Get over it. The elders don't want to "shepherd" you.

by ithinkisee 19 Replies latest jw friends

  • ithinkisee
    ithinkisee

    Whenever elders hear the complaint from someone that "they never get shepherded or visited by the brothers" do you know what they do when you walk away?

    They look at each other and roll their eyes.

    They make comments along the lines of "Great. Another one of those people."

    Some will even continue on to say, "You know, I could use a little personal attention and free psycho-therapy myself."

    When they talk to other elders and your name comes up ... they will say the same thing (with the same eye-rolling). Soon the whole elder body will have you unofficially marked as one of "those people". Someone unstable and needs constant maintenance. A problem.

    Just thought you'd like to know. Myself, being in a half-dozen congregations and close friends and family members being elders I can honestly say this is the response 99.9% of the time.

    If you felt you were getting more by joining the cult - get over it. You were misled. They are just men with problems of their own. It is the blind leading the blind. You'll both fall into the pit.

    (This is the kind of literature that would be published if I was in charge of writing at the Society)

    -ithinkisee

  • sweet tee
    sweet tee

    Hey ithinkisee - what about the cutie pie single sisters???? I got an awful lot of shepherding at first. After I married it slacked off considerably. Maybe that's the reason I kept telling on myself ... to get some spiritual attention .

    (sweet tee of the 'I can be an attention whore' class)

  • itsallgoodnow
    itsallgoodnow

    The only time they want to turn their attention on anyone is when there is blame to be distributed. Ministerial Servants bear the brunt of it, and all those horrible people who don't like to go to meetings or service. You know who you are.

    They wouldn't even bother with any of that if they weren't getting the crap kicked out of them every time the CO comes around.

  • swiftbreeze
    swiftbreeze

    You are so right the elders have problem of their own often times the same problems that you have

    i was listening to this minister and he gave the example of these men that was carrying this crippled man around and they wanted him to get in to hear Jesus but the house was crowded but this man circle of friends went to great lengths to get him in even tearing a hole in the roof of the house...he said if someone in your circle is down and discouraged and doesnt want to come to church for you to go to the person's house and encourage them, if the person still doesnt want to come... to bring your bible and gather there and read God's word and do that until the person is ready to come back. He admitted to not being able to see after every single person in the church but instead encouraged those to create circles of friends. That made more sense to me

  • Mary
    Mary

    itsallgoodnow said: ....and all those horrible people who don't like to go to meetings or service. You know who you are.

    (Mary grins sheepishly as she raises her hand).

  • XBEHERE
    XBEHERE
    If you felt you were getting more by joining the cult - get over it. You were misled. They are just men with problems of their own. It is the blind leading the blind. You'll both fall into the pit.

    This is the bottom line. The whole arangement is BS! The elders that actually do care get flack from the others and no support so they end up being so discouraged that they are made to seem and feel worse than the rest of the uncaring iceholes.

  • GetBusyLiving
    GetBusyLiving

    I had been known to give sheparding calls to single sisters. Sadly though, I was never a servant.

    GBL

  • delilah
    delilah

    Funny, when my brother left the borg, he began telling me all the crazy stories about the elders meetings with the MS's. and no, they don't want to do any REAL shepherding....they sit and judge people, make jokes about different ones, and talk smack about others....he was sickened by what he saw....there were some who were truly in dire straits, and the elders made sure there was no time to visit these ones. or they passed the buck, and sent someone with little experience to do their dirty work for them....and they call themselves Jahs servants??? hahahahahahahahahahahathey were more interested in their social lives....

    Dee

  • delilah
    delilah

    GBL, we could have used more "brothers" like you in our cong...hahahaha at least SOMEBODY was doing their shepherding duty ....LOL

    Dee (P.S. and you were making someone happy too)

  • EvilForce
    EvilForce

    To be fair...usually these calls were done on Wednesday night (off night) from the meetings. So elders once again have to spend the night away from their families...when they'd like to come home from work, relax, read the paper, watch a little TV and go to bed....but no, they have to get dressed up, drive to the hall to meet, drive to the individual's house....well you get the picture. Elders get beat down by this stupid system too. The 2 different times I saw my father step down as an elder I saw him to be happier and more energetic. Go figure...so much for the rich blessings of Jah.

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