Where in the bible does anyone count their time spent in preaching
on a slip of paper and are assigned record cards of activity, determining this
as a "gauge to their spirituality"? I can't help but think of Apostle Paul's
words at Galatians 5:26 "Let us not become egotistical, stirring up
competition with one another, envying one another". True, the amount of hours
each publisher goes out each month are not posted on some board as they used
to do years ago, yet all know who is a "pioneer" and who is not as regular and
many proceed to judge. This is encouraged by the titles and time cards. Again
I think of Apostle Paul "Why do you judge your brother ? Why do you look down
on your brother ?" (Romans 14:10) Christ is the end of the law (Rom 10:4)
Where in the bible are their "Pioneers", "Auxiliary Pioneers"
& "Colporters"? True, there were the Nazarites, such as Samson and John
the Baptizer, but were there any after the Mosaic law in the Christian
congregation ? Again this is purely a manmade teaching, resulting in self
righteous people. (Math 23:11) How did Apostle Paul react to
those who questioned certain teachings of the Christian congregation ? Were
they expelled ? Does 1 Cor 5:11 apply to people of that caliber? The account
does not mention those who don't believe that 1914 was the beginning of Jesus
invisible presence or that joining the YMCA
is apostasy, wicked and causes a person to be disfellowshipped. Does the body of men in
Acts chapter 15 represent a permanent group of men who met on a
steady basis determining and making decisions for all the different Christian
congregations ? Or was if a temporary meeting to solve a specific problem of
circumcision? The society uses this account as an excuse to have a centralized
authoritative ruling body. Does the"faithful and
discreet slave" in Jesus' illustration represent a class of people
who feed others through bible based literature ? If so, then who does the
other slaves in the following illustrations represent? The slave with the five
minas, the slave with the ten minas ? The slave who received few strokes, the
slave who received many strokes ? These slaves do not represent "classes",
each one of us individually must be faithful and discreet and slave for the
master Christ ministering or feeding and upbuilding one another. (1 Peter
4:10,11; Romans 12:11; 1 Cor 7:22; Col 3:24) Are their
any accounts of judicial committees and organizational procedures in the
christian congregation ? The Jewish system of things, yes, but the hearings
were public at the city gate, never private, hidden from the public. Imagine,
the prodigal son returning to meet his father and instead of having open arms
to greet him, he refuses to discuss matters until a judicial committee reviews
his situation and eventually agrees to have him reinstated to the congregation
! Again the society reverts back to the law with it's rules and regulations
going "beyond the things written". (1 Cor 4:6) What
determines a Christian ? - Meeting attendance ? Amount of Hours spent
preaching ? Style of teaching ? Style of giving talks or speeches ? Or is it
showing love "especially to those in the faith" even though you can't count
time because they are baptized ? Which is more important mercy or sacrifice ?
Faith in Jesus Christ as God's ransom sacrifice and love is the laws
fulfillment. (Gal 2:15,16; Romans 13:10) Who did
Jehovah God listen to ? The pharisee who attended all the meetings, had a high
impressive field service report, gave talented talks or the spiritually weak
tax collector, who missed all the meetings, became inactive, gave lousy talks,
had no title or prominent position ? The answers obvious. The one who was
humble and had faith. Not the prominent one who was admired by men. (Pioneers,
Circuit Overseers, District, Elders & etc.) (Luke 18:9-15) Is the "faithful and discreet slave" a class of certain
individuals who are a visible human organization composed of men who act as a
mediator between Christ and men ? "There is only ONE mediator between God and
men, a man Christ Jesus" (1 Tim 2:5). Neither Charles Taze Russell or the
Governing Body today has or has ever been the "faithful and discreet
slave. Did Jesus Christ select the
Bible
Students as the "faithful and discreet slave" in 1914 ? At that
time they were teaching that 1914 and later 1925 was the end of Satan's
system. They also stated in the Watchtower that anyone who does not agree with
this teaching of the faithful and wise servant is "going directly against God
and Christ". Is this faithful ? Is this discreet? Is 607 bce
the actual date of Jerusalem's destruction ? If not, then this would
drastically change most of the time prophecies and the last days we are living
in, as well as the meaning of the term "generation". Does the "faithful
and discreet slave" have the authority to tell what type of sexual relations a
married couple (both consenting) are allowed and not allowed in the privacy of
their own bedroom ? Again "Do not go beyond the things written" (1
Cor 4:6; Gal 1:9) and "We are not masters over your faith" (2 Cor 1:24)
When Apostle
Paul exhorted "through the name of Jesus Christ that you should all speak in
agreement and be fittly united in the same line of thought." (1 Cor 1:10), was
he speaking about every single doctrine in the bible or certain teachings that
pertained to salvation ? The context shows that he was speaking of
the need to follow the teaching of Christ and not to be a follower of men,
Apollos and Cephas, to be fittly united in this, otherwise the Christ exists
divided, another wards, he was appealing, not for a total uniformity of
understanding of each and every point in scripture, but rather for the putting
aside of divisive attitudes that were splitting them up into fractions, so
that they could be of a united disposition and outlook. Not uniformity on
every doctrinal issue and certainly not a humanly imposed uniformity by a
supposed "slave class", but "love is perfect bond of union", not
doctrinal teachings. (Col 3:14). (heb 5:9) (2 Tim 3:15; 2 Cor 4:5) Are the
doctrines of hellfire, immortality of the soul, the 144,000, 1914 and certain
others, issues of salvation and the unifying factor of Christians ? Or is
faith in Christ and a life that imitates him ?
After Jesus agrees with a man that the two greatest commands are
to love God with all your heart, soul, strength and understanding and to love
your neighbor as yourself, he gives this illustration. A certain man is
beaten, robbed and left for dead on the side of the road. By coincidence, a
Governing Body member, former District Overseer and missionary (a Priest) was
going down that road; but when he saw him, he passed by on the other side.
Likewise, a Pioneer, Elder and Branch Overseer (a Levite) who reached the
place and saw him also passed by on the other side. But a muslim man (non
Christian, non Jehovah's Witness, orignally a non Jew, a Samaritan) who was
traveling, came upon him; and when he saw him, he was moved with compassion.
So he went to up to him, put oil and wine on his wounds and bandaged them.
Then he set him in his car, brought him to an inn and took care of him. The
next day, he took out two days wages, gave them to the innkeeper and said,
Look after him; and if you spend more than this, I'll pay you back when I
return. Of these three, which one seems to you to have become the neighbor of
the man who fell among the robbers? He answered, The one who showed
mercy toward him. Jesus said to him, You go and do as he did. (Luke
10:29-37)
It is common that the
"friends" or brothers over admire men of prominent positions (Circuit overseers,
District overseers & etc.) just as Christians in the first century reacted
to Paul and Apollos, saying they belonged to them, causing the "Christ to exist
divided." (1 Cor 3:14; 1 Cor 1:13) Certainly, "Anyone reaching out to perform
the service of an overseer is desirous of a fine thing", (1 Tim 3:1) yet just as
Jesus' apostles, many brothers let the spirit of having a title or glory
override the spirit of love and mercy towards fellow witnesses. This is not a
matter of certain offbeat individuals, who need to be counseled, rather it
appears to be a problem with all men and not particularly the Watchtower
Society, however the use of their organizational arrangement of the use of field
service record reports as almost the sole criteria for many appointments of
position of oversight does create a competitive atmosphere.