I read the Ray Franz book but Witnesses just see the scripture about going "house to house". How would you help a Witness understand the reality?
How Do You Respond To: Like Early Christians, JWs Go "House-To-House"?
by minimus 29 Replies latest jw friends
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Vanderhoven7
Not to blow my own horn or anything, but if I were not me, I would show this video to a JW and ask him for a response.
Text available if requested
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carla
Sorry I can't watch the video at the moment but I have tried talking to my for years on and off about this topic. They don't care what else the Bible has to say about something once the wt/gb has written about something. I have tried to show that if you look at history and the region, traditions, etc... there is no way men would go knocking on someone's door like the jw's do. It simply wasn't done. I tell them to research history but you know how that goes.......
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RagingBull
I've seen your videos Vanderhoven...love them. Very insightful and easy to understand.
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godrulz
JWs have used Acts 20:20 to justify door-to-door. In 1972, they rightly recognized that this is about discipleship and house churches/teaching believers, not so-called field service or evangelism. After 1975, they had to crack the whip to get their door-to-door evangelism moving to get the numbers back up, so in 1979, they went back to the wrong evangelistic interpretation. This method of outreach is not effective in countries that consider their house their castle. In some cultures, hospitality is paramount, so they will let JWs in even though they will never embrace their message. There are far more effective means of outreach. Given the sheer number of hours and amount of literature, JWs should be vastly larger and faster growing than they are. It is also not a test of truth/orthodoxy just because they are well-organized in their technique. Mormon missionaries go house to house, I as a pastor or evangelical Christian have done it, Baptists have done it, other cults like JWs have done it (so have vacuum salesmen and encyclopedia salesmen). It is not wrong to do so, but it is not a sign of truth or Jehovah's blessing. JWs have made it a salvation issue practically. It keeps people being slaves to the organization and ensures some growth and to keep the money coming in. Scripture interpreted in context does not support JW beliefs nor practices.
Christians, myself included, practice this in small group home meetings that are primarily discipleship/Bible study, with an opportunity for unbelievers to come and share relationship and study the Word with the opportunity to become a believer through this small group fellowship vs our megachurches. The Bible does not forbid door-to-door evangelism, TV evangelism, etc., but as the video says, it is not a criteria of baptism, salvation, not the only way to share the gospel, not the most effective way to do it (vs relational methods vs cold call).
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sd-7
Whenever the Bible shows Jesus preaching, it shows him doing so in places where large groups of people gathered (Sermon on the Mount, at the temple, in the synagogues). It does not indicate that he knocked on every door in every city he went to. He was clearly INVITED to come into the homes of many, but nowhere does the Bible say he went from house to house, knocking on doors. If it's in there, by all means, show me.
In Acts, we start out with Peter making ONE SPEECH in a public place, which results in 3,000 PEOPLE getting baptized. Seems to me that he did that without having to knock on 3,000 doors. Pretty impressive, huh? Paul does speak of teaching 'from house to house', but he was speaking to people who were already believers. In the other text that is often used, which I think is Acts 5:42, well, I haven't really researched it. I would say that Paul had very noteworthy preaching moments at synagogues and in marketplaces. There is a scriptural obligation for Christians to make disciples; this can't be contested. But nowhere does the Bible say that the 'door to door ministry' is an obligation amongst Christians. There are many other means to preach than that.
On the other hand, consider the method JWs use. Individuals must report how many hours they spent knocking on doors. If they do not report, they are considered 'inactive', based on written records. True expressions of faith are not measured by quantity, but quality. Requiring the reporting of time and placements of literature has no basis amongst the early Christians.
Also, the vast majority of doors I knocked on in my 20+ years of doing so, I did not find people at home. The early Christians went to where people were, and people were no less busy then than they are now. If you're looking for people, and not doors and hours to report, then go to where they are. Most people with full-time jobs and families spend 40-50 hours or more away from home, and we're not counting shopping, entertainment, doctor's appointments, vacations, and so on. A lot of people just aren't at home. The Witnesses know this better than anyone. So why has there been no expansion into radio or television or serious use of the Internet to advertise? Why can't you friend the Watchtower Society on Facebook or follow the #faithfulslaveclass on Twitter?
The early Christians had never heard of words like 'organization', 'Governing Body', 'faithful slave class', 'Theocratic Ministry School', 'pioneer', and they didn't even have an official meeting place of their own like the Jews did. They weren't looking forward to 1914 or the end of the Gentile Times, they weren't watching to see how partook of Jesus' body and blood at the Lord's evening meal because so few them did, they didn't think about 'sovereignty' and may not even have used the name Jehovah in their message. They certainly didn't bring Jesus out of a hat once a year as an advertising campaign and shove him back down and go through whole meetings without mentioning him except at the end of a prayer. If you'd like, I can gladly give you more details on these points at a time and place of your convenience.
WOULD YOU WELCOME A VISIT?
Even in the truth, you may feel lost, confused, or depressed over things you see amongst Jehovah's Witnesses. We warmly invite you to open your eyes, do independent research of whatever you want to know, and then believe. No donations will be requested, and there's an awful lot of awesome stuff out here, after you go through some serious deprogramming. If you would like to know the facts, just write to:
--sd-7
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minimus
GREAT COMMENTS!
Even from a practical point of view, in this civilization, it's STUPID to think you're most effective as a life saver by knocking on doors.
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OUTLAW
Even from a practical point of view, in this civilization, it's STUPID to think you're most effective as a life saver by knocking on doors.....Minimus
Now you know why Jehovah`s Witness`s..
Aren`t in Charge of Tsunami Warnings..
.....................
...OUTLAW -
minimus
HA!!!
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Vanderhoven7
RagingBull
Thank you for your encouragement.
