by under_believer 21 Replies latest jw friends
If you live your life and obey Jesus words, isn't your example in and of itself a witness? A more potent witness than words?
Brings to mind a favorite quote:
"I'd rather see a sermon than hear one anyday"
More time spent living a loving life,
less time spent pushing it on others.
I think that when you find a relationship with Jesus, the effect that it has on your person is something that you are excited to share.
The Bible tells us to be let our light shine and to be not under a basket but to be on a hill.
In the beginning this meant that everyone would need to be told this good news as it was then VERY new. Today, nearly everyone is familiar with Christ's teaching. Therefore, rather than being a preachy message we are to reflect God's love for us in the way that we treat others. To reflect what we have received. To be illuminators in a dark world.
This occurs best in relationships and not through door to door preaching. It means extending ourselves to others; reflecting God's love so that others are drawn to God by wanting the love and grace we have received and the changes that it has made in our personal lives.
Very few people respond to being preached at at the door. I am interested in talking to jw's at my door and yet when one came I wasn't interested in talking and just wanted him to leave.
The constant push to preach is one of the things that makes the jws unbalanced and often unloving. It is more important to do things where you can count time than taking care of others. They have little time to visit the sick, do charity work, encouage the depressed. "Take care of widows and orphans", they forget about these things.
What do they look at to decide if someone can have a position in the congregation? Mostly their field service report and answering at the meetings. Do they ever consider if a person is truly showing love toward others? I have never seen this considered. They are so busy, but what do they really accomplish?
Good comments. I hated the preaching work. It felt so forced. And so often I wasnt feeling well and still had to do it. What did that accomplish? Sad.
It shouldn't be mandated by an organization, with the tallying of hours in any case. Whether or not you're displaying the "fruitages of the spirit" is between you and God.
Thanks everyone for the great replies (especially the link to the "high/low requirements thread, M.J.) As you can tell I don't think that every Christian has a personal commission to preach, either. There's absolutely no evidence that every individual Christian in the early congregation was out knocking on people's doors, that's for sure.
"The constant push to preach is one of the things that makes the jws unbalanced and often unloving." that is a key understanding on te nature of the dub org under Russell the emphasis was on thedevelopment of Christian character under Rutherford all the focus went on preaching. It may well have been a cunning economic move to boost and keep high teh sales of books and mags. As a result everything else got neglected and preaching became in essence the only standard for measuring spirituality. Whatever else you do if you don't preach you are assigned a very low value as a community member and get called a spiritually weak person.
Jesus said, " Beware of practicing your piety before men in order to be seen by them; for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven.
"Thus when you give alms, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by men. Truly, I say to you, they have their reward. But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your alms may be in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
NO, NOT, NEVER.
Eph 4:11
And he gave some as apostles, some as prophets, some as evangelizers, some as shepherds and teachers..(and why?) 12 with a view to the readjustment of the holy ones, for ministerial work, for the building up of the body of the Christ, 13 until we all attain to the oneness in the faith and in the accurate knowledge of the Son of God, to a full-grown man, to the measure of stature that belongs to the fullness of the Christ; 14 in order that we should no longer be babes, tossed about as by waves and carried hither and thither by every wind of teaching by means of the trickery of men, by means of cunning in contriving error.Says it all for me
I believe that Jesus encouraged his followers to preach the good news. I believe it was with the idea that followers would share with their friends and neighbors their faith and understanding of Christ Jesus teaching. But it was not intended to be a door to door kind of preaching. That is a perception that Rutherford put in so the rank and file could sell his books and build up his huge business of book and literature sale. The preaching and placing of literature is a WTBTS idea of preaching not supported by the bible.
