On the JW.org website, we came across this article
The Bible’s answer
“Yes, because God wants people to gather for worship. The Bible says: “Let us consider one another so as to motivate to love and fine works, not forsaking our meeting together.”—Hebrews 10:24, 25, footnote.”
So, accordingly, in order to worship God, I need to belong to an organized religion. Can’t I get together with fellow believers and study the scriptures with them? Can’t I motivate fellow believers to love and fine works without belonging to an organized religion?
The article goes on to say in paragraph 2:
“Jesus indicated that his followers would form an organized group when he said to them: “By this all will know that you are my disciples—if you have love among yourselves.” (John 13:35) As a primary way of showing this love, disciples of Christ would associate with fellow believers. They would be organized into congregations that meet regularly for worship. (1 Corinthians 16:19) Collectively, they would form a worldwide brotherhood.—1 Peter 2:17.”
So in quoting Jesus’ words at John 13:35, what does having “love among yourselves” have to do with forming organized groups? 1 Peter 2:17 says; “Honor all people. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the king.” That doesn’t say ANYTHING about being organized.
In fact, if you wanna get technical, Jesus says NOTHING about organization. He does command his Apostles to go and makes disciples of all nations. But that was it.
Now the Greek word Ekklesia, which corresponds to our English word ”Church”, simply means “called out ones.” It refers to a group, assembly, or body of individuals who are united or connected together. Nowadays, there are numerous organizations that claim to be the church, each with different forms of unity; however, we want to understand, based on the authority of God’s Word, what ekklesia or church Jesus founded, and what its unifying factors are.
So how was the early Church organized? They had some unique traits that united them and distinguished them from others.
- Their main focus was on knowing and following Jesus. This was taught by His apostles who were the foundation stones of the Church, along with others who were with Him during His time on earth.
- The early church recognized Jesus as their Lord and Savior, received the Holy Spirit, and were baptized in water. They all shared in one Spirit. Check out I Corinthians 12:13.
- Acts 2:42 outlines the early church’s structure. “And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers.” It was both simple and profound. “They were continually devoting themselves to the apostle’s teaching and fellowship, to breaking of bread and prayer.”
a. They immersed themselves in the word, and the word was being ingrained in them.
b. They supported one another and didn’t abandon those who were struggling. They invested in their relationships and aimed to prevent division.
c. They regularly shared meals.
d. They understood the importance of prayer and understood why it was essential.
4. They were bold and unashamed of the gospel. They were ready to suffer for Jesus and keep pushing forward. Look up Acts 4:29-31 as an example
5. They accepted the call to share the responsibility and authority to carry out the great commission.
For a church to grow and remain strong, it’s members need to walk in love and truth. If you only use truth as your measure for fellowship, you might end up being argumentative and judgmental. On the other hand, if love is your only standard, you might accept anything without question, leading the community astray. We should speak the truth in love, grow into our head, Jesus, and learn to navigate our questions and differences peacefully. Watching the church grow in love and truth is a lot like a marriage. It needs to be built on a foundation of truth, with a commitment to love, and you have to work through things together.
So as stated, Jesus is the head of the Church, the Apostles are its foundation stones. They went out making disciples, forming ekklesias here and there. Some times, the Apostles and early disciples would stay for years among small groups of believers, instructing them.
Acts 14:23 tells us that Paul and Barnabas “appointed elders in every church, and prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord in whom they had believed.”
We learn that elders and deacons were the only officers in the ekklesia. That their qualifications were outlined in 1 Timothy 3. That once an ekklesia was established, it was the ekklesia based on the qualifications found in 1 Timothy 3, and other verses, who would make those appointments, by the raising of the hand. Never do the scriptures say that the Apostles went back and forth appointing or removing elders and deacons. They didn’t have circuit or district overseers in the first century.
Now we don’t really know how studies were conducted. We believe in the beginning it was probably done orally, then eventually through the written words of the Apostles. We do know in Acts 17:11 that those in Berea “received the word with all readiness, and searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so.”
So we see, that the little bands of believers didn’t just accept what was told to them, simply because they were Apostles, they made sure. They searched the scriptures. Which is a far cry from how things are done within the Witness community.
Unfortunately, after the death of the Apostles, actually, even before, because Paul mentions some of these, here’s that word “apostates” began to rise up. Paul in his letter to Timothy writes; “all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution. But evil men and impostors will grow worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived. But you must continue in the things which you have learned and been assured of, knowing from whom you have learned them.” – 2 Timothy 3:12-14
In 1 and 2 John, he mentions antichrists and deceivers.
Let’s move on to the last paragraph.
“More is needed than just belonging to a religion
While the Bible shows that people should gather to worship God, it does not teach that a person can please God by just being a member of a religion. To be approved by God, a person’s religion must affect his everyday life. For example, the Bible says: “The religion that is clean and undefiled from the standpoint of our God and Father is this: to look after orphans and widows in their tribulation, and to keep oneself without spot from the world.”—James 1:27, footnote.”
So, it’s not a matter of being a part of a religion. Ones religion must affect their everyday life. I have to laugh, because if you’ve ever been one of Jehovah’s Witnesses, this thought is so true. Being part of the Jehovah’s Witness religion, certainly does affect ones life, and I don’t mean in a good way. The leadership dictates every aspect of your life, from education, to dress and groom, to the type of work you can have. From medical procedures, and the activities you can partake of, they even dictate what a husband and wife can and cannot do in the privacy of the bedroom.
Is it any wonder that the suicide rate among Jehovah’s Witnesses is significantly higher than the general population? It’s been reported that the rate of suicides associated with the Jehovah’s Witness could be five to ten times higher than the average. This statistic is based on various factors, including the disfellowshipping practice, which involves total shunning of anyone who leaves the organization. The psychological impact of these practices and the Watchtower teachings have been cited as contributing factors to the high suicide rate among Jehovah’s Witnesses.
Is this the religion you want to be a part of? The number of Jehovah’s Witnesses leaving the organization is around 70,000 annually, making up roughly 1% of their total population. This number shows that more and more members are choosing to exit due to different internal problems, such as conflicting beliefs and strict control systems. Moreover, the overall growth rate of Jehovah’s Witnesses has been on the decline, with more than 1 million members departing over a ten year period.
Consider also, that there are most likely more PIMOs in the organization than PIMIs, which is why the Governing Body has been making all these superficial changes, to stop the bleeding.
In the 1870s Charles Taze Russell founded what would become the Bible Students movement. He wasn’t trying to start a new religion, or denomination. In fact he was totally against organized religion. He started a publishing house, which he admits was just a business. He published a journal, small tracts, booklets and a series, Studies in the Scriptures. His focus was on following Jesus. As a result of his ministry, he had a following that grew. And small Bible study groups were formed. BUT … Russell never dictated to them, what they should and shouldn’t do. Like the Bereans of old, they studied his writings and compared it with Scriptures. Sometimes they agreed, sometimes they didn’t, and that was fine with him. These small groups eventually organized. They nominated and elected their own elders and deacons on a yearly basis, based on the scriptural qualifications found in 1 Timothy 3. The members of said ekklesias dictated the studies, not the elders. The elders were there to teach, not to Lord it over the members. Officers were elect annually, so if you didn’t live up to the qualifications, you could be removed as an elder or deacon.
It wasn’t perfect, but it was the closes thing to the early church. There was no governing body, no Jehovah’s visible organization on earth. No, “join us or die at Armageddon.” Just people studying, fellowshipping, and testifying, ipbuilding one another. Trying to live up to Christian standards
Towards the end of his life, Russell began to warn the association, like the apostles about certain individuals, about the spirit of Babylon, about evil men creeping in. He believed the end was near, and he gave his life to the cause and in October 1916, he passed away, doing what he loved, serving the brethren. And just like what happened after the death of the Apostles, the same happened after the death of Russell.
Here’s that word again, apostates took over. Just like the bishop of Rome solidified his position, rising among all the other bishops to become the Pope, the Bishop of Bishops. So Judge Rutherford rose to the rank of President of the Watch Tower and IBSA and within a 10 year period, purged out all of Russell’s faithful followers. He took control and created a Little Papacy, a Vatican in Brooklyn, now in Warwick. He discarded the majority of Russell’s teachings, built a mansion in San Diego and lived like a king. Today Jehovah’s Witnesses are the children he gave birth too, through his ministry. He’s responsible for everything Jehovah’s Witness.
He stole your Christianity, he created the Golden Calf we now know as the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society.
Now I’m not trying to convince you to join the Bible Students, because there’s nothing to join. We’re just a small worldwide association of believers who get together for Bible study, fellowship and encouragement. You’re not forced to believe anything, not all Bible Students see everything eye to eye.
We have a motto: “In essentials, unity; in non-essentials, liberty; in all things, love”.
It means that disagreements on non-essential matters should not cause a breakdown in love or goodwill, and that all spiritual beliefs and actions should be approached with love and goodwill.
We didn’t make it up, it originated around 1627 and is used in Christian contexts to balance doctrinal unity with individual conscience, guided by love.
That’s what True Christianity is about. So if you wish to know more about us, look us up. Visit the Kingdomherald.com website, there are links to dozens of other groups in various language.