Mr. Mormon's Q&A 1: Missionaries, the First Lesson, and Committing to Baptism

The Internet is a big place with a whole lot of opinions drifting around, especially if you're looking for information about Mormons and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Being a Mormon myself, I am always surprised at the misrepresentations and just plain-old weird ideas that I stumble across regarding my religion. And I'll admit that sometimes, the comments and statements I run across even give me pause. Can that possibly be true? I'll wonder to myself. Or, That's a good point, why do we do that?

Finally, just a few days ago, I decided to start keeping track of these questions that I have and the answers I come up. And, since I assume that I'm not the only person in the world (member or not) who is asking these questions, I figured I'd share my musings online, where hopefully they'll be helpful to some other honest seeker of truth. I'll call this running series of posts "Mr. Mormon's Q & A".


A quick disclaimer before I launch into my first post: I am an active member of the LDS church; as such, I will strive to answer any and all questions honestly and candidly, but I will do so from a position of faith, making the following assumptions:

1. The Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants and the Pearl of Great Price are divinely inspired scriptures equal in importance to the Bible
2. The words of modern LDS prophets hold as much weight as ancient scripture
3. The Church is true (when a Mormon says that, what they mean is that the LDS Church is the only organization on Earth founded by, and possessing the authority to act in the name of Jesus Christ)

Above all else, please keep in mind that I'm only human, and not a particularly smart one . . . I'll probably make mistakes and possibly offend someone––so I apologize in advance.

All right . . . here we go!

Question: Why do Mormon Missionaries Pressure Investigators to get Baptized?

Answer: This is a question that I just keep running into in recent days. Why are the missionaries so pushy about baptism? It's a good question, and if you don't know all the facts for why missionaries do what they do, it's very easy to assume that the missionaries are either a) only interested in baptizing as many people as possible or b) big jerks.

Now, before I jump in to my personal answer to this question, I should note something: as much as I wish it were otherwise, missionaries are not perfect. Not all of them are out there serving the Lord for the right reasons. So yes, there are missionaries that only care about numbers; and yes, some missionaries are jerks. My thoughts are ignoring these missionaries and instead focusing on the majority of Mormon missionaries who are just trying to share the Gospel to the best of their abilities. All right, on with my mental spewing . . .

The basic answer to this question is that missionaries are quick to challenge investigators (even brand new ones) to be baptized because that is what they are taught/encouraged to do. Here is a quote from Preach My Gospel, the Church's handbook for missionary work:

During this or any other lesson, do not hesitate to invite people to be baptized and confirmed. 

––Preach My Gospel, p. 40

Keep in mind this quote comes from the end of the very first lesson. Yeah. The first lesson. Mormon missionaries are taught to invite investigators to get baptized right from the get-go. So when you meet/see a missionary challenging someone to "take the plunge" they're probably doing it out of an effort to be a good, obedient missionary, not because their an insensitive jerk.

Which brings up a good point. Inviting someone to be baptized is hard. Believe me, I've done it myself numerous times when I served my mission several years ago. As a missionary you know that you've just dropped a whole knew world-view on your unsuspecting investigator. You know that are are still processing everything you've told them. Plates? Angels? The First Vision? These are big ideas with big ramifications , and then on top of all that you're supposed to ask this person you barely know to set a date for baptism. It can be an awkward moment. It is always a difficult moment. Yet these young men swallow their own fear and nervousness and make the invitation any ways.

So why does the Church encourage its missionaries to be so bold? I think there are four main reasons (and let me stress again, this is my opinion):

1. The Lord's servants have always extended the invitation of baptism with boldness. As I pondered this question, I began wondering how the ancient prophets and apostles handled this sort of situation, and that line of thought led me to a startling discovery: ancient prophets and apostles were just as pushy as Mormon missionaries. It's true, and you can go check for yourself, but just in case you don't have time, I'll list two examples:
• Peter, on the day of Pentecost, taught thousands of people about Jesus Christ, and when the gathered crowds asked him how they could be forgiven of their sins, did Peter tell them to wait until he had explained everything about the Gospel and the newly-founded Church? No. Instead, "Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost." (Acts 2:38) No mincing of words there.
• Perhaps most telling of all, in John chapter three, the Savior meets with Nicodemus. As far as we know, this was the first private meeting between the two. What did the Savior teach his investigator about? Baptism.
2. Extending the baptismal invitation forces a missionary to exercise faith. Teaching someone about the Gospel is a good thing to do, but asking someone to make real, substantive changes to their life is––as I pointed out earlier––a scary thing to do, especially when that person barely even knows you. When a missionary steels himself for rejection and possible mockery, and invites a person to be baptized, he or she is showing true faith. Faith that the Lord will step in and help the investigator feel the truth of the Gospel message through the power of the Holy Ghost. Faith that anyone's life can be made better through the power of priesthood covenants. Faith that the Lord has led them to an individual He has prepared to accept just such an invitation. And once the missionaries have exercised their faith, the Spirit can work even more powerfully.
3. Extending the baptismal invitation forces the investigator to exercise faith. Faith is not just a belief, it is belief put into action, and must be centered on Christ. Many people the missionaries encounter have never had the chance to truly exercise faith in the Savior. The invitation to be baptized offers the investigator a powerful opportunity to flex the new-found muscles of their faith: Is this crazy message true? I don't know, but I'm willing to agree that if it is true, I will be baptized. Given the chance to exercise their faith, and no longer just a passive learner, the investigator will begin to recognize the hand of the Lord in their life, and that will lead to an increase in faith, and that will lead to an even greater motivation to follow in the Lord's footsteps.
4. The Lord loves everyone, but missionaries have a limited time in which to serve, and they need to focus on those investigators that are ready and willing to progress . This last one is a harsh fact, but it is the truth none-the-less. Many investigators become good friends with the missionaries and love to have them over for a visit––even if they have no intention of ever joining the Church (and who can blame them, since Mormon missionaries are pretty much awesome). Now, as members of the Church, we are encouraged to extend the hand of friendship to everyone, whether or not they are members of the Church, or intend to join in the future; however, missionaries have a specific calling, and that is to seek out those men and women who have been prepared to enter the waters of baptism. Sad as it may seem, if an investigator is not progressing, sooner or later the the missionaries have to decide if their time is better spent chatting with that investigator or seeking out other people who are willing and waiting to join the Church. Interestingly enough, there are scriptural examples of this. My post has gotten too long to sketch the story out here, but if you're interesting, go read Alma 32:1-7.

To wrap this up, I'd just like to repeat myself: are there missionaries that are too pushy when it comes to baptism? Sadly, yes. However, I believe that the vast majority of Mormon missionaries are anxious to invite their investigators to be baptized because they understand that the most fundamental part of being a missionary is to help people enter into the covenant of baptism, and that delaying that invitation is to deny the investigator the chance to exercise faith and enjoy the full blessings of the Gospel. People who mock or get upset with missionaries for having the courage to challenge people to be baptized are showing great disrespect to the thousands of young men and women who work every day to bring others unto Christ.

Oh, one more thing: I promise the next post won't be quite so long.