chickpea said: not to go too far off topic.... but the PO ( a widowed MTS boy) at the hall i attended once, in that fellowshipping knot at the back of the hall one sunday, told me, according to 1tim 5:17 ( Let the elders that rule well, be counted worthy of double honor, especially they who labor in the word and doctrine) the congregation should be paying him!!
i remember thinking..... go to seminary and get ordained in a church
It's funny you mention this... when I was on my way out, I bought several Bible translations and spent a lot of time reading the scriptures without the aid of WT publications, just drawing my own conclusions based on the context, and what was said. One of the conclusions I reached was exactly what this widows MTS boy said! If you read the entire chapter, you'll see he first talks about honoring widows who are actually widows--those with no family left to provide materially, he says. He talks about how that "honor" is the material things provided to them. Then, in the next breath, he says the elders that work hard caring for the flock are worthy of "double honor"... and I don't think he switched context here to mean "respect" when he just said widows "honor" is "material things". At first, I was offended, as it was so anti-JW thinking. But think about it this way: If elders who REALLY CARED for the flock were supplemented materially (not provided for), and were able, as Paul did, to work part time and then still have some energy and time left to devote to real shepherding, visits of the sick and depressed, the fatherless boys and girls, and still have energy and time left for their families... (and, imagine they didn't have the rest of the WT BS to deal with)... what a different kind of shepherd you would have... Obviously, Paul wasn't referring to the extravagances that TV Evangelists have... but I do, based on my own reading here, think he was referring to providing financially / materially for the needs of both the WIDOWS and the GOOD SHEPHERDS... neither of which JW's do today! I mean, why don't we follow the counsel for the congregation to care for the needs of the "widows who are truly widows"? There is no Society-directed program to do THAT... but they do have one for congregations to care for the car and health-care fund for the circuit and district overseers, at an expected $-per-head per publisher...
