Question:
Why do you not go house to house teaching the Gospel when this is how the Bible tells us it should be done? Read Acts 20:20.
Answer:
“You know, from the first day that I came to Asia, in what manner I always lived among you, serving the Lord with all humility, with many tears and trials which happened to me by the plotting of the Jews; how I kept back nothing that was helpful, but proclaimed it to you, and taught you publicly and from house to house, testifying to Jews, and also to Greeks, repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.” (Acts 20:18-21)
Today, “house to house” preaching and teaching is often markedly different from what Paul is speaking of. Today, such callers go out trying to enlighten those who have no knowledge of what is being taught and are often ill-received or even shunned. Paul is speaking of what might, today, be considered pastoral visitation. He speaks of meeting with Ephesian Christians. The “you” applies to his audience “the elders of the church” at Ephesus who were receptive to the Word and who sought Paul’s counsel and respected him. Paul instructed and aided this group both in public gatherings and in private meetings. Far from rejecting or shunning Paul, these men “fell on his neck and kissed him, sorrowing…that they would see his face no more” (Acts 20:37-38).
This is an important distinction because the Bible clearly teaches that the true gospel is not intended for everyone and should not be forced upon the unwilling. Jesus speaks to such imprudent teaching when he warns not to “cast pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you in pieces” (Matt. 7:6).
There is nothing in the Bible to indicate that the ideal method of preaching and teaching is “house to house.” Under certain circumstances, it might be a desirable method; under other circumstances it might be undesirable, hence the absence of any such directive.