"The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field. (Matthew 13:44 NIV)In reflecting on my experience when I do door to door evangelism, it’s one thing when someone answers the door and listens to you even so briefly and then declines. However, I sometimes think about those who answer the door and who immediately decline when I identify myself as an evangelist. To put it in very secular terms: there I am standing at the door ready to offer them something that is worth far more than the richest winning lottery ticket in history, and when I identify myself with the ticket visually in hand (the Bible), they respond, “I’m not interested”. I always say “…no problem” and “thank you very much” and then I move on.
The words spoken in red above was by Jesus Christ. The Lord Himself.
Can you imagine the reaction of those who reject the message of Christ or the opportunity to hear the message of Christ on the Day of Judgment that God himself says is undoubtedly coming? The Lord made it so that you don’t necessarily have to imagine. Here’s another story from the Bible told by Jesus in Luke Chapter 16:
“There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and lived in luxury every day.
At his gate was laid a beggar named Lazarus, covered with sores and longing to eat what fell from the rich man’s table. Even the dogs came and licked his sores.
“The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried. In Hades, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side. So he called to him, ‘Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire.’
“But Abraham replied, ‘Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in agony. And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been set in place, so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us.’
“He answered, ‘Then I beg you, father, send Lazarus to my family, for I have five brothers. Let him warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.’
“Abraham replied, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them listen to them.’
“‘No, father Abraham,’ he said, ‘but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.’
“He said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.’”
(Luke 16:19-31)
Unfortunately, a lot of people come to your door “selling something”. There are those who are “selling their religion”. Based on my own experience as the door answerer, most of those who arrive at my door talking about religion rarely talk about Christ. The may want you to know about their religious leader or their religious rules; the emphasis seems to be on other things as opposed to Jesus Christ as the only One who saves you from the torment described in the Luke scripture above. My own feeling is that all who knock on your door are worthy of at least a second of your time and if needed a polite decline. However, one day someone at your door may be talking about Christ as their main point of emphasis. If so, think of it like the man in the scripture at the beginning of this post. That man sold everything to own that treasure.