tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20213892.post6751739743217863842..comments2023-12-22T08:29:29.230-08:00Comments on WHAT IS TRUTH: Do You Have to Do Door-to-Door Evangelism?Kent Brandenburghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13419354741455959191noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20213892.post-1102291832797645422012-06-05T10:24:14.527-07:002012-06-05T10:24:14.527-07:00Micah,
You got it (and so do you Chris and Joshua...Micah,<br /><br />You got it (and so do you Chris and Joshua) :-D . The pattern I see with Jesus and the Apostles is that they went everywhere, to every town and village preaching. They stopped preaching only to those who didn't want to hear it, but they found that out by going to them. They didn't assume people didn't want it because those people wouldn't come to them.<br /><br />Paul didn't preach to everyone in the world but he did have a strategy or method or policy of "preach[ing] to every creature which is under heaven whereof I paul am made a minister." That fits with Mark 16:15, "preach the gospel to every creature."<br /><br />I'll probably write about my experience with door-to-door, which I've been doing for 25 years here in Northern California in what most would say is the most liberal and maybe, therefore, the hardest area in the country. We have a good, strong church, but we didn't come here to start a church, but we came here to preach the gospel to everyone. We're still here because we still haven't done that and people move here faster than what we can preach the gospel to even the new move-ins. And then we have the people who are born and grow up not having heard, which are added to those numbers every year.Kent Brandenburghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13419354741455959191noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20213892.post-57962776734140072152012-06-05T08:06:35.580-07:002012-06-05T08:06:35.580-07:00Kent,
Your proposition as I understand it: Door to...Kent,<br />Your proposition as I understand it: Door to door evangelism is the only technique that preaches to everyone. Ignoring it means you can't preach to everyone. <br /><br />Perhaps mathematically you could conclude it is a statistically comprehensive methodology, i.e. we spoke with 97% of the people on this block. We'll return to the missed 3% next week. <br /><br />But you're relying on an assumption that it is THE biblical method for evangelism. Can't those same people be reached in a different manner?<br /><br /> You're also assuming that we're required to preach to every individual. The apostle Paul didn't always use D2D in his missional plan nor talk to every person. Neither did Jesus. Why would we be required to do more than Jesus or Paul?<br /><br />So, please clarify if I have misunderstood your proposition, not trying to dodge it. Simply trying to counter it respectfully.Micahhttp://www.micahpattisall.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20213892.post-41382076497355474492012-06-05T06:38:36.076-07:002012-06-05T06:38:36.076-07:00I see what you mean. "Every creature" m...I see what you mean. "Every creature" means something.<br /><br />Are you assuming this must be fulfilled by face-to-face encounters? Facebook, Skype, Telephone, Radio, etc would not suffice? <br /><br />How about street preaching? If I could account for each and every person in my community being confronted with the gospel would that fulfill the Lord's command? Must each presentation of the gospel be one-on-one, or at least to no more than one household?<br /><br />Right now I can't imagine a more thorough way to see that everyone is preached to and personally confronted with the truth, than house-to-house visiting. That is the method that I have always been a part of. I am just curious if there are other ways to preach the gospel to every creature.<br /><br />ChrisAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20213892.post-39646293314232731652012-06-04T20:25:04.201-07:002012-06-04T20:25:04.201-07:00Micah,
You never answered the main proposition of...Micah,<br /><br />You never answered the main proposition of the entire post, and you didn't, I imagine, because you don't have an answer. There isn't one. You just won't say that you don't have one.Kent Brandenburghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13419354741455959191noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20213892.post-25624069152323654082012-06-04T20:23:19.798-07:002012-06-04T20:23:19.798-07:00"Churches ignore door-to-door. They are eith..."Churches ignore door-to-door. They are either defying what God said or they don't believe it matters if you preach the gospel to everyone."<br /><br />C'mon Kent, that's a whopper of a false dichotomy. Door to door is a methodology. It is not an element of absolute truth. It is not a revelation of God's glory. It's not an affirmation of OT teaching. It is not the gospel. And it is not related to the future kingdom. So to elevate it to such is to risk sewing tradition into the quilt of orthodoxy. The rest of your counterpoints flow from the false assumption that "door to door" evangelism is somehow the pinnacle of spiritual boldness or the sole essence of the term evangelism. So, there are theological errors in your assumption.<br /><br />Practically, it can be quite off putting and not simply for the offensiveness of the gospel. My home is a place of safety and haven for my family. I do not want strangers there uninvited...period. And many people feel that way. You can rant against the cultural shifts that have created a guarded society, but it won't change the secluded disposition so prevalent among much of suburbia. So if the unsolicited presence is so intrusive and overbearing as to prevent the sharing of the gospel, then there's no point to it.<br /><br />There is a lack of boldness and spirit led witnessing on the part of much of the church. But to declare door to door methodology a criteria for truly following Jesus is eisegesis at best.Micahhttp://www.micahpattisall.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20213892.post-43048477193087552242012-06-04T19:48:47.561-07:002012-06-04T19:48:47.561-07:00I think the 7 above are used because of number 8, ...I think the 7 above are used because of number 8, which is the honest answer:<br /><br />8. I, along with most people, am deathly afraid of accosting people at their door with an unpopular message.<br /><br />I remember talking with a street preacher who had spent years of his life in the city centre preaching on Saturday nights, getting attacked by drunks and ridiculed by many, and he said something to the effect of "one day I'm going to have to find the courage to go door-to-door". It is a terrifying prospect to people.<br /><br />I think cold fear is at the heart of the matter, and is the great generator of the other reasons.Joshuanoreply@blogger.com