There are really only a couple of reasons an active elder would be lurking here on JWN.
I. Your ever growing doubts about the organization have led you here, or
II. You’re trying to catch someone doing something they shouldn’t be doing
I - The Good Reason: If you fall into the first category, then let me start with a warm welcome. We feel your pain. We’ve been there. That was what led us here too. You are among friends.
Your specific doubts may be different than mine, but the end result is the same. You’re beginning to get (or already have) the sneaking suspicion that the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society and its Governing Body are not really God’s Visible Organization on Earth. It’s disturbing to say the least. You feel confused, betrayed, angry. I know.
Maybe it’s the recent slurry of incomprehensible doctrinal changes concerning the “New Light” identity of the Governing Body exclusively as the “Faithful and Discreet Slave” which got you doubting. Or maybe it was the “Overlapping Generation” nonsense which set the alarm bells in your head ringing into overtime.
Maybe it was a personal experience, something dealing with pedophiles in the congregation; or perhaps you yourself have been mistreated in an unkind, unloving and decidedly un-Christian way. It happens, a lot.
Maybe you just can’t stomach for one more moment the hypocrisy which is rampant throughout the organization. It’s a trickle-down phenomenon and you know it. It starts at the top, the visible top.
There are a lot of reasons to be here, good ones. You are welcome here to ask questions, to vent your frustration and your anger, to do research and to speak your mind. These are of course things which you could never do in the congregation. But they are welcome here, encouraged even.
Hopefully these words bring you some comfort. You’re not alone. There are others that feel as you do, many of us in fact. So go ahead and breathe a sigh of relief and let the healing begin.
I hope you find what you are looking for.
II - The Bad Reason: On the other hand, maybe you’re here for other reasons. Maybe you’re here because you suspect someone in your congregation has been posting here and you’re trying to catch them, to find them out, to discover their dark and nefarious deeds, to “out them” as it were.
If that’s the case, then I have this to say to you: You are a deceptive, lying, disobedient hypocrite. You. Yes you.
By merely being here you are disobedient to the “Faithful Slave.” They have pointedly and repeatedly told you to stay away from apostate websites.
Do you heed Bible-based warnings about the Internet? Apparently not.
The WT said this:
“Those who ignore warnings issued by the faithful slave inevitably cause harm to themselves and to their loved ones.” – w12 8/15, p. 14, ¶ 12
And yet here you are reading this in complete disobedience to the directive of “the faithful slave.” You were warned, but you’re not listening. Why not?
Perhaps you think because you’re an elder that Bible-based counsel doesn’t apply to you, but you’re wrong. It does. It especially applies to you. You are supposed to be an example to the flock. That fact that you are here reading this now proves that you are a bad example. You are hypocritical by doing the very thing for which you condemn others. You are rebellious for failing to follow the clear direction from “the faithful slave.” Do you remember what happened to Korah? Jehovah is clearly not pleased with such a rebellious spirit. In Korah’s case, he executed him and all the rebels.—Num. 16:28-35
Maybe you think that you can get away with it because no one knows what you are doing. You’re wrong there too. That same Watchtower article warned, “How foolish to believe that we can hide our conduct from Jehovah!” (ibid)
For you to do more than lurk here you would have to have created a JWN account. To do this you would have to lie about who you are. That proves you are a liar and like your father, Satan the Devil, the father of the lie. –John 8:44
If you have posted anything here in an attempt to “catch” a wrongdoer, you would be guilty of pretending to be someone you are not. The inspired Psalmist wrote, “I have not sat with men of untruth; and with those who hide what they are I do not come in.” (Psalm 26:4) And yet you arrogantly ignore this sound counsel from Jehovah, erroneously thinking it does not apply to you. This is a devious deception that cannot be condoned, it must be condemned. The ends do NOT justify the means. It is simply further proof you have fallen into one of Satan’s traps. You have deceived yourself. Your mind is mentally diseased.
In short, your very presence here is evidence that you are a deceitful, hypocritical liar. It proves that you are not part of the true religion. To the contrary, it is evidence that you are fulfilling Paul’s prophecy which he wrote to Timothy that in the last days “there would be those who would practice all sorts of wickedness, hypocritically having a form of godly devotion but proving false to its power. (2Ti 2:15, 16; 3:1-5).”— it-1 pp. 971-973. That's you. Recognize yourself? We do.
If these words make you angry it is because I have touched a nerve. I’ve got your number. You’ve been found out.
Go do the decent thing. Leave this place and never return. Go back to your congregation and turn yourself in to your fellow elders. Let them know that you’ve been spending time on “apostate” websites and that you no longer qualify to be an elder in the congregation. You’re ashamed of your conduct and you’re ashamed of yourself. Repent and perhaps you will find “seasons of refreshing” from Jehovah, (Acts 3:19). –w12 11/15 pp. 21-25
But you probably won’t do that, because that would take courage. It would also take honesty and integrity and you have none of those things.
Remember, the words of Jesus:
“Stop judging that YOU may not be judged; for with what judgment YOU are judging, YOU will be judged; and with the measure that YOU are measuring out, they will measure out to YOU” – Matthew 7:1-2
Oh, and by the way, congratulations on your success. Mission accomplished - you have found someone here on JWN doing something they shouldn’t be doing: It is you!
