Spirit of Christmas - Christian versus non-Christian

by Cellist 13 Replies latest jw friends

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  BurnTheShips

  I'm not saying this to praise ourselves or criticize them. It just struck me today that every time Christians "give" it has a hook attached. When JWs give they usually let the recipient know they're JWs so that it's a "good witness for Jehovah".

  I don't agree with your impression. (And no, I would probalby not accept their invitation and I do not belong to that denomination)

  It is not like these individuals are turning in a timeslip. Or they get to brag about their exploits from the platform. They gave as a body, as a church. It would have been rude not to extend an invitation to you. No "hook". You see it as a "hook" because you are looking at it through your life experience in the Watchtower.

  Burn
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  Zico

  I understand your viewpoint, but I agree with Burn.
  
  Some Jehovah's Witnesses do preach because they care about people, but most of the ones I know do it simply because they have to. I've read many comments on this board, that once they were baptised the person studying with them stopped bothering with them because they could no longer get the hours from it. In that case I would suggest the hook was their own salvation.
  
  Not knowing the Christians who knocked on your door Cellist, or what their Church teaches about the importance of evangelising, it's hard to say their real motive, they may genuinely want to help people, or preaching because they think they need to for their own salvation like many Jehovah's Witnesses do, but Christianity outside of the Watchtower doesn't usually demand you preach to gain salvation.
  
  You can recognise they may have good intentions without having to accept their beliefs or their invitation.
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  CaptainSchmideo

  Not really a Christmas story, but:

  I remember a couple of occasions where I have helped people with dead batteries (one was a woman with a couple of little ones on a very hot summer day, where she was about out of gas, AND her battery connection was loose.)

  On both occasions, I was offered money for my help, which I politely declined.

  In mentioning one of these to a friend of mine, he chided me, saying "You should have said, "The next time Jehovah's Witnesses come to your door, give them a listen!" Doesn't anyone understand the parable of the Good Samaritan?

  My thinking is, if you do a nice thing for someone, maybe they will do something nice for someone else sometime, and this might perpetuate. Gifts with strings attached aren't really gifts.
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  Cellist

  Captain Schmideo, What you described is what we've always considered real Christian behaviour. The ability to give without expecting an immediate return. In fact, probably not getting any return personally, just the hope of having a better community to live in. This sort of attitude is depressingly rare and getting rarer by the day.
  
  In fact, the attitude that "if you're giving, you must be getting somehow" is so prevalent that it's impossible to do a kind deed with the hopes of receiving "good will" in return. Everyone assumes you're getting something out of it, so they don't even see the need to feel gratitude.
  
  Thank you everyone for your comments. There are some very good points made, on both sides of the issue.
  
  Cellist