Back in the day of Russell and Rutherford, it was more common for people to go door to door to sell things. Let's face it, the WTS was selling books from door to door, "home bible studies" did not start until the 1940's. Whereas you don't see the Avon lady, the Watkins man, the Girl Scouts, the milkman, coming to your door, you can still see jws (BTW Mormons go door to door). Most of the previous people use the computer, the telephone, informal contacts with friends, neighbors, workmates, to do business. The WTS has been pulled kicking and screaming into the computer world but they still have d2d because it is their way of controlling their members, it is more their members not the people at the door (assuming they find any).
Why do Jehovahs Witnesses preach from house to house?
by mankkeli 34 Replies latest jw friends
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Little Imp
Because they have to
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agent zero
i agree completely with all of MrMonroe's points. those are all exactly the reasons why they do it.
but even when i was still mentally in, it was a bit of a stumbling point to me that the preaching was only done door to door. i figured that in the apostle's day, without today's technologies, perhaps going door to door was the best way to reach all the people, but i always wondered if our message is so important, urgent, and life-saving, then why aren't we making sure it's spread everywhere on billboards, radio, tv, all forms of internet (not just an official WT site, but on forums, youtube, twitter, fb, etc). the official WT line to answer that is that jesus instructed us to go door to door in pairs, and that it's also still the most effective way to reach people.. well, i never quite agreed with that, since a two-hour saturday morning outing usually boils down to some time at coffee shops, driving around, bathroom breaks, some not at homes and maybe talking to about 3 people, 2 of which say "not interested", so that doesn't seem very "effective" to me; and also i figured jesus' point wasn't so much "go door to door" as it was "get the message out there".
..but hey, if the WT says so!
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Little Imp
If in Jesus' time they went door to door in pairs and that is why it is still done this way
Why then do they use cars? Jesus didn't.
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PSacramento
The house-to-house verses that the JW's tend to quote, if one reads them in context, shows that they refer to the "house churches" of the disciples.
You will not find ANY case of "knock, knock, who's there" in the NT but you will find MANY cases of public speaking in market places and such and in the synagouges.
Note that JW's do NOT do that.
Lets look at Paul in Acts 20 and what he says:
Not that Paul makes the distinction from preaching PUBLICLLY ( from what we see in Acts it was in the market palces and the synagouges) and in their houses.
Paul Speaks to the Ephesian Elders
17 From Miletus he sent a message to Ephesus, asking the elders of the church to meet him. 18 When they came to him, he said to them:
“You yourselves know how I lived among you the entire time from the first day that I set foot in Asia, 19 serving the Lord with all humility and with tears, enduring the trials that came to me through the plots of the Jews. 20 I did not shrink from doing anything helpful, proclaiming the message to you and teaching you publicly and from house to house, 21 as I testified to both Jews and Greeks about repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus.
He taught them in their homes, going from one "house church" to another.
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PSacramento
When I think of the JW preaching Ithink of this part:
15 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you cross sea and land to make a single convert, and you make the new convert twice as much a child of hell e as yourselves.
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Reality79
JWs go door to door because they HAVE to, because they are pressured and bullied into going. If they passed a decree tomorrow that it wasn't a requirement for salvation, no one would go out.
Exactly. I used to be a pioneer and even then I HATED the door to door work and always felt embarassed and uncomfortable doing it. It just never felt right.I hate to impose on people for anything.
You would think that in 2011 they would use other alternatives like radio, TV, internet (not that joke of a website they have now) to get their fake message out there, but no. That costs money you see, and the top dogs wouldn't be able to enjoy all the luxuries they currently have. Now that I'm out the hellhole and I see JWs going D2D - especially the ones working by themselves who are probably the despondent, mistreated unpopular ones - I feel really bad for them.
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MrFreeze
Thank Jehoover I don't have to do that crap anymore. I hate the fact that I used to go out and bother people at all. If JW's only knew how much of an embarassment their "work" was...
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agent zero
If JW's only knew how much of an embarassment their "work" was...
i'm pretty sure most of them DO know that. but they continue doing it out of obligation, expectation, and status. additionally, it can give a sense of pride and accomplishment participating in a cause you [mostly] believe in DESPITE feeling slightly embarassed.
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gin
Preaching from house to house does not work, most JW's are either born into it, or recruited into it by friends. So why do it? Why is the organisation so keen? Because it reinforces your 'otherness' from everyone around you. It also is a statement of - I know more than you do. I'm cleverer than you because I've worked out the hidden message of the bible and you're too stupid, prejudiced, wicked to do so. So that awful feeling you go through as a child, when you've knocked on the door of someone in your class, forces you to accept that you CANNOT ever be like others. Later when your brainwashing has been completed, you replace that with a feeling of smugness. Look at me, God loves me, but he doesn't even like you. You're rubbish. You don't have the wit to get yourself down to the Kingdom Hall and hang out with the good people. It's not about helping others to see 'the truth', it's about reinforcing your identity as a good, clever, wise, wonderful person, at the same time as making any sort of real contact with anyone outside impossible. You can't pretend to be normal. Not when everyone knows what you spend Saturday (or all week} doing.