Was Abinadi a Good Missionary?

Dear Peter and Molly,
I know that sometimes the two of you like to take off the wall scripture questions, well I have one for you. Do we need to regard Book of Mormon prophets as good at what they do? I recently read the story of Abinadi, and thought that his missionary approach was rather forceful. He never tried to help King Noah change his perspective, he basically just kept telling him and his priests they were sinners. We're taught that we should try and build relationships, and build on common ground. Could the fact that Abinadi's mission had such limited effect actually be read as a cautionary tale in the scriptures, or would this reading be off the mark?
Sincerely,
Amateur Scriptorian

Peter: Amateur, first things first only an apostle has the authority to give a definitive interpretation of the scriptures, but you're right Molly and I do enjoy having a nice conversation to help us all understand the scriptures better, but it can only be a conversation. I think that you're missing the point of Abinadi's story. First, his message came from the Lord, and so clearly there was a reason why he needed to be so authoritative. Second, the reason is pretty clear, Abinadi's mission converted Alma, who ended up being the High Priest, and his son played a major role in converting thousands of individuals. The work of the Lord could not have been accomplished without Abinadi preaching to Alma.

Molly: We should be hesitant to criticize anyone who gave their life for the work of the Lord, but that doesn't mean we can't learn lessons from their life. Peter's interpretation requires that we assume another approach wouldn't have appealed to Alma as well as others. We see a good example when several years later Ammon takes a different missionary approach than Aaron. Aaron's approach is more direct like Abinadi, and while he has much success, it doesn't match the impact that Ammon had when he took an approach more focussed on service to others.

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