Blondie's Comments You Will Not Hear at the 01-11-09 WT Study (STRAY) (page 3)

slimboyfat

Me? I was saying I thought they were allowed to count time if they are on official elder shepherding business, whether the person involved is active or inactive.

passwordprotected

Elders can't count their time while on shepherding calls. They can count their time when giving public talks tho!

I should add that many congregations have a shepherding log whereby each elder reports who he has visited and when. This is reviewed bi-annually ahead of the CO visit to make sure that the flock has been 'adequately' shepherded. It's not unusual for elders to go on a shepherding spree, visiting as many families as they can in the month leading up to the CO visit so that they can update the shepherding log accordingly.

BluesBrother

Passwordprotected speaks of a shepherding log to record the shepherding calls. That is new to me. There was never one in the days when I served, but that finished in the late nineties...

This is barff making stuff this week...Words and not deeds...Does not the Bible relate that to the Pharisees...

If they cared, they would be around here. Truth is that it is all done to fill in hours and enter on a report..

Mind you, I should be pleased about that . If the elders were on the ball, my wife would have had a d/f husband a long time ago.

but that is not the happy lot of sheep who have strayed....

I accept that the sentence talks of "Spiritual things" but the import is that strayed sheep have an unhappy lot. NOT So..just come on here and see the testimony of those who have found a better life.

O K then - BluesBrother is inactive, Elders, come and find me - we could have an interesting chat. I used to be scared of what you could do, but now I have no fear.....

snowbird

It's been 4 years since my last meeting.

I've had only 2 visits from the elders.

They know where I live and work.

I guess I can expect a visit soon.

Do I have something for them!

Sylvia

tenyearsafter

My son was baptized at 16 and stopped "associating" when he moved in with me at 18...he is now 27 and has not had one visit or call from an elder to find out what happened or why he isn't there. His grandparents have not called him in 10 years and his mother talks to him occasionally. My brother and his family are effectively shunning both of the kids though my son is "inactive" and not DF'ed or formally DA'ed. They are the only ones still "in". My daughter, 29, was never baptized. Isn't amazing how concerned the loving shepherds and their flock are? Maybe it is because of my kid's association with their "evil" father that they have been forgotten (thank goodness!!). BTW, in the 13 years since I was DF'ed, I have not had one follow up visit from an elder to see if I have changed my heart condition...someone must be asleep at the switch! LOL

cameo-d

Are they blurring the difference?

It's quite clear that the great Shepherd is different from the Fine Shepherd.

Soon, attentive JWs will be separated by this subtle, all-important differecne business.

Gozz, can you elaborate, please? Thank you.

tooktheredpill

Hi Guys!

It was very funny, but early this morning I received 2 text messages from my "friends", and a call in our answering machine from an Elder. They are "worried about us", they missed us, etc etc.

Now I noticed that TODAY's WT article was this!!! HELP THOSE WHO STRAY FROM THE FLOCK

He he he. Now everything makes sense!!!!

TTRP

undercover

Thanks Blondie for your continuing series of WT reviews...

A couple of thoughts I had while scanning the article:

The article, while on the surface looks to be concerned about those who have strayed, is really a scare tactic to keep those still active to not become inactive.

Notice some of the statements made about inactive ones.

paragraph 2:

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.

The underlying message here is that no matter what issue you have, you can only find happiness through the bOrg. So even if you get sick or discouraged, you'll be more miserable by being inactive.

paragraph 2:

Those in the flock of God lack nothing in a spiritual way, but that is not the happy lot of sheep who have strayed.

That's a pretty loaded statement. Give everyone in attendance the false feeling of spiritual completeness while stating as fact that anyone inactive is not happy.

Sidenote: If any of us receive visits or calls from the "friends" who respond to this article by harrassing contacting us, we can really overload their circuits by letting them know just how happy we really are in our current state. They're expecting miserable, spiritually destitute individuals eager to receive their "help".

paragraph 6:

Inactive ones are particularly vulnerable and therefore need assistance in order to apply the admonition to 'walk by spirit.'

Another blanket statement encouraging the reader to assume that anyone inactive is helpless and in danger. Meant to give the reader pause to think about how scary it must be to be "alone" with assistance from "mother".

paragraph 8:

When a fellow believer is physically sick, the visit of a shepherd of God's flock can be a source of joy and encouragement. The same can be the case when a spiritually ailing sheep is given personal attention. Elders may read scriptures, review an article, discuss meeting highlights, pray with the inactive one, and so forth. They can point out that members of the congregation would be delighted to see him come back to
congregation meetings.

This is a particularly insidious scare tactic...no matter how much the Society tries to paint elders as "loving shepards" trying to help, the vast majority of the rank and file do pretty much whatever they can to keep the elders out of their everyday lives. The underlying message here is, start to slip and the elders will coming by to check up on you. It's not encouraging people to stay active for love of anything but out of fear of counsel.

paragraph 11:

In some cases, the elders may arrange for experienced Kingdom publishers to conduct a personal Bible study with inactive ones who express a desire to be given assistance.

It's interesting in how this entire article is about helping those who have strayed yet in this paragraph the counsel is given that the eldes "may arrange for an experienced publisher" to conduct a study, i.e. help the inactive one.

Here is where the Society shows a bit of fear themselves. They don't want just anyone sitting down with an inactive one and stuyding anything. They want someone "experienced", in other words, more indoctrinated. They know as well as we do that many inactive ones are really closet "apostates". To let an "inexperienced" person sit down with someone who has thoroughly researched the Society would truly be "spritual shipwreck" for the "inexperienced" one.

paragraph 13:

Reminisce about past joys, encouraging the inactive one to speak about delightful experiences he has had at the meetings, in the preaching work, and at conventions. Comment on the happy times you may have had together in Jehovah's service.

Emotional blackmail. Make the inactive one feel bad for missing the "good times". At the same time, this message scares the active one from wanting to become inactive because they they'll be missing all those "good times" they've been having.

This will only work on a true believer...someone who actually feels guilty for being inactive. For anyone who is onto the scam, it's laughable.

This may be a way for the elders to be able to detemine just how sincerely "inactive" someone is. If they don't respond to the emotional blackmail, it may be sign more than just discouragement.

paragraph 16:

Do the foregoing suggestions really work? Yes. For instance, one young person who started as a Kingdom publisher when he was 12 years old became inactive at the age of 15. He later became active, however, and has been in the full-time service for over 30 years.

Well, yea they worked in this case. You were dealing with a child who had no knowledge outside of his structured environment. Yet, this guilts the older ones into thinking, "if a 15 year old can overcome his problems, I should be able to as well".

I bet that most dubs didn't come out of this meeting feeling all warm and fuzzy about trying to contact all their inactive buddies. Instead, there was probably a feeling of dread, maybe guilt as well. On the surface this article looks to upbuild people, but I remember sitting through these type studies and when it was over I was exhausted. I wasn't worried about trying to help inactive ones...I was trying to figure out how to not become one of those poor souls. It wasn't upbuilding at all, it was fear inspiring.

iceguy

I have been df'd for 2 years and never had a call from an elder...until this past weekend. I wonder if the elders have been guilted into contacting not only inactive but df'd ones also.

Blondie's Comments You Will Not Hear at the 01-11-09 WT Study (STRAY)

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