Home and Visiting Teaching - Teaching Optional?

I just had a Home Teaching appointment that was, in my opinion, a big success. We commiserated about invasive pests, we chatted about each other's occupations, and we exchanged a few laughs. My companion and I also shared a brief message, but that quickly became a discussion, and the discussion, I think, was far more important than the message. In fact, it seemed like the most important part of our visit was the fact that we came and visited at all.

The purpose of Home and Visiting Teaching isn't just to dispense Gospel-themed messages. Maybe some people who don't get to church very often need their Home and Visiting Teachers to actually teach them, but I think that the message is usually just a device. It invites the Spirit and starts a discussion, and that is far more important than just teaching doctrine.

I think that most of the good that comes out of Home and Visiting Teaching comes through letting the families know that there are people who care about them enough to visit them, ask them how they're doing, and offer to help them with their challenges. You don't need to teach a Gospel lesson to someone to let them know you care, and just teaching them a lesson isn't enough to show you care. Teaching Gospel messages is a part of Home and Visiting Teaching, but it's just one part, and, in my opinion, it's not the most important part. It may be that the most important part is simply being there.

I'll admit that this Home Teaching visit wouldn't have gone as well as it did without the Gospel message, because the message sparked a discussion which I think was fairly important to have. But the message itself was not very important. Any other way to start that conversation might have worked out just as well. On the other hand, I think that sharing Gospel messages is a good way to start important conversations, so we certainly shouldn't do away with teaching altogether. It just shouldn't be the entire focus of our visits. The main focus of these visits is to watch over the church and to make sure its members are getting the help they need. If you're doing that, then maybe it doesn't matter so much whether you teach them a lesson or not.