What's the difference between 'works' and 'fruits'?

by TTWSYF 9 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

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  TTWSYF

  My uber JW elder brother USED to use Jesus's quote "You know a tree by it's fruit" and then would speak about how JWs are the only ones going door to door and restoring God's true name.

  My niece was the first to point out that those were works and not fruits. My brother retreated for a few days to contemplate the difference between works and fruits and when he returned to address the comment, he stated that works are fruits.

  What's the take from the JW apologist?

  What's the take from the JW critic?
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  OneEyedJoe

  I would say that the fruitage would be the result, not the effort. Someone could spend a lot of time in a soup kitchen making soup and filling bowls, but if no one comes in to eat then they're working but not yielding any fruitage (or the fruitage they do yield is wasted soup - not something to brag about).

  The point is that the fruitage is somewhat out of your control. Going back to the "I planted, apolos watered, but god kept making it grow" concept - the fruitage is evidence of divine blessing because it's not entirely in the hands of the ones doing the work. That's my interpretation of it, at least. So applying this to JWs - they spend a crap ton of time in the ministry, that's their work. Their fruitage is that they grow at roughly the rate of population growth, which does not indicate to me any sort of divine blessing. By their fruit you know them - they're a waste of time.
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  freddo

  My take is that "fruits" are also the "natural" result. So if you are a loving and kind person that will naturally show as a fruit.

  "Works" are doing things whether naturally or through duty or to save your skin or under compulsion.

  So door to door ministry is "works" and could be a fruit of loving kindness towards others but equally or more likely through self-serving desires.
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  jhine

  Coming in on the side of the critics firstly l would say that it is not fruits plural but fruit . Which l would suggest is something grown in inside us . Love , peace , patience , slow to anger etc are are characteristics which people display .

  Works are something you do , which should include feeding the hungry , housing the homeless , caring for orphans . The WT is recognisable from it's ( non ) works .

  Jan
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  Hisclarkness

  The person is known by their fruit, meaning fruit of the spirit: love, joy, peace, long suffering, goodness, faith, mildness, self-control.
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  rocketman

  One Eyed Joe, good comment.
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  nugget

  Works are tending the tree so in this case the service and the promoting Jehovahs name are works, The fruit will be the results of these activities.

  So door to door work what are the fruits, what is the purpose behind it? If it is to make disciples then it is a poor crop. If it is to explain their faith then the world outside the organisation is still unclear on the specifics of the faith and that Jehovah is their interpretation of God's name. If it was a real tree or a crop it is very poor indeed. Just doing the work is not enough there has to be something to show for it.
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  redvip2000

  The point is that the fruitage is somewhat out of your control

  Exactly. The point is that fruitage is basically something you hope for, but you can't necessarily make it happen.

  Going door to door is not fruitage, it's work. Fruitage in this case is the hope that the ranks of JWs will be enlarged as a result of the door to door preaching. Clearly this is not the case, in fact door to door preaching, is a colossal waste of time.

  
  Restoring God's name ( indiscriminately adding Jehovah where it never existed in the Bible) is not fruitage of any kind, it's just an effort. What is the hope? That people will be moved to accept Jehoober and join the ranks of JWs? Oh, well look answer above.
  
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  sparrowdown

  Works are all the free labor you provide to WT.

  Fruits are the anger and resentment, depression and anxiety, that build up slowly over the years of slaving for the WT.
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  TTWSYF

  One Eye hit the nail on the head! But great observations from all.

  There MUST be some fruit from the WTS. I mean I was always hearing about 'knowing a tree'

  Any real Watchtower fruit?

  Anyone, ? Bueller?....Bueller?....Bueller?