Hello.
I am not a JW, never have been. I do have several former JW friends. From my understanding, the WTS org. is loving with strict conditions. Loving, Most of all, when they are trying to indoctrinate a new member, and after, only if you continue to jump through their WT hoops. The love and friendship often come with agendas and conditions attached.
I can say, just like you, that the people in many of the chuches I have been involved with are very loving and have helped me also. It is true! Even though the churches have different names, styles of music, etc..., they are all part of the same body, which is Christ. No where in the Bible does it say we are to look for a perfect organization. We are to look to Jesus and follow Him. (If you rea the context of the verses quoted to support the WT org. theory, you will find that they relate to JESUS. Not an organization at alll!) Organizations are formed and run by fallible people. They make mistakes, they have agendas. They are not perfect. Jesus is.
Sometimes we can so closely relate a religious organization to God, that we become disheartened with God when that religion fails us. But God did not fail. The people may have, but God did not. My JW friend was very upset with me for pointing out that the WTS taught Jesus came back in 1874, but now teach He returned in 1914. I asked who made the mistake. God doesn't make mistakes! It had to be a person's perception. She chewed me up one side and down the other and let me know how flawed other religions are. I should know who runs them, etc... So, I asked the obvious: Who run's the WTS? What are their names? Howmany are there? Where are they from? How were they chosen? Then, suddenely it was okay NOT to know. She could walk right past one in the KH and never know it. Is that a suitable reason for others not to know who their leaders are? Ah...see the double standard?! No religion isperfect. See who Jesus admonishes most--it is religious leaders! So concerned about rules and regulations, they have no genuine love to give those who need it most.
The difference between the WTS and the churches I spoke of earlier, is that when I decided that I needed to move to another church, I did not lose any of my friends. I expanded them! No one ever shunned me. I can walk back in any of my former churches to open arms, and we share what has been going on in our individual lives. We don't criticize or shun one another. I didn't leave the Christian faith. I left a building of people, to go where I needed to be next. Circumstances change in our lives, so sometimes we have to go to other places for many reasons. We are not cookie cutter people. We are all different with a variety of gifts to offer. God will move us to stretch us sometimes.
Personally, I felt very used by my JW friend. She spent lots of time with me, but I later found out it was because she was able to count our time together, our phone conversations, even our emails, as a notch in her JW time card. It made her look good to her publishing company, basically. When I showed no signs of converting (the WTS cannot offer me better than I have- a secure salvation), she dumped me. She still contacts me once in awhile, but since I cannot be counted as time on her card, we no longer go to lunch, or anything! Was that genuine love? I did not count my time with her. I truly wanted to spend time with her. Where does the Bible say we are to keep track of time spent with potential converts? Isn't that silly, when you think about it? Not very nice, when someone like me finds out about it. But I still love her and wish her the best.
I hope you understand, that all the WTS says about other religions is not true. We are not all part of the WCC. There are many Bible-believing Christians who do not fall in the catagory of Babylon The Great. I pray Yahweh blesses you in your search.
Whyizit
