Weekly Update |   November 9, 2023

Door-To-Door Evangelism

Dmitriy Zherebnenkov

One who truly experiences the gospel does not just accept it by faith, but also passes it on to others. As the church, we care about the perishing world around us. Apostle Paul in his deep care for the nation of Israel once said these powerful words, “…I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my kinsmen according to the flesh” (Rom. 9:3). This pain comes from a right understanding of the gospel. Everyone has sinned! Everyone is cut off from God. No one can please God by themselves, and no one can expect eternity in heaven. Only in the name of Christ and in His substitutionary sacrifice for our sin do we have hope! If this is so, then a person without the gospel is on the way to eternal damnation. Understanding this we reverently seek out opportunities to direct people to the path of salvation.

The most successful method of evangelism in today’s world is through a personal relationship. This is when we strategically begin a relationship with specific people with the goal of not just sharing the truth with them, but of making them disciples of Jesus Christ. This is a long and difficult process, but one that is very effective. There are other methods of sharing the gospel and spreading the truth, and today we’ll consider one such method: door-to-door.

There are both pros and cons to this method, but today we’ll consider just the pros. You’ll be able to determine the cons yourself; we do this very naturally.

1. Christianity is not hidden. Praise the Lord that in our country we can still preach the gospel freely. When it is proclaimed on the streets, people begin to understand that Christianity is not simply hidden in churches. This is a powerful sign to both believers and unbelievers. Unbelievers see our care and love, while believers are motived by a good example to personal evangelism.

2. Christianity has conviction. When a person understands that without faith people are headed to eternal destruction, a natural thing to do is to share this warning with others. This is our moral debt to society. When these people begin to learn the gospel and then begin to see how believers don’t actually share this truth with others, they begin to doubt the teachings of the faith.

3. Christianity teaches. Going into the neighborhood is one way of training. Besides presenting an opportunity for people to see believers, we also have the opportunity to learn to lead a conversation, ask good questions, direct the discussion to a presentation of the gospel, etc.

4. Christianity is not afraid. We all have a fear of evangelism. This is true! But this fear is not overcome during lectures on evangelism. Just like you conquered your fear of swimming when you began to try to swim or you conquered your fear of riding a bicycle by starting to spin the wheels, so it is the same in this case! Evangelism stops being scary only after doing it many times!

 If we briefly consider the cons of door-to-door evangelism then we’ll realize that the pros outweigh the cons. The cons are as such: 1) Such a method of evangelism perhaps doesn’t correspond to your character and you may end up looking unnatural. This is true. But this is that dying to yourself that we are called to by our Lord Jesus Christ. Yes, this may especially be a painful process for older brothers, since being rejected by others may strongly confront their self-love, or more bluntly, their pride. 2) You may perhaps never use this method of evangelism in the future, so you may wonder why even consider it. Peter wasn’t an apostle to the Gentiles but God worked on breaking his false convictions such that in Acts 10 we read how he was able to go and preach to Cornelius the centurion. This was necessary to humble Peter so that he became capable of supporting those that did actually work with Gentiles. It is the same with us today. Going door-to-door will humble us and ignite in us a commitment to the spreading of the Good News.

Some practical advice:

• Wear comfortable shoes and appropriate head gear considering the weather.
• Have a comfortable bag or briefcase where you can store tracts or church business cards.
• Learn to greet everyone you meet.
• Learn to be in constant prayer. When you go from one door to the next you have enough time to pray for help. This is a good way to practice depending on God.
• When you are talking to people, be sure to introduce yourself and tell them what church you’re from. Begin with a simple invitation to attend church, and if they’re open gift a gospel tract. If they’re even more open, ask them what they know about Jesus Christ, and if their knowledge strays from the true gospel, present to them the biblical position. At the end of the conversation ask them what you can pray for as you go to the next house.
• Have a positive and joyful attitude as you understand that during evangelism you are doing God’s will.
• Go in a group of two or three people. Don’t have a large crowd as that can be off-putting. Best size is two people.

“And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.” (Col. 3:17)

ANNOUNCEMENTS

Continue supporting the churches working among the people who have suffered from the war in Ukraine: https://gfchurch.com/ukraine/

News Archive