First, I never let them into my house. John's letters talk about how we are not to receive a false teacher into our homes. I think that is very wise. For one, if you do let them in they think they are accepted (along with their message). I don't want them to have any such feelings. I want them to realize that they are false teachers and no such theology is welcome in my house. Moreover, I don't want my neighbors seeing me welcome such into my house. I don't want them to think that I think that those who tout the doctrines of demons are in any way safe eternally.
Dr. Dan Doriani, a professor at Covenant Seminary, also makes a good point about not accepting them into your home. As false teachers, they should feel as miserable as possible for espousing the things that they do. Therefore, let them stand on your concrete steps.
Being that they have frequented my doorstep I cut right to the chase when it comes to confronting them. I begin by showing them the utter absurdity of their religion. It goes like this...
You believe that God the Father is a god, right? (Yes.)
You believe that Jesus is a (different) god, right? (Yes.)
You worship God the Father and Jesus Christ, right? (Yes.)
You believe in the 10 commandments, right? (Yes.)
Now, the first commandment says, "have no other gods before me." Well then, who is the "me" that I am supposed to worship? It seems that your breaking the first commandment with your two god worship thing.
Here they start getting all befuddled...and it is actually pretty funny (though infinitely sad). They cannot reconcile the 1st command with their theology. If you press them, they will end up saying all sorts of silly things. The one thing they will not say though is that they are wrong.
They will for certain put the question back to you, to try to give themselves a little reprieve. I respond by saying, "Its easy. I believe in one God who exists in three persons (the Trinity). The Father is God, the Son is God, the Spirit is God. All are one. I don't fully understand it. It is a mystery. But that's what the Bible reveals about God, and He is so infinitely above me that I am happy to praise him for His being beyond the smallness of my mind."
They'll be so boogered up--though it makes perfect sense to them--that they will inevitably try to change the subject on you, so beware. Don't get side tracked. Keep pressing them on it. Don't let them dodge this central issue that determines their ultimate salvation.
There is another thing you should know. They will most likely verbalize it somehow, but they might not. So you need to beware on this too. They don't think that there is a difference between their god and our God. They think that the two are the same. Don't let them think that! The only thing our gods have in common are their names. Our God is a Spirit and does not have a body like men (theirs does). Our God is one (theirs multiple). Our God is right here right now (theirs isn't). Our God created the world out of nothing by the power of His word (theirs--so they say--just took the stuff that already existed and organized it into what we got today). I never let them think that they are the same. I always point out some of these differences so they realize that they are dealing with a different God (and ultimately their eternal security).
I'm usually pretty fired up by this time, and that is to my detriment. No matter how hard I try, I just can't stay calm. As a result, I come off looking like I'm enraged (though I'm not, just excited). But I try to calm down and give a simple gospel presentation along with a solemn warning (oh, by the way, I don't think that Mormons believe in hell). I also try not to let them have any warm fuzzy feelings. I want them to recognize the danger of their beliefs . But at the same time, I do want them to recognize that they can convert to the real and true God.
They will want you to pray and ask God if he is really like what you said. I always pray with them before they leave and sometimes I will pray that. But I will say something like, "Lord show us who you are," to make it more of a prayer for them. I also try to reiterate some of the same things we just talked about in the prayer to help burn it in their minds & hearts.
I've never had an outpouring of the Spirit and mighty conversions out there on my front step. But my hope is that they will walk away with a recognition that their theology is contradictory and extremely different than true Christianity. My prayer, while they walk away, is that what we talked about would sting in their hearts and that they cannot rest until they get that issue reconciled.
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