Some of you can get the best product that can be sold door to door. Then you go out, not to preach Christ but as a salesman. Most people would open the door for a salesman. You should sell the product very cheap. You can show them that you get only five percent discount, and you would give this five percent to them. After the deal is made, you say, “I sold this to you so cheap because I am not for selling; I am for preaching Christ.” Give them one of your name cards, and ask for a few minutes to speak to them. Most buyers would give you some time. Then after a little talk, you can make an appointment to come back. This is another way to reach people with the gospel.
No one’s door is closed forever. People open their doors nearly every day, but we must find a way to keep them open. One brother told us that he visited an upper-middle-class community, and no one would open their door because no one knew him. So he began to visit that neighborhood regularly, not to knock on doors but simply to walk back and forth. Many of the residents saw him quite often in that neighborhood, and eventually someone talked to him and opened to him. If you can get one person to invite you into his home, after two or three weeks, some others may also be open to you.
Another way to reach people is to form a singing team of about six saints and go to an upper-class community. Sing proper Christmas songs throughout the neighborhood at about seven o’clock in the evening. Maybe they would be eating or just finishing their dinner. Then go the second night and sing again. Go every night for one week and see what will happen. You may not need to knock on any doors. Some will come out and say: “You have nice singing, marvelous singing. We all like it. We would like to know who you are.” By this way, some doors will be opened to you.
We should not be bound to any one way in our gospel preaching. The Lord will not lead us in only one way. In Luke 14, first the lord charged his servant to go to the streets and lanes of the city (v. 21). The servant came back and said, “What you have commanded has been done, and still there is room” (v. 22). Then his lord said, “Go out into the roads and hedges” (v. 23). The Lord is flexible, and He changes His leading. To visit and talk to people is much easier on the streets and in the lanes of the city than on the roads, the highways. To whom can we talk on the highway? We could wait there for someone to run out of gasoline and stop right in front of us. That would be a good chance to talk to that person. If we are wise, we would have prepared some water so we can say: “Sir, are you thirsty? I have some water.”
We may think, “How could I meet a person in this way every week?” But in fifty-two weeks, we can meet one. If we go out once a week to stand beside the highway just waiting for someone to run out of gas, for fifty-two weeks, we can be sure we will meet one person. Even if we do not meet one, the Lord will surely consider us to be faithful servants. We must also pray, “O Lord, send me one.” The Lord will answer us; He will send us one. This dear one who was driving the car may have his cousin with him, so we will also meet his cousin.
One thing is for sure. If we stay at home, we will gain nothing. We have been at home for years. Who did we reach with the gospel? It is worthwhile for us to pursue any way by which we can minister Christ to others. However, our crucial need is not a way but a desperation to gain someone for Christ. We must be desperate. We should not tolerate our barrenness. If we do not bear fruit, the Lord will cut us off from His enjoyment, and He will judge and punish us at His coming. It is a necessity that we preach the gospel, for woe unto us if we do not (1 Cor. 9:16). If we are desperate, surely the Lord will give us a saved sinner to offer up as a sacrifice to God.
If all the saints had been practicing the door-knocking since it was introduced in 1986, I believe all the churches would have doubled by now, but the Devil has been working to damage the saints and destroy their faith by putting doubt into their hearts. We must tell the Devil that we do not have the time nor the ear to hear all this nonsensical talk. We would rather be desperate and go out to reach people. I believe our Lord, the Lord whom we serve, will be happy to see this.
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