Having attended this summer's district convention, I'm confused. Has a kinder, gentler Jehovah emerged?
Acquiring An Obedient Heart-Is It Possible? Even wicked ones who have a bad heart (2 Chron. 33:6 re: King Manasseh) can be adjusted. From verses 12 and 15-16 of that chapter, we can glean that Jehovah obviously focuses on our heart condition and not on a single act of disobedience. The accounts of David's sin with Bathsheba and the turnaround of King Manasseh are in the bible for a reason--to show us that Jehovah is ready to forgive past sins. Jehovah doesn't want us to beat ourselves up over past sins, but wants us to move forward (and with no mention of the necessity of a confession either to God or to a judicial committee in order to accomplish that).
Do You Have A Balanced View of Yourselves? Many of us think too little of ourselves. 2 Samuel 24:10 says that David's heart began to beat him after his sin with Bathsheba. The speaker then said, "But sometimes your heart continues to beat you up long after it should stop." More words of comfort followed, but again, there was no call to confess.
Symposium: Guard Your Heart Against the Words of the Flesh/Fornication, Uncleanness, and Brazen Conduct. A more tolerant view toward homosexuals? Sort of. While still hating the sin (homosexuality), we imitate God in his view of the person practicing the wrong: "Let it be known that we honor men and women of all sorts, regardless of their sexual orientation." The speaker said that the bible doesn't comment on genetic issues and so the organization likewise can make no comment on that aspect of the issue, but homosexuals can be held to the same standard as heterosexual single persons: they can choose not to act upon their urges.
God Is Greater Than Our Hearts. Many times we are too self-critical, we over-estimate what Jehovah expects of us, and we feel guilty over past sins. We are reminded of Ps 38:4-10, where it says that Jehovah puts our sins so far away from himself that it is like from the sunrise to the sunset. God is, according to 1 John 3:19-20, "greater than our hearts." Jehovah sees, not just what we do, but he searches our hearts for right inclinations and recognizes more than just our imperfect actions. He sees our potential for good as well as our bent toward badness.Jehovah knows our genetics and our circumstances and takes these things into consideration. He knows that many of us want to do better, but like the apostle Paul, we oftentimes fall short.
Symposium: Serve Jehovah With Your Whole Heart, As Did...Peter. When Peter denied Jesus three times, it was not because he was a wicked person; he was simply caught off guard. Jesus was able to see past this momentary indiscretion, as evidenced by the fact that he appeared to Peter one-on-one soon thereafter; obviously a sign of his forgiveness toward him. Peter rejoined the rest of the apostles and disciples and picked up where he left off in the ministry rather than tucking his tail and running because of his sin. We can imitate Peter when, even having committed a grave sin, we immediately seek out association with our spiritual brothers and sisters at the meetings. We can't allow a grave sin to paralyze us; rather we must continue to move ahead. We must repent and receive forgiveness, not sit around and punish ourselves. When we fall, what matters most is not the depth of our fall but the strength that we show in getting up. After all, Prov. 24:16 says that righteous will fall seven times!
Are you as confused as I? Is this the "new" Jehovah? Has the WTS reinvented him to be more tolerant of our foibles, and even our "grave sins"? I was especially surprised by the comment, "Jehovah knows our genetics and our circumstances and takes these things into consideration." Has the WTS ever before admitted that genetics and circumstances (or nature and nurture) might come into play when it comes to our ability to follow their rigid code of conduct? Seems to me in the past their stance was, "No excuse!"