Here is E-watchman's latest reply to a witness who is questoning why time has to be reported when it is not in the Bible. My reply is at the end of E-watchman's reply.
| ||
And my reply... |
Dear E-watchman One answer you gave in your mailbag disturbed me and I will address this below. Someone wrote to you and asked why is it necessary to have to hand in a field service report, when the first century Christians did not do this. Your reply was that we shouldn't be nit picking at things as small as this and that the first century Christians didn't even have their own copy of the Bible. I have to disagree with this. When you look at a field service report, what do you see? Fields for magazines, brochures, books, studies, return visits and hours. On it's own this would seem a reasonable way to report and track organisational progress. However, when you take into consideration the JW culture, one realizes that it is more than just filling out a few numbers and putting the time slip into a box at the back of the hall, or giving it to our book study overseer. Why? Firstly, those numbers say a lot, especially when it comes to determining the so called 'strength' of the congregation. How many times has it been said from the platform that anyone reporting 5 hours or less is a 'low hour publisher'? How many times have people been counselled over their 'low hours'? How many times has a brother been counselled to 'do more hours' if they wish to be appointed as a ministerial servant or elder? How many times have individuals had a 'shepherding call' because their hours have 'dropped'? How many times have we heard it said that the circuit overseer 'reviews each brothers publisher card to recommend an appointment? How many times have we been told to 'keep up with the congregation or national average'? How many times have we had our congregations national average compared to the national average, for better or worse? The other side of the coin.......... An elderly widow who is disabled can only make 3 hours a month. She feels guilty for putting in her field service report when her congregations national average maybe 8 hours a month. A husband who works six days a week to support his family can only go out on Sunday afternoons. This is his only day where he does not have to work. Yet, his failure to go out on service on Sunday afternoon would mean he has nothing to report. His monthly report: 6 hours A full time student who has masses of homework and assignments to do, in addition to working a part time job to help pay for his living expenses tuition can only report 1 hour a week. He/she does not have time to make return visits and bible studies. His monthly report: 4 hours A mother with three kids who stays at home while her husband works full time. She can only go out on Saturday mornings for a couple of hours. Her monthly report: 8 hours A pioneer sister who lives at home and works part time. Her monthly report: 70 hours An auxiliary pioneer who works full time. His/her monthly report: 50 hours A bedridden brother who has a debilitating disease. His monthly report: 15 minutes A poor immigrant family where everyone of age has to work to pay the rent. The head of household may only be able to go out twice a month. His monthly report: 2 hours You see, that little slip of paper which you say to question the motive of having this system, is not so little an issue after all. We claim to imitate the first century Christians, yet we are far from imitating them? As you say, it is not recorded in the scriptures that Jesus' disciples had to report time or not. We know that they could measure hours. Yet did Jesus tell his disciples to count time and tell him how much they did? Of course not. Why does the Society then tell us to count time? It's a good idea to keep track of literature placed, one could keep track of how many magazines or books a congregation needs, and I do not have a problem with this. Yet, how many return visits you make, how many hours you spend preaching is between yourself and Jehovah, certainly not for the Society to make judgements on your level of spirituality by means of the elder arrangement. Why should my spirituality be determined by how many 60 minute intervals I spend preaching? This guilt trip that many witnesses feel, and I'm talking about those who are told they aren't doing enough, could they do more, puts an unreasonable amount of pressure on them - to the point where some lie about their time just to keep the elders of their back. This is a case where the governing body has 'gone beyond the things written', by establishing a system where loyalty to the organisation is measure by how much time you spend preaching. Some witnesses feel motivated to preach, not out of love, but out of guilt, always feeling that what little they do isn't good enough, or that they have to compete. And what about appointments as ministerial servants or elders? Let's take a close look at the qualifications for those desirous of reaching out for a office of oversight. 1 Timothy 3:1-7 That statement is faithful. If any man is reaching out for an office of overseer, he is desirous of a fine work. The overseer should therefore be irreprehensible a husband of one wife moderate in habits sound in mind orderly hospitable qualified to teach not a drunken brawler not a smiter but reasonable not belligerent not a lover of money a man presiding over his household in a fine manner having children in subjection with all seriousness not a newly converted man have a fine testimony from people on the outside and how about ministerial servants? 1 Timothy 3:8-12 ministerial servants should likewise be serious not double tongued not giving themselves to a lot of wine not greedy of dishonest gain holding the sacred secret of the faith with a clean conscience reporting 20 hours a month of field service. Which requirement can you spot that is not in Bible? I will tell you something. My father was exemplary in the congregation. He managed the literature department, he was regular in field service, he was a watchtower reader. Yet he was not appointed as a ministerial servant. Why? The answer came in the form of a little chat given to him by the service overseer. Basically, he wasn't doing enough hours. So all that service and help he gave at the hall wasn't good enough. It all boils down to how many hours we do. Isn't that so like a business corporation, where if you don't work overtime you are sometimes referred to as a clock watcher? Consider too the Society's latest article on the subject of 'reporting time' in the December 2002 KM, page 8. Do You Contribute to an Accurate Report? It is evident from these accounts that God's ancient servants put forth much effort to compile a complete and accurate report. Jehovah's organization today instructs us to report our field service activity each month. At the end of the month, promptly submit your report to your book study overseer. Notice here that Jehovah himself hasn't told us to report our field service activity each month - it is 'Jehovah's Organisation' And what happens if we do go out on service but choose not to report? After a time, usually 6 months, we are not even counted as one of Jehovah's Witnesses. In fact, if this is made known to others, we could end up being shunned as 'bad association.' There is, no scriptural precedent for enforcing 'traditions of men' to make us report time, and clearly, it is no petty issue.