Does Door to Door Soulwinning Still Work?[Soulwinning Tips]

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 People often say that soulwinning is no longer an effective way of getting people saved or doing outreach. They say soulwinning is “outdated” or that it simply “does not work in our culture today.” Let me be straight up with you. If there was a more effective way of getting people saved than just approaching their door uninvited and dealing with the awkwardness that brings, I would jump on that opportunity in a heartbeat. I actually don’t really enjoy knocking on strangers doors and asking them personal questions about their beliefs and where they will spend eternity after they die. However, here is the thing: I do not believe that there is a more effective way to bring people to Christ than going door to door soulwining. I am not saying that people do not get saved in other ways, I have tried and have had success witnessing to people in other ways besides door knocking. I am saying that I have yet to find something that gets the results of door to door gospel preaching. It simply works. 

Now, of course when people say that soulwinnning no longer works they are referring to going door-to-door in hopes of finding a person who wants to hear the gospel and be saved. People typically are not referring to preaching the gospel in general. No Christian today is going to say we shouldn't be preaching the gospel. The gospel will always be relevant. The gospel will always work. We are all saved by coming to the truth of the gospel. So people's real problem is not with “soulwinning” or preaching the gospel to others, but their problem is with the approach of going door-to-door. Maybe it is because they are scared to do it, or maybe they really do just feel that it does not work in our day and age. Either way, I must say that I strongly disagree. Door to door soulwinning still works and should be incorporated into the life of every believer. 

Now, let me say this: Biblically speaking, do you absolutely HAVE to go door to door in order to preach the gospel? I would say it’s not super clear from scripture that this is how you HAVE to do things. So no. I won’t sit and tell you that you must go door to door. I won’t sit and tell you that you are not right with God if you do not go door to door soul winning. However, if you never attempt to tell others about Jesus, I will say in love, brother or sister, you are not right with God. This is not a job for a pastor, or a deacon, or missionary, or church staff..this is a responsibility that every Christian has.

1 Thessalonians 2:4 But as we were allowed of God to be put in trust with the gospel, even so we speak; not as pleasing men, but God, which trieth our hearts.

1 Corinthians 9:16 For though I preach the gospel, I have nothing to glory of: for necessity is laid upon me; yea, woe is unto me, if I preach not the gospel!

This isn't me trying to beat anyone up for not being like me, but it’s clear that God wants us to tell others about Jesus and how they can be saved. Now,  I have tried different ways of reaching people with the gospel, but from my experience door to door soul winning appears to be the most effective by a longshot.  Contrary to popular belief, it still works. There are two major reasons (besides it simply being effective) that I feel are compelling enough that  Christians should not throw out door to door soulwinning:

1.Planned soulwinning  forces you to be purposeful in your approach to reaching the lost. 

You get up everyday and go to work because you know that's what you should be doing and you plan on doing it. You have a schedule. Now, I am all for telling others about Jesus when the moment arises at the grocery store, or the basketball game, or at work. Those spontaneous moments are real and I believe when God sets up those divine appointments you should be willing to act on those. But honestly, out of all the people who claim that this is their primary means of going out into the world and preaching the gospel to every creature, how many of them are actually getting people saved? Is it one a year? Is it one every few years? Is every Christian actually making a solid attempt to tell others about Jesus? If you are, then seriously, God bless you. That is amazing. Thank you! But I think that sadly most Christians probably are not doing this in their everyday lives like they would say they are. For the record, I don’t mean mentioning God or going to church or something spiritual to a person. I mean absolutely making an attempt to walk them through the plan of salvation in the hopes of them getting saved.  In my opinion I feel like some Christins today either do not know how to preach the gospel in a thorough and complete way, or they are simply scared, or they just do not care about others going to heaven. 

2. Systematic door knocking provides more people an opportunity to hear.

More than simply walking down the street or going to parks, actually taking the time to make a map of houses and streets in a certain area of town will cause you to give the gospel to more people than you could at random. This of course should be done prayerfully and Spirit led when possible. Even when we don’t feel like God is a part of this planning process I truly think He is. I believe if you put forth some thought while making maps (does this look receptive? Does the route make sense? Do our people have a place to park?) God will bless your effort you are putting in. Systematic door knocking is a better approach than just leaving it all up to time and chance because you won't always find that person desiring to know how to go to heaven at the grocery store, or mall, or the park. However, everybody lives somewhere. You can certainly find that person at their home. On this note, real fast I would recommend if you are leading a group for soulwinning, it is a good idea to meet at the actual location/map you are working on. Meeting at the church building wastes a lot of time that could be used actually preaching the gospel. In my opinion there is absolutely zero benefit of meeting at the church before going to the location. If you want more clarification on this or other soulwinning tips in general, please do not hesitate to reach out. 

Now, in regards to preaching the gospel, I am tring to be cear that I think door knocking is the most effective. However, I am all for setting up a booth or approaching somebody on the street, or at a park or some other means of getting the gospel to people if that is the way you choose to preach the gospel. And if somebody shows me a more effective way than going door to door I will do it. I personally do not think there is a more effective approach. Yes, door to door soulwinning can be uncomfortable, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t do it. If we truly love the lost, we should be doing everything that we can to bring them to Christ, even if that means going outside of our comfort zone. Whatever is the most effective method, that  is what we should spend the majority of our time doing.

Are people sometimes rude? Of course. But we must love these people. Our love for God and His desire to save others should cause us to get over ourselves for an hour or so and get out there in the highways and hedges and try and make a difference for God’s kingdom. You might get cursed at, you might get the cops called on you, they might roll their eyes at you, but at the end of the day when that one person you have been praying to find calls upon the name of the Lord you will be glad you went. When you see that person in heaven someday while you're both worshiping the Lord together, you will be glad you went. At the end of the day, even when weeks go by where nobody gets saved, nobody wants to listen, cops are called, I'm cussed out, at least I can lay my head down at night and know that I told a complete stranger that Jesus loves them so much. At least I know I showed my wife and my kids that we should love people out there and care enough about their souls to go out and be a little uncomfortable. And we love them enough to try and pull them out of the fire. Soulwinning still works my friend.

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