Just passing this on:
Posted by GregStafford on Sat - Jan
18 - 3:02pm: (Written on the ChannelC.org forum)
Hello,
I frequently get emails from Jehovah's Witnesses who are concerned about
certain teachings or policies in the organization, but who are left
asking, "Even if I think there are significant problems in the
organization, where else would I go if I left or if I am disfellowshiped
for speaking out against false teachings and abusive policies?"
Since this point comes up more than any other in the emails I receive, I
thought it might be helpful to post some thoughts on this question by
copying an email I recently sent to a concerned brother. I will keep his
name confidential, of course.
Dear *******:
Sorry for the delay in responding to your last email.
I am glad to hear that you have some positive leads on how to proceed
with your situation.
Regarding the first century Christians, what we have is a situation
where Christ's followers constantly battled for the truth and for sake
of the good news. This battle often involved confronting
persons inside the Christian Congregation who were speaking falsely.
Indeed, Paul went so far as
to write that if he, an inspired apostle, or an angel of light, spoke
differently from what they had
already been taught, then they should be rejected Galatians 1:8-9).
So there was a freedom among first century Christians to reject those
who taught error, and to hold true to one's conscience without fear of
being shunned. That freedom does not exist in the congregations of
Jehovah's Witnesses today.
As for the PAROUSIA, we do not know when this event will begin, or if it
has begun already. Therefore, we cannot use it as a sure basis upon
which to act. We must act according to what the Bible teaches and let it
be our guide. Assuming that God has established an organization today
because we may be in the period of the PAROUSIA ignores the fact that
God's chosen organizations of the past have all fallen into periods of
apostasy.
Therefore, the question is not whether or not God has an organization
today, but whether the organization we think is his has fallen into
doctrinal error. If we truly believe the Watchtower Society represents
Jehovah's will on earth, then we should be the most concerned of all
people if we find that errors are being taught. Yet, the thinking of
some Witnesses is that if it is God's organization we should ignore the
errors because it is God's organization!
That, to me, is incredible, and does not conform to the biblical pattern
where we find God and Christ Jesus approving of individual members of
their organizations (Jewish and Christian) who reacted to false
teachings and unholy policies that harmed God's people and that did not
represent his will. (Compare Jesus' words to the members of the
congregation in Ephesus, in Revelation 2:1-2.)
Whether the "dragnet" is still pulling as it was during the Middle Ages,
who can say? As Christians, we are called to imitate Christ and Christ
held truth to be paramount: "For this reason I have been born and for
this I have come into the world, that I should bear witness to the
truth. Everyone that is on the side of the truth listens to my voice"
(John 18:37).
Paul taught Christians to'obey truth' (Galatians 5:7), and to be
"pillars in support of the truth" (1 Timothy 3:15). In Titus1:14
"commandments of men" are directly contrasted with "truth." Those who
turn from the latter to the former are called "deceivers of the mind" in
verse 10, and we are told to be "reproving them" in verse 3. How can
this be done in the Watchtower Society today? It cannot be done, except
from the top down.
You either accept what the Society says or you are marked and eventually
disfellowshiped. You are not able to bring a cause for complaint against
the members of the Governing Body or those responsible for the material
in the publications.
They will either correct themselves or they will not. You have no
recourse but to go along with what is written if you wish to remain a
member in good standing with the organization. This was not the way of
the first century Christians. Paul confronted Peter with a serious
complaint and Peter accepted the counsel. He did not complain that Paul
was out of place because he did not listen to the one (Peter) whom
Christ appointed to 'feed his little sheep' (John 21:15-17). He did not
complain about Paul causing division. How can division be wrong when the
division is over truth and error? These two must be divided.
Christians today do not view Paul's action as inappropriate, and yet he
is an example for all Christians (2 Thessalonians 3:9). Paul was right
and Peter was wrong, even though Peter was directly charged with
'feeding' Christ's followers.
The Bible speaks of weeds and wheat being intermingled until the
harvest, which harvest appears to be the time of Armageddon, not the
period since 1914, though I cannot say for sure. No one can. But if that
is the case, then it should not surprise us to find Christians in all
walks of life hidden from one another in many instances by "weeds," to
be united when Christ comes in judgment. Then his people will be
gathered from the four corners of the earth and comprise the "new
heavens and the new earth." (Well, at least this is one way to view it.)
This does not mean we cannot evangelize or tell others what the Bible
teaches on matters such as Christ's Messiahship, the divine name, God's
name and identity, and even do so with passion and conviction. But
understanding the complexities of Christian devotion today and how
fragmented God's people might be as a result of a wide range of
religions and authorities can help you have a more balanced perspective
which will allow those who choose to leave the Watchtower organization
to carry on their work in smaller numbers.
You mention that if you left the organization that your zeal would
likely decline. If your zeal would
decline as a result of leaving the organization, could it be that your
zeal is to some extent misguided? I ask this only because it is often a
problem for Witnesses to remain active apart from the organization
because the organization has
conditioned us to think along these lines:
quote:
** w73 7/1 p. 404 Praise Jehovah with His People ***
16 If we truly appreciate Jehovah's earthly organization, we will remain
loyal to it, knowing that the organization is his. If we were to leave
it, where else could we go? There is no other organization that is
doing the divine will or that is educating people for life everlasting.
When many abandoned Jesus Christ, he asked his apostles: "You do not
want to go also, do you?" Peter replied:
"Lord, whom shall we go away to? You have sayings of everlasting life;
and we have believed and come to know that you are the Holy One of God."
(John 6:66-69)
** w74 7/15 p. 438 Have You Really Come to Know God? ***
21 Perhaps something is said in one of the Watch Tower publications that
you do not grasp or that adjusts our previous understanding of matters.
How do you view this? Will you allow doubts to creep in? Will confidence
be replaced with skepticism? Ask yourself: 'Where did I gain the
knowledge of the Scriptures that I already have? Has not the spiritual
food provided through the Watch Tower publications helped me to change
my life and find contentment and satisfaction? Where else would I go?'
This is the feeling toward Jehovah's arrangements that the disciples had
toward Jesus: "Lord, whom shall we go away to? You have sayings of
everlasting life."-John 6:68.
**w96 2/1 p. 24 Trust in Jehovah and His Word ***
9 Stick closely to Jehovah and his organization. Loyally imitate Peter,
who resolutely stated: "Lord, whom shall we go away to? You have sayings
ofeverlasting life." (John 6:52, 60, 66-68)
Do you see the problem with this type of thinking?
While Peter in John 6:68 said, "Whom shall we go
away to," the organization has displaced Jesus with itself, asking,
"Where else will you go?" So, really, if your zeal is the product of
your faith and trust in Jesus Christ and Jehovah God, then it will not
decline. But if it is at all the product of the organization, as the
organization itself maintains it is, then your zeal likely will decline
until you are able to derive it solely from the true source of Christian
inspiration, Christ himself.
Don't get me wrong, this is still a very tough issue for all of us.
Especially for those of us with families, and that is why no decision
should be made in haste. But if we are guided by truth and by a desire
to hold fast to what can be proven from the Bible, not by enforcing
beliefs that are questionable as if they are unquestionable, we will
surely not displease Jesus or Jehovah.
My recommendation is simply to follow this course, and if you find that
in so doing you can remain an active member of the Watchtower Society
then that is what you should do. If not, then you should know that you
do not need to go anywhere else. It is not a question of where you are,
but to whom you are loyal, and 'where two or three are gathered in his
name, there he will be, too' (Matthew 18:20).
Your brother,
Greg