told everyone she knew to “come” and “see” (verse 29). In the same way, Mormons can be invited to see what an authentic relationship with God looks like through the example of Christian believers who gather in a local church body with a commitment to passionate worship.
Introduction
Perhaps the most overlooked evangelistic opportunity with Mormons is also the simplest. What if we just invite them to church? However, such an approach is too often looked down upon. Christians are often made to feel that they are copping out. “Oh, so you didn’t share Christ with them but just invited them to church?” says the pious Christian with a smile. Is this really the case? There may be much more available in a simple invitation to the worshipping community of God.
An Invited Woman’s Invitation
Life with Jesus is infectious. Perhaps this is seen most vividly in John 4 when Jesus meets a Samaritan woman at a well of great significance in both Jewish and Samaritan history. What ensued from that meeting is a vivid picture of what it means to meet the Savior.
The nature of Jesus’s cross-cultural engagement with this sinful woman has been well chronicled. The two were separated by gender and by socioreligious culture. As a Jewish man, He ignored societal norms by conversing with a Samaritan (half-Jewish/half-Assyrian) woman. Her astonishment at His forthrightness is apparent in her response to His request for refreshment. “How is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria?” she asks in verse 9. Jesus seizes on the setting at the well to press her with a picture of “living water” as a metaphor for the perpetual refreshment that comes to those who receive what Jesus has to offer. She struggles to grasp His invitation to this new kind of life.
But the conversation begins to change when He exposes how she has sought to fill up the hole in her soul through repeated relationships with a number of men. His recognition of this fact clearly makes an impression on her. After Jesus discloses to her who He really is, she heads out to tell others about Him in verse 29. “Come, see a man who told me all that I ever did,” she says. “Can this be the Christ?” In response to encountering Jesus, she immediately invites others to meet Him too. Her wonder at this man at the well who identifies and addresses her wounds cannot be contained.
When humans meet God, their lives are exposed. They are seen for the chaos and confusion that they are. This is at once both exhilarating and excruciating. This woman finds herself captivated by Him and is amazed at His ability to see into the hidden recesses of her life. That amazement and wonder leads her to give others the same opportunity. Jesus’s revelation of Himself stirs her to want others to have a similar experience. Her words come and see are a simple invitation to an encounter that ends up being anything but simple.
Following in Her Footsteps
This woman doesn’t stand alone. After encountering Christ, we too can invite others to share in our experience. Without question, one of the great privileges of the Christian life is to invite others to encounter the One who has brought us into the experience of the life-giving joy of His kingdom. Sometimes we tend to overthink when it comes to evangelism. We feel a pressure to know all the answers, have a presentation nailed down, and be prepared to give a winsome personal invitation for sinners to turn their lives over to Jesus.
Yet the reality is that Jesus has already done the work through His death on the cross and through the empty tomb. Additionally, the spiritual heavy lifting is accomplished as the Holy Spirit opens eyes to the gospel. There should be very little pressure on us. We are simply called to invite people to come and see.
While this invitation is simple, it is by no means benign. Instead, it is loaded with power. Inviting someone to view the sunset is not filled with performance. All the work is done by nature of the thing being observed. The wonder is not in the witness but in the object of awe. We invite people to gaze upon God. We invite them to savor the Savior. We invite them to be caught up in the King of kings. Gospel witness is, by its nature, not a compelling or clever method of witnessing but a direct invitation to experience the majesty of God in Christ.
While apologetic arguments surely do have an important value, something deeply embedded in LDS history and its origin opens the avenue for the power of a simple invitation.
Two Different Visions
This key is hidden in two contrasting theological visions. One finds expression in the First Great Awakening in American church history and the other as an outcropping of the Second Great Awakening. Eighteenth-century pastor Jonathan Edwards was a figurehead in the First Great Awakening and is regarded by many as the greatest theologian in American church history. For Edwards, everything revolved around the glory and majesty of God. The creation, including a now-fallen and broken humanity, was called to bring glory to God. We exist for God, and He upholds all things to bring glory to His name. This theme is apparent in Edwards’s writings:
All that is ever spoken of in Scripture as an ultimate end of God’s works is included in that one phrase, the glory of God…The refulgence shines upon and into the creature, and is reflected back to the luminary. The beams of glory come from God, and are something of God and are refunded back again to their original. So that the whole is of God, and in God, and to God, and he is the beginning, and the middle and the end.1
In this Christian vision, revelation, creation, and the daily fabric of life all resolve to the glory of God. In short, man exists for the glory of God.
At contrast with Edwards’s vision is the vision of LDS Church founder Joseph Smith, who is, in many ways, an ideological child of the culture that produced the Second Great Awakening. Smith was reared in the western portion of upstate New York in the early- to mid-nineteenth century. This area, along with parts of central New York, became known as the “burned-over district.” It received its nickname from the Second Great Awakening evangelist Charles Finney in the first half of the nineteenth century who saw the area as so saturated in evangelism that there was nothing left to get lit on fire for the gospel. Smith was far from alone in spurring a new religious movement out of the spiritually oversaturated soil.2
Smith’s new movement was characterized by something quite different from Edwards’s theology. In fact, from the standpoint of an overarching theological vision, it was the exact opposite. God’s existence paves the way for man’s exaltation. As fifth LDS Church president Lorenzo Snow said, “As man is, God once was; as God is, man may become.”3 The ultimate glory of man sits as the focal point in Smith’s religion. The entire point of human life is centered on a process of exalting humans. It is at the forefront of LDS marriage, family life, and temple work. In a very real sense, Mormonism’s version of God exists for man’s personal glorification. Moses 1:39 in the Pearl of Great Price states, “Behold this is my work and my glory—to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man.”
Consider the following quote from Smith as recorded in a church manual:
The first principles of man are self-existent with God. God himself, finding he was in the midst of spirits and glory, because he was more intelligent, saw proper to institute laws whereby the rest could have a privilege to advance like himself. The relationship we have with God places us in a situation to advance in knowledge. He has power to institute laws to instruct the weaker intelligences, that they may be exalted with himself, so that they may have one glory upon another, and all that knowledge, power, glory and intelligence which is requisite in order to save them in the world of the spirits.4
The theological visions of Jonathan Edwards and Joseph Smith could hardly be any more divergent. Why does this matter so significantly? Succinctly put, a theological vision paves the way for our conceptualization of just about everything in our spiritual lives. It determines whether we live for our exaltation or for God’s glory, and whether we worship God as a distinct and holy being or consider Him a being of the same species as ourselves who paved the way so we could become like Him.
It directs whether our communal life with our church families and our participation in corporate worship is focused on the majesty of God or on progressing toward levels of personal and familial glory. These are two very different visions with two entirely different textures of what constitutes the purpose of the church and what establishes the aroma of local church worship.
Corporate Worship as an Aesthetic Apologetic
Christian worship is about the glory of God. It can be understood as both the opportunity to express our awe and wonder to God as we behold and ponder His glorious character as well as a corporate opportunity to be formed by that vision of His glory. In that sense, we are both longing for God and learning from Him. But it is no static or stoic enterprise. Instead it is passionate and captivating. As David wrote in Psalm 108:1-5:
My heart is steadfast, O God! I will sing and make melody with all my being! Awake, O harp and lyre! I will awake the dawn! I will give thanks to you, O LORD, among the peoples; I will sing praises to you among the nations. For your steadfast love is great above the heavens; your faithfulness reaches to the clouds. Be exalted, O God, above the heavens! Let your glory be over all the earth!
This passion for God and His character to be lifted up should pervade the spirit of the Christian’s worship. This passion can be intoxicating and enthralling. It is the kind of celebration that is intended to call others into it and enrapture them as well. The intention is to make those outside of God’s family look with quizzical intrigue at the emotional and spiritual investment of God’s people.
One Sunday our church celebrated a parent/child dedication for a young family who had just given birth to their third child. This is always a wonderful time for attendees to invite people in their relational circle to celebrate the occasion with them; this couple used the celebration as a relatively innocuous outreach to their LDS friends and relatives.
As the officiating pastor, I shared a few words with the family and the church before I prayed over the child. Additionally, the parents, under the father’s leadership, had crafted a statement of dedication regarding their intent to raise their child in Christ. As the service continued, our worship leader and band led us in exuberant songs to our God and King. It was nothing novel and was simply what happens in gospel-teaching churches all over the world on a weekly basis.
As we sang, a child of one of the Mormon families looked around at the congregation and then looked up at his uncle, whose child was being dedicated. “It looks like these people actually want to be here!” he exclaimed. Out of the mouth of babes! He had picked up on a contrast from his regular experience as a child in the confines of the local LDS ward, fully captivated by the sight of people who were wrapped up in the joy of proclaiming the glory of God!
The disparity that exists between a practical theology driven by the glory of God versus one driven by the glory of man bespeaks its own apologetic to the world. It is a type of aesthetic apologetic where the beauty of God does the work. A dear friend of mine who came out of Mormonism used to play in a worship band at our church. He coined my favorite description of a worship leader’s job when he said, “We are just called to take people to the edge of the cliff and say, ‘How’s the view?’ ”
I love that assessment! The tour guide’s job isn’t to steal the show; instead, it is to point people to what constitutes the show, namely the grandeur and wonder of exalting the King. When we worship, we are touring the character of God, declaring His gospel, and celebrating His rightful place as the sovereign Ruler over all.
Celebrating this view of God together with full hearts leads others to conclude that something unusual is happening. This intriguing hook into passionate worship creates tremendous opportunity for future discussion, incites questions, and establishes a sense of what Christian community is centered on. It usually takes time and plenty of processing when Mormons come to faith. Introducing them to a passionate community of believers can begin a journey of amazing transformation.
What Now?
Here are a few ways to use this extremely simple approach with your LDS friends and family. First, take the initiative to extend an invitation. Explain how you would love to share the most precious part of your week with them. Apply no pressure and don’t push; just ask. If they decline, accept that and ask how you can pray for them. Wait a year and ask again. You never know what God has brought into their lives that might cause a different reaction the next time you offer. If they accept, let one of your pastors know that they are coming. You don’t want them to be mobbed, but you do want people to connect intentionally with them.
Second, while our church in Utah cares deeply about accurate theology and presenting a clear exposition of the Word of God, we have a rule: those on the platform don’t use the word Mormon or any form of it. We simply want to put God on display as we worship together. Mentioning Mormonism on Sundays risks making visitors uncomfortable or possibly causes a church to be labeled “anti-Mormon.” This may not have the same significance in a less LDS-dominated culture; however, there is wisdom in generally being aware of labels that could close people off to the nature of the intended message, no matter where our churches are.
Third, give your guests a preview of what they can expect so they aren’t caught by surprise. For instance, let them know what is expected in the attire of your church. Mormons are typically used to dresses for ladies and ties for men. Don’t let them guess. If your church has a band with drums, tell them. And prepare them for what to expect in the sermon.
Fourth, don’t apologize for your church’s culture. The passionate worship of God yields no regret. Part of the necessary process for your Mormon acquaintances is experiencing something different and possibly even awkward. Let the oddity be your companion in engaging them and let it be a robust catalyst for conversation.
Finally, be prepared for an invitation for you to attend a service at their local LDS ward. If they do invite you, don’t sweat it. Attending one week with them might open a huge opportunity for ongoing relationship and dialogue, possibly paying eternal dividends. Tell your pastor or church leader about what you are doing, make sure you and your family are spiritually equipped for the visit, and ask your church family for prayer support.
Conclusion
The woman at the well in John 4 parlayed her encounter with Christ into an invitation for others to experience the same. This is the heartbeat of true Christianity. We fall in love with the One who has identified us, loved us, healed us, and given us hope. Then we extend an offer to others who need all the above, just like us, and let God encounter them. The simple invitation is powerful because we are entreating them to witness a vision of God in His glory and hear from His Word. He alone can save, but He can use you to introduce people to a compelling vision of Him and to acquaint them with a community in which He may be found.
Dr. Bryan Hurlbutt (South Jordan, Utah) is the lead pastor of Lifeline Community in West Jordan, Utah. He received his bachelor’s degree in religious education from Davis College in Johnson City, New York, his master’s degree in theology from Dallas Theological Seminary, and his doctorate of ministry from Talbot School of Theology. He authored Tasty Jesus: Liberating Christ from the Power of our Predilections (Resource Publications, 2013).