07-04-2007, 12:51 PM
Here is an interesting essay regarding preaching from the JW facts site.
Preaching
http://www.jwfacts.com/index_files/preach.htm
“Go therefore and make disciples of people of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the holy spirit, teaching them to observe all the things I have commanded YOU.†Matthew 28:19, 20
The preaching work was instituted by Jesus as an important aspect of Christianity and Jehovah’s Witnesses can be admired for the tremendous effort they devote to preaching. However, is their strong belief that they are the only ones that follow this command of Jesus justified?
The Watchtower claims that only Jehovah’s Witnesses do the preaching work commissioned by Jesus.
Does God Care? (2001) p.30
“Do you know of anyone else who preaches about God’s Kingdom from house to house throughout the world? And Mark 13:10 shows that this preaching and teaching work must be done “first,†before the end comes.â€
This type of claim makes several false assumptions;
* only Jehovah’s Witnesses preach
* only Jehovah’s Witnesses discuss God’s Kingdom
* only Jehovah’s Witnesses go door to door
* going door to door is a biblical command
Mark 13:10 and Matthew 24:14 simply states that the good news of the kingdom must be preached.
Mark 13:10
“Also, in all the nations the good news has to be preached firstâ€
Matthew 24:14
“And this good news of the kingdom will be preached in all the inhabited earth for a witness to all the nations; and then the end will come.â€
There are three issues to consider;
* Who follow this command?
* Where to preach
* What to preach
Who Preach
Are Jehovah's Witnesses the only group that preach the good news? If that was the case what accounts for the growth of other religions and Christianity becoming the largest religious group globally?
Awake! 1989 March 8 p.10
“Around the world today, who are making known God’s Word and who endeavour to live in harmony with it?â€
It is incorrect to imply that only Jehovah’s Witnesses preach. Following are just some notable examples of religions actively engaged in preaching.
Seven Day Adventists successfully preach the good news, including at peoples homes. See the following quote from Chapter 13 of the Seven Day Adventist Church Manual;
“Our highest responsibility is to the church and its commission to preach the gospel of the kingdom to all the world….â€
Both Mormons and Seven Day Adventists started at a similar period of time as the Watchtower Society and have similar numbers of members due to their active preaching.
Another group renowned for their preaching efforts are Baptists. Baptists have the most missionaries of any religion. In 2004 there were 7 million Baptists out side of America, 600,000 baptisms and 21,000 new churches. In 2004 Witnesses baptised only 200,000 globally. Interesting information on the significant efforts of Baptist missionaries can be viewed at http://www.internationalministries.org/ and http://www.namb.net.
A current success story is the Jesus Film Project. At http://www.jesusfilm.org (15th April 2006) it explains;
“The JESUS Film Project distributes the film "JESUS," a two-hour docudrama about the life of Christ based on the Gospel of Luke. The film has been seen in every country of the world and translated into hundreds of languages since its initial release in 1979. Our goal is to reach every nation, tribe, people and tongue, helping them see and hear the story of Jesus in a language they can understand. So whether a person speaks Swahili, French, or a language whose name is extremely difficult for most to pronounce, he or she will encounter the life and message of Jesus in a language "of the heart."
Many mission experts have acclaimed the "JESUS" film as one of the greatest evangelistic success stories of all time. The ultimate success of this project won't be measured by how many people have already seen it, but by how many will follow Him after seeing this film.
Through use by The JESUS Film Project, and more than 1,500 Christian agencies, this powerful film has had more than 6 billion viewings worldwide since 1979. On top of that, the great majority of those heard the story of Jesus in a language they easily understand.
As a result, more than 201 million people have indicated decisions to accept Christ as their personal Savior and Lord.â€
At http://www.gideons.org (15th April 2006) it discusses the preaching work of the Gideons;
“The Gideons International, founded in 1899, serves as an extended missionary arm of the church … The association has more than 250,000 members, located in 181 countries of the world. They are united in carrying out the same program using the same methods to accomplish the one objective of winning others to Christ.
The emergence of more than 2,000,000 readers in the world each week creates an unprecedented need for reading material. … Annually, The Gideons International is placing and distributing more than 63,000,000 Scriptures worldwide. To God be the glory!â€
The reason that Christianity is the world’s largest religion with billions of followers is centuries of preaching work by self sacrificing Christians globally. Many millions of missionaries devote their lives to the preaching work, and hundreds of millions informally discuss the good news. Great disservice is shown to these individuals when ever it is said that only Jehovah's Witnesses participate in the work Jesus described.
An article at http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-...-headlines (23rd June 2006), entitled 'End Times' Religious Groups Want Apocalypse Soon discusses the huge global preaching effort currently underway. It states that “40% of Americans believe that a sequence of events presaging the end times is already underwayâ€. The effectiveness of the Jehovah’s Witnesses preaching work is noticeable from the absence of any mention of them in the article.
The greatest preaching work of all have been by the Catholic Church, who boast over 1 billion members, and who virtually all other Christian groups owe their existence to. This work continues to our day and at http://www.catholicmission.org/ as of 23 July 2006 quotes Pope John Paul II as saying "I sense that the moment has come to commit all of the Church's energies to a new evangelization and to the mission ad gentes (to the nations.)" The site outlines the joy of joining in with spreading the message of Christ.
I am constantly preached to by Christians. There have been Christians at different companies I have worked that discuss their beliefs with me. At university there were Christian Campus groups, and several of my accounting clients are involved in missionary work. I have had Mormons, Seven Day Adventists, Christadelphians and people from the local Catholic Church come to my door. I have been approached in the street and in the local mall Christian groups organise groups that sing and give public lectures. On television, radio stations and the Internet there is no shortage of religious discussion.
Where to Preach
When the Watchtower claims they are the only group that preach what is really meant is that Jehovah's Witnesses are the only people that preach the Watchtower interpretation of God’s Kingdom, principally from “house to houseâ€.
Does God Care? (2001) p.30
“Since the last days began in 1914, Jehovah’s Witnesses have preached the good news of God’s Kingdom throughout the world in the manner ordered by Jesus, namely, at the homes of the people. (Matthew 10:7, 12; Acts 20:20) Millions of Witnesses call on people in every nation to talk to them about the new world. This has led to your receiving this brochure, as the work of Jehovah’s Witnesses includes printing and distributing billions of pieces of literature about God’s Kingdom. Do you know of anyone else who preaches about God’s Kingdom from house to house throughout the world? And Mark 13:10 shows that this preaching and teaching work must be done “first,†before the end comes.â€
The Watchtower places great emphasis on the house to house ministry, yet Mark 13:10 simply says “Also, in all the nations the good news has to be preached first.†It does not state how this is to be done.
Though the house to house work is an acceptable way to preach, it is never indicated scripturally as a sign of who God’s followers would be. In fact, house to house is not prescribed as the way to preach. A close look at the scriptures that the Watchtower uses to specify house to house preaching is enlightening.
The only time that the term ‘house to house’ is used in regards to preaching to unbelievers was when Jesus sent out the 70 disciples. On this occasion Jesus plainly stated not to go house to house.
Luke 10:1-7
“After these things the Lord designated seventy others and sent them forth by twos in advance of him into every city and place to which he himself was going to come. … 5 Wherever YOU enter into a house say first, ‘May this house have peace.’ 6 And if a friend of peace is there, YOUR peace will rest upon him. But if there is not, it will turn back to YOU. 7 So stay in that house, eating and drinking the things they provide, for the worker is worthy of his wages. Do not be transferring from house to house. (Ek oikia eis oikia)â€
The Watchtower quotes two other scriptures from Acts to indicate a person should preach house to house.
Watchtower 1991 January 15 p.11
The principal way in which that work would be done became evident immediately after the day of Pentecost 33 C.E. “Every day in the temple and from house to house they continued without letup teaching and declaring the good news about the Christ, Jesus.†(Acts 5:42) Some 20 years later, the apostle Paul was engaging in the house-to-house ministry, for he reminded Christian elders from the city of Ephesus: “I did not hold back from telling you any of the things that were profitable nor from teaching you publicly and from house to house.â€â€”Acts 20:20.
The Greek used at Acts 5:42 and Acts 20:20 is not Ek oikia eis oikia, but rather Kata oikos. For this reason bible translations usually render this “in every houseâ€, “at home†or “in their homesâ€. Whilst the New World Translation of Acts 20:20 uses the phrase “house to house†the footnote acknowledges that the Greek word means “in private housesâ€.
At Acts 20:20 Paul is not discussing preaching to unbelievers but rather teaching those who already were Christians. He says “while I did not hold back from telling YOU any of the things that were profitable nor from teaching YOU publicly and from house to house.†A more accurate way to understand these scriptures in Acts is “we were teaching you at your homes†similar to the way Witnesses hold congregation book studies.
How to preach is discussed in Matthew 10:5-12:
“5 These twelve Jesus sent forth, giving them these orders: “Do not go off into the road of the nations, and do not enter into a Sa·mar'i·tan city; 6 but, instead, go continually to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. 7 As YOU go, preach, saying, ‘The kingdom of the heavens has drawn near.’ 8 Cure sick people, raise up dead persons, make lepers clean, expel demons. YOU received free, give free. 9 Do not procure gold or silver or copper for YOUR girdle purses, 10 or a food pouch for the trip, or two undergarments, or sandals or a staff; for the worker deserves his food.
11 “Into whatever city or village YOU enter, search out who in it is deserving, and stay there until YOU leave. 12 When YOU are entering into the house, greet the household;â€
Though used as a key reference to justifying the door to door ministry the text at Matthew 10 is disregarded by Witnesses in its entirety. The Watchtower message focuses largely on the earthly organization and earthly paradise rather than the heavenly aspect of the kingdom. Miracles such as faith healing are not practiced. Rather than giving free, donations are requested to cover the cost of the literature and prior to the change of tax status were actively sold. Finally, the disciples did not go house to house, they searched out a single place to stay.
Effectiveness
Preaching house to house is not an indicator of the true religion. The majority of preaching described in the Bible was done where people were, such as synagogues and in markets. If Witnesses were really interested in bringing people to Jehovah they would spend less time door knocking on empty doors or travelling five in a car on return visits during mid week afternoons when most people are not at home.
There are 3 billion Christians globally. Many new Christian religions are growing rapidly. How? All religions proselytise and many religions have active missionary programs. Most religions preach about the kingdom of God, the message of the Bible and about Jesus. They do what the full scripture at Mat 28:19 says “(Matthew 28:19) . . .baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the holy spirit,. . .†What do the Witnesses think is being spoken about by these other religions? Their aim is to make disciples. They speak about the Bible and the kingdom of the heavens.
The preaching work conducted by Jehovah's Witnesses is becoming less and less effective. A simple evaluation of the yearly report shows that it takes 5000 hours of witnessing per baptism (1 billion witnessing hours in 2004 resulted in a 200,000 baptisms). If you take the figure of 200,000 and halve it for those born in the truth and then halve it again to account for those reached in informal witnessing an even more realistic figure would be 20,000 hours of door-to-door work for one convert. That is the equivalent of 166 people doing 10 hours each a month for a year.
One reason other religions grow as rapidly as Witnesses is that they follow the command to make disciples, where as Witnesses concentrate of going house-to-house. Many converts to other religions are made by members talking casually to friends at work, universities or wherever they go. Jehovah’s Witnesses exert a billion hours that is predominantly spent standing knocking on the doors of empty houses. One study I have read showed that 50% of new Witnesses came into the Organization from talking casually to Witnesses and not in the door to door ministry.
When I pioneered in the Pacific Islands most houses I called on usually had someone at home. This would have been the case in Jesus’ time. Up until the 1950’s this was probably still the case, when women were expected to be house wives. However this is no longer the situation in developed countries. In modern society the majority of houses are empty at the times Witnesses call, with both husband and wife working throughout the week and entertaining or playing sport on the weekend. I remember witnessing week in, week out and only meeting one or two people in a whole morning. 5 of us would cram into a car for return visits during week day afternoons and be lucky if each pioneer found even one person at home. If a person is interested in helping people and not just in reporting hours, there are far more effective ways to preach, as shown by progressive religions that are showing growth.
Jesus spent most of his time preaching in the streets, the synagogues and the markets, anywhere that people were and rarely if ever went house to house. Did the apostle Paul enter a town and go door to door? Never is that recorded. Rather he always headed straight to where the most people would be. If Jesus were alive today do you think he would have spread his urgent message by trudging door to door when he knew no one was going to be there?
What to Preach
A brother in my congregation once asked a rhetorical question during a public talk “Who else follows Jesus command at Mat 24:14â€? To which a newly interested Bible study piped up “the Mormonsâ€. Everyone was somewhat shocked as the question was not demanding an answer and the answer given was certainly not acceptable. The brother replied to the effect that Mormons may go house to house but they do not preach about the kingdom.
What is the Good News of the Kingdom? It is the message about Jesus and his heavenly kingdom.
1 Corinthians 15:1-3
“Now I make known to YOU, brothers, the good news which I declared to YOU, which YOU also received, in which YOU also stand, 2 through which YOU are also being saved, with the speech with which I declared the good news to YOU, if YOU are holding it fast, unless, in fact, YOU became believers to no purpose. 3 For I handed on to YOU, among the first things, that which I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures;â€
Acts 1:8
“… but YOU will receive power when the holy spirit arrives upon YOU, and YOU will be witnesses of me both in Jerusalem and in all Ju·de´a and Sa·mar´i·a and to the most distant part of the earth.â€
Christians were to be Witnesses of Jesus, something that Jehovah's Witnesses are not renowned for.
Galatians 1:7-8
“… the good news about the Christ. 8 However, even if we or an angel out of heaven were to declare to YOU as good news something beyond what we declared to YOU as good news, let him be accursed.â€
Acts 28:31
“preaching the kingdom of God to them and teaching the things concerning the Lord Jesus Christ with the greatest freeness of speech, without hindrance.â€
Matthew 10:7
“As YOU go, preach, saying, ‘The kingdom of the heavens has drawn near.’
Jehovah’s Witnesses spend far less time discussing Jesus and his heavenly kingdom than most Christian religions. Acts shows how intertwined the good news was with the message of the Christ.
Acts 8:4-17
4 However, those who had been scattered went through the land declaring the good news of the word. 5 Philip, for one, went down to the city of Sa·mar´i·a and began to preach the Christ to them… 12 But when they believed Philip, who was declaring the good news of the kingdom of God and of the name of Jesus Christ, they proceeded to be baptized, both men and women. 13 Simon himself also became a believer, and, after being baptized, he was in constant attendance upon Philip; and he was amazed at beholding signs and great powerful works taking place. 14 When the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Sa·mar´i·a had accepted the word of God, they dispatched Peter and John to them; 15 and these went down and prayed for them to get holy spirit. 16 For it had not yet fallen upon any one of them, but they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 17 Then they went laying their hands upon them, and they began to receive holy spirit.
The good news of the kingdom is not manifest by scouring scripture in doctrinal debates, it is about Jesus. Jesus showed the correct attitude at John 5:39,40;
“YOU are searching the Scriptures, because YOU think that by means of them YOU will have everlasting life; and these are the very ones that bear witness about me. 40 And yet YOU do not want to come to me that YOU may have life.â€
The message the Jehovah's Witnesses carry to the doors is predominantly about Jehovah, the Organization and the coming earthly paradise, not Jesus and the heavenly kingdom. Can it really be said that the Watchtower message is ‘Good News†when in reality it is about the coming destruction of 6 billion people at Armageddon?
Conclusion
The message of Jesus and the good news of his Kingdom is truly being preached throughout the world by Christianity. Jesus did not limit how this was to be done. The method of house to house is not prescribed, nor that it should include selling brochures, or that a monthly report is required to be considered in good standing before God.
House-to-house is not the most effective way to preach and the good news Jesus spoke about was his heavenly kingdom. Once this is understood it is clear that many religions are fulfilling this command of Christ.
Warm Christian Love
Bangalore
Preaching
http://www.jwfacts.com/index_files/preach.htm
“Go therefore and make disciples of people of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the holy spirit, teaching them to observe all the things I have commanded YOU.†Matthew 28:19, 20
The preaching work was instituted by Jesus as an important aspect of Christianity and Jehovah’s Witnesses can be admired for the tremendous effort they devote to preaching. However, is their strong belief that they are the only ones that follow this command of Jesus justified?
The Watchtower claims that only Jehovah’s Witnesses do the preaching work commissioned by Jesus.
Does God Care? (2001) p.30
“Do you know of anyone else who preaches about God’s Kingdom from house to house throughout the world? And Mark 13:10 shows that this preaching and teaching work must be done “first,†before the end comes.â€
This type of claim makes several false assumptions;
* only Jehovah’s Witnesses preach
* only Jehovah’s Witnesses discuss God’s Kingdom
* only Jehovah’s Witnesses go door to door
* going door to door is a biblical command
Mark 13:10 and Matthew 24:14 simply states that the good news of the kingdom must be preached.
Mark 13:10
“Also, in all the nations the good news has to be preached firstâ€
Matthew 24:14
“And this good news of the kingdom will be preached in all the inhabited earth for a witness to all the nations; and then the end will come.â€
There are three issues to consider;
* Who follow this command?
* Where to preach
* What to preach
Who Preach
Are Jehovah's Witnesses the only group that preach the good news? If that was the case what accounts for the growth of other religions and Christianity becoming the largest religious group globally?
Awake! 1989 March 8 p.10
“Around the world today, who are making known God’s Word and who endeavour to live in harmony with it?â€
It is incorrect to imply that only Jehovah’s Witnesses preach. Following are just some notable examples of religions actively engaged in preaching.
Seven Day Adventists successfully preach the good news, including at peoples homes. See the following quote from Chapter 13 of the Seven Day Adventist Church Manual;
“Our highest responsibility is to the church and its commission to preach the gospel of the kingdom to all the world….â€
Both Mormons and Seven Day Adventists started at a similar period of time as the Watchtower Society and have similar numbers of members due to their active preaching.
Another group renowned for their preaching efforts are Baptists. Baptists have the most missionaries of any religion. In 2004 there were 7 million Baptists out side of America, 600,000 baptisms and 21,000 new churches. In 2004 Witnesses baptised only 200,000 globally. Interesting information on the significant efforts of Baptist missionaries can be viewed at http://www.internationalministries.org/ and http://www.namb.net.
A current success story is the Jesus Film Project. At http://www.jesusfilm.org (15th April 2006) it explains;
“The JESUS Film Project distributes the film "JESUS," a two-hour docudrama about the life of Christ based on the Gospel of Luke. The film has been seen in every country of the world and translated into hundreds of languages since its initial release in 1979. Our goal is to reach every nation, tribe, people and tongue, helping them see and hear the story of Jesus in a language they can understand. So whether a person speaks Swahili, French, or a language whose name is extremely difficult for most to pronounce, he or she will encounter the life and message of Jesus in a language "of the heart."
Many mission experts have acclaimed the "JESUS" film as one of the greatest evangelistic success stories of all time. The ultimate success of this project won't be measured by how many people have already seen it, but by how many will follow Him after seeing this film.
Through use by The JESUS Film Project, and more than 1,500 Christian agencies, this powerful film has had more than 6 billion viewings worldwide since 1979. On top of that, the great majority of those heard the story of Jesus in a language they easily understand.
As a result, more than 201 million people have indicated decisions to accept Christ as their personal Savior and Lord.â€
At http://www.gideons.org (15th April 2006) it discusses the preaching work of the Gideons;
“The Gideons International, founded in 1899, serves as an extended missionary arm of the church … The association has more than 250,000 members, located in 181 countries of the world. They are united in carrying out the same program using the same methods to accomplish the one objective of winning others to Christ.
The emergence of more than 2,000,000 readers in the world each week creates an unprecedented need for reading material. … Annually, The Gideons International is placing and distributing more than 63,000,000 Scriptures worldwide. To God be the glory!â€
The reason that Christianity is the world’s largest religion with billions of followers is centuries of preaching work by self sacrificing Christians globally. Many millions of missionaries devote their lives to the preaching work, and hundreds of millions informally discuss the good news. Great disservice is shown to these individuals when ever it is said that only Jehovah's Witnesses participate in the work Jesus described.
An article at http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-...-headlines (23rd June 2006), entitled 'End Times' Religious Groups Want Apocalypse Soon discusses the huge global preaching effort currently underway. It states that “40% of Americans believe that a sequence of events presaging the end times is already underwayâ€. The effectiveness of the Jehovah’s Witnesses preaching work is noticeable from the absence of any mention of them in the article.
The greatest preaching work of all have been by the Catholic Church, who boast over 1 billion members, and who virtually all other Christian groups owe their existence to. This work continues to our day and at http://www.catholicmission.org/ as of 23 July 2006 quotes Pope John Paul II as saying "I sense that the moment has come to commit all of the Church's energies to a new evangelization and to the mission ad gentes (to the nations.)" The site outlines the joy of joining in with spreading the message of Christ.
I am constantly preached to by Christians. There have been Christians at different companies I have worked that discuss their beliefs with me. At university there were Christian Campus groups, and several of my accounting clients are involved in missionary work. I have had Mormons, Seven Day Adventists, Christadelphians and people from the local Catholic Church come to my door. I have been approached in the street and in the local mall Christian groups organise groups that sing and give public lectures. On television, radio stations and the Internet there is no shortage of religious discussion.
Where to Preach
When the Watchtower claims they are the only group that preach what is really meant is that Jehovah's Witnesses are the only people that preach the Watchtower interpretation of God’s Kingdom, principally from “house to houseâ€.
Does God Care? (2001) p.30
“Since the last days began in 1914, Jehovah’s Witnesses have preached the good news of God’s Kingdom throughout the world in the manner ordered by Jesus, namely, at the homes of the people. (Matthew 10:7, 12; Acts 20:20) Millions of Witnesses call on people in every nation to talk to them about the new world. This has led to your receiving this brochure, as the work of Jehovah’s Witnesses includes printing and distributing billions of pieces of literature about God’s Kingdom. Do you know of anyone else who preaches about God’s Kingdom from house to house throughout the world? And Mark 13:10 shows that this preaching and teaching work must be done “first,†before the end comes.â€
The Watchtower places great emphasis on the house to house ministry, yet Mark 13:10 simply says “Also, in all the nations the good news has to be preached first.†It does not state how this is to be done.
Though the house to house work is an acceptable way to preach, it is never indicated scripturally as a sign of who God’s followers would be. In fact, house to house is not prescribed as the way to preach. A close look at the scriptures that the Watchtower uses to specify house to house preaching is enlightening.
The only time that the term ‘house to house’ is used in regards to preaching to unbelievers was when Jesus sent out the 70 disciples. On this occasion Jesus plainly stated not to go house to house.
Luke 10:1-7
“After these things the Lord designated seventy others and sent them forth by twos in advance of him into every city and place to which he himself was going to come. … 5 Wherever YOU enter into a house say first, ‘May this house have peace.’ 6 And if a friend of peace is there, YOUR peace will rest upon him. But if there is not, it will turn back to YOU. 7 So stay in that house, eating and drinking the things they provide, for the worker is worthy of his wages. Do not be transferring from house to house. (Ek oikia eis oikia)â€
The Watchtower quotes two other scriptures from Acts to indicate a person should preach house to house.
Watchtower 1991 January 15 p.11
The principal way in which that work would be done became evident immediately after the day of Pentecost 33 C.E. “Every day in the temple and from house to house they continued without letup teaching and declaring the good news about the Christ, Jesus.†(Acts 5:42) Some 20 years later, the apostle Paul was engaging in the house-to-house ministry, for he reminded Christian elders from the city of Ephesus: “I did not hold back from telling you any of the things that were profitable nor from teaching you publicly and from house to house.â€â€”Acts 20:20.
The Greek used at Acts 5:42 and Acts 20:20 is not Ek oikia eis oikia, but rather Kata oikos. For this reason bible translations usually render this “in every houseâ€, “at home†or “in their homesâ€. Whilst the New World Translation of Acts 20:20 uses the phrase “house to house†the footnote acknowledges that the Greek word means “in private housesâ€.
At Acts 20:20 Paul is not discussing preaching to unbelievers but rather teaching those who already were Christians. He says “while I did not hold back from telling YOU any of the things that were profitable nor from teaching YOU publicly and from house to house.†A more accurate way to understand these scriptures in Acts is “we were teaching you at your homes†similar to the way Witnesses hold congregation book studies.
How to preach is discussed in Matthew 10:5-12:
“5 These twelve Jesus sent forth, giving them these orders: “Do not go off into the road of the nations, and do not enter into a Sa·mar'i·tan city; 6 but, instead, go continually to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. 7 As YOU go, preach, saying, ‘The kingdom of the heavens has drawn near.’ 8 Cure sick people, raise up dead persons, make lepers clean, expel demons. YOU received free, give free. 9 Do not procure gold or silver or copper for YOUR girdle purses, 10 or a food pouch for the trip, or two undergarments, or sandals or a staff; for the worker deserves his food.
11 “Into whatever city or village YOU enter, search out who in it is deserving, and stay there until YOU leave. 12 When YOU are entering into the house, greet the household;â€
Though used as a key reference to justifying the door to door ministry the text at Matthew 10 is disregarded by Witnesses in its entirety. The Watchtower message focuses largely on the earthly organization and earthly paradise rather than the heavenly aspect of the kingdom. Miracles such as faith healing are not practiced. Rather than giving free, donations are requested to cover the cost of the literature and prior to the change of tax status were actively sold. Finally, the disciples did not go house to house, they searched out a single place to stay.
Effectiveness
Preaching house to house is not an indicator of the true religion. The majority of preaching described in the Bible was done where people were, such as synagogues and in markets. If Witnesses were really interested in bringing people to Jehovah they would spend less time door knocking on empty doors or travelling five in a car on return visits during mid week afternoons when most people are not at home.
There are 3 billion Christians globally. Many new Christian religions are growing rapidly. How? All religions proselytise and many religions have active missionary programs. Most religions preach about the kingdom of God, the message of the Bible and about Jesus. They do what the full scripture at Mat 28:19 says “(Matthew 28:19) . . .baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the holy spirit,. . .†What do the Witnesses think is being spoken about by these other religions? Their aim is to make disciples. They speak about the Bible and the kingdom of the heavens.
The preaching work conducted by Jehovah's Witnesses is becoming less and less effective. A simple evaluation of the yearly report shows that it takes 5000 hours of witnessing per baptism (1 billion witnessing hours in 2004 resulted in a 200,000 baptisms). If you take the figure of 200,000 and halve it for those born in the truth and then halve it again to account for those reached in informal witnessing an even more realistic figure would be 20,000 hours of door-to-door work for one convert. That is the equivalent of 166 people doing 10 hours each a month for a year.
One reason other religions grow as rapidly as Witnesses is that they follow the command to make disciples, where as Witnesses concentrate of going house-to-house. Many converts to other religions are made by members talking casually to friends at work, universities or wherever they go. Jehovah’s Witnesses exert a billion hours that is predominantly spent standing knocking on the doors of empty houses. One study I have read showed that 50% of new Witnesses came into the Organization from talking casually to Witnesses and not in the door to door ministry.
When I pioneered in the Pacific Islands most houses I called on usually had someone at home. This would have been the case in Jesus’ time. Up until the 1950’s this was probably still the case, when women were expected to be house wives. However this is no longer the situation in developed countries. In modern society the majority of houses are empty at the times Witnesses call, with both husband and wife working throughout the week and entertaining or playing sport on the weekend. I remember witnessing week in, week out and only meeting one or two people in a whole morning. 5 of us would cram into a car for return visits during week day afternoons and be lucky if each pioneer found even one person at home. If a person is interested in helping people and not just in reporting hours, there are far more effective ways to preach, as shown by progressive religions that are showing growth.
Jesus spent most of his time preaching in the streets, the synagogues and the markets, anywhere that people were and rarely if ever went house to house. Did the apostle Paul enter a town and go door to door? Never is that recorded. Rather he always headed straight to where the most people would be. If Jesus were alive today do you think he would have spread his urgent message by trudging door to door when he knew no one was going to be there?
What to Preach
A brother in my congregation once asked a rhetorical question during a public talk “Who else follows Jesus command at Mat 24:14â€? To which a newly interested Bible study piped up “the Mormonsâ€. Everyone was somewhat shocked as the question was not demanding an answer and the answer given was certainly not acceptable. The brother replied to the effect that Mormons may go house to house but they do not preach about the kingdom.
What is the Good News of the Kingdom? It is the message about Jesus and his heavenly kingdom.
1 Corinthians 15:1-3
“Now I make known to YOU, brothers, the good news which I declared to YOU, which YOU also received, in which YOU also stand, 2 through which YOU are also being saved, with the speech with which I declared the good news to YOU, if YOU are holding it fast, unless, in fact, YOU became believers to no purpose. 3 For I handed on to YOU, among the first things, that which I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures;â€
Acts 1:8
“… but YOU will receive power when the holy spirit arrives upon YOU, and YOU will be witnesses of me both in Jerusalem and in all Ju·de´a and Sa·mar´i·a and to the most distant part of the earth.â€
Christians were to be Witnesses of Jesus, something that Jehovah's Witnesses are not renowned for.
Galatians 1:7-8
“… the good news about the Christ. 8 However, even if we or an angel out of heaven were to declare to YOU as good news something beyond what we declared to YOU as good news, let him be accursed.â€
Acts 28:31
“preaching the kingdom of God to them and teaching the things concerning the Lord Jesus Christ with the greatest freeness of speech, without hindrance.â€
Matthew 10:7
“As YOU go, preach, saying, ‘The kingdom of the heavens has drawn near.’
Jehovah’s Witnesses spend far less time discussing Jesus and his heavenly kingdom than most Christian religions. Acts shows how intertwined the good news was with the message of the Christ.
Acts 8:4-17
4 However, those who had been scattered went through the land declaring the good news of the word. 5 Philip, for one, went down to the city of Sa·mar´i·a and began to preach the Christ to them… 12 But when they believed Philip, who was declaring the good news of the kingdom of God and of the name of Jesus Christ, they proceeded to be baptized, both men and women. 13 Simon himself also became a believer, and, after being baptized, he was in constant attendance upon Philip; and he was amazed at beholding signs and great powerful works taking place. 14 When the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Sa·mar´i·a had accepted the word of God, they dispatched Peter and John to them; 15 and these went down and prayed for them to get holy spirit. 16 For it had not yet fallen upon any one of them, but they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 17 Then they went laying their hands upon them, and they began to receive holy spirit.
The good news of the kingdom is not manifest by scouring scripture in doctrinal debates, it is about Jesus. Jesus showed the correct attitude at John 5:39,40;
“YOU are searching the Scriptures, because YOU think that by means of them YOU will have everlasting life; and these are the very ones that bear witness about me. 40 And yet YOU do not want to come to me that YOU may have life.â€
The message the Jehovah's Witnesses carry to the doors is predominantly about Jehovah, the Organization and the coming earthly paradise, not Jesus and the heavenly kingdom. Can it really be said that the Watchtower message is ‘Good News†when in reality it is about the coming destruction of 6 billion people at Armageddon?
Conclusion
The message of Jesus and the good news of his Kingdom is truly being preached throughout the world by Christianity. Jesus did not limit how this was to be done. The method of house to house is not prescribed, nor that it should include selling brochures, or that a monthly report is required to be considered in good standing before God.
House-to-house is not the most effective way to preach and the good news Jesus spoke about was his heavenly kingdom. Once this is understood it is clear that many religions are fulfilling this command of Christ.
Warm Christian Love
Bangalore