Watchtower never took preaching work seriously!!

by proplog2 33 Replies latest jw friends

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  proplog2

  There has been a lot of discussion about the claim that the GB feel they have fullfilled their obligation to preach.

  This would be no surprise. They never took it seriously.

  Think about it. Jesus said if you want to really do what is right you need to sell your property and give to the poor. AND THEN... you could follow Jesus.

  After pentecost there was an arrangement where an individual could sell his property and give the proceeds to the Apostles.

  Jesus said Seek first the kingdom and all these other things will be added.

  If the Watchtower REALLY believed in the life saving nature of the witness work they would be on an emergency basis.

  They would encourage communalism. Shared housing for everyone. Anyone who wanted to pioneer would receive provision.

  INSTEAD they tell prospective pioneers to "count the costs" which means you are on your own. So many pioneers had to quit because they couldn't afford rent or a reliable automobile. Or they needed to cover medical expenses.

  If they took it seriously they would discourage people from spending money on luxuries, - cruises, vacation homes, luxury automobiles, . Everyone would REALLY be content with sustenance and covering.

  If they set up a system of shared living for people who wanted to pioneer they could have half of the congregations in the full time work. Not just 90 hours per month, but 200 hours per month or more.

  As it is, they have really watered down any sense of urgency. They SAY the preaching is URGENT. But apparently their God doesn't think its really urgent. If lives are really at stake you would expect extraordinary measures to be put into effect. Communal living would be the answer if they really felt it were urgent.

  Some might say that communal living is a recipe for dissaster. But shouldn't people who set themselves up as an example of brotherly love be able to make such sacrifices with God's help.

  The truth is they never have put their money where their mouth is. Some have. Mostly those who want the reward of higher status in the organization.
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  james_woods

  It has been mentioned many times before, but I once read that the Mormons actually own up to the fact that the "Missionary" work is not primarily to recruite candidates. They have somewhere about the same success rate with it as do the witnesses. They say they are keeping up with it anyway because it is an important "rite of passage" for young mormon men.

  I think the Witnesses secretly are the same - they need it for cash flow, control of the publishers, and keeping their creepy outsider status with the public.

  I have not bought into the "preaching work is finished" speculation yet - I cannot imagine them actually stopping it for the above reasons.
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  JWdaughter

  You make some interesting points! Something to think about.
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  avidbiblereader

  Good points and there are many other things that are not done in the same way as the first century Christians

  abr
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  proplog2

  When Jesus said to seek first the kingdom he didn't say a word about the costs. He said your needs are taken care of just like the birds and the lillies of the field. Jesus said the harvest is great and the workers are few - beg the master of the harvest to send out more workers. So if you work in harmony with that prayer the natural course is to pool resources through communalism (not communism). There WAS a model in the life Jesus led. There was also a model for this after pentecost. There is NO model today for communal sharing to accomplish this so-called life saving work.

  How many different flavors does bull-shit come in?
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  Surfrusty

  So have you sold everything? Just wondering...
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  proplog2

  No. Nor do I preach. I pioneered several years until I couldn't pay my bills. Dropped out. I bought into the whole thing. But now I see no one REALLY makes sacrifices. There is NO safety net if you didn't "count the cost".

  My dad (JW Elder til he died in his 80's) always said "Shit in one hand and pray in the other and see which one gets filled first".
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  IP_SEC

  If they did they would find more efficient means to do it. Radio, TV and whutnot.
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  proplog2

  IP_SEC:

  No witnesses in Afghanistan, North Korea, or Somalia? So I should be able to find a 24 hour short wave radio broadcast aimed at those countries with programming in their languages. Are they doing that? A lot of people in the third world listen to short-wave radio. Where is the Watchtower sattelite beaming the truth everywhere. We're not talking about something 6.5 million people can't afford.

  So if community responsibility is in effect then all of JW's deserve to die at armageddon because collectively they didn't do all that was in their power to spread the word.

  On the back of their publications you find this www.watchtower.org

  Could it be written any smaller?

  And why don't they put their whole cd-rom and every watchtower on the internet? Why don't they have their videos on the internet? Why don't they have mp3 recordings of everything? Could 6.5 million people afford to provide that?

  Doesn't their God Jehovah care? If Jehovah cares and they obviously don't - then there is a major disconnect. Why should anybody else give a damn. If you have the "truth" are these things too extraordinary to accomplish.

  The excuse I've heard for the cd-rom content not being available on the internet: "the apostates would have easy access to it and would twist things".

  Another flavor of BS. Are they afraid of apostates? Is their God unable to work around that?
• 

  willyloman

  You are absolutely right, but there are more important signposts that they never took the preaching work seriously:

  1. The number of hours reported is completely false and everyone knows it; most of the reports are guesses and many are complete fabrications.

  2. The manner of counting those hours varies dramatically on an individual basis and from congregation to congregation, according to custom and peer pressure.

  3. The people who do the work are said to be "well trained" but at the door, where the rubber meets the road so to speak, most presentations are completely inept.

  4. The work is supposed to be about spreading "the good news" but in fact almost every presentation at a door has to do with whatever the cover topic is for the latest magazine, most of which cover current events, societal trends or problems, and other forms of "soft" news.

  5. The average householder, no matter how many dubs have called on them, have literally no idea what the JW message is - despite dub claims of having spent billions of hours in the field service and placing millions of tracts.

  I promise you there is no elder, no Circuit Overseer, nor anyone in any position of oversight in the organization who doesn't know this. They've known this for decades. They see no reason to fix it. Why? They're not serious about it. It's just make-work designed to keep the rank and file busy.

  Their trademark or "brand" as the marketing guys say, is the door-to-door work. No actual preaching or teaching is involved.