This is from the Come Be My Follower publication. pages 187-189. I highlighted what I found to be ironic.
14. On the other hand, Jesus must be very happy to look down from heaven and see that millions of people are fulfilling the disciple-making commission that he gave his followers before leaving the earth. (Matthew 28:19, 20) What a privilege it is to contribute to the joy of the Messianic King! Let us be determined never to give up in assisting "the faithful and discreet slave." (Matthew 24:45) Unlike Christendom's clergy, this class of annointed Christians has obediently spearheaded the preaching work and has faithfully fed Christ's sheep.
15. We can be sure that the King is angry when he sees the lovelessness that prevails on the earth today. We might recall how the Pharisees criticized Jesus for performing cures on the Sabbath. They were so hard hearted, so set in their ways, that they could not see past their own narrow interpretation of the Mosaic Law and the oral law. Jesus' miracles did good beyond measure! But the joy, the relief, the strengthening of faith that such miracles brought about meant nothing to those men. How did Jesus feel about them? He once looked "around upon them with indignation, being thoroughly grieved at the insensibility of their hearts."Mark 3:5
16. Today, Jesus sees far more to make him feel "thoroughly grieved." The leaders of Christendom are blinded by their devotion to traditions and doctrines that are at odds with the Scriptures. Further, they are enraged by the preaching of the good news of God's Kingdom. In many parts of the world, the clergy have fomented vicious persecution against those Christians who sincerely try to preach the message that Jesus preached. (John 16:2; Revelation 18:4, 24) At the same time, such clergymen often exhort their own followers to go to war and take the lives of others-as if doing so would please Jesus Christ!
17. In contrast, Jesus' genuine followers endeavor to show love to their fellow man. They share the good news with "all sorts of men," just as Jesus did, despite opposition. (1 Timothy 2:4) And the love they show to one another is outstanding; it is their chief adentifying mark. (John 13:34, 35) As they treat their fellow Christians with love, respect, and dignity, they are truly following Jesus-and making the heart of the Messianic King rejoice!
18. Let us also keep in mind that our Master is distressed when his followers fail to endure, letting their love for Jehovah cool off and giving up as His servants. (Revelation 2:4,5) However, Jesus is pleased with those who endure to the end. (Matthew 24:13) By all means, then, let us kep ever in mind Christ's command: "Continue following me." (John 21:19) Let us consider some of the blessings that the Messianic King will bestow on those who endure to the end.
One of the comments made at the Congregation Bible Study was that the churches are presumptuous in claiming to be followers of Christ, hence the designation, Christians. When that comment was made, I thought to myself, we're in an organization that claims to be God's chosen channel of dispensing information, the only true religion. Not only to we consider ourselves His exclusive organization, we badmouth and brush off anyone else claiming to be Christian. That's not presumptuous? Mark 9:38-40 comes to mind where Jesus corrected his disciples for having an improper view of an individual not amongst them who was driving out demons in His name. This is a verse the WT avoids, with good reason,as Jesus said, "He that is not against us, is for us. Truly I tell you, anyone who gives you a cup of water in my name because you belong to the Messiah, will certainly not lose their reward." I'll keep that in mind the next time I read in the Awake/Watchtower an article criticizing churches and those that attend them.
Paragraph 15 is curious as well, as it talks about the Pharisees having a narrow minded view of the Mosaic Law, and the oral law because of the insensibility of their hearts. Whats really fascinating about that is when one considers the WT's stance on blood transfusions. Its painfully obvious that the law's edicts on blood were dietary measures that involved the respect and value of life. The writers then never would have imagined that a life could be saved through the use of blood for medical purposes. The amount of lives lost because the WT equates a blood transfusion with the savagery of an animal eating blood, is dispicable. I'm sure the Israelites would have had a problem with eating human hearts, or livers too. Oh thats right! My bad! The WT equated organ transplants with cannibalism up until the early 80s!! How many JWs were screwed because of that narrow interpretation of the dietary habits of ancient Israelites. Do JWs have a bible trained conscience, or a WT trained fear complex?
While we're on the subject of narrow interpretations, paragraph 17 shows how Jesus' "genuine" followers show love to their fellow man. How? By "voluntarily" distributing the literature of a religious publishing company. Those in the know, know why I brought attention to the word, "voluntarily." So church goers who volunteer in a soup kitchen, or get involved with charities, aren't really doing a loving thing for their neighbors. Ignoring people, avoiding practical assistance to your community, but dropping off literature to your neighbors is very loving, very kind. Ya gotta love it. Can you imagine justifying this mentality back in 1974? Or even after 1975, can you imagine every day, of every year, putting off practical assistance for people because the end is right around the corner and any efforts to assist people would be futile. Every day, of every year. How many years of wasted time voluntarily dropping off literature......SMH.
