Well, you have to do what you feel comfortable with. The thought of considering any religious alternative to Jehovah's Witnesses, was, for me, quite terrifying. That same reasoning you have expressed--"Who else does [fill in the blank]?"--was there, too. I would like to respectfully recommend that you challenge yourself with some honest examination here.
Consider those in Christendom who preach to others--and there are a lot of others who would call themselves Christians who do tell others about Jesus Christ (which is what Jesus said his followers would do: "You will be witnesses of ME"--Acts 1:7, 8). Do you feel that any preaching they do is in vain before God? If so, why? Is it because you feel their teachings are false? What if something Jehovah's Witnesses taught was found to be false? There is much documented evidence to indicate that this is in fact what has happened, repeatedly. Why would it not nullify their preaching work in the same exact way, then? Honestly, all the preaching done by practically every religion for a long, long time could be nullified by the same logic. On the other hand, if there is merit in what Witnesses do, then there has to be merit in what other religions are doing in this regard as well.
Either way, Jesus did not say he would separate organizations as sheep and goats, but people. And his judgment, as he describes in Matthew 25, doesn't have anything to do with organizational membership or obedience. If you read what the actual words say, he talks about acts of compassion towards our brothers who are in need. He didn't say one word about a preaching work in that, which ought to be surprising, right? Because it's supposed to be important, it's the last command he gave to his disciples on earth. So why is it that his final judgment ends up having nothing to do with that? Well, I'll leave that up to you to ponder. There is a balanced answer there, I believe.
It's not so much the preaching work that I would even take issue with--it's the underlying organization that ends up undoing the potential for good that such work could have. Why are Christians reporting how many hours they spent preaching to men, to elders? What scriptural precedent is there for that? Can you find any evidence in the Bible that Christians did this in the first century? Why is it that placing literature with people is the ultimate end result, and not placing Bibles, or simply discussing God's Word on its own? Paul didn't use any literature beyond scripture to preach. I can only conclude that Jehovah's Witnesses believe the Bible cannot be understood without the help of Watchtower literature. If this is true (and it would be easy to find a specific quote from the Watchtower to back up that statement), then it becomes meaningless for a Christian to pray for holy spirit and understanding. And if the Bible alone can't be understood on its own, then how it is truly making you "fully equipped" to do God's will? When you examine this closely enough, accepting the Watchtower Society's literature as truth requires you to undermine the authority of scripture.
The anointed have put themselves in a position equal to that of Jesus by saying that they will help him administer the benefits of Jesus' ransom sacrifice to mankind over the course of 1,000 years. This has repeatedly been stated in Watchtower articles. Have you noticed that? Does it concern you that not once do they provide a scripture to support that statement in The Watchtower? Paul says that Jesus went into heaven by himself to appear before the person of God for us. He didn't take 144,000 other people, nor did he need their help to offer up his own blood as ransom for mankind. They didn't die for us, only Jesus Christ did. So how can they take or even share the position that belongs to Christ alone? If you preach a message that requires people to believe that the anointed will help administer the ransom to mankind during the Thousand Year Reign, you are party to a message that makes men equal to Jesus Christ. You are responsible for every word written in The Watchtower so long as you invite people to read it.
I respect your decision to stay. There are compelling reasons to do so. It's easier, right? The burden of facing yourself and grappling with your conscience and having to make decisions about things that were previously decided for you by the 'slave class'--that's a heavy one. If you have family in, that's also a challenge, that leaving might hurt them emotionally and cause them to shun you. The religious confusion that you've been led to believe is everywhere else--that too would seem daunting, as you're trained to think you have to be part of some kind of organization as the bottom line for serving God. And it feels good, to have people smile at you, treat you like you're one of them, forget your troubles and look forward to better times just ahead, after just a liiiittle more obedience and sacrifice. Those things are at the heart of what can make spirituality so appealing. There can be honor in that under certain circumstances.
Whatever the case, I hope you will give priority to reading God's Word, the Bible, as you are so often reminded to do. The more you actually read it, the more likely you'll find your way as far as these issues. The answers to what you may be looking for might well be in there.
But just a thought. What questions were you asking to begin with, if for a time, you actually wanted to leave Jehovah's Witnesses? I have a feeling that deep down, those questions are probably still there. And when the time is right, you'll be meeting up with them again. I hope for your sake that you'll be strong enough to face them the right way when that time comes.
--sd-7
