I sent an Elder what ChatGPT provided as explanation for Matthew 10:11 and 12. (He hasn’t responded for awhile now)

ChatGPT now has a advanced reasoning model o1. So out of curiosity, i asked: “What did Jesus mean when he said that the disciples were to search out deserving ones and go to that house?

So people believe that this is evidence that Jesus sent out the disciples to do door-to-door preaching work and find deserving ones. Some don’t. What do you think? Provide scriptural evidence for your answers:

ANSWER:

Key Scriptural References and Reasoning 1. Jesus’ Instructions to the Disciples: • Matthew 10:5–14; Luke 9:1–6; Luke 10:1–7: In these passages, when Jesus sends out the Twelve and later the Seventy-Two, He does not instruct them to knock on every door looking for an audience. Instead, He tells them to find a “worthy” home (Matthew 10:11) or a “son of peace” (Luke 10:6) and remain in that home. For example, in Luke 10:7, Jesus says, “Stay there, eating and drinking whatever they give you… Do not move around from house to house.” This actually discourages a pattern of going to every single door one by one. Instead, it implies that the disciples would rely on hospitality—staying with those who welcomed them and using that home as a base for ministry in the area. This instruction contrasts with systematic door-knocking. If Jesus had intended them to go to each door, He wouldn’t emphasize finding one home and staying put. Instead, He sets a pattern of relational, stable engagement from a single home in each town. 2. Early Church Gatherings in Homes: • Acts 2:46; Acts 5:42: These verses speak of believers meeting “from house to house.” In Acts 2:46, the context is communal life and fellowship: “They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts.” This portrays home gatherings as regular communal meals and teaching sessions rather than door-to-door evangelism. Similarly, Acts 5:42 says they “never stopped teaching and proclaiming the good news… from house to house,” but consider the wider context of Acts: the early Christians formed a close-knit community, using homes as centers for worship, instruction, and fellowship. Nowhere does this passage indicate a methodical approach of knocking on every door. Rather, it shows a pattern of teaching and encouraging existing groups of believers in various homes where people were already gathering. 3. Paul’s Reference to Going “House to House”: • Acts 20:20: When Paul speaks to the Ephesian elders, he says he did not shrink from teaching them publicly and “from house to house.” Given the context, Paul had spent years in Ephesus building and nurturing a community of believers. The phrase suggests that he taught in multiple home gatherings—house churches—rather than implying that he went down the street methodically knocking on every stranger’s door. Elsewhere, Paul frequently refers to “the church that meets in [someone’s] house” (e.g., Romans 16:5; 1 Corinthians 16:19; Colossians 4:15; Philemon 1:2). The early church commonly met in private homes because dedicated church buildings didn’t exist at that time. Paul’s pastoral visits “house to house” would have been among these established assemblies of believers or sympathizers, not random households. 4. Lack of Any Direct “Door-Knocking” Command: No New Testament passage instructs or exemplifies disciples going door-to-door in the style of a modern, territory-based preaching campaign. The closest parallels (like Jesus’ sending out of the disciples) emphasize building from a single, welcoming home rather than canvassing every residence.

Conclusion: By examining these scriptures in context, we see that “going house to house” refers to ministering within a network of receptive households—often serving as meeting places for teaching, fellowship, and worship. This differs significantly from the notion of systematically knocking on every door to preach, as practiced by some modern religious groups. The biblical model was relational, based on hospitality, and focused on nurturing and teaching within existing circles of believers or interested families, rather than conducting a door-to-door canvass of every home.