[From ws3/17 p. 8 May 1-7]
“To the One sitting on the throne and to the Lamb be the blessing and the honor and the glory and the might forever.” — Re 5:13.
If some of my JW brethren are having qualms about the amount of attention—even adulation—that the Governing Body is garnering these days, they will likely use this article to quell those concerns reasoning that it is others who are giving them undue honor which they themselves in all humility eschew.
Admittedly, there is little to fault in this week's Watchtower study article. Judge for yourself however as to whether there is a significant gap between what is said and what is done. When speaking of the religious leaders of his day, Jesus advised his listeners to use reason, cautioning:
“Therefore, all the things they tell you, do and observe, but do not do according to their deeds, for they say but they do not practice what they say.” (Mt 23:3)
By this article, the Governing Body “says”, but does it practice what it says? For instance, the article makes reference to showing honor to Jehovah and Jesus. This is, without doubt, something we should practice. But do we?
In the recent video on JW Broadcasting which covered the trial in Russia where Jehovah’s Witnesses were banned by the government as extremist, much attention is given to the Governing Body, but where is the honor that should be rendered to Jesus as the true head of the congregation? Likewise, the article “says” what we should do with regard to showing honor to the secular governments of this world, the “superior authorities” of Romans 13:1-7. However, what do we actually practice? Our decades-long record is one of concealing child abusers from the authorities. When those authorities ask us to change unscriptural policies which have proven harmful to abuse victims, we do not show them the honor as “God’s minister” which Romans calls for.
In paragraph 9, we are told that showing honor to humans is not without its limitation. While citing 1 Peter 2:13-17, the article shows that obedience to and honor of men is conditional, even quoting Acts 5:29 (unattributed) by saying that “we must obey God as ruler rather than men”. (It should be noted that in the mind of most Jehovah’s Witnesses this principle does not apply to the Governing Body.)
According to paragraph 11, there is one group of humans who do not deserve special honor.
“However, Jehovah’s Witnesses refrain from treating religious leaders as ones who merit extraordinary honor, even though those leaders may expect it. False religion misrepresents God and distorts the teachings of his Word. Thus, we show religious leaders regard as fellow humans, but we do not show them special honor. We recall that Jesus denounced such men of his day as hypocrites and blind guides.”
So giving men the honor that Hebrews 13:7, 17 calls for, depends on whether or not they are teaching truth and whether or not they are acting hypocritically. Of course, a non-Witness reading this Watchtower article will likely experience an understandable degree of confusion at this. He might well ask, “But don’t you also have religious leaders in your faith?” Yes, but of course, this counsel is not directed at them, because the assumption is that our religious leaders teach the truth and do not act hypocritically. If we find that they do, then of course this Bible-based principle would apply. So when paragraph 18 speaks about honoring congregation elders—and by extension, circuit overseers, branch committee members, and members of the Governing Body—we can and should apply the principle that this obedience and honor is conditional on their conduct. After all, that is what the context of Hebrews 13 indicates.
“Remember those who are taking the lead among you, who have spoken the word of God to you, and as you contemplate how their conduct turns out, imitate their faith.” (Heb 13:7)
“Be obedient to those who are taking the lead among you and be submissive, for they are keeping watch over you as those who will render an account, so that they may do this with joy and not with sighing, for this would be damaging to you. 18 Keep praying for us, for we trust we have an honest conscience, as we wish to conduct ourselves honestly in all things.” (Heb 13:17, 18)
You will notice that in each of these two exhortations, the honor and obedience given is tied to the conduct of the one taking the lead. It is not unconditional. Just as paragraph 11 explains, we do not give special honor to those whose conduct is hypocritical and who teach us false things.
For example, if your religious leaders tell you to avoid friendship with the world while themselves joining a worldly political organization, you should, as Jesus said, do what they say, but not what they practice.[i] If your religious leaders tell you to love and care for the little ones in the congregation in line with John 13:35, such as those who have suffered repeated child sexual abuse, you would do what they say, would you not? However, if they turn around and now tell you to shun these same abuse victims because these little ones refuse to give these religious leaders the honor they’ve come to expect, would you obey? (Lu 17:1, 2)[ii]
Of course, hypocrisy and false teachings are bedfellows. If we see the one, we should expect the other. It will be there. Thus, if we find our religious leaders are teaching us falsehoods, we should apply the counsel from this article and not accord them the extraordinary or special honor that they have come to expect.
Food for Thought
To Obey or Not to Obey
We do well to realize that the word translated “obey” and “obedience” in Hebrews 13:7, 17 is not the same word that is translated “obey” in Acts 5:29. In the case of the latter, the word is peitharcheó which implies unconditional and unquestioning obedience such as one gives to Almighty God. However, in Hebrews 13:17, the word is peithó which means “to be persuaded”, and thus is conditional. (For more information, see To Obey or not to Obey—that is the Question.)
Gifts in Men or Gifts to Men?
Paragraph 13 quotes the NWT rendering of Ephesians 4:8 to show that we should honor the elders because they are Jehovah’s gift to the congregation. However, if you consider the parallel renderings of two dozen translations, you will see that the NWT is unique in its translation. All others offer up some version of ‘gifts to/unto men/people’. The context indicates that Christ has given various and different gifts to his people, both men and women. Notice what is recorded just three verses on from verse 8:
“And he gave some as apostles, some as prophets, some as evangelizers, some as shepherds and teachers, 12 with a view to the readjustment of the holy ones, for ministerial work, to build up the body of the Christ, 13 until we all attain to the oneness of the faith and of the accurate knowledge of the Son of God, to being a full-grown man, attaining the measure of stature that belongs to the fullness of the Christ. 14 So we should no longer be children, tossed about as by waves and carried here and there by every wind of teaching by means of the trickery of men, by means of cunning in deceptive schemes. 15 But speaking the truth, let us by love grow up in all things into him who is the head, Christ. 16 From him all the body is harmoniously joined together and made to cooperate through every joint that gives what is needed. When each respective member functions properly, this contributes to the growth of the body as it builds itself up in love.” (Eph 4:11-16)
From this it is pretty clear that verse 8 isn’t talking about a divinely provided clergy class, but rather that Christ has provided different gifts in the various members of the body or congregation for the building up of the whole.
An Unsettling Parallel
I would like to draw your attention to a video that was recently forwarded to me. It involves the Iglesia ni Christ which is a Philippine-based Christian church founded in 1914. Depending on the source, the number of adherents worldwide varies between 4 and 9 million. Like Witnesses, they do not believe in the Trinity; they accept that God has a personal name, though they seem to prefer Yahweh; and they teach that Jesus is a created being. Again, like JWs, they evangelize, build churches and assembly halls, and hold large conventions. They call for dedication and unity, just like Witnesses, and their leader is called the ‘guardian of their faith’ which is similar to the teaching, expressed by Governing Body member Geoffrey Jackson that they are a group of men who are the “Guardians of our doctrines”.[iii]
I found the video unsettling on two levels. First, it is a chilling demonstration of how millions can give blind devotion to the will of a man. This is nothing new, of course, and such blind devotion is not restricted to the religious arena. Nonetheless, Mankind’s propensity to surrender free will to the will of one man or a small cabal of leaders is very frightening.
The second unsettling aspect of this video is that it seems, to me at least, to be very close to what we are seeing today in the Organization of Jehovah’s Witnesses. Scant to no mention is made of Jesus and all the attention and devotion is focused on a man, or a group of men.
It seemed appropriate to release this at this time because it demonstrates quite graphically what happens when we honor men inappropriately.
________________________________________________________________________
[i] From 1992 to 2001, the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of New York under the spiritual direction of the Governing Body became a Non-Governmental Organization member (NGO) of the United Nations.
[ii] When questions before the latest inquiry by the Australia Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, the officials representing the Governing Body of Jehovah’s Witnesses refused to discuss a change to the policy of disfellowshipping (or disassociating) any abuse victim who resigned from the congregation out of resentment for the poor handling of their case.
[iii] See this video for proof.
Archived Comments
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Comment by Menrov on 2017-05-02 02:21:21
My comments on the WT article. It starts with the WT of HONOR in par. 1. It says: "TO HONOR someone means to show him special attention as well as respect" Why give their own definition and not just quote a good dictionary? Anyway, this is a bible based study, apparently. Hence, let's look at the biblical definition. For comparison, let's take John 8:49. Jesus says he honors His father. Would the definition of Par. 1 apply here?
Now, the famous leading the witness approach. Par. 1 continues: " Reasonably, we would expect that a person who is worthy of such attention and respect has done something to merit honor or that he serves in a special position"
Why should or is it "reasonable" that such a person serves in a special position????
Par 3 and 4 would be nice if it was done in the WT organisation. Jesus is NEVER given the same honor like JW's give to the Father.
Par 5 is in my view very misleading. Not one verse is shown that supports the statement that we should give a "measure of honor" to certain humans. Not one God appointed human in the bible has demanded to be honored. I believe it is the contrary.
None of the remaining paragraphs has an example of how JW's show honor to humans. It is said that JW's obey the secular authorities. That is nothing special. If they don't, there are penalties. Funny of course that only Rom. 13:1,7 are recommended. Verse 4 would show that if you do not obey, you actually are disobeying God. But that would be inconvenient....
Par. 12 shows between the lines that the intention is to show respect with the hope to get something in return.
Par.1 3 has this "We do not idolize well-known representatives of the Christian congregation or react in their presence as if angels were standing nearby" ...well, just look how the congregation members behave when the circuit overseer is visiting. Imagine if someone from Bethel shows up (I have seen it). I can only imagine what would happen if one of the 7 shows up in a congregation. This is what Indians call: speaking double tongues.
Funny in par 14 they refer to Matt. 23:8-12, which has this "...Neither be called leaders, for your Leader is one,". First, not all translations render verse 10 like this. But as the NWT does, I can see why they call their group of leaders a governing body :-), and yes, elders take the lead and act as leaders (with authority), they are not called leaders. Bu than again, what is in a name...
By the way, I believe Heb. 13:17 and Matt. 23:10 a good topic for Discussthetruth.com. As 1) some translations have GUIDE or MENTOR here and 2) it seems Paul's advice is somewhat in contrast to what Jesus meant.
The example provided in par. 17 shows actually that non-JW's are mostly rather respectful to JW's.
Par. 18 has: "We can and should commend them for their hard work and strive to cooperate with directions that they provide.". This to me sounds like they are saying the Elders are like a guide. This is truly in contrast with Matt. 23:10.
Par. 20 has "It helps us to avoid having an inflated opinion of ourselves if some honor comes our way". Hmm...what if the 7 gb members would look in the mirror??
Well, that is my analyses. Cheers.Reply by Meleti Vivlon on 2017-05-02 08:08:11
Thanks Menrov. Good analysis.
Comment by Deo_ac_veritati on 2017-05-01 22:48:15
“However, Jehovah’s Witnesses refrain from treating religious leaders as ones who merit extraordinary honor, even though those leaders may expect it. False religion misrepresents God and distorts the teachings of his Word. Thus, we show religious leaders regard as fellow humans, but we do not show them special honor. We recall that Jesus denounced such men of his day as hypocrites and blind guides.”
Hard to make a lucid comment, I'm still trying to cut my way out of the irony.Reply by John S on 2017-05-03 21:28:47
Hey Brother Meleti,
Well said. I also like the scripture you quoted;
" From him all the body is harmoniously joined together and made to cooperate through every joint that gives what is needed. When each respective member functions properly, this contributes to the growth of the body as it builds itself up in love.”
It is especially the 'body of Christ'....composed of spirit-anointed men and women, enrolled in the heavens, to which we all..respective members of that BODY, should show honor to.
"In showing honor to one another, take the lead." NWT
"Love each other with genuine affection, and take delight in honoring each other." Rom. 12:10 (New Living Translation)
Since the GB of JW's does not teach the JW church is the BODY of Christ, and they are the only spirit-taught Christians in the entire earth today, regardless of what Jesus taught about the Holy Spirit being our teacher....(see John 14:15-23)
Well, there's the rub.
It all goes back to The Word. Since they do not follow Jesus as their Master Shepherd, leading sheep like Christians by his peculiar voice in scripture, they constantly have to put patches and band-aides on their man-made traditional doctrines. Especially now more than ever, as many of us are waking up with the Holy Spirit, receiving the adoption, and see the GB for what they are, and what they continue to do.
It is more than evident, the GB has wolves in sheep's covering cruising sites like this, and they are taking their cue from our comments on what they are writing in the WT.
Trying to 'field the balls' being hit by our pertinent use of scriptures debunking their 'lordship', as just what it is, a power play intent on keeping unsuspecting Witnesses subject to THEM....not Christ.
But they have been weighed in the balance. Let Jesus give them his reward for their actions. We must keep praying for the sheep to receive the call from Father and Son. Especially now in Russia. A great opportunity exists for these brothers and sister-Witnesses to become educated to full Christian benefits.
Christ is the only head of the body; anointed Christians; born again, are members...belonging to one another. 1 Cor. 12 contrast this with Matt. 23:7
Comment by Ifionlyhadabrain on 2017-05-02 16:55:07
Give honour to whom it is due , and yet the article makes no mention at all about the 5th commandment , HONOUR YOUR FATHER AND MOTHER , just why is that ? Is it not true that these are the most important people for a christian to honour ? Yet nothing .Is the article really about ensuring subjection to those in power in the religion ? Instead of many parents who are not part of the religion whom the society has black marked ?
Comment by Ifionlyhadabrain on 2017-05-03 02:56:57
Honour is an interesting word in the Greek , the one used in the theme is , "time" strong 5092 it seems to denote a value we place on something in monetary terms , hence sometimes the word is translated as "price " Hence when we think about honouring our parents what conclusions do we draw ? Is it just by our words , or is it by our deeds ,?
Comment by lazarus on 2017-05-03 04:31:24
Thanks Meleti, learnt something new regarding the words Obey and Obedience, Acts 5, and Hebrews 13.
I think we're no different to Israelites of old. They wanted a king they could see. The brothers want a leadership they can see. A CO they can point to as a representative of the GB.
I'm not convinced that the GB are intentionally trying to grab the limelight or the CO's and Elders in general.
However, there imperfect men, and like Saul, prominence has a price.
Today, any photo of a GB member or members on social networks, will get 1k likes easy. With many interesting comments, how individuals feel about them.
Comment by Joseph Anton on 2017-05-02 12:01:09
During one of last year's Circuit Assemblies our Circuit Overseer gave a talk where he praised our organization for not giving men titles and positions of status, for not holding any brother above any other brother. I nearly fell out of my seat.