"Woe is me" -- so say the JW's

Gopher

The way we were taught as Jehovah's Witnesses made us think EVERYONE who didn't evangelize was in deep trouble. 1 Corinthians 9:16 was often quoted at us by every travelling overseer who wanted to exhort the congregation, and that verse says in part, "Necessity is laid upon me. Really woe is me if I did not declare the good news!"

See Paul said we are in trouble if we don't evangelize. Or did he? Didn't Paul have a special commission to preach to the nations? If he didn't carry out that special commission that he had committed to (commission = you made a commitment), THEN he would be breaking a promise.

But the JW's use 1 Corinthians 9:16 to apply universally to all church/congregation members. Why? The answer should be obvious to regular readers of the board, but it has to do with power and money.

Paul, wrote 1 Corinthians 9:16, also wrote Ephesians 4:11, which says in part, "He gave SOME as evangelizers, ... SOME as teachers". If everyone had to be an evangelizer and a teacher, why would this verse be worded that way? Contrast that to verse 13 later in the same chapter where Paul refers to "all" Christians, and we know SOME does not equal "all".

Doesn't it feel like the scripture is being manipulated, and also the general population of the congregation is being manipulated by the twisting of the "woe is me" phrase in 1 Cor. 9:16??

LyinEyes

Very good points , Gopher, wish you would have reasoned this to me back in the day when service was life or death..haha

Woe is me,,,,, yeah I thought of that everytime I HAD to go in service, Woe is me for the heat, the crying kids, the hot car seats, pantyhose ( you poor men with ties), and God my feet hurt.

Seriously, I always wondered about he scripture that said, "some are teachers" etc. Every time I had to get up and give a talk I felt like a fool, would have a near panic attack and hated it so bad. I did actually good, but for weeks I worked on it, and practiced, and obsessed over it. See I was not a teacher, but my hubby Wild Turkey was a teacher, he was so wonderful at it. We lived in a small congregation so the brothers had many meeting parts . Denny would come in from work at the last min. and work up a talk , or most of the time do it when he got to the meeting. Sometimes he just went up there and relied on his memory from other public talks etc. he did. I would have died of a heart attack to have to get up there like that. And his parts were always the best, lively and funny.

I know it sounds like I am braggin'. cause I am,,,, he was a teacher and I am sure the friends still at the hall miss him terribly. I can just imagine how boring those parts must be. He really did love the friends and I think that is one thing that bothers him, who will stand up for them now that he is gone. He was always one of those elders who would not get too personal when someone came to him and was such a comfort to those ones. I just hate to see what the congregations are turning to now, all the best teachers are leaving.

jgnat

This one-job theology puzzled me, too. 1 Corinthians 12 talks about the MANY parts of the body, each with its own task, none more or less important than the other. But ALL the WT jobs are speaking parts.

If the WTS were a visible body, it would be a freak, with no hands, feet, or ears. A tiny head, and 6 million mouths.

Gopher

Yeah it's true, LE, that due to their shortsightedness and hardheartedness, the Society is driving away a lot of their best-quality people like Denny. I'm sure there are a bunch of "yes men" left in your old congregation who will give them some of that "tough love".

minimus

gopher, I've expressed your comments many times as to why I don't think EVERYONE is an evangelizer.

Gopher

Yeah minimus, I appreciate that.

I was coming from the GUILT angle that the JW's use to "persuade" people that the ministry work is vital, so that everyone (even children who can barely walk) are required to participate. 1 Cor. 9:16 is often used as a "do more" bludgeon scripture.

bigboi

But the JW's use 1 Corinthians 9:16 to apply universally to all church/congregation members. Why? The answer should be obvious to regular readers of the board, but it has to do with power and money.

Why, u ask? Well, how else would they be able to push all that literature for a small donation or still in most branches for a set price? Farkel once posted an essay that was one of the most on point I've ever read. In it he showed just how much of an effect Jw literature has on the religion. Without all those mags, books, booklets etc... the enitre jw culture would be changed beyond recognition. It would cease to exist as it is currently.

ONE....

bigboi

Dismembered

"Woe is me" -- so say the JW's

Translation: get out there on the perpetual membership drive or your dead. What a bunch of bull night soil.

Dismembered, but not Dismembered

Gopher

Without all those mags, books, booklets etc... the enitre jw culture would be changed beyond recognition. It would cease to exist as it is currently.

We can only hope!

But really, how much longer can they keep creating new literature out of the old stuff? They haven't had an original thought in Brooklyn in a long time.

HappyHeathen

How I felt for some brothers (and sisters) who were forced into public speaking but weren't suited for it, weren't good at it, and should have been spared the humiliation. But NO, in this bizarre little cult, everyone had to be a "teacher." This was one way I secretly thought other religions had it right. Let those with the inclination and talent be the teachers because EVERYONE benefits, especially the students. One reason the meetings were so enormously boring came from having to listen to speakers who had no business or desire to be up on the platform! It took much of the delight and joy out of worship and reduced meetings to just going through the motions -- very tediously. Just another way the GB is so out of touch with what really goes on in the congregation.

"Woe is me" -- so say the JW's

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