Sheep and Goats

Category: Congregation

  • Who Molds Who and Who is a Cult

    If it is accurate to call first century Christianity a ‘cult’ then it is also accurate to call Jehovah’s Witnesses a cult.

    Take, for example, Paul’s direction that: “Now I urge you, brothers, through the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you should all speak in agreement and that there should be no divisions among you, but that you may be completely united in the same mind and in the same line of thought.” (1 Corinthians 1:10)

    You know that would be spun as a ‘cult’ today.

    The ‘cult’ label exists to punish anyone who thinks out of the mainstream. Again, the apostle Paul:

    “And stop being molded by this system of things, but be transformed by making your mind over, so that you may prove to yourselves the good and acceptable and perfect will of God.” (Romans 12:2)

    ‘You WILL be molded by it,’ says the anti-cult faction, ‘and if you refuse, we will call you a ‘cult.’

    Thing is, there doubtless are some crazy ‘cults’ out there. Yet, if the mainstream managed to deliver the goods (of peace, contentment, justice, meaning in life), none of these groups, Jehovah’s Witnesses included, would succeed in gaining a toehold.

    ******  The bookstore

  • Earnest People Seek Different Paths: What’s With That?

    Q: How come it seems like there’s people who honestly and wholeheartedly seek God/truth, yet end up in different religions/denominations? I’m trying to understand why/how people can earnest seek Truth yet come to different conclusions and paths.

    railroad tracks in city
    Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

    A: Different people seek God according to different criteria. Sometimes, at the door with someone inclined to be contentious, I might say, “Look, why don’t we just agree to leave that in God’s hands? He knows if he’s a trinity or not.” (or whatever be the issue left unresolved)

    The meetings of Jehovah’s Witnesses take the form of Bible studies. You can prepare for them. We Witnesses think that is that way to go, but there are people drawn more to denominations or venues more experiential, more triggering the emotions, ones where they will say they experience the holy spirit. The gatherings for many faiths there is no point in preparing for, beyond getting yourself in the mood.

    Then, there are faiths as Catholicism, where a sense of mystery is thought highly desirable in any worship service. There’s not too much of this at Witness meetings, which look more like a classroom, which are more for edification and encouragement, that a person might be better equipped to worship God in their daily life.

    Charlie Kirk said Catholicism is experiencing a resurgence these days, somewhat against his preference, as an evangelical. He attributed much of it to their long history and confidence that it was less given therefore to flip on the dime of new social trends. Stability is what attracted people, he thought.

    JWs think that God speaks to us primarily through the pages of his written Word, and we to him primarily through prayer. Not everyone is drawn to that formula. It used to be, maybe still is, that there were denominations where you might ‘roll in the aisles’ (they were nicknamed ‘holy rollers) getting upon getting ‘filled with the spirit.” There are many modern updates of that formula.

    Paul spoke of his Jewish countrymen at Romans 10:2: “For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge.” Witnesses do think it best to do things “according to knowledge.” But, rather than attack each other online for being wrong—attacks that tend to be endless—online, it is better to adapt to the formula: present whatever you have to present (let your light shine) and let people be drawn or not to the faith you espouse. Or, in the words of Bob Dylan: “Let me see what you got. We’ll have a whoppin good time.”

    It’s not a call for ecumenism. It is simply a call for practicality, so that we all may realize the words: “Can’t we all just get along?” No one’s trying to sweep 2 Thessalonians 2:9-12 under the rug: 

    “But the lawless one’s presence is by the operation of Satan with every powerful work and lying signs and wonders and every unrighteous deception for those who are perishing, as a retribution because they did not accept the love of the truth in order that they might be saved. That is why God lets a deceptive influence mislead them so that they may come to believe the lie, in order that they all may be judged because they did not believe the truth but took pleasure in unrighteousness.”

    It’s just that you can’t settle it through debate. Frankly, I think the above is evidence that God is having the last laugh on those who think you can. It will have to be a “Let me see what you got.” It is a dictum not too far from Jesus’ own: “By their fruits you will know them.”

    ******  The bookstore

  • The Scrappy Days of Long Ago

    The really scrappy days of Jehovah’s Witnesses versus mainstream denominations was forged in the time of the World Wars. Then, the clergy ardently followed the flag on both sides during both wars, afterwards presuming to slip once again into that comfortable chair of spokesman for the Prince of Peace. Witnesses called them on it. After all, if you are not going to stand up for peace in time of war, just when do you stand up for it?

    “It was long ago. The burning heat has quelled. Religion is too busy licking its wounds to mess much with the Witnesses and the Witnesses in turn no longer provoke them. I regret how I once answered a fellow at the door who sneered at my introduction with, “No thanks. I’m Christian!” The unmistakable implication was that I was not. In faux befuddlement, I replied that only a Christian would do what I was doing, and that “frankly, I’m a little surprised that you’re not doing it yourself.” Fade smug smile—a beautiful sight. But I regret it and would not do it today. It made an enemy. True, he already was one but why cement it in place? Why feed the next Witness who visits him to the sharks? And it didn’t have to be. It could have been modified so easily had I only thought of it. That second line could have been an observation that he, too, has a ministry. We may not go about it in the same way but we both go about it. If it turns out that he doesn’t—that he just sits on his rear end—why rub his nose in it? What purpose does it serve? You catch more flies with honey than with vinegar.

    “Another house to call on was the rectory of a church. When it came up, Sister Hardliner wanted to accompany me, but I declined. “You’ll get into a fight,” I said. Instantly, I was struck with remorse, for her feelings were hurt. But it would have turned out that way. She is from the 60s generation. She would have heard out the man patiently, then interjected. “Okay, now let’s see what the Bible has to say,” as though taking for granted that he knew nothing of the book.

    “At another door, an evangelical determined to fight—and if it is not they, it is us—launched into his spiel on what was wrong with Jehovah’s Witnesses. I said, “Look, why don’t we just agree that you think we’re doing it all wrong and we think you’re doing it all wrong? You’d steal our sheep in a heartbeat if you could and we’d do the same to you. Got it. We do it differently. But the point is, we’re both doing it, and we live in a world where more and more people are not.” Instantly, an antagonist became a confidant. We went on to discuss mutual challenges to those who would live by faith.

    “The thaw is slow to develop. It doesn’t catch on everywhere. It doesn’t mean that Witnesses have grown chummy. The differences remain and will have to be ironed out at some point, but why lead with them? Some still prefer the old days of squabbling. Some even feel it their duty to lambaste “Babylon the Great.” But why kick the old lady when she is down? Witnesses kicked her when she was up! These days, everyone kicks her. All Witnesses ever wanted was to level the playing field, a goal that was realized decades ago.

    tree branch covered with frosted ice
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    “However, in a developing land, the clergy appears to be up to its old tricks. My missionary friends tell of visiting a few remote families of their congregation so as to keep them in the loop. Their visits are a sensation; they end up playing sports with the children. All the area children join in and a group Bible study follows. Word soon gets around that the village church pastor is upset and has ruled that any child of his parishioners, by far the majority, who join in can neither attend community services nor receive presents during the holidays.

    “It is so mean,” my friend says. “They’re ten-year-olds!” fatherless for the most part, their dads killed off in war or genocide. Some are orphans.”

    (from: ‘A Workman’s Theodicy: Why Bad Things Happen’—except for the first paragraph, which serves as introduction here.)

    ******  The bookstore

  • Conduct Matters if the Goal is Not to Blaspheme God

    Obedience is a tough sell today. How can it not be when the backdrop is one of “the sons of disobedience” as Paul calls them at Ephesians 2:2? In such a climate, even the Bible is reframed as though it were the Declaration of Independence. From there arises a horror of any religious human counsel that would direct people on what to do.

    Nonetheless, Ephesians is clear on the need for “shepherds” and “teachers” among Christians. It is clear on the reason for them. (4:11-13) Faith cannot be just “Jesus and me.”

    “And he gave some as apostles, some as prophets, some as evangelizers, some as shepherds and teachers, with a view to the readjustment of the holy ones, for ministerial work, to build up the body of the Christ.” (4:11)

    The apostle Paul calls them “gifts in men.” How long are they necessary? The passage continues: “until we all attain to the oneness of the faith and of the accurate knowledge of the Son of God, to being a full-grown man, attaining the measure of stature that belongs to the fullness of the Christ.” (4:11-13) 

    That hasn’t happened yet. It will, once obedience humankind is perfected under Christ’s reign. But it hasn’t happened yet. 

    It is hard to imagine anything more Christ-dishonoring than “the name of God being blasphemed among the nations.” Yet, this routinely happens in the absence of “shepherds” and “teachers.” Says Romans:

    “You, the one preaching, “Do not steal,” do you steal? You, the one saying, “Do not commit adultery,” do you commit adultery? You, the one abhorring idols, do you rob temples? You who take pride in law, do you dishonor God by your transgressing of the Law? For “the name of God is being blasphemed among the nations because of you,” just as it is written.” (Romans 2:21-24) Conduct matters if the goal is not to blaspheme God.

    The last thing a Christian should want is for “the truth to be spoken of abusively.” (2 Peter 2:2) Yet, falling prey to “brazen conduct” ensures that will happen.

    Also, Paul’s letter to Titus, observes that some “publicly declare that they know God, but they disown him by their works, because they are detestable and disobedient and not approved for good work of any sort.” (Titus 1:12) What can be worse than people publicly declaring they know God but disowning him by their works? That is what unbelievers see, rather than the self-contained feel-good society such ”Christians” have constructed for themselves.

    So it was that evangelical author Ron Sider examined his own people and was aghast at their disobedient lifestyle. He found it not worse than that of nonbelievers, but not any better either….and he was mortified. It drove him to his knees, even though, like Daniel praying for his fellow Jews, he was not personally culpable. Then, as any repentant person should do, he sought ways to make it right. He came up with several fixes, apparently without realizing that Jehovah’s Witnesses have successfully implemented these fixes for years.

    First, says Mr. Sider in his 2005 book, ‘The Scandal of the Evangelcal Conscience: : Why are Christians Living Just Like the Rest of the World?’ the Western world’s “obsession with independence must end, to be replaced with recognition that Christians are a community belonging to, and having responsibility for, each other. Paul goes so far as to say Christians ought to be slaves to one another.  Galatians 5:13 literally reads “be slaves to each other,” yet most popular translations, Mr. Sider notes, dilute the verse to a more independence-savoring “serve one another in love.” 

    Many churches today trumpet that they are “independent Bible believing,” yet the very notion is “heretical,” says Mr. Sider. To be part of the body of Christ, a church must align itself with a larger structure to give “guidance, supervision, direction, and accountability.” 

    Jehovah’s Witnesses have exactly such a structure in their governing body. Malcontents rail against such organization as “mind control.”

    Second, Mr. Sider suggests, any congregation with over fifty members ought to arrange its people into small groups, where oversight and encouragement can more effectively be offered. 

    They’re called service groups. Since as long as anyone can remember, perhaps from their outset, Witness congregations have made use of such small groups.

    Make it harder to join, is a third suggestion. Evangelical Conscience points to early Anabaptists and Wesleyans, as if no modern examples existed. These groups took their time in admitting new members, ensuring that their conduct as well as words lined up with Christ’s teachings. They did not just settle for the silly and surface “confess the Lord and be saved.” Jehovah’s Witnesses are well known for requiring an extensive period of Bible study and dry run as a prerequisite to baptism..

    Lastly, “parachurch” organizations, groups like Youth for Christ that transcend the larger church structure, have, by definition, no accountability to anybody. “Many of the worst, most disgraceful actions that embarrass and discredit the evangelical world come from this radical autonomy,” says Evangelical Conscience. Somehow such groups have to be brought into tow, though the author admits that he has no clue as to how to accomplish this. 

    Jehovah’s Witnesses do. They strongly discourage any such activity not under the oversight of the central governing body. You should hear critics rail about such “strong-arm” methods! But one can’t help feeling Mr. Sider would approve.      

    To be sure, Mr. Sider and Jehovah’s Witnesses are poles apart doctrinally, yet organizationally JWs are his dream come true – a peculiar irony, if ever there was one.

    ******  The bookstore

  • The Black Sheep of the Family

    Then there was Frank, very much the black sheep of his family. His brother was one of the major power brokers of our area, his surname often attached to large financial projects. Yet here was Frank, hustling his way through a series of work-a-day jobs.

    How he came to be the black sheep I’m not sure. Was he that way before he went off to fight in Vietnam? Wealthy families often buy their way out of such conflicts. Frank was sucked into it. Days after his discharge, he married his sweetheart, apparently long pre-arranged, from another financial titan family. He told me how the extravagant affair blew his mind. He had just seen friends blown to bits in Nam.

    Some time after Nam he studied the Bible with Jehovah’s Witnesses, which further cemented his black sheep status. It kept him permanently out of power-broker status too, though he might not have joined his brother there at any rate. Witnesses now are like Christians then, of the first century. There’s not many power brokers among them, not many “powerful,” not many “of noble birth,” not many “wise in a fleshly way” is how 1 Corinthians 1:26 puts it.

    In time he was appointed an elder in the congregation. I worked with him a lot. An intelligent and empathetic man, he was a good source of comfort to those beaten down in various ways. Nonetheless, he told me of some huge family gathering in which all his relatives hobnobbed with each other over financial deals, and here is he feeling very much out of place with his factory job. I made some stupid and pious remark about “choosing the better portion,” as though he were Mary attending to Jesus, leaving her sister to do all the work. It didn’t do it for him. “I felt like a fool,” he said.

    This story comes up—it happened many years ago—because at our meeting for field service, the conductor led off with Ephesians 6:16, where Paul twice recognized a need for boldness:

    “Pray also for me, that the words may be given to me when I open my mouth, so that I may be able to speak boldly in making known the sacred secret of the good news, for which I am acting as an ambassador in chains, and that I may speak about it with boldness, as I ought to speak.”

    “Why do we need to cultivate boldness?” the conductor took his cue from this verse.

    I answered that when we call on people, we are often not in the commanding position and that many are deeply conscious of it. Indeed, beware the tactless person who is completely oblivious to it. We are often not the most powerful, not the most wealthy, not the most educated, and that it puts one at a disadvantage. Paul was in the hoosegow when he wrote what he did. How’s THAT for being in an advantageous position—set on a course of recommending the person who had been executed as though a common criminal?

    Partly, I said what I did for the benefit of that conductor, a considerably younger man—who ISN’T younger than me these days? He caught my eye—I knew he’d picked up on it, though no one else did. Days before we had worked in a well-to-do area. We had chatted with a retired college professor. Afterward, I observed to my companion an area where he could have chimed in had he wanted to. Yes, he knew that, he said, and he has done it in the past only to see it backfire. The householder plays both the age card, the education card, and the wealth card to advise him that he should apply himself more to “better” himself—leaving him in the similarly awkward position of painting himself a Mary who leaves Martha to do all the work. It’s not necessarily easy to explain the chosen simple way of life to the high-rollers.

    I have worked through all this stuff. Long ago, my new bride introduced me to some well-off relatives. What does Tom do for a living? they wanted to know. He does janitorial work, she answered. A disappointed, “oh.” “He owns his own business,” she added. Same sound, but with opposite inflection! It’s all facade! It’s all temporary. It doesn’t mean a thing. All this was after my college education days, which I did little with—my fault, not theirs. I guess I’m sort of an offscouring too, just like Frank. But, then, the apostle Paul outright says that Christians are “the offscouring of all things,” (1 Corinthians 4:13) so one can hardly complain about it.

    Some big names hail from the university I attended. But they all start dropping when they reach my age—the great and the small alike—so that there is little difference between them, and what counts is only the “treasures that one has stored up in heaven.” Meanwhile, I took advantage of those janitorial days to “read,” via Books on Tape, over half of the BBC’s 100 Greatest Books of all Time. I really only stopped when the library ran out of books beyond the pop ones. It is a habit I heartily recommend and it did not happen for me in college, where people are mostly cramming for tests.

     

    ******  The bookstore

     

  • The Book of Hebrews—almost like “Fifty Ways to Leave Your Lover.”

    “You just slip out the back, Jack. You make a new plan, Stan. You don’t need to be coy, Roy. Just get yourself free.”

    Okay, okay, so I counted only 14 in the Letter to the Hebrews. To get the full 50 you’d have to expand to the entire Bible. But it’s a high concentration. And they don’t all lead to immediate leaving. Some of them have to stew for a while. Nor is leaving inevitable. Some can resolve.

    Recipients might “drift away,” having not paid “more than the usual attention to the things we have heard.” (Hebrews 2:1)

    They might “draw away” (more deliberate) having developed a “wicked heart.” (Hebrews 3:12)

    They might just become plain “disobedient.” (4:6)

    Or “dull in their hearing,” reverting to “needing milk,” not “solid food.”  (5:12)

    They could “fall away.” (6:6)

    Not good if they “practice sin willfully after having received the accurate knowledge of the truth, [for then] there is no longer any sacrifice for sins left.” (10:26)

    They might “shrink back to destruction.” (Hebrews 10:39)

    They might “get tired and give up,” worn down by the “hostile speech from sinners against their own interests.” (12:3) 

    They might not “endure as part of [their] discipline,” forgetting that “God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father?”(12:7)

    They might “refuse to listen to the one giving divine warning on earth.” (12:25)
     
    They might become “sexually immoral people and adulterers.” (13:4)

    They might become taken over by a “love of money.” (13:5)

    They might be “led astray by various and strange teachings.” (13:9)

    They might become just plain surly. “Be obedient to those who are taking the lead among you and be submissive, for they are keeping watch over you as those who will render an account.” (13:17) “Tell them to take a hike,” they might say.

    What with all those reasons to leave, it’s amazing anyone stayed in the faith!

    On the ex-Witness sites, there are also tons who have left the faith, but none will admit to these reasons. They are all freedom-fighters and whistleblowers. Who are they trying to kid? Jazz it up with code like PIMQ, PIMO, POMO, but it is the same.

    Someday when I am bored I will invent a board game that matches them up. It will have cards for the Hebrews reasons and cards for the ex-Witness reasons and the quicker you can match them up, the higher your score.

    Reasons to leave the faith are scattered throughout the scriptures, but they find special concentration in Hebrews due to the circumstances there in Jerusalem. It was the birthplace of Christianity, formed when the disciples began preaching to the crowds that had gathered there for the Passover. (Acts chapter 2) Like the Big Bang, interest in the Way exploded. Thousands were baptized at single events. But in time, “normalcy” settled in. Many of the most zealous moved on to new frontiers. Locally, that hot zeal, so hard to maintain, cooled, but not the opposition to it. That intensified.

    It’s a lot like today with the Witnesses. An explosion of interest—say from the World War period through the 70s has tapered, but not so the opposition to it: that gathers strength and intensifies. When push comes to shove, opposition just represents the dominant “spirit of the world,” a spirit now fixated on individual rights and a distaste for discipline. I mean, you can see the battle lines forming, but to frame it as something new? No. It is just a repackaging of something old.

    “The game is the same; it’s just up on a different level.’—Bob Dylan

     

    ******  The bookstore

  • The Beginnings of Apostasy—Oppressive Wolves to Enter In

    At Paul’s final meeting with the elders in Ephesus, he told them.

    “Pay attention to yourselves and to all the flock, among which the holy spirit has appointed you overseers, to shepherd the congregation of God, which he purchased with the blood of his own Son. I know that after my going away oppressive wolves will enter in among you and will not treat the flock with tenderness, and from among you yourselves men will rise and speak twisted things to draw away the disciples after themselves.” (Acts 20:28-30)

    Despite their paying attention (or did they not do it enough?) it did happen with the “oppressive wolves” who would “draw away the disciples.” How did matters go from elders shepherding the congregation of God, a group in which all were evangelizers, to a paid clergy preaching to a non-evangelizing audience in pews?

    One can only speculate—but it makes sense—that, in time, evangelizers tired of preaching to the public, many of whom didn’t want to hear it. It’s hard. Everyone wants something easier. An arrangement gradually arose, as a win-win, in which the “wolves” who did not want to preach to one-and-all wrangled instead to just preach to the congregation. Preaching to the choir is always easier than to the non-choir. Why would the “choir” go along with the “deal,” effectively demoting themselves to “laypeople?” Because they too were tiring of evangelizing. Easier to go along with this arrangement of showing up once a week and agreeing to “hire” this clergyman to preach to them.

    It was probably to counter this gradual development that the Letter to the Hebrews was written. Time had passed since the early explosion of interest in Jerusalem described in Acts 2. People took sides. Positions hardened. Those who didn’t want to hear it had dug in. The determination to preach to all was fading. Paul starts the letter with discussion of the Jewish forefathers—God speaking to them through angels—and then said those Hebrew Christians had something better: God speaking through a Son. “That is why it is necessary for us to pay more than the usual attention to the things we have heard, so that we never drift away.” (Hebrews 2:1) Not only they shouldn’t “drift away,” but “Beware, brothers, for fear there should ever develop in any one of you a wicked heart lacking faith by ‘drawing away’ from the living.” (3:12)

    “For we actually become partakers of the Christ only if we hold firmly down to the end the confidence we had at the beginning.” (3:14)

    and

    “Therefore, since we have a great high priest [foreshadowed by the Jewish arrangement] who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold on to our public declaration of him.” (4:14)

    They put in a fine fight, but such is the power of “oppressive wolves” amidst increasing apathy born of opposition. In time, the dominant model became clergy and laypeople. It is part of the great apostasy that took form in the early centuries and it would take many more centuries to undo it. Adding to the problem is that the wolves would bring in slick teachings unknown to Jews or Christians but popular with the Greek philosophers, such as the immortality of the soul, which makes bodily resurrection nonsensical.

    At the end of the Paul’s meeting with the elders in Ephesus, “quite a bit of weeping broke out among them all, and they embraced Paul and affectionately kissed him, for they were especially pained at the word he had spoken that they would not see his face anymore.” (Acts 20:37-38) So it was that, many decades ago, just before the circuit overseer was to have his final meeting with the elders before moving on, I asked him if this was the occasion where they all break down weeping because they won’t see him anymore. But he told me that if any weeping took place it would not be for that reason.

    ***

    Q: Why do you say the distinction between clerics and laymen is the beginning of Apostasy? 2 Thessalonians says the cause is a loss of love for the truth. Laymen are capable of loving the truth and studying the Scriptures as well as clerics. In the Lord’s message to Ephesus in Revelation, he says they’ve done a good job keeping the true doctrine, but lack in charity (fervor?).

    A: Not necessarily the beginning of apostasy, but just a part of it. Agreed that layman can love the scriptures as well as clerics. Witnesses just do their best to organize themselves as that Ephesian congregation—with ‘overseers’ paying attention to the flock of God, and still with all members recognizing a need to evangelize. Good point raised about Ephesus as one of the seven congregations of Revelation.

    “I know your deeds, and your labor and endurance, and that you cannot tolerate bad men, and that you put to the test those who say they are apostles, but they are not, and you found them to be liars.” (Rev 2:2) It would seem to indicate they DID take Paul’s remarks to heart and stayed vigilant at screening out “bad men” who “say they are apostles,” the “oppressive wolves” that Paul warned of.

    It’s healthy to focus on evangelizing. It is keeping the focus on the real hope for solving earth’s woes. It is accordingly unhealthy not to do it. In our view, the clergy/laity division cements in place inertia on both sides. In JW-land, overseers take the lead in evangelizing. In clergy/laity, the clergy tend not to, nor does the laity. The clergy focuses on teaching their congregation and usually start pushing human solutions, often becoming intensely political. It is not always the case. I don’t want to diss every group that has a pastor. But it an inherent spiritual weakness of organizing oneself along clergy/laity lines.

    Q: Is there a scripture that says apostasy was total? Or has there always been a remnant?

    ***

    A: No scripture that I know of says apostasy was total. The parable Jehovah’s Witnesses apply is that of the sower who plants wheat but the weeds grow up to almost choke it out. Sown by “an enemy,”, those weeds were. The course decided upon is to let both grow “until the harvest,” when separation will take place. That is why (to answer a prior question of yours that inspired this post) it does indeed take until the time of the harvest for the work of separation to begin. So, yes, apparently there has always been a “remnant” but one unidentifiable, thoroughly obscured by the “weeds.”

    “He presented another illustration to them, saying: “The Kingdom of the heavens may be likened to a man who sowed fine seed in his field. 25 While men were sleeping, his enemy came and oversowed weeds in among the wheat and left. When the stalk sprouted and produced fruit, then the weeds also appeared. So the slaves of the master of the house came and said to him, ‘Master, did you not sow fine seed in your field? How, then, does it have weeds?’ He said to them, ‘An enemy, a man, did this.’ The slaves said to him, ‘Do you want us, then, to go out and collect them?’ He said, ‘No, for fear that while collecting the weeds, you uproot the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest, and in the harvest season, I will tell the reapers: First collect the weeds and bind them in bundles to burn them up; then gather the wheat into my storehouse.’” (Matthew 13: 24-30)

     

     

    ******  The bookstore

  • Breakdown at the Assembly Hall Front Door

    Great. Just great. My car breaks down exactly at the door of the Assembly Hall as I am dropping someone off!

    The downside? It’s embarrassing!

    The upside? (which almost became a downside; it was so frequent) For the next 2 hours, until the tow truck arrived, (trust me on this—it needed a tow) brothers kept coming out to see if I needed help. They are all so nice and I am reminded of my non believing dad 40 years ago at my wedding saying to his own brother, ‘C’mon Joe, let’s go out in the parking lot for a smoke. These people are so nice I can’t stand it.’

    Being brothers, many of them took for granted that they could get me going right then and there. I had to explain to each and every one that they couldn’t.

    Among brothers, there are always some who really are mechanical. One of them quickly diagnosed the issue. No, it wasn’t the slave cylinder, he said, after diving into the interior and pointing out all the possible culprits, but the master cylinder, since the clutch pedal wouldn’t rise on its own. At 194K the car has a right to misbehave. But the tow truck took so long in coming that I sent someone in to the chairman’s office to say if they needed an afternoon interview for the ‘Exercise Patience’ theme, I was available. The Assembly Hall was then being used for the Regional Convention.

    No, it wasn’t all the fault of the towing company. Some of it was the roadside assistance app that couldn’t fathom how Tom Harley could possibly be the same as Thomas Harley and so kept issuing denials of service without explanation. With a person, you could straighten in out in 2 seconds, but in the AI world it is not that way. It is, instead, like when your wife, though she has always been friendly, one day locks you out of the house without the hint of a reason and won’t tell you why other than to say that you should have been paying attention.

    And no, I hadn’t waited till the last minute to address the issue. I had been nursing it for a few weeks. Sometimes problems go away on their own. Alas, this one did not.

    ***Revised, in connection with a discussion of ‘the kingdom of God does not come with striking observableness:’

    For me, it does come with striking observableness, in the form of a car that breaks down at the Assembly Hall door. You know you have gone directly from last of the last days to last of the last of the last days, perhaps even last of the last of the last of the last days when your car does that. Cars will break down from time to time, maybe on the way to the grocery store, maybe in the grocery store lot, and one does not draw any spiritual conclusions. Even breaking down in the Assembly Hall lot does not make one ‘see the light.’ But when in breaks down at the Assembly Hall front door, Yes—striking observbleness there, no question.

    Then, half of all brothers being gearheads, you must suffer a constant onslaught of people sure they can fix whatever the problem there is right then and there, and you have to painstakingly explain to each one that they cannot. Then, one who really does know his stuff, dives into the interior, sees it isn’t the slave cylinder, but the master cylinder, since the clutch pedal won’t rise on its own, and agrees that my goose is really cooked.

    Then, the tow truck takes so long to arrive that (this happened during the Regional Convention, not mine, where I had dropped someone off) I send in word that if they need a brother to interview for the any Exercise Patience talk I’m available. Not the tow truck companies fault, but the roadside app, which cannot fathom how Tom Harley could possibly be the same as Thomas Harley and so kept issuing denials of service without explanation. With a person, you could straighten in out in 2 seconds, but in the AI world it is not that way. It is, instead, like when your wife, though she has always been friendly, one day locks you out of the house without the hint of a reason and won’t tell you why.

    This is the same car that I used in ‘Last of the Last Days: Faith in the Age of Dysfunction’ to illustrate the point that you don’t need perfection to get you from point A to point B, only something serviceable and that if it breaks down you can repair it as you go. So it is with Jehovah’s visible organization driving the tangled and crazy roads of this system of things—it need not be perfect, though that would be preferable. It need only be serviceable. I wrote:

    “Facts are overrated. You never have them all and if you wait for them all to come in you never do anything. There is no “fact” that is not incessantly resisted and debated by those who don’t want to go in a given direction, so they never do all come in. Eventually, you must just go with what you have, trusting that you can make repairs along the way if need be. You need a serviceable vehicle to get from point A to point B. It need not be perfect. Just like my wife and recently completed a road trip to Florida and back, stopping in at seven sets of friends and one set of relatives along the way. Though I’ve flown several times, I had never driven the distance.

    “If you are from up north, as I am, you can depend upon countless friends who have moved south but to varying degrees. In time, they form a series of islands from which you can hop one to another. We only stayed two nights in hotels during our two and a half weeks on the road. All else was the hospitality of friends and the nice thing is that we could do it all over again with a different set of friends. Such is the benefit of spiritual family. Two of them even put us up into their unused time-shares. Our vehicle was serviceable, not perfect, with 180K miles and rust just beginning to peek through. We didn’t feel we had to make it perfect before we left home. We even had occasion for a repair. Blowing out a tire at 70 mph, I limped from the expressway, crossing several lanes when I saw an opening, took the exit ramp, and pulled into the first parking lot I saw. After swapping the bum tire for a donut, locals recommended a nearby shop. They fixed me up with a replacement tire in barely any time at all.

    “Hasn’t the worldwide organization of Jehovah’s Witnesses done the same a few times? You think it’s easy holding firm to God in the last of the last days, what with religions seizing upon any misstep as evidence you are a false prophet and skeptics dismissing God because they confuse him with Santa Claus who’s supposed to shower down presents no matter what? It isn’t.”

    Now my old car sits in the drive beside a shiny new one, which does the heavy duty. Like Old Jack, Sam Herd’s boyhood mule, I water it every day. I don’t throw if away just because it has grown old. Indeed, my wife hates the new one (you sit down too low and it is less easy to climb in and out) and will only drive the old one. If I protest, she likens herself to old wine that cannot be poured into new wine skins.

     

    ******  The bookstore

     

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  • The Circuit Overseer Visit: October 2024

    From one circuit overseer visit to the next, a period of about six months, new normals begin to develop in the congregation. Subtle ones, not bad, nothing for which anyone would have to say ‘Stop doing that!’ Things just reflecting the different personalities in the congregation. ‘Slight imbalances’ maybe is the phrase to use. Personal innovations, some which work pretty well, others not so much. The CO visit is like fine-tuning, serving to nudge ones into closer cooperation. Nudge—not shove—and people only partly do it. But they all take note and implement the improved focus, at least to a degree. Then other new normals begin to develop, or maybe the old ones begin to reassert themselves, and the pattern begins again.

    It is the advantage of organization. Without it, the new normals grow and magnify and innovate and butt heads with competing normals to the point where factions begin to develop. The CO is a feature so that the worldwide congregation pulls unitedly, he being a direct link to the Christian governing body. If you want to get anything done, you organize. It magnifies your ability. It is a latent power that humans have, to coordinate their efforts and thus get more done. Paul used the analogy of directing his blows, rather than striking the air. There is no need to quote the “power corrupts, but absolute power corrupts absolutely” line. If you do it right, it doesn’t.

    Doing it right involves everyone, from the top down, more notably at the top, since there is where the “power” lies, repeatedly putting on the Christian garment. It is repeated clothing oneself with the fruitage of the spirit, and continually monitoring that appearance in the mirror of James. No one can become too prickly over hearing counsel from another. The CO’s talk, one of them, referred to “the spirit that is now operating in the sons of disobedience,” the spirit that makes people “prickly.” A previous speaker gave the analogy of calling a soft tire to the attention of a brother—it is unsafe, he might be unawares, and it could cause him harm. “Oh, yeah?!” the hothead shoots back. “Well, your car has a dent in the fender!” It doesn’t hurt to develop a forgiving spirit, either, since the psalm says (130:3): “If errors were what you watch, O Jah, Then who, O Jehovah, could stand?” Errors are all people watch in the overall world today, and nobody stands. Don’t bring that niggling mindset into the congregation.

    The Watchtower Study for that week (July 2024 issue) contrasted kings of Israel, some of whom were bad, though they did some good things, and some of those who were good, though they did some bad things. Responding to correction was a major factor to determine who was who. David and Hezekiah, particularly David, blundered badly, but responded to correction. Amaziah, on the other hand, shot back at the prophet correcting him, “Did we appoint you as an adviser to the king?” (Para 10)

    Another talk during the COs visit touched upon Eve’s words to the Devil in Genesis 3, who is trying to draw her away and she is taking the bait. “Did God really say that you must not eat from every tree of the garden?” he says, knowing full well he did. Eve’s answer as to what God said: “You must not eat from it, no, you must not touch it; otherwise you will die.” It’s probably not a bad idea not to touch it, but it is a stipulation God never made. Does upping the requirement show her well on her way to discontent, as in complaining “Sheesh, we can’t even touch it!” even though God never said it? It makes me think of discontented ones today, exaggerating the inconveniences of serving with Jehovah’s people, which do exist, but they are not that bad, so that a third party later reads the complaint and says, ‘Whoa! They can’t even touch it! What an oppressive bunch!”

    Chatting with the CO in service, he said the latest brochure, now being used to train pioneers, ‘Love People—Make Disciples’ had changed, not only his interaction with people, but the nature of that interaction. It is a very subtle shift. Never has it been said not to love people.  Always, love has been understood as the motivating force behind what ministers of the good news do. But it is like the tiniest adjustment at the source of a stream that, many miles downstream, produces a torrent in an entirely different direction.

     

    ******  The bookstore

  • An Insular People—No Part of the World: Part 1

    There is a fine reality check in Deuteronomy to guard against Israel of old getting too big for its pants: “It was not because you were the most numerous of all the peoples that Jehovah showed affection for you and chose you, for you were the smallest of all the peoples.” (7:7)

    Got it. They weren’t a big deal on the world stage. So, when you read up on ancient history, as presented by anyone other than the believers, don’t be surprised that they are still not a big deal. You might be wowed, for example, by Jean-Pierre Isbouts relating the history of the ancient biblical world, and then say, ‘Whoa! Those Bible writers were so insular in their outlook! They saw everything in terms of their worship of God. They touch on secular events only insofar as it furthers their religious narrative.’

    Frankly, it reminds me of my own faith, also said to be ‘insular.’ Most Witnesses would not agree to the label ‘insular’, but that is primarily because they are unfamiliar with it and unsure just what attachments might come with it. They will instantly, even proudly, acknowledge two closely related phrases: they are ‘separate from the world’ and ‘no part of’ it.' It is a scriptural imperative, they will say, because if you want to lend a helping hand, you must be in a place of safety yourself.

    This is exactly what the stalwart ones of Israel did: they stayed ‘separate from the world,’ from that position later to benefit ones within it. “Jehovah your God I am, who has set you apart from the peoples. . . . You must be holy to me, because I, Jehovah, am holy, and I am setting you apart from the peoples to become mine.” (Leviticus 20: 24-26) They were separate, ‘set apart.’ They were not to mingle with those making no effort to be ‘holy’ or, with regard to God, to be ‘mine.’ Thus, it is not surprising that their writings (the Old Testament) might read as ‘insular,’ just as do the writings of the modern Christian congregation. What is insulation if not material to keep one substance ‘no part’ of another? Surely, that determination will be reflected in the writing. Compare the Bible writings with those of ancient secular history and you may say, ‘They barely know that an outside world exists!’

    Separation is resented by ‘the world,’ however. In this modern age of ‘inclusion,’ the very opposite of separateness, activists even try to make it illegal. Thus, within the Witness congregations, disfellowshipping, a last ditch effort, after all else has failed, to ensure that, either members stay true to the Christian way of life they have voluntarily chosen or else separate, is under ferocious legal attack today. It is an escalation of the scenario described at 1 Peter 4:3-4, where the apostle describes the world he and his separated from in not flattering ways:

    “For the time that has passed by is sufficient for you to have worked out the will of the nations when you proceeded in deeds of loose conduct, lusts, excesses with wine, revelries, drinking matches, and illegal idolatries. Because you do not continue running with them in this course to the same low sink of debauchery, they are puzzled and go on speaking abusively of you.” They speak no less abusively today, and are even inclined to add, “Water’s fine here in the low sink! Who are you to judge?”

    After the Holocaust, Jews discarded a lot of baggage that they deemed had caused them nothing but trouble. Belief in a coming messiah was among those items carted away. Maintaining separateness as a nation was another, even though the legal establishment of a homeland might suggest otherwise. From that homeland in the original ‘Promised Land,’ Jewish descendants operate in the arena of political nations, with no particular reliance upon God. God himself is a baggage that many left behind, as a direct consequence of that Holocaust. It is enough for them to keep alive Jewish tradition.

    Even that is enough to rile some non-Jews. But, since Jews make no special effort to pull people from the ‘low sink,’ they do not arouse the furor of those who wish to swim in it—or even return to it. Jehovah’s Witnesses do make that effort, however, and thus encounter pushback. Where do you think the name of my ‘house apostate,’ Vic Vomodog, comes from if not from the writings of Peter? “The dog has returned to its own vomit, and the sow that was bathed to rolling in the mire.” (2 Peter 2:22) In fact, he used to be ‘Vomidog,’ but several people said the name was disgusting, so I softened it to ‘Vomodog.’ It makes it easier to present him as a ‘Wily E Coyote’ type of fellow, eternally scheming against the Road Runner and eternally frustrated. So far, there is no Larry Lowsink, but I am thinking of introducing him as a companion. I might even make it a she—Loretta Lowsink, and have them married. Or I might just marry them gender-unchanged, in keeping with the spirit of the times.

    In real life, however, Vic and possibly Larry makes considerable trouble for those who are yet determined to stay separate from the world. They have had a few court cases go their way. For now, such outcomes tend to be reversed by higher, less activist courts, the kind that are quicker to spot ‘mischief by decree.’ But they press on, in accord with the greater agenda to make separation from the world illegal, in mandated ‘inclusion.’

    The reason I think this is the greater agenda is that today’s reality so closely conforms to Jesus’ words: “If you were part of the world, the world would be fond of what is its own. Now because you are no part of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, for this reason the world hates you.” (John 15:19) Therefore, all these efforts to frame mischief by degree are a facade. That is not to say they are nothing, but they mask the real reason Jesus gave. 

    The CSA court cases, not so much the cases themselves, but the brouhaha over them, for example, are largely a facade. They are like saying “Jehovah’s Witnesses have zits!” Everyone has zits. CSA is the Gross Planetary Product. Whatever ‘records’ Witnesses may or may not have that opponents say should become police property exist only because they attempted to police themselves, in accord with Romans 2:21-23: “You, the one preaching, ‘Do not steal,’ do you steal?  You, the one saying, ‘Do not commit adultery,’ do you commit adultery? You, the one abhorring idols, do you rob temples? You who take pride in law, do you dishonor God by your transgressing of the Law?" Even that is spun as an abuse of personal freedom by opponents. Only the police can police. If overall society comes to feel that adultery is not a biggie, for example, then you’re on thin ice trying to discipline people over it, even if it is in the bylaws that all agreed to.

    Continued in Part 2.

    ******  The bookstore