What is a load-bearing belief? And why should you be interested in this if you are one of Jehovah’s Witnesses?
To explain the term, load-bearing belief, let’s use an illustration we can all relate to. The Empire State Building in New York City stands 1,250 feet tall (381 meters), has 102 stories above ground, and weighs approximately 365,000 tons. What bears that enormous load are the massive concrete footings upon which its steel structure rests.
The Empire State Building first opened its doors on May 1, 1931. In that same year, just two months later, another load-bearing structure came into being. On July 26th, 1931, the Organization of Jehovah's Witnesses was formally named by its then-head of the Governing Body, Joseph F. Rutherford.
The Bible Students attending that convention in Columbus, Ohio, willingly accepted their new name because they trusted that their Governing Body — founded in 1919 according to current JW doctrine — was being led by Jehovah God himself.
Since then, the congregation of Jehovah's Witnesses has continued to believe and follow the direction of its Governing Body. But to say that the Organization, like the Empire State Building, is a load-bearing structure raises a question: what bears that load? Not concrete footings, certainly. What bears the load in the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses is a key belief — a load-bearing belief.
Is it what Paul said to the congregation in Corinth? Is that the load-bearing belief of Jehovah's Witnesses? He wrote:
"If Christ has not been raised, our preaching is worthless, and so is your faith." (1 Corinthians 15:14)
The faith of all Christians should rest on exactly what Paul describes: the belief that Jesus was resurrected by God. If that were not true, the entire structure of Christian faith would collapse under its own weight. But it is true, so no worries there. Except that we are not talking about Christianity in general—we are talking about the faith of a particular religious sect. If a person left Jehovah's Witnesses but continued to believe everything the Bible teaches about Jesus, their faith would remain standing on that foundation. But to remain a Jehovah's Witness, a different foundation sustains the religious framework.
So what is the load-bearing belief of Jehovah's Witnesses, and is it sound, or is it beginning to crumble?
The load-bearing belief of the religion Rutherford created in the same year the Empire State Building was completed has never changed. It is the belief that the Governing Body—publishers of the Watchtower and Awake! magazines and all the books printed by the Watchtower presses—is the sole channel that Jehovah God is using to reveal truth to his people. Rutherford bore that mantle, and then after him, came Nathan Knorr and Fred Franz, but it was only after Knorr died that the power of the committee—the Governing Body as we now know it—came into full power. That power grew in the minds of Jehovah’s Witnesses until, at the annual meeting on October 6, 2012, it came to appoint itself as Christ’s faithful and discreet slave, claiming it has been that since 1919.
After the joyful singing, the rest of the program focused on a clarified understanding of Matthew 24:45-47.
First, Geoffrey Jackson considered the topic, how is spiritual food prepared? He then gave a preview of what was to come.
So you'll be interested to note that the next series of five talks, each of them given by a governing body member, is about to adjust our understanding of a very treasured subject.
Next, Gerrit Losch answered the question, "Which channel is Jehovah using?"
Then Guy Pearce highlighted the subject, "Tell us, when will these things be?"
So when does a faithful slave receive the two appointments? So we mentioned one in 1919. The other is yet to come in the future, near future. We look forward to seeing that happen.
Samuel Herd gave the talk, "Feeding Many Through the Hands of a Few."
Next, Stephen Lett considered "Who really is the faithful and discreet slave."
David Splane concluded with, "What does all of this really mean?"
And so the great crowd and the anointed are all domestics. We are all domestics. And brothers, we love this teaching. We love this idea.
Let’s pause here and summarize before proceeding further.
To be a Christian, you have to believe that Jesus was resurrected by God. Because of that, he has become the head of the congregation, your king to whom you owe your allegiance and obedience. That, and so much more, stands on the foundation that Jesus was raised by God.
But, to become a Jehovah’s Witnesses, you must go beyond that. You must believe that Jehovah God’s channel of communication is the Governing Body of Jehovah’s Witnesses. Based on that foundation, you must accept their teachings and obey their direction.
So, you are no longer just a Christian. Now you are one of Jehovah’s Witnesses.
But what if you find evidence that the Governing Body is not being directed by Jehovah, that God’s truth is not being channelled through the office of the Governing Body? What then?
More than any other change, their abandonment of a policy that has endured for eighty years and resulted in the deaths of tens of thousands of loyal Jehovah’s Witnesses is forcing people to see their load-bearing belief in the governing body is breaking down. The foundation of the faith of Jehovah’s Witnesses is crumbling, and when it is gone, the building will collapse. It can no longer sustain the load of Witness theology and dogma.
I’m referring to the lifting of their ban on blood transfusions which was just announced in Governing Body Update #6 on September 18th of this year.
Witnesses are coming to realize that Jehovah God cannot be using the Governing Body as his channel, because he does not change and his law is perfect.
"Every good gift and every perfect present is from above, coming down from the Father of the celestial lights, who does not vary or change like the shifting shadows." (James 1:17)
Jehovah would never condemn thousands of his people to die needlessly by refusing blood-based medical treatments, and then, more than half a century later, reverse course and make it a matter of conscience. That is not what a loving Father would do to his children.
Either the Governing Body got it wrong eighty years ago, or they have got it wrong now. Either way, if they could get it wrong on a doctrine so consequential that thousands died because of it, what else have they got wrong?
We know they got the generation of 1914 wrong, because everyone who belonged to that generation has since died yet the promised end of this system of things did not come. That means they are also wrong about the claim that Jesus began reigning as king invisibly in 1914. It follows then, like dominoes falling, that there was no 1919 appointment of the governing body as Christ’s faithful and discreet slave. So, their harmful rules about shunning are not from God at all. But most of all, the salvation hope for millions of Jehovah’s Witnesses who are called the Other Sheep class is gone. They have misled millions about the true salvation hope that Jesus preached.
Jehovah's Witnesses were founded as a named religion in the same year the Empire State Building opened. The Empire State building is still standing, its foundation is solid. The same cannot be said for the Organization of Jehovah's Witnesses.
Jehovah’s Witnesses have been duped by unscrupulous spiritual real estate salesmen to buy a house that was constructed on a shifting foundation. Jesus warned us of this very circumstance.
"Therefore, everyone who hears these sayings of mine and does them will be like a discreet man who built his house on the rock. And the rain poured down and the floods came and the winds blew and lashed against that house, but it did not cave in, for it had been founded on the rock. Furthermore, everyone hearing these sayings of mine and not doing them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain poured down and the floods came and the winds blew and struck against that house, and it caved in, and its collapse was great." (Matthew 7:24-27)
The collapse of the house built by the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society is going to be great. But those few special brothers and sisters who have built their faith not on the teachings of men but on the words of our Lord Jesus will not suffer as others do.
You may now be living in the house that Rutherford built, but you don't have to remain there. Jesus said:
"For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them." (Matthew 18:20)
The teaching that you must belong to a religion — any religion — to be saved is a lie. Enjoy the freedom of the Christ. He said:
"Come to me, all you who are toiling and loaded down, and I will refresh you. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am mild-tempered and lowly in heart, and you will find refreshment for yourselves. For my yoke is kindly, and my load is light." (Matthew 11:28-30)
I was a member of the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses for 60 years, raised from infancy by my parents to be one. I know that Witnesses toil and are loaded down, because I toiled for years and worked thousands of hours serving the Organization under the mistaken belief that I was building favor with God.
I left fourteen years ago, but I still carry a load. Yet, it is a light load. I still bear a yoke — but it is kindly.
I have finally come to understand what Paul meant when he wrote:
"For freedom did Christ set us free: stand fast therefore, and be not entangled again in a yoke of bondage." (Galatians 5:1)
If your house of faith is built on a foundation of sand, you need to call the moving company and get out before the rain comes down, the floodwaters surge, and the wind blows. I know it can be hard. But you will not be homeless.
“Do not let your hearts be troubled. Exercise faith in God; exercise faith also in me. In the house of my Father are many dwelling places. Otherwise, I would have told you, for I am going my way to prepare a place for you. Also, if I go my way and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will receive you home to myself, so that where I am you also may be.” (John 14:1-3)
Now that is something to really look forward to. Thank you for your time.