by jam 18 Replies latest watchtower bible
SFPW; " It's not the most enjoyable thing". Tell me why not. Why very few
members enjoy field service, maybe because it is not normal to sale religion
from door to door. Wake folks up to tell them you are worshipping Devil.
Today it's surprising not to hear of JW's being chased away from doors
with a broomstick.
yeah 40 years of going door to door and one of the last times I found someone that was really interested, his family just stop attending another church and was seriouly interested. I got excited and was able to place the Bible teach book. Went back a few times and when i finnally found him home he said that he wasnt interested because with small children he wasnt going to give up birthdays etc. I later thought 'this man turned down a life saving opportunity from Jah because of a man made rule to not celebrate birthdays, what a bunch of crap! I was done. Not to mention the gospel of the JW's is cursed according to Paul because its not the same gospel of the apostles.
SFPW:
I am continually fascinated by the fact that you keep posting here. I wonder if you would respond to this Bible question I have about the preaching work.
Can you help me figure out this Bible question?
I am studying the book of Matthew, and trying to learn who Jesus really is, and what he came here to tell us about his Father.
I think you said you believe that Jesus was the Great Teacher. Did he tell us how to serve Jehovah God the Father?
In Matthew 6:1-6, during the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus says:
6 “Take care not to practice your righteousness in front of men to be noticed by them; otherwise you will have no reward with your Father who is in the heavens. 2 So when you make gifts of mercy, do not blow a trumpet ahead of you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they may be glorified by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full. 3 But you, when making gifts of mercy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4 so that your gifts of mercy may be in secret. Then your Father who looks on in secret will repay you. 5 “Also, when you pray, do not act like the hypocrites, for they like to pray standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the main streets to be seen by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full. 6 But when you pray, go into your private room and, after shutting your door, pray to your Father who is in secret. Then your Father who looks on in secret will repay you."
Where does Jesus instruct you to record and report all your preaching efforts? I read this passage, and it sounded to me like he was actually telling them NOT to report their efforts. When you obediently fill out your time card and turn it into the organization, you receive your "rewards" from men.
Your Heavenly Father will not reward you for any of those hours you are reporting. Jehovah's organization will add them to the tally of hours in the yearbook, but the reward ends there. You are serving men, and they publish a book each year to prove it.
Can you explain this to me? Where in the Bible, are we instructed to keep track of our efforts? I hope you will answer my sincere question.
I like the fact that you post here. I can not find an honest JW to answer my questions.
Typical Saturday morning service, for me, when I was a dub
Drive to meeting for service 10 minutes average
Meeting for service 25 minutes consideration of days text, prayer, forming car groups, chit chat
Drive to territory 10 minutes
Walk slowly to doors. Ring doorbell, wake up people trying to sleep in (who won't answer door when they see who it is), chit chat with partner, walk slowly to next door, five minutes each door, lather, rince, repeat for approximately 30 minutes
Find person actually at home, who will actually open the door (because he was expecting someone else) give 15 second presentation, get turned down.
Go to get coffee and donuts, 15 minutes
Do return visits, driving from one end of the territory to the other and back again, find one person home out of five. They refuse magazines again because they actually did read the first ones, so 30 seconds actual face time. Time spent: 30 minutes
Go home, relieved you did your duty and can stop feeling guilty for a few hours.
Time wasted, 2 hours
Actual time spent doing "life saving work": under a minute
Actual time doing anything that will help anyone, in any way, shape, or form: zip, zero, nada.
People annoyed and pissed off: 10
Lives saved: 0
Life saving work?
SFPW...this might help you understand why "life-saving work" needs to be done in the most urgent and efficient way...
This is a long post, but I think illustrates what BB is saying...I can't remember who originally posted this, so I apologize for the lack of credit:
Hypothetical Scenario
You are a City Manager in a major metropolitan city with a population of 3,000,000.
One day when you come into work at 9:00 AM you are horrified to receive an anonymous message that a group of terrorists have put a poison into the City’s water supply located 10 miles from the City limits.
This chemical is extremely dangerous and will result in a painful death for any one that drinks the water. However rather than panic, you take some time and order your water treatment lab to test and confirm or deny that the system has been compromised. The tests come back positive. The tests show that you have somewhere between 6 and 20 hours before the poison reaches the City.
Immediately you realize that you have to warn the entire population of your City before it is too late and there are massive losses.
How do you inform the public? At your disposal are the entire City Staff numbering 3,000 which gives you a ratio of 1:1,000 people in the city. You also have the following ways of reaching people.
Question: In view of the seriousness of the situation and the amount of time remaining, which methods of informing people will you use?
Your message is simple and to the point, “The water system has been compromised, to avoid death, please do not drink the water.”
A competent City Manager would assess the situation, and immediately mobilize his people. He would use all available methods of communication focusing on the ones that would be most effective with the goal of reaching as many as possible. He does this for the following reasons:
What would you think of a City Manager who had this knowledge of an imminent disaster and instead of focusing his efforts on broadcasting the warning through the television, internet, telephone etc. he instructs his 3,000 employees to each go to 1,000 doors to warn people? Even though he knows that most people are not at their houses but are instead at work, or shopping, or school? If each employee was able to knock on a door every 7 minutes, it will take him 116 hours to complete this door to door assignment once.
As Witnesses we are taught that we have life saving information and that the end is going to come at anytime. Adjectives that are used frequently when describing the nearness of the worldwide disaster are “imminent”, “shortly”, “soon”. The only hope that people have for salvation is through heeding the warnings that are given. We have divine knowledge that must reach the ears of everyone on earth.
If the Governing Body was truly convinced themselves of the impending disaster and the fact that the end is “imminent” would they not focus their efforts in spreading the message through effective means such as telephone, television, internet, social networks etc? Instead direction is given that the primary method of spreading the warning message is through calling at empty houses repeatedly.
The Apostles and Christians in the first century used the most effective methods possible to preach, including speaking in the synagogues, in the marketplaces, and in people’s homes. They also wrote letters and forwarded the letters on to others. That was the extent of technology at that time, and they used it effectively. However technology has dramatically changed in the last 100 years let alone the last 2000 years. Why is it that as Witnesses we are instructed not to use the Internet, or email, or social networks or the television to preach the warning? Telephone or letter witnessing is allowed but only as a small part of our ministry.
It is conservative to estimate that around 50% of the ones baptized are children who have been raised in the truth and do not require preaching to from door to door. It now takes almost 11,000 man hours of the house to house ministry to get an interested person to baptism. If “Joe” publisher went house to house on average 10 hrs a month, it will take him 91 years to get a student to the point of being baptized. Statistically it is impossible since we live to 70- or 80 years old.
This highlights how ineffective door to door is as a means of warning people about an impending disaster. Despite these odds why do we continue to maintain that the house to house ministry is the most effective method? The data does not support the claim.
Each Witness records his or her time and obediently submits it to the Branch every month. It is clear that the effort is what is valued, and not the results. An analogy that might be made is by imagining that you work at a gravel plant. Your job is to make gravel and the way that you do it and have always done it is by smashing rocks with a hammer. Even though machines have been invented to efficiently crush gravel by the ton at a high production rate, your boss tells you, “Ignore that machine”, “Keep using that hammer, it is the best way to make gravel.” Each time you go in service and call at an empty house, remember you are crushing rocks with a hammer.
My conclusion with these things in mind is I don’t feel that the Governing Body themselves are convinced that the end is imminent and that we as Witnesses carry a life saving message. If they were convinced that time is reduced and that people’s lives are on the line they would give direction that other methods be used to actually reach people with the warning.
marking for Fatfreaks link!
Lisa Rose,
Too true!
The JWs I see in action around here sure look like they are engaged in a "life saving work" - NOT!
(i) Not by the body language they exhibit as they "pioneer shuffle" up somebody's driveway, making it plain they desperately hope nobody is going to be home. That way, they can put in the appearance of being "out in service, without actually having to speak to anybody!
(ii) Not by the way they will walk right past - and without speaking to - a person in the street, only to go in and knock on the door of an (often) empty house.
It is a good thing for Joe Publisher that this "End of the World" the GB insist is going to happen "soon" hasn't eventuated:
-otherwise they would all get the boot (from the top down) for sounding a very ineffective warning!
Bill.
Clarity wrote:
as I was told we had J's protection, a 'sister' in the group was taking an older lady to the doors ....& the older one fell on icy steps! She broke her hip ...never recovered & died about 6 mths later
I'll just bet that gave you some ... clarity!
satinka
Satinka ... I wish it had .... but it just got stuck
in the back of my deluded brain ......& it took many
more years to figure things out!!!
