Nothing is as stressful as trying to do something that simply cannot be done, especially when you think that your eternal life depends on it.

This is the situation in which the Watchtower places Jehovah’s Witnesses.

Telling Witnesses the Watchtower has put them in an impossible position won’t work.

You have to show it to them through the stone-in-the-shoe questions you ask.

 Asking sincere questions is the best way to get your points across to Jehovah’s Witnesses because it isn’t threatening and requires them to think outside the Watchtower box.

They are trying to deserve “undeserved kindness.”

Instead of using the word “grace,” the Watchtower speaks of God’s “undeserved kindness.” Typical is this statement: “Since Pentecost 33 C.E., spiritual Israelites have endeavored to prove worthy of God’s undeserved kindness so that the ‘acceptable time’ would be ‘a day of salvation’ for them… Some men associated with the Corinthian congregation were not proving worthy of God’s undeserved kindness.”[1]

 But this is self-contradictory.

“To deserve” means “to be worthy, fit, or suitable for some reward or requital.”[2]

Ask:

  • I don’t understand what this means. If you “prove worthy” of something, don’t you therefore deserve it? 
  • Aren’t you trying to deserve “undeserved kindness”?

 A Witness might reply that if someone gave you an undeserved gift, their generosity should lead you out of appreciation to improve your attitudes and behavior.

If so, ask:

  • Is appreciation really the motivation? I notice from the quotation above that if people do not “prove worthy” that the “acceptable time” will not be a “day of salvation” for them.

Besides, isn’t the “undeserved kindness” the Watchtower proclaims the chance to straighten out your life in accordance with Jehovah’s standards to the point that you have become worthy of salvation?

They are working for a “gift”

The Watchtower says that salvation is a “gift” based on “Jehovah’s undeserved kindness” received by “exercising faith in Jesus’ ransom sacrifice.”[3]

But the key language is the phrase “exercising faith,” which turns out to be just another name for works.

Ask:

  • How is something a gift if you have to keep working to make sure you receive it?

In Watchtower theology, survival into everlasting life is not dependent on Christ’s righteousness—imputed and received as a gift—but on works, especially on faithful performance of the door-to-door field service ministry.[4]

 Despite this emphasis on what Jehovah’s Witnesses must do in order to be saved, the Watchtower denies that Jehovah’s Witnesses try to earn their salvation by their works. Here is its explanation:

 We engage regularly in our door-to-door ministry, but we don’t believe that we earn our salvation by doing such work. (Ephesians 2:8) Why not?

Think of this comparison: Imagine that a benevolent man promised an expensive gift to everyone who showed up at a certain location on a given date. If you really believed the man’s promise, would you follow his instructions? No doubt! Likely, you would also tell your friends and family about the opportunity, so that they too could benefit from it. Even so, you wouldn’t earn the gift by following the man’s instructions. The gift is still a gift.

Likewise, Jehovah’s Witnesses believe God’s promise of everlasting life for all who obey him. (Romans 6:23). We endeavor to share our faith with others, hoping that they will benefit from God’s promises. But we don’t believe that we earn our salvation by engaging in our ministry. (Romans 1:17; 3:28) Really, no human could ever do enough to merit such an astounding blessing from God. ‘He saved us because of his mercy, and not because of any good things that we have done.’[5] (emphasis original)

 I will discuss this “benevolent man” argument in greater detail in a later post, but for now you can make these stone-in-the-shoe comments:

  • In the example, what the benevolent man promised was relatively minor—show up at a given time and place. 
  • But suppose instead that the benevolent man required you to abide by all of his rules and policies for the rest of your life. Also suppose he required you to go door-to-door for the rest of your life telling people about his offer. Only then could you receive what he had promised. 
  • Would you say that is still a gift or is it wages?

Request that one of the Witnesses ead aloud Romans 4:4-5: “Now to the man who works, his pay is not counted as an undeserved kindness but as something owed to him. On the other hand, to the man who does not work but puts faith in the One who declares the ungodly one righteous, his faith is counted as righteousness.”

Summary

It is important that you understand the inner struggle that this Watchtower perform-or-perish motivational system produces.

Jehovah’s Witnesses have been taught that kindness is undeserved, but in order to obtain salvation, they have to show that they are deserving of it.

They have been told that salvation is a gift, but in order to be deemed worthy to receive it they must continually prove their worthiness through their works and endure to the end.

Jehovah’s Witnesses do not see the contradictions.

They are caught in a system of belief that makes it impossible to know if they doing enough to merit God’s approval.

In addition, they are constantly being exhorted to do more and more in view of the fact that Armageddon is just around the corner.

As you can imagine, the angst caused by this organizational pressure and perpetual state of spiritual uncertainty is not a topic of open conversation among Jehovah’s Witnesses.

Many think they are the only ones who struggle with feelings of fear, inadequacy, and unworthiness, not realizing that the Watchtower itself causes these feelings by its doctrines and, in fact, depends on them as powerful motivators in its works-oriented salvation system.

You may be the only person who shows them genuine Christian love and understanding.

That may be the best way to lead them into a saving relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ.

 

[1] The Watchtower, “This Is the Day of Salvation!” 12/15/98, p. 19

[2] Miriam-Webster dictionary

[3] The Watchtower, “Do You Really Have Faith in the Good News?”, 1/15/03, p. 10

[4] The Watchtower, “You Can Live Forever in Paradise on Earth—But How?”, 2/15/83, p. 15

[5] “Are Jehovah’s Witnesses Trying to Earn Salvation by Their Door-to-Door Ministry?”

 

 

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