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It was probably during our first year of marriage– we were living on our own in the apartment we were renting– my wife, our cat, and I were enjoying a peaceful evening when our doorbell rang.
Standing out side was a man and he had some pamphlets in his hand. I let the man in the house, and we started to look at his material. By now, you’ve probably guessed that this man was a Jehovah’s Witness. What was strange was that I thought that these people traveled in groups of two– and here was a single guy.
At the time, I was a deacon in my church, and figured that this guy didn’t know what he had gotten himself into.
Over the next few weeks, once a week, this man came by, we had him into our house, and he and I looked at the Scriptures and compared what the Bible said to what he believed. He even brought a cat toy once for our cat. In the end, however, he stopped coming to the house– probably about the time that he figured that there was no convincing me that the Trinity was false (which is where we had started our discussion).
It wasn’t until many weeks later in a sermon that I found out that, though my heart was right, I had disobeyed a portion of scripture.
10 If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your house or give him any greeting, 11 for whoever greets him takes part in his wicked works.
You see, this passage (which teaches us what to do about false teachers) clearly tells us that if someone comes into our presence and we know that he’s teaching false doctrine, we’re not to greet him or have him in our house.
Our cultural sense recoils here. How can inviting someone into our house be that bad? No one stands around outside anymore– so how will I witness to people that come by my house?
The problem at the time of this writing and today is that we show people favor when we let them in our house– just like I show people favor when I link to them from this blog. Now if someone comes and says something wrong on this blog, I can correct it according to the Scriptures. But if all someone in the neighborhood sees is me welcoming in a Jehovah’s Witness, they do not know whether I also agree with that teaching or what that person is doing in my house– and it’s obvious when a JW is coming door to door.
John the apostle is saying that our testimony is important– we are called to live a high standard which means that when people see us as Christians we are to be ones that bring glory to God. We are not to cause anyone to doubt who we are or what we stand for.
So, I’ll talk to a JW, but only on my porch or in a public place. I won’t give them the privilege of entering into my house.
I’ve always had some question about this verse. I agree with what you are saying, but at the time, most of “church” was going on inside the homes with these pastor type people running around and teaching in different homes and strengthening the groups developing.
I am wondering if it wouldn’t be more accurate to compare the practice of inviting people into their homes to inviting a Jehovah’s Witness to come speak in your church as opposed to having them for coffee.
I don’t know…just a thought.
A friend of ours was “blacklisted” for activity similar to yours. She had them weekly, trying to convert them. Then someone higher up in the church came. Then nobody would even come to the door.
Well, Dana, there definitely is a cultural component. The question that we have to ask ourselves is whether we give aid and comfort still by bringing someone into our home. It’s a different environment, for sure, but I would tend to err on the side of caution if there’s another way to reach these people.
I know they tell the best ghost stories. : ) My parents studied with them for a year when I was little and I definitely remember the ghost stories.
OK. That was off topic…but it really did scare me as a kid. You definitely want to be cautious of what your children hear.
I’ve never let them in my home, but for years when they would come by I would accept their literature and then throw it in the trash. Then I realized that when I accepted their literature, they only came back again and again. Now that I think about it, at first I accepted their pamphlets just to see what they had to say. I was curious of what they were offering the world. I also realized that this made it appear as though I was accepting their beliefs.
A group of people came over about 2 weeks ago. Only 1 lady got out of the car. It appeared as though she had a Bible in her hand, so I greeted her. Then she tried to give me their pamphlets. This time I was completely honest with her. I told her thank you but I wasn’t interested and that we were Christians. She said it was ok, b/c they talk to people of all religions. Again, I was blunt but polite with her. I told her that there was really no need in me taking them b/c I did not share their beliefs and that I would only throw away their literature and I didn’t want to waste their money. She thanked me for my honesty and left.
I took their material the first couple of times so that I could read through and see how it synced up with the Truth. I would underline differences and hope to bring them up the next time they came around.
After my first encounter, though, all I had to do was say that the first guy came to me and he gave up and they do not return.