Circuit Overseers Visit

[jwhess]

2 hours ago, carlos said:

Thanks, John.

 

But every person has a different pace, and it's Jehovah who makes it grow, not ourselves. Scaring a student with Armageddon doesn't make any good. I have seen many people, especially young ones, pressured to get baptized, just to leave the truth a few months later. Baptism without dedication is valueless. Going in service, giving talks, or any other spiritual activity which is not done wholeheartedly to please Jehovah but out of pressure is a waste of time.

So true Carlos.  But I am worried that publishers are separating facts and not looking at whole picture.  Jehovah knows exctly when this system will end.  He has told Jesus this date I am sure.  It is not going to change.

 

So, taking the various conditions together makes for concern.  If the end is close (and I am not a 'drum-beater' for an instantaneous GT), perhaps one or two years.  Then all the time a Bible Student has is that amount of time.  Our publications have stated that only those who choose to dedicate their lives to God will survive. So if the end is 6 months away, that is the time.  If it is 1 year away, that is the time.  Very few publishers will say it is 10 or 20 years away so that is NOT the time allowed.  It is God's choice.

 

This is a "life-saving" work is perilous and critical times.  If a ship is sinking, the lifeboats are the saving method.  But the passengers MUST get on.  There is no consideration of their whims, stress, phobias, personal tastes and so on.  If the ships crew is a little persistent, maybe even "pushy", it is because they want to save as many as possible. There is a need to get the passengers to see the desperate need to get on the lifeboat.  this world is not an "unsinkable ship".  If the public refuses to acknowledge that, or delays thinking there is more time, then the lifeboat crew must become more insistent.  As the ship settles deeper in the water, the crew cannot just say, "whenever you are ready" or "take your time".  It is now or never.  Emphasis on the NEVER.  There is only one chance.  If the words selected seem a little insistent or pushy or rushed, it is because there is limited time.  It is God's limit not ours.

 

I do not believe there will ever be another Bible Study that lasts 10 years in this old system.  If we can't get the passengers to see the urgency, then move on to another.  But every minute spent on someone who is delaying puts others at risk.  I remember a live video of the Japanese Tsunami a few years ago.  The water is coming across a field.  Thousands were fleeing up a hill until they came to a fence.  Some worked extremely hard and got over and others were looking for a gate.  The delay was too much.  As the video proceeds, you see some who finally realized that they had to try to climb the fence and others who went back to help the stragglers.  The water roared over them and nothing was left.

 

Some will progress slower, it is true.  But everybody must get to the minimum knowledge base and basic faith in the few months left.  There is no other option.  We can't slow the tsunami at the fence.  We can't stretch the time until the ark  closes.  So my worry about the idea that some might have of "give them more time" may be misplaced and not enough "hurry up" is in mind. The words I used about "accelerate" "quickly" or "a few months" are directly quoted from the current study.  Maybe there is a year (or even two, but will you risk the students life that there are more?

 

Edited December 18, 2020 by jwhess