When you were a JW, did it ever dawn on you that the organization and God were pretty much the same thing? If you disobeyed an organizational rule you were disobeying Jehovah God. If you missed an organizational meeting you were showing lack of appreciation to God himself. If it was your turn to clean the Convention area, you were really cleaning Jehovah's house. If you disagreed with an elder's opinion, you were actually disagreeing with GOD'S representatives here on this earth!........Can you believe you were hoodwinked into this thinking???
Did You Realize Jehovah & The Organization Are One In The Same?
by minimus 15 Replies latest jw friends
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Will Power
Good call Min
Isn't that why they freak out when anything negative is said or written about the WT society and will protect brooklyn to the end. (I once read a paper called "God lives in Brooklyn" I'll look for it.)
I always be sure and stress the distinction when I want to talk about a certain point etc - Clarify that I'm not talking about God, I'm talking about the printing company. Boy, that does not go over too well, but IT HAS TO BE DONE or else they think you are blaspheming - little do they know it is the other way round.
and "what would please Jehovah more?"
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minimus
Sadly, they just don't (can't) see the differences. It's very frustrating when you're trying to help someone.
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minimus
Do you remember hearing things like, "Isn't it wonderful how Jehovah has seen to it that we now have a worldwide donation work? "..".Since Jehovah appointed the Faithful Slave, who are we to question His Organization?"...... "We should stay at the hotels recommended by the Society or else we'll be displeasing Jehovah".
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kwintestal
I completely agree. It's part of the fear tactic - at least for me it was. Everything I did - meetings (even if I wasn't feeling up to it), service (even when I really didn't want to), if I didn't understand something/didn't agree ("wait on Jehovah").... if I didn't do these things it felt to me like I was not living up to my "dedication to God", not following "God's" directions. Only in the last couple of years did I start doing things if I wanted to. Little did I realize that this action would eventually help me get out of the WTS mentality once I realized that the organization was not really God's organization, especially when I noticed that they were promoting themselves (the org. as a whole) a lot more than they promoted God himself - it was one pat on the back after another, and that really bothered me. I guess that's what really made me start looking at things differently, doing things for God and not for them. Which is why I am here today! I can't believe now that I used to think that way, that I gullibly followed everything that the WTS said I should do/ shouldn't do, should think/shouldn't think. Talk about loading people down with "traditions of men", right? Oh well, I'm out, that's what matters. And I feel GREAT! I've never felt more free and sure of myself as a person than I do now - now that I don't have something that I feel I need to cling to as my security blanket, blindlessly following everything, being told what to think and what to do, not having to make any decisions for myself. I feel more alive and human and HAPPY
Mrs. Kwin
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JH
Many people that left the Org. still think that Jehovah and the JW Organization are one. Not everybody left for the same reason. Some actually think that they will be destroyed at Armageddon and the JW will be saved. Some quit because they weren't able to follow or knew that they were living a lie, not living up the JW standards.
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Love, Me
What better way to control people? It's easy to shrug off the
direct orderssuggestions of a bunch of men in Brooklyn you don't even know but to equate that with giving Jehovah the finger isn't so easy to do. Too bad 'Jehovah' keeps changing his mind though. Sure makes him look bad. -
blondie
*** w01 10/1 p. 22 What Does It Mean to Be Loyal? ***
Loyalty to God also includes loyalty to his organization. Necessarily, over the years there have been corrections and adjustments to our understanding of certain scriptures. The fact is that no one is as spiritually well fed as we are. (Matthew 24:45-47) Unquestionably, Jehovah has stuck with his modern-day organization. Can we not do likewise?
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w97 8/1 p. 8 Serving Loyally With Jehovah?s Organization ***Expect that Satan will try to undermine your loyalty to Jehovah and to His earthly organization.
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w89 9/15 p. 24 Be Obedient to Those Taking the Lead ***Surely, loyalty to God and his organization should move us to respect the judicial decisions of the overseers.
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w85 3/1 p. 30 ?Preaching in Favourable Season and in Troublesome Season? ***Maintain loyalty not only to Jehovah and Jesus Christ but also to God?s earthly organization that nurtures and cherishes us.
*** w65 7/1 p. 412 Faithful and Loyal to God?s Organization ***
Loyalty to God is shown by us when we lovingly stick to him and his organization both when it is easy and when it is difficult, "through thick and thin."
*** w65 7/1 p. 412 Faithful and Loyal to God?s Organization ***
However, we cannot be loyal to God without being loyal to his visible earthly organization, the "faithful and discreet slave," and the local Christian congregation which represents that "slave."
*** w62 3/1 p. 157 Prophesying with God?s Loyal Organization ***
However, we may not forget that loyalty to God also means being loyal to his organization.
*** w61 10/1 p. 591 Prophesying with the Loyal Organization ***
LOYALTY to God who created and organized heaven and earth calls for loyalty to his organization.
*** w61 10/1 p. 591 Prophesying with the Loyal Organization ***
Today many persons think that by their loyalty to a religious organization they are loyal to God. But they can be wrong about this.
*** w53 11/1 p. 669 Loyalty to Theocratic Organization ***
Loyalty to theocratic organization, therefore, means to be in heart harmony with God?s arrangements.
*** w88 4/1 p. 31 Is Obedience Always Proper? ***
When our heavenly Father, Jehovah God, speaks, whether through his Word, the Bible, or through his earthly organization, it is all the more important for us to listen and obey, thus proving that we are obedient worshipers who do not ignore the loving reminder: "Did you hear me?"
*** w77 1/15 p. 50 Are You Willing to Listen? ***
How do you listen, particularly when God speaks to you through his Word? Or when one of his representatives, an overseer or another faithful brother, speaks? Do you take the information to heart, getting the sense of it and applying it to yourself?
*** w69 5/1 p. 286 Do You Remember? ***What today is the "word behind" us, as mentioned in Isaiah 30:21?
It is what Jehovah God speaks to us through his written Word and through his organization.?P. 202.
*** w66 5/15 p. 317 "A Wise Person Will Listen" ***
Now, in our day, God still speaks through his servants. As Jesus said, these constitute "the faithful and discreet slave" class whom he appoints "over all his belongings."?Matt. 24:45-47.
*** w61 10/1 p. 579 When God Speaks, Do You Listen? ***
God also speaks today through his visible organization that he uses to carry the message of his written Word.
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MonkeyPrincess
Yes, this is so true. I still find myself with this same thinking and still trying to seperate the two, its so hard when its so ingrained in you.
Gosh, what a load of crap!
MonkeyPrincess
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minimus
Years ago I used to give the "Loyalty" talk and remind everyone that you must be loyal to both God and the organization if you were going to get God's approval. I repent.