Read: Matthew 10:5-15
Devotion: Evangelism and seeking the salvation of the lost is a wonderfully good thing. All believers have been called by Christ to some sort of evangelism ministry, whether that is the public proclamation of the gospel, raising children in the fear and admonition of the Lord, sharing the gospel with unsaved friends or family, missionary work planting churches in a foreign country, or some combination of all of the above.
However, like with all good things, sinful man can turn evangelism into something it shouldn’t be. As a result, there are many who go about evangelism in an unbiblical manner. We can see this in the case of churches that water down the gospel, downplaying the seriousness and penalty of sin among other doctrines, in order to get more people in the door. The mindset is that honey attracts more flies than vinegar and don’t you want more people to hear about Jesus? The problem is that without the bad news of sin, a person cannot properly understand the good news about Christ’s salvation.
On the other side of the issue are those who outright oppose evangelism of any kind because they think it isn’t good to push one’s belief onto others. For them faith is a private thing, and evangelism breaches one’s right to privacy.
The point is that we must always be checking and correcting doctrines and methods with Scripture. It is Scripture, not our opinions or feelings, that must be the final guide in evangelism. What does the Bible say about our method? Is our thinking on the subject the same as God’s thinking on the subject? Does God outright condemn what we’re doing? Or maybe there are no explicit commands regarding our methodology, but it’s clear that what we’re doing does run afoul of clear biblical principles like how the church is in the world but is not to be of the world (John 15:19). We might have the right doctrine and have pure motives, but if we’re doing something in an unbiblical way we’re going to be found opposing God rather than obeying Him.
All of this serves to set up the question of whether door-to door evangelism is a biblical practice. Door-to-door evangelism is a popular form of evangelism where an individual believer or a small group of believers goes from home to home in a neighborhood, knocking on doors and sharing the gospel with anyone who answers.
Some are opposed to door to door evangelism for various reasons, like those who fiercely support personal privacy and property rights. They are all for evangelism in the public sphere, but once you start talking about going onto someone’s private property uninvited, that’s a problem.
Those strongly opposed to door to door evangelism are likely in the minority, given the fact that this method is widely used. But popularity is not the measure of whether something is right or wrong. We want to make sure that how we’re going about our evangelism is honoring to Christ.
There is no verse that says, “Door-to-door evangelism is acceptable,” or “Thou shalt not go door-to-door in your evangelism.” However, there is a clear example of door-to-door evangelism recorded in the synoptic gospels (Matt. 10:1-13; Mark 6:1-13; Luke 9:1-6).
This is not only Christ approved, but Christ commanded for the disciples. They were to go village by village, house by house, proclaiming the gospel.
This evangelism assignment was not the result of an invitation, as though the people had heard the disciples proclaiming the gospel in the market square and now wanted them to visit their houses to tell them more. We know this because Jesus tells his disciples, “As you enter the house, greet it. And if the house is worthy, let your peace come upon it, but if it is not worthy, let your peace return to you” (vv. 12-13). In other words, the twelve were “cold calling” these houses.
While not a direct command, this is as clear of an approval of door to door evangelism in the Scriptures that you will find. Therefore, we can safely conclude that door to door evangelism is biblical. For those who oppose door-to-door evangelism, my encouragement to you is to re-calibrate your thinking to be more inline with Christ. He had no problem sending his disciples door to door preaching the gospel, and so you should also have no problem seeing fellow believers go door to door preaching the same gospel. You might even consider joining them.
We don’t want to be rude or overly pushy toward those we evangelize through door-to-door evangelism; we should respect the homeowner, their privacy, and their property. But at the same time we need to remember that Christ has left us on this earth to go out in his authority, preaching the only message of salvation (Matt. 28:18-20; Acts 4:12).
Ponder and Pray: Consider why is is important to evaluate all we do according to God’s Word in Scripture. What practices or habits do you engage in that need a fresh analysis in light of Scripture. Finish by praying for any unsaved family members or friends that you might have, and opportunities to share the gospel with them.
