The paragraph says:
Who, then, is the faithful and discreet slave? . . . that slave is made up of a small group of anointed brothers who are directly involved in preparing and dispensing
spiritual food during Christ’s presence.
My thoughts:
It is kind of ironic that the teaching has changed to mean that only a small group are actually involved in preparing and dispensing food during Christ’s presence.
In 1981 there was a big scandal in Brooklyn. The editor of the Awake left the organization, the registrar and co-author of the Gilead school left, one of the members of the Governing body left along with more than 200 others. One of the points that those that left agreed on was that the faithful slave really did not “represent” the 144,000.
In response to this there was a very direct Watchtower article condemning those who held this viewpoint as “objectors”. Here is part of that article:
"Witnesses of Jehovah understand that the "slave" is comprised of all anointed Christians as a group on earth at any given time during the 19 centuries since Pentecost. Accordingly, the "domestics" are these followers of Christ as individuals.
Some readers may feel that this is a rather sectarian view of matters. Or they may object to the idea that the "slave" and the "domestics" represent the same class, one as a composite body and the other as individuals. The objectors may argue that not all of Christ's anointed disciples have a share in preparing the spiritual food, so that perhaps the "slave" pictures only the leading ones, and the "domestics" those they serve in the congregation.
There is no point in trying to force an interpretation of the parable. Self-deception is of no benefit and is spiritually damaging. Therefore, we must look to the Scriptures for an understanding. In doing this, what do we find?
[ ... ]Thus we see a clear Scriptural basis for saying that all anointed followers of Christ Jesus make up God's "servant," with Jesus as its Master." Watchtower 1981 Mar 1 pp.24-26
Notice that last sentence above? That is proof positive that they can use the scriptures to prove or disprove whatever they want to. Let's break this down to its basics.
1. So called "apostates" claim that the only the governing body is truly the "faithful slave", and the 144,000 anointed can not be part of it because they are not involved "feeding".
2. They are condemned as apostates, called objectors, thought of as disloyal.
3. The governing body prints a Watchtower (spiritual food) that says that there is a "clear scriptural basis for saying all anointed followers of Christ Jesus" are part of the "slave".
4. Move forward 32 years. The governing body prints another Watchtower, this time saying the exact opposite thing. Now we are shown scripture after scripture that proves that the anointed are NOT part of the "slave"
Is this really light getting brighter? We know the scriptures didn't change, we know that Jehovah does not change, and we know that the truth does not change. Were the governing body telling the truth the first time? Are they telling the truth now? How are we supposed to know?
I think this food has a little bit of a bad odor coming off of it.