The Baptist version of "Listen Obey and Be Blessed"

by john.prestor 7 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

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  john.prestor

  So I share stories from time to time on here from my childhood in a fundamentalist Baptist church, which sounds pretty damn similar to some of the stories I read on here from ex-Witnesses, the fear and guilt-tripping, the sexual repression, the world being a dark and wicked place, I even went door-to-door once in a while to hand out Chick Tracts (wish I was kidding) and try to get people to come to our church... so they could pay the pastor's salary, but I digress. Anyway, I don't remember a lot of it because my parents started bringing me to Sunday school as soon as I could walk, so on Sunday mornings my family dressed up and headed out the door bright and early to services. My parents stayed upstairs for adult classes and me and my brother went downstairs where all the kids met to sing songs together before we separated for "age-appropriate" activities. This friendly and kinda effiminate guy got in front of the room and held up these poster boards with the song lyrics on them, we used to get really into the songs,

  A while back I remembered one of the songs we used to sing, it just came back to me at a bus stop and it creeped me the hell out so I wrote the first stanza and the chorus down in a notebook. It's called "Obedience," no need to mince words I guess:

  Obedience is the very best way,
  To show that you believe.
  Doing exactly what the Lord commands,
  Doing it happily.
  Action is the key – do it immediately,
  Joy you will receive.
  

  Obedience is the very best way to show that you believe.
  O-B-E-D-I-E-N-C-E
  Obedience is the very best way to show that you believe.

  I ask myself how a grown man could make us sing that song in good faith. It's nothing more than "Do what we say and don't think about it," it's not like at 5 or 6 we made up our own minds on what "the Lord" said, people like him told us what "the Lord" wanted us to do and we did it because we didn't know any better. It reminds me of "Listen, Obey, and Be Blessed," just change the tune and the words it's the same authoritarian, Orwellian message underneath, barely disguised.
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  jhine

  Well for a start although l describe myself as a life long Anglican l did spend a couple of years with a Baptist Church in the early 70s . l don't remember anything like what you describe so maybe not all Baptist Churches were the same .

  l would say that there is a difference between that song and a JW song in that the Baptist song talks about obedience to the Lord , from what l have learnt on here JW songs talk about obedience to men , something very different .

  Yes many ministers get paid and yes that wage comes from church giving but Vicars etc go through a rigorous testing to see if they are emotionally suitable for doing the job . They are DBS checked and in the Anglican Church are rechecked any time they move parish . They are trained for many years and have to abide by strict safeguarding rules and make sure that anyone who has anything to do with children or vulnerable adults do the same . So l would say that paid ministers are infinitely preferable to the Elders in the WT .

  Jan
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  john.prestor

  I think the difference is just terminology, I mean yeah the song says "the Lord" but the Baptists wanted to tell me what "the Lord" wanted, and if I said "The Lord wants me to rob people" they would never accept that, and we understood male leaders as spokesmen for the Lord more or less, we trusted them to tell us what the Bible meant and how we should live. The church was independent, it wasn't connected to any overarching authority, so if the board of elected deacons thought a pastor looked good, they hired him; that's all it came down to.
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  stuckinarut2

  Great thread.

  Yes, MANY churches spew out such a controlling narrative:

  Try this one:

  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3nmYOQIidqo
  
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  jhine

  https://www.baptist.org.uk/Groups/2206Colleges.aspx58

  That is a link to the Baptist Union's website . It shows that before becoming accredited ministers people have to undergo training . Yes when they go to a different church it is up to the leaders of that particular church to hire who they feel is most suitable for them , but all the candidates will have gone through the same training .

  On that site there are safeguarding procedures concerning children and vulnerable adults , something l suspect doesn't exist in JW land .

  As to male ministers here

  is a paragraph from that site

  Women, Baptists & Ordination

  
  "For over eighty years, Baptists have affirmed the ordained ministry of women, and yet the proportion of women Baptist ministers remains disappointingly small. One of the reasons that might explain this is confusion amongst some baptist churches and their leaders regarding the legitimacy of women's ministry. Women, Baptists and Ordination addresses the biblical, historical and practical reasons why the Baptist Union of Great Britain wholeheartedly endorses the ordained ministry of women, helping churches to consider their theology and policy on this issue. 33 page booklet "
  l know that copy and paste is generally frowned upon here but l want to make sure that l give accurate information and not twist words

  
  

  
  
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  jhine

  As to your example if you said " God told me to steal " then l think that any Christian would say " That can't be right The BIble , God's word says that stealing is wrong "Everything is measured against God's Word , the Bible .

  How do l say this tactfully , please don't measure everything with a JW tape measure .

  Jan
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  john.prestor

  I really don't care if the man was accredited or not, and I don't know why you're banging on that drum. Let's leave it at that, you're straining out the gnat and leaving in the camel.
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  Vidiot