The eye cannot say to the hand, ‘I do not need you,’ or again, the head cannot say to the feet, ‘I do not need you.’” - 1 Corinthians 12:21
[Study 35 From ws 08/20 p.26 October 26 – November 01, 2020]
Show Respect for Fellow Elders
In paragraph 4 we have the misleading statement “All elders in the congregation are appointed by Jehovah’s holy spirit.” This claim was discussed in the previous week’s Watchtower article review. Please see here "You have a place in Jehovah's Congregation" for that examination.
As for the following statement from paragraph 5, it is written in a way to suggest it actually happens, and that bodies of Elders do listen to one another. Brothers who have never served as an elder, and sisters, do not be fooled. I served on more than one body of elders over the years and had close contact with a large number of elders from other different bodies of elders, including ex-missionaries. None of them are anything like this in my personal experience. On the whole, bodies of elders are run by a strong-willed and strong-minded dictator-like personality, who often act like a mafia boss, never getting their hands visibly dirty, but up to plenty of dirty tricks to maintain their status. At least the statement “No one elder has the monopoly of the spirit within the body” is accurate. The holy spirit has never had a look-in on those bodies of elders, let alone being monopolized in reality. Is there an exception to this state of affairs somewhere, where all the elders actually endeavor to follow this counsel? Undoubtedly. But finding it is like digging up a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow.
Show Respect for Christians who are not married
The principles of the counsel in these paragraphs (7-14), that we should not try to matchmake single brothers or sisters, is very valid. However, the examples provided of single ones, all of whom are Bethelites or circuit overseers, actually shows the likely reason behind this counsel. The Organization does not want to lose more of its small pool of single brothers and sisters who are usually prepared to do more of its bidding than brothers and sisters who are married. That is, the Organization wants single brothers and sisters to devote their time free of charge to furthering its building projects and the like. It is not out of concern that these single ones could be pressured into unsuitable marriages, but rather that they could get married and hence not be able to serve the Organization with the same amount of time.
Show Respect for those who do not speak your language fluently
In many ways, it is very sad that this topic should need to be raised. It applies to two main groups of people. Those who either for genuine motives or selfish motives joined a foreign language congregation and struggle to learn and speak that language. The other group are those who have immigrated into a country and struggle to learn the national language. Arguably, should not normal Christian values mean we treat all people with respect? However, as so often with many principles, it is only applied in the narrow field of the congregations of Jehovah’s Witnesses. From this section, one could infer, that as showing respect is only mentioned concerning the congregation, there is no need to show respect to such ones outside the congregations. First-century Christianity was all about helping all, not just fellow Christians.
Archived Comments
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Comment by LaRhonda T. on 2020-10-25 12:13:34
Back in 2010 when I met and married my husband, several of the "Older Sisters" made disparaging comments about marriage in general and me getting married again. (My first husband and I had divorced, without going into details, it was a Scriptural divorce and I was the innocent party) I started noticing that I was always being called upon to "Run a Taxi Service" for the elderly ones in the congregation who needed rides to the meetings, assemblies and conventions. If a pioneer needed a return partner, or needed to go out in field service, I'd get a phone call. Finally, I just mentioned that vehicles don't run on thank you alone, a little money for gasoline would be greatly appreciated. (This was back in the Theocratic Ministry School days and so there was a "local needs" talk given about the virtues of giving the elderly ones and the pioneers especially, 'Double Honor') I was sort of made to feel bad because I couldn't provide 'free' rides. One sister even went so far as to call me for a ride to the meeting and when I got to her house, she told me, :Oh, I called you to give Sister So-N-So a ride to the meeting, I'm not going, but I knew you wouldn't mind giving her a ride...I was livid! I even had one sister say to me, "You should be happy being single, now you've got more time for meetings and field service and with that nice car of yours, you can ride the friends around!" Funny there was no mention of gas money...IJS...
Needless to say, when my hubby and I eloped and got married in a romantic little chapel in Long Beach, NONE of the friends were invited, just my sister, my best friend and my husband's friend/best man. It was actually funny, the congregation was in an uproar because they didn't get to dictate the who, when, where or why of our wedding. By this time, I had one foot out of the door anyway and Fred, (my husband) hadn't been an active JW for several years by then. Whats interesting about it all is this: After we got married, the elders tried to find out any dirt they could...and there wasn't any. We conducted ourselves according to the laws of The Most High and that seemed to confound the two elders who took it upon themselves to question us. (We did try to go to a couple of meetings to see if maybe it was just 'us' not giving the organization a chance...nope. I was from the L.A./Inglewood area, hubby is from the Northridge/Valley area and so as we talked and compared notes we began to see the hypocrisy of the organization even 10 years ago, and we just sort of faded out. And once we moved out of state, I think I went to a KH back in 2017, and haven't been back since.
Sorry this is such a long-winded account, but it just Brough back memories to me about how the "Organization" doesn't really care about individuals, but rather about how much they can get from individuals. Thanks for the article, Tadua! Peace & Blessings!Reply by Chet on 2020-10-26 11:27:36
Their “gift of singleness” nonsense is never far from their tongues. I am single, and happy in that state, but their pressure, in this regard is completely inappropriate, and made me more resolved for be married, just to shut them up. By interfering in this most personal of matters, they place pressure on their members that serves only to weaken marriage. Meddling and gossip are a constant for the average rank & file JW and elders will never stand up against such things, unless it is to blame the victim.
Reply by Ad_Lang on 2020-12-08 12:58:44
In fact, their meddling into people's personal affairs is EXACTLY the same thing the Pharisees and scribes used to do in Jesus' day (Mark 7:5-9).
Take a guess which reward will be given to these people once judgment comes? (Hint: Matthew 7:22-23)
Comment by Leonardo Josephus on 2020-10-26 05:02:10
Thanks Tadua. Good to see the same problems exist all over the place. Actually the first BOE I served with (and there were only 5 of us) worked very well together. This was because of the influence of a very loving and caring older brother who had served as congregation overseer for many years. The the others respected him and looked to him as their example of Christian living, so that when I was appointed, naturally I followed the same pattern.
Lucky me.
.
The body of elders reflects it's co-ordinator. Sometimes too hard, often too weak. Who are they trying to please ? If the GB consistently puts itself in Christ's place, it should hardly surprise us that elders will do just enough to please them, and the CO when they put on a show for his visit.Reply by Ad_Lang on 2020-12-08 12:52:38
I've never been an elder, and probably far too outspoken to ever serve as one. This pleasing is indeed something that I always disliked: there was always something "special" about CO visits, particular people assigned to handle certain aspects of the meetings.
I know about one elder in my congregation who seems to have been taking over covertly. Super availability, involved with lots of different things. I'm afraid that those who are appointed often lack the appropriate skills to notice these people. Also, appointed by holy spirit would, as far as I can tell, literally mean that they have an abundance of holy spirit on them, with the associated fruitage as listed in passages like Galatians 5:22-24.
Comment by Jen C on 2020-10-26 10:05:26
“All elders in the congregation are appointed by Jehovah’s holy spirit.” I can't believe that we used to believe that was true. What reproach they bring on our Creator and His Holy Spirit, and our Lord and Savior, Jesus.
Now with all the testimonies that we read from cases around the world of those who have been so horrendously affected by child abuse, i.e. The ARC "28 alleged perpetrators were appointed as elders or ministerial servants after an allegation of child sexual abuse was made against them" how dare they say that our heavenly father's spirit had anything to do with their appointment.
I am ashamed to think that I ever believed this organization had the truth, that for 42 years I just went along believing whatever I was told. I am grateful though that I, along with my husband and his mum (91) are no longer a part of the Organization, and that we have learnt that critical thinking, exegetical study is the only approach to finding the truth.
Thanks Tadua for all your hard work doing these reviews, studies etc.
Comment by Chet on 2020-10-26 10:40:26
“All elders in the congregation are appointed by Jehovah’s holy spirit.”
This, and their presumed identity as the mythical “Faithful and Discreet Slave” has been the only meaningful message they’ve had since 1980.
Face it, GBs; you’ve been caught. The game is up. Enjoy your lake, enjoy your cozy little apartment at Warwick, while you have it. What goes around comes around and what you did to Raymond Franz will be visited upon you.
Comment by marielle on 2020-10-31 05:18:40
Comme dans l’article précédent, où I Cor. 12 : 27 était cité en rapport avec l’assemblée, de même aujourd’hui, Romains 12 : 4,5 est cité au § 21 en rapport avec l’assemblée.
Le § 22 encourage à mettre en pratique les idées précieuses dégagées de la comparaison que Paul a établie entre le corps humain et l’assemblée.
Mais à aucun moment, l’idée précieuse selon laquelle les membres de l’assemblée est comparée « au corps de Christ » n’est envisagée.
Encore une fois, y aurait-il deux corps selon la comparaison de Paul ?
- Un corps en union avec Christ pour les oints engendrés de l’esprit.
- Un corps en union avec Christ pour les non oints, tous les membres de l’assemblée.
Cette idée que les membres de l’assemblée tirent profit de la comparaison de Paul, sans être directement concernés par ce qu’il écrit, ne perdure que pour soutenir coûte que coûte, l’idée du corps de Christ et de ses 144 000 à prendre au sens littéral.
De même, l’idée que seuls, ceux qui appartiennent à ce corps prennent à bon droit le pain et le vin de Christ.
Je me demande combien de frères et sœurs vont accepter de lire les versets de I Cor 12 : 27 et Romains 12 : 4,5 associés à l’assemblée, et jusque-là réservés aux oints, sans poser de questions !