[This is a review of highlights from this week’s Watchtower study. Please feel free to share your own insights using the comments feature.]
Par. 4-10 – Oh, that the counsel expressed here were the norm in our congregations. I particularly liked this from par. 9 – “The apostles needed to resist a tendency toward wanting to “lord it over” their companions, or to ‘order people around’”.
Par. 12 – “The only authority that Christian overseers have comes from the Scriptures. Therefore, it is vital that they use the Bible skillfully and adhere to what it says. Doing so helps elders to avoid any possible abuse of power.”
Both true and false. True in the Scriptural sense, but not true in reality.
Having served as an elder myself for many decades, I have seen a steady decline in the ability of elders to manage and reason from the Scriptures. When there is a point of disagreement, they are far more likely to pull out either a letter from the Governing Body or one of the publications, often the Shepherd the Flock of God book (ks10) Phrases like, “the Slave says…” or “the direction from the branch is…” are the norm. I can’t recall ever sitting in an elders meeting and hearing, “Jesus instructs us to…” This isn’t to say that the brothers don’t use the Bible in elders meetings. They do, but the trump card is never the Bible, but always the direction from “the Slave”. At times, a course of action might be uncertain. One or two on the body might even bring out a few Scriptures to provide direction as to what decision to make. However, almost without fail, the final decision would be to write the branch or call the circuit overseer for direction. These would in turn consult letters from the Governing Body in rendering their decision.
There may be those reading this who will take exception to what I say, but I have seen overseers removed for not compromising on a Scriptural principle. Our authority comes from men first and God only second.
Par. 13 – In discussing how elders are to be examples to the flock, much emphasis is given to taking the lead in the door-to-door preaching work. When discussing with the circuit overseer the qualifications of a prospective elder, one of the key things considered without fail is his service time. Not just his, but his wife’s and children's as well. Ideally, the brother has to have more hours in service than the congregation average. His wife and children have to also be exemplary in this regard. If he has children, then he must be counting a family study and his hours should be even higher to make up for the hours devoted to his family. I’ve heard the C.O. say on more than one occasion that the brother in question doesn’t really have 11 or 12 hours average, but really just 7 or 8 because he spends 4 hours a month in his family study. It should be remembered that this is purely an Organizational qualification, not to be found anywhere in Scripture.
Par. 15-17 – These concluding paragraphs offer good counsel to the elders as regards shepherding and caring for the ailing and weak ones. Combined with the rest of the study, there is much fine scripturally based counsel here. Sad to say that in my experience, most of this is “more honor’d in the breach than in the observance.” (Hamlet Act 1, scene 4)
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Comment by kev c on 2014-01-27 19:24:54
Dead right meleti ive seen the very same things again we had one fine brother held back because his wife was only doing 4 hours even though she was at home looking after a large family who were nearly all pioneers by the way i asked where is that in 1timothy 3 .For the most part i found the article scripturaly correct but wondered which congregation they are speaking of here because i would like to join it as my experience has been much different in reality .and i think that with articles like this the brothers will go away thinking this is the counsel coming from the governing body and if they are treated badly its got to be all the fault of the poor old elders while sometimes it may be very often its not .scapegoats or what kev c
Comment by GodsWordIsTruth on 2014-01-31 14:55:00
1 Peter 5:2 says, “Be shepherds of God's flock that is under your care, watching over them--not because you must, but because you are willing, as God wants you to be; not pursuing dishonest gain, but eager to serve….
RNWT is the first translation that I have come across that refers to the shepherd in this scripture as an overseer as well .I’ve read 22 different translations and the renderings of this passage in those translations are more kind IMO . Rather than describing those taking the lead as “overseers” in addition to being shepherds other translations describe the shepherds as “exercising oversight”, “watching over them”, “overseeing” , “giving care spiritually”. The question for paragraph 4 is “How can elders care for the needs of the sheep without overstepping the authority that God has granted to overseers?” Has God granted them authority? If He has it is certainly relative to Jesus’ authority.
“Overseer” (Circuit overseer, District overseer) is title and a word that has bad connotations nowadays. In trying to balance my view of the leaders in our congregations I believe that keeping in mind that Peter described Jesus as being in charge of my soul. He is the overseer and has authority. (1 Peter 2:25)
In paragraph 7 it says that God has condemned the leaders of Christendom based on Ezek. 34:7-10; Jer. 23:1. “Jehovah denounced those who should have been caring for his sheep but were not doing so properly. When no one was keeping watch over the sheep, the flock was preyed upon and it scattered. Rather than feeding the sheep, those shepherds were exploiting them and “feeding themselves.” (Ezek. 34:7-10; Jer. 23:1) God’s condemnation of those shepherds can appropriately be applied to the leaders of Christendom. “The GB does not give examples of how other leaders fit this scripture.
The overall message of the Watchtower was beautiful. I especially loved the picture of the Shepherd and the lamb :)
Comment by Alex Rover on 2014-02-01 17:54:10
ONE Sabbath morn I roamed astray,
And asked a Pilgrim for the way:
"O, tell me, whither shall I search,
That I may find the one true Church?"
He answered, "Search the world around;
The one true Church is never found.
Yon ivy on the abbey wall
Makes fair the falsest Church of all."
But, fearing he had told me wrong,
I cried, "Behold the entering throng!"
He answered, "If a Church be true,
It hath not many, but a few!"
Around a font the people pressed,
And crossed themselves on brow and breast.
"A cross so light to bear," he cried,
"Is not of Christ, the Crucified!
Each forehead, frowning, sheds it off:
Christ's cross abides through scowl and scoff!"
We entered at the open door,
And saw men kneeling on the floor;
Faint candle, by the daylight dimmed,
As if by foolish virgins trimmed;
Fair statues of the saints, as white
As now their robes are, in God's sight;
Stained windows, casting down a beam,
Like Jacob's ladder in the dream.
The Pilgrim gazed from nave to roof,
And, frowning, uttered this reproof:
"Alas! who is it that understands
God's Temple is not made with hands?"
- Poems of DawnReply by Meleti Vivlon on 2014-02-01 18:02:19
Beautiful. Thank you.
Comment by anderestimme on 2014-02-03 09:32:16
There was a lot of good counsel for the elders in this article, and my hat's off to those many fine elders who work hard to take care of the sheep in addition to their own responsibilities and all the busy work that gets handed to them. But as with admonishments to be "accessible", it is understood that the counsel to elders not to overstep their authority does not apply to the GB. The GB can decide when a sister needs to cover her head, what blood fractions we can accept, what holidays we must avoid, etc., etc. and they are totally inaccessible to questioning, correction or constructive criticism. Having declared themselves the 'faithful slave', they have granted themselves an exemption from at least some of the restrictions rightly placed on congregation elders. Am I the only one thinking 'clergy class'?
That having been said, there is a great wealth of scriptural counsel in the publications for which the GB rightly deserves credit. The organization in general is not a hotbed of hypocrisy and corruption. The brotherhood is without equal in the whole world. But how long can it last if it keeps going the way it's going?Reply by Meleti Vivlon on 2014-02-03 09:36:59
A nicely balanced viewpoint. Thanks.
Reply by anderestimme on 2014-02-03 09:57:01
I'm just trying to make peace with myself and with the organization. Going from "I'm in the one true religion" to "I'm in a highly flawed religion that's still better than most" is a rough transition, as I'm sure you know. It helps to have a refuge from the refuge.