The April 15, 2007 watchtower revolves around the congregation, it's benefits and requirements.
The second study article is Let The Congregation Be Built Up
Under the subheading Sticking With The Congregation the Society acknowledges those who cannot accept a certain teaching even after doing research in their publications.
para 14 Consider another possibility involving the congregation. Suppose that a person finds a Scriptual teaching hard to understand and accept. He may
have done research in the Bible and in publications available through the congregation and sought help from mature Christians, even elders. Still, he has a
hard time grasping or accepting the point. What can he do? Something similar developed about a year before Jesus died. He said that he was "the bread
of life" and that to live forever a person had to "eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood." That shocked some of his disciples. Rather than seek
an explanation or simply wait in faith, many disciples "would no longer walk with [Jesus]." Again, had we been there, what would we have done?
This paragraph is very telling. They accept that some cannot accept "teachings unique to Jehovah's Witnesses" even after doing research in their own publications.
Yet they insist that we wait on them in faith and have the audacity to compare their teachings with one instance where something Jesus said did not go down
well with the public. It's pretty obvious where this is leading to.
para 15 In modern times, some have ceased associating with the local congregation, feeling that they will serve God on their own. They may say that it is because
their feelings were hurt, saying they think a wrong is not being corrected, or they cannot accept some teaching. How reasonable is their course? While it is true
that each Christian should have a personal relationship with God, we cannot deny that he is using a worldwide congregation as he did in the apostles' day.
Furthermore, Jehovah used and blessed local congregations in the first century, arranging for qualified elders and ministerial servants to benefit the congregations.
That is also true of today.
So, they finally admit that many have a hard time accepting their false teachings or because they were hurt by a wrong not being corrected. The Society blame
them for wanting to go their own way and yet they insist they are the true congregation.
para 16 If a Christian feels that he can rely just on his own relationship with God, he is turning away from a God-ordained arrangement - that of both the worldwide
congregation and the local congregations of Jehoavh's people. The individual might go off on his own or be associating with just a few others, but where is the
arrangement for congregation elders and ministerial servants? Significantly, when Paul wrote to the congregation in Colossae and directed that the letter be read
also in Laodicea, he spoke of being "rooted and being built up in [Christ]." Those in the congregations, not individuals who separated themselves from such,
would benefit from this.
The Society must be reading this board and others like it to acknowledge that people are leaving and forming thier own groups. Where does it say that a congregation
must have elders and servants? Are there no JW congs. with only sisters to take the lead? Doesn't the Bible say that "where there are two or three in my midst, there I am"
referring to Jesus' spirit? This paragraph is an attack on those who cannot accept the weird teachings of the Society and who leave the cult and join another religion.
It is interesting to note that the April 1, 2007 WT under the study article Humbly Submitting To Loving Shepherds the Society have this to say about one of their
own princes who go astray:
para 16 At times, an elder may not do things as directed by the faithful slave class and its Governing Body. If he continues acting this way, he will have to render an account
to Jehovah, "the shepherd and overseer of [our] souls." But any failure or mistakes on the part of certain elders would not justify an insubordinate attitude on our part.
Jehovah does not bless disobedience and rebellion.
So if an elder abuses a child, he can get away with it until eventually found out by the authorities, if the case even comes to prosecution. Yet, the victim MUST continue
to attend meetings at the Kingdom Hall and be submissive. How many bad elders do you know who have rendered an account to Jehovah? None at all. In all cases,
has it been obvious that Jehovah has responded to the cry of the afflcited one and the "fatherless boy?" This paragrpah is damage control at its finest. If you leave
the congregation you're damned and if you stay you're damned.
para 9 What, though, if we are not convinced that in a certain case the elders' direction is the best way of doing things? That is where submission comes into play. It is
easy to obey when everything is clear and we agree but we will show that we are truly submissive if we yield even when we do not personally understand the direction
provided.
Again, this paragraph smacks of damage control. Rather than have compassion for the abused sheep, the Society is hell bent on destroying their lives by forcing them to
accept whatever outcome happens for the best.
If these kind of articles are anything to go by in the "priavte edition of the Watchtower" beginning in 2008, then we are in for a very bad time indeed.
