ANSWER:
We read in Acts 20:46, “So continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they [the twelve apostles and other disciples] ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart.” Notice that these people were all in harmony. They continued daily with “one accord.” They were all of the same belief. This verse is simply talking about people who ate together as one might have close friends over to his house. It says nothing about preaching to strangers.
In this instance, a large number of people, from many nations, had congregated at Jerusalem to attend one of God’s annual festivals – Pentecost. Because they had traveled a long distance, and because they had no home in Jerusalem, the brethren who lived there invited them to come to their homes and eat. Eating an ordinary meal is referred to as “breaking bread” in several Bible verses. The converted brethren ate in the homes of other converted brethren. They were not preaching in the homes of the unconverted.
In addition, notice that “Paul dwelt two whole years in his own rented house, and received all who came to him, preaching the kingdom of God and teaching the things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ with all confidence, no one forbidding him” (Acts 28:30-31). The apostle was simply doing what Jesus had commanded His true servant to preach. Paul did not go from house to house preaching to disinterested sinners and unconverted people. He preached to them in the synagogue. He went into private homes to instruct people only after he knew he was welcome. He understood the principle of John 6:44 where Jesus said, “No one can come to Me except the Father who sent Me draws him…” Paul visited the homes of those seeking counsel and information about God’s Word. But it was at the request of the people concerned.
As in the example given in the New Testament, we go into the homes of people who request that we do so to counsel with them. But we do not go uninvited into the homes of people to try to persuade and teach them Bible truths. We should never attempt to force God’s truth on anyone. In Matthew 7:6, Christ showed that the truth is too precious for that. He said, “Do not give what is holy to the dogs; nor cast your pearls before the swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you in pieces.”
Another misunderstood Scripture is Acts 20:20. One might assume from reading Acts 20:20 that the apostle Paul went from house to house to preach the Gospel to the unconverted. However, when we read the entire paragraph, beginning with verse 17, we can understand the intended meaning.
In verse 17 we see who the apostle Paul was speaking to. “From Miletus he sent to Ephesus, and called for the elders of the church. And when they had come to him, he said to them: ‘You know from the first day that I came to Asia, in what manner I always lived among you, serving the Lord with all humility, with many tears and trials which happened to me by the plotting of the Jews, and how I kept back nothing that was helpful, but proclaimed it to you, and taught you publicly and from house to house’” (Acts 20:17-20). Paul was teaching the leaders of the Church in their own homes. He was not going from house to house – attempting to teach whoever opened the door.
Therefore we are not to go from house to house preaching. This is the example of Jesus Christ, the twelve apostles, and the apostle Paul.
