Never Bash, Always Testify

My father once told me a story from his time on active duty service in the Navy.  His brother had shook his hand and told him just before getting on the bus to “Keep the Word of Wisdom.”  Many months later he was tempted to smoke a cigarette; he had even purchased a pack from a vending machine.  As he was about to open the pack and light up, he heard his brother’s voice, “Keep the Word of Wisdom.”  He threw the pack up onto the roof of some building and walked away.

Just before I boarded the plane to San Jose, California, my brother shook my hand and said, “Never leave your companion.”  Recalling the story above, I thought this was probably the most important thing my brother could tell me.  Of course, when I got to my first area I found I was fortunate if I could just see my companion, way out ahead, as we rode our bikes.  Once we got stuck on opposite sides of an intersection when the light went red after he had gone through.

A few years later, after returning home and getting married, I saw my new brother in law off on his mission.  Before he boarded the plane I shook his hand and said, "Never leave your companion, and don't let anyone intimidate you."  Just a few years ago my nephew left on his mission; I shook his hand and said, "Never leave your companion, don't let anyone intimidate you, never bash and always testify."  I forgot to add, "cultivate the spirit."

Bashing, be it Bible bashing or any other kind, is a complete waste of time.  Though it is important for a missionary to have a strong familiarity with the scriptures, it doesn't matter how well he knows them in a bashing situation.  Missionaries are unlikely  to convince their antagonists, no matter how expert their use of the scriptures might be.  Bashing does not open minds, and it is the spirit which converts.  Additionally, missionaries who rely on their own knowledge and ability, rather than on the spirit, may be setting themselves up for a fall.

The futility of bashing was clearly revealed one night in my first area; I had been out just over three months and was with my fourth companion.  We were walking into our apartment complex when we encountered a group of Born Agains, one of whom started ripping on us and the church.  We tried to answer his questions calmly, but every time we had an effective answer, the ringleader just changed the subject.  At first we talked about the resurrection and our belief that our bodies will be perfect.  As we got going the ringleader could see that he was in trouble, so he shifted to asking how we are saved.  I answered, “By believing that Christ is our Savior, by repenting of our sins and by being baptized.”

The ringleader said that we did not need to be baptized and we countered that it was an ordinance, that Jesus was baptized and that we need to follow his example.  He challenged that by using the scriptures and asked us if we needed to be lifted up on a cross to die and be raised up on the third day because Jesus did.  But we countered that argument and the minute we started making headway he again changed the subject, this time to the Book of Mormon.  He said it was false and that “no man could add to the Bible.”  He said that he had read parts of it and knew it was not true.  He said that Joseph Smith was a thrill seeker.

When he changed the subject from baptism I just stopped talking, I knew it would do no good.  Just before that my companion stopped me as I was about to say something.  Finally the group had had enough thrill seeking, actually they weaseled out when they could see that they were not getting to us.  The ring leader tried to make himself look good by saying that if we had any guts we would attend a revival meeting -- the location of which turned out to be outside of our zone.

In future near-bash situations, as I called them, I would try to find something that might help open the mind of the person we were talking with, but then I would try to steer the discussion to a point where I could bear testimony.  Testifying invited the spirit, and if anything was going to make a difference in these situations it was the spirit.  Either our antagonists would be touched by the spirit, or they would not be.  The Lord's sheep will hear and recognize His voice.

Sometimes, though, you know you're going to get thrashed and the only thing you can do is take it.  The best thing to do in those situations is get it over with as quickly as possible.  That is basically what my companion and I did in the story I related above.  Fortunately, for me anyway, these thrashings were rare; in all but a few situations I was at least able to bear testimony.  The best way to strengthen a testimony is to bear it so, if nothing else, at least I would get something out of it.