Sunday, January 11, 2009

Watchtower Study, January 11, 2009

Sadly, some who seemed to appreciate Jesus' sacrifice and made a dedication to God no longer associate with the Christian congregation. Discouragement, health problems, or other factors may have weakened their zeal and caused them to become inactive. However, only as part of God's flock can they enjoy the serenity and happiness that David spoke of in the 23rd Psalm. For instance, he sang: "Jehovah is my Shepherd. I shall lack nothing." (Ps. 23:1) Those in the flock of God lack nothing in a spiritual way, but that is not the happy lot of sheep who have strayed.

What's so interesting about this paragraph, is that the rank and file will not notice the oxymoron here. They claim that "only as part of God's flock can they enjoy the serenity and happiness that David spoke of..." while completely ignoring the fact that David himself was not a Christian, nor a Jehovah's Witness. They try and make Jehovah's Witnesses feel special by saying that only Witnesses are happy. No one else in the whole world is happy except Witnesses because they are busy attending meetings and going from door to door. Is this true? Of course it's not. Despite all his failings, David apparently enjoyed a good relationship with God without attending 5 meetings a week or knocking on doors Saturday morning. My god, he even had a beard!

It is really love that motivates Christians to as­sist inactive ones to return to the congrega­tion? Or is it just because it's a directive from the Governing Body? Is it not true that most things that Witnesses do that should come from the heart, are done mainly because the Governing Body tells them to do it?

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Well, your point is a bit out of context. The paragraph says David was part of the "flock of God," not part of Jehovah's Witnesses. Technically, according to the views of Witnesses, the flock of God began with Israel - of which David was a key member - and carried through the Christian congregation and to our day with Witneses.

I'm not saying they're right ... I'm just explaining your misinterpretation of that paragraph.

Shawn said...

Whether or not David could be considered to be in 'the flock of God' in the same way that Christians are is debatable. What jumps out for me is yet another example of Watchtower language loading. They claim that people who do everything the Watchtower Society tells them to are happy, strong, mature but that those who have left are unhappy, weak, and immature.

Anyone who tells you that the only way to be happy is by doing what they tell you to do is either lying or incredibly deluded.

Unknown said...

Daniel: I agree with damnation. You lose credibility when you misinterpret the face value of a text cited. Yes, the WT is trying to conflate being a servant of God and being a JW, but please analyze the text correctly.

Grandpa Tom said...

My wife and I are proof positive that you can be happy when not doing the Jehovah's Witness thing. We have been not going to meetings, not going out in field service and not studying Watchtower Literature for over two years now and we couldn't be happier so go figure.

Anonymous said...

I have never been happier and felt more at peace since I left that cult.