Streetpreaching & doorknocking, part 2

Moderator note:

This thread must stay on topic. Please do not hijack it to a versions debate. This was moved here to cover the isue of door knocking and street preaching.

 

Different stokes fror different folks! That's what my grandma used to say. I would like to know, however, how you have exhausted Jerusalem, Judea, AND Samaria, so that you have to go to Mr/Mrs X in the uttermost part of world. Please forgive me but I haven't gotten past Jerusalem(close family and friends)and hardly scratched Judea(shirt-tale family/co-workers).
And what about discipling all your converts?
May I respectfully ask you to read Acts l:8 and 2 Timothy 2:2. And if you can find a copy of Oscar Thompson's "Concentric Circles of Concern".

 

Street preaching is not an effective way for witnessing but door knocking is. Times are different.

I read in some book "for God so Loved the WORLD" You can't love God with all you have without loving what he loves.

 

Street Preaching brings to mind the local church that holds up signs each week telling everyone they're hell-bound. The shouting and running up and down gets a lot of laughter but when our church goes out door to door on Tuesday nights, we get a lot of invites into the homes.

I do believe they mean well but the church I'm speaking of requires street preaching and daily witnessing for even the four year olds who attend their school or they'll be suspended.

Diane

 

Serving God is something that is chosen by a person. It should not be forced upon them. I do think that it should be taught and that everyone should get involved but God never forced himself upon us.

 

The example of the disciples of how they witnessed was: Door to door, house by house!

 

Acts 2:46: "And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house........"
First they had favor with the people, made relationships with them at the temple, THEN broke bread with them in their homes. Don't believe they did much, if any, "cold calls."

 

Matt 10:7-14
7 And as ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand. 8 Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils: freely ye have received, freely give. 9 Provide neither gold, nor silver, nor brass in your purses, 10 Nor scrip for your journey, neither two coats, neither shoes, nor yet staves: for the workman is worthy of his meat. 11 And into whatsoever city or town ye shall enter, enquire who in it is worthy; and there abide till ye go thence. 12 And when ye come into an house, salute it. 13 And if the house be worthy, let your peace come upon it: but if it be not worthy, let your peace return to you. 14 And whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear your words, when ye depart out of that house or city, shake off the dust of your feet.

They went to a house to see who was worthy. If they were not received, they shook the dust off and went to the next house. Again, that sounds like door to door to me.

 

Look at the context!
Jesus sent out the Apostles(capital A). And then only to the Jews. I'm not saying door-to-door witnessing is wrong, just that it should not be our only or primary thrust. In 40+ years, I've done a lot of door-to-door "cold call" witnessing. As I've gotten older, I sense that more effective and lasting results will be obtained by relationship witnesing. However, if the Holy Spirit prompts you or me to witness door-to-door, let's go for it!

 

Wally,

I agree that door to door is probably the least effective method I have used. Relationship building is far more successful. However, door to door is the method that God has given as our example. It is also very interesting that the more door to door we do, the more fruitful other means of soul-winning are. I believe God will bless our efforts, though it might not be through the door to door itself.

 

For What It's Worth:
I have personally led people to Christ using both methods, however those who remain with me in church today, are those with whom I have a personal relationship.
On the other hand.....the person who presented to Gospel to me, many years ago, probably does not even know whether I was truly born again, as I never had contact with him following my conversion.... I guess that's why Paul says,
1Cor 3:6
I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase.

 

As for some I would seriously question their wisdom in their methodology. It takes a wise person to win souls.

 

Personal relationships. That is called ---discipling.
Seeking converts should be done everyway possible.

Sadly, door-to-door gets a bad rap right from the start. (thank you very much vacuum salesmen!) This should in no way preclude us from doing it though.

Street preaching used to be a lot more "effective" (translate---acceptable) because of the society in which it came about. Folks gathered at the square for their daily news, discussions, marketing, etc. Our society is a little different, but not by much. We can still be effective at events, theaters, etc. Just because folks do not congregate, per se, downtown anymore does not mean we should abandon it. Street preaching still gets noticed. Even if it is seen as humorous, the world will be unable to say they did not have a witness. Although witnessing's primary focus is converts; its secondary focus is to proclaim Christ crucified. (or vice-versa) And street preaching does that for a greater number of people in a given period of time than many other ways we may employ.
Do not disparage either method, for they are both Biblical. I question the claim that it is not "effective". That claim is so very subjective. I'll bet you won't find a single person who was won to Christ by either of these methods who would agree that it is no longer "effective" in this day and age.

Things that make you go...hmmm?

In His service;
Jim

 

Sorry about the pun.
Door to door getting a "bad rap".
In His service;
Jim

 

Seems to me that we should be able to share our faith in whatever situation we are in.

God didn't say go with the best statistics and marketing plan but with Him.

 

I think our evangelistic method depends somewhat on what culture we find ourselves in. I pastored a church in a small Kentucky town for eight and a half years. I think I knocked on every door in that town. It was a good way to make contact with people in the town, and they would know exactly where my church was located because there were so few churches in the town. Now, however, I am a missionary in South Korea, and the culture is very different. After finishing language school, I went door-to-door every Wednesday with an assistant pastor from a local church in a very large city. During a one-year period of time, we got inside exactly one door. I learned from that experience that knocking on doors to talk to total strangers does not work in this culture at this time. Instead, one must work through relationships in South Korea. Sometimes relationships can be built quickly here, like through evangelistic sports clinics, business seminars, or medical clinics that only last a few days. It is more likely that the best evangelistic results come after long-term relationships have been cultivated. We have weekly English Bible classes in factories and apartments that meet for a few months. About a week ago, we had our climactic Christmas banquet to which all our Bible study outreach groups were invited. One of our Korean-American missionaries fluently preached the gospel. Out of 205 people, 60 adults received Jesus as their Lord and Savior. You can see photos at our web site:
http://www.peopleteams.org/peoplebyeastsea

 

I'm not sure exactly who it was that first came up with this quote, but it makes sense to me:
"Preach the Gospel at all times, and, if necessary, use words."

Many years ago I read some study material which pointed out that while I Peter 3:15 ("But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear:") is quite often used by many to say that we should always witness to folks, what that verse seems to say is that you do this AFTER someone asks you about why you APPEAR to have a kind of hope in you that apparently is different than others.

This study went on to say that maybe folks need to first examine what was said by Peter in the previous verses of this chapter, i.e., the proper relationships of (specifically) the husband and wife, and, by extension, others in the household (i.e., your children).

The point this writer was trying to make is that if the husband & wife and the parents & children appear to always be bickering and fighting with each other (3:8-9), is your non-Christian next door neighbor very likely to ever ask you "of the hope that is in you"? Will your relatives ask you this same question?

While this writer wasn't necessarily saying we should never take the initiative to openly, verbally witness to someone, it's not likely that they'll respond in a positive way when the way that you conduct your life doesn't appear to them to be much different than any other person.

There's an old adage that if you want to find out how a true Christian should live, ask a lost person. Most of the time, they'll tell you exactly how a true Christian ought to live his/her life. Now, they'll probably not supply you with "chapter and verse" nor will they necessarily live their own lives like that, but usually they'll come pretty close to the truth of how real Christians ought to conduct their lives.

Am I wrong about what I've just posted?

 

Mat 10:16 Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves.

Certainly, anything that brings the gospel to a lost and dying world can be beneficial to the cause. However, knowingly inviting persecution by door-knocking and street-preaching when more acceptable and persuasive means are available benefits no one, especially the church.

If you live in an area where this is acceptable, go for it. But if you live in an area where this form of ministry is not well received, then don't push it. You'll do more harm than good.

 

Although many shun the expression soul-winning, it must be first and foremost of what we are about. Some have mentioned discipleship as being imperative; however, INHO, becoming a discipled follower of Christ, in 18 - 24 months, is not a requirement for salvation. My wife shared the plan of salvation with an elderly catholic lady that was bed-ridden. The lady heard the gospel, followed through with the "1-2-3 easy believism" method, and died shortly thereafter. My wife was able to visit with her 2 - 3 times before she passed, and my wife was thoroughly convinced that this lady was indeed assured a place in heaven. My eldest daughter presented the '1-2-3' gospel to an 84 year old man during her second door-to-door outing. He responded with the 'sinner's prayer'. She did a couple of followup visits. He died shortly thereafter with a personal assurance that he was heaven bound. Kids today are dying in traffic accidents, suicides, drug overdoses, etc., without ever having a 'relationship' with a Christian friend. How are we to reach them with the message? I go door knocking. Most say no thanks, some have yelled at me, and some have even slam the door on me. But, every once in awhile, the Holy Spirit has prepared a heart, and they response to the gospel. Some walk the aisle and are baptized. Some become very active in the church. On Christmas Eve, my daughter and I are 'following-up' on one that made a decision this past Saturday from our door-knocking. We will take him a New Testament, maybe some Christmas treats, and offer to pick him up for church on Sunday. I believe that he will come to church with us on Sunday. While we are out, we will probably do follow-up on some families that have been made decisions and are coming to church from previous outings. Door to door/visitation has been the most fruitful work that I have personally ever participated in.