Don't get me wrong, I like Jesus

by stillin 11 Replies latest watchtower bible

• 

  stillin

  I would have liked him if I had known him while he was here. Font of wisdom, anti-corruption, moral type of man who stood up for his beliefs.

  In today's watchtower study, the illustration of the weeds sown among the wheat was expounded upon. It occurred to me that one thing that Jesus never mentioned, but that any farmer/gardener would have thought of right away, was that leaving the weeds among the wheat would have, at best, diminished the quality of the harvest. That's what weeds do. They are unwanted because they strangle the desired plants out of their nutrients. Is that what has happened to the true faith? WTS is lacking is so many ways, even in these "last days" when, supposedly, the weeds have been removed, the "crop" must surely have suffered the results of 2,000 years of weeds. Ask any farmer.

  But I would have asked Jesus about this, not fearing his condemnation. He was a good man. Maybe he would have been patient with me and taken his illustration to the next level for me... As it is, I lost the whole thread of his thought because of the "modern-day application" (twist) that the WT has forced upon it.
• 

  garyneal

  HA HA

  My wife was commenting to me today about that WT article. You see, I told her that some of the people who post here are active witnesses. So she took that article and began thinking about the 'apostates' who still attend meetings.
• 

  Black Sheep

  He's not welcome around here. I don't want him killing my fruit trees to show off to his mates.
• 

  snowbird

  He's not welcome around here. I don't want him killing my fruit trees to show off to his mates.

  *sigh*

  They are not YOUR fruit trees; they are HIS! John 1:1-3

  Sheesh!

  Syl
• 

  stillin

  garyneal: I wouldn't say that I'm actually an "apostate." But I do feel slighted by the Organization in that if I simply want to question something, I get suspicious eyes all around. That's the culture that has been encouraged, rather than "every question deserves an answer." If anything serves to fuel doubt, it's the refusal to reason, or think, on a subject beyond what has been written for the benefit of the faithful 6,000,000, some of whom are unable to tie their shoelaces.
• 

  mindmelda

  I guess technically, since I didn't believe some of it EVER, I was always an apostate who attended meetings...for 34 years. The stuff I didn't believe I just mostly kept quiet about, since I'm not stupid and knew there'd be hell to pay. (the only hell I believe in, actually)

  I never seemed to be able to assimilate that part where I was supposed to believe everything the WTS said was completely and utterly true and good for me.
• 

  Terry

  A lot of scripture suffers from trying to "explain" problems of logic.

  The explainer resorts to fuzzy stories or metaphors (parables) for the simple reason they don't know what they are talking about.

  (Otherwise, they'd just come out and say it!)

  Why is Evil permitted to exist?

  Well, you see, blah blah blah blah blah......and then, on Judgement Day God will set everything aright. See?

  That sort of thing.

  Why is this thing this way? Because GOD HAS A PLAN.

  Why does He do it this way? God's ways are higher than our ways.

  Explanations which don't explain are perfectly suited to ignorant belief and trust in a "somebody-is-in-charge-of-the-Universe" scenario.

  JESUS presents logical problems for the idea that there is ONE true God who is just and all-powerful.

  Attempts to explain sin, death, evil and hope all fall over each other in a pretzel-logic effort to sound plausible.

  Jesus is a mystery man who either is God or is not. Is part of a Trinity or isn't. Died because he was a human or died because he MEANT to die for a clever plan of salvation.

  Jesus says something while dying of crucifixion which makes no sense at all. "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do."

  Is IGNORANCE a plausible reason for forgiveness here?

  Or, was Jesus supposed to die for everybody's sins SO THAT they could be forgiven?

  What does ignorance have to do with anything?
• 

  cult classic

  Ok now, I've never thought about that scripture like that before. Sort of takes the evil face off of those who killed Jesus if they were ignorant of their actions.
• 

  daniel-p

  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ra7_60iwpk8
• 

  tec

  Stillin - that's a good question. I think I would ask it too. I think some of the answer is that God was not willing that any innocent be uprooted with the guilty. But what about the innocent who have been harmed by the guilty who are allowed to remain?

  I would ask this question of Jesus, but I think I might be starting to understand something.

  Who are the guilty and who are the innocent?

  What guilty person today is not a result of the harm done to them? Harm from family, from society, from strangers? There are some, perhaps. But for the most part, we are all a product of the world we are each responsible for creating.

  Perhaps that's why forgiveness from God is a gift given freely. Because so few people have that face of evil. Most people are just lost; a product of what we have allowed to become of humanity - by ignoring those who have needed help; by refusing to understand or forgive or help heal those who have been hurt; and by whatever other reasons I can't currently think of.

  So I guess what I'm saying is - we might think we're pulling up the weeds in this figurative garden; but those weeds might just be a product of what we, ourselves, have created.

  Of what we ourselves have failed.

  Tammy