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How Could I Have Been so Wrong?

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When I started to become aware that I might have to leave the religion of my childhood, Jehovah’s Witnesses, I prayed the same prayer over and over again: Father, please show me what is right and what is wrong, what is true and what is false. I was desperate for the gift of discernment because I realized I had been badly deceived for the majority of my life. 

How could I possibly have fallen for a false religion? Was I stupid? Gullible? Naive?

Well, yes and no. Yes, I was all of those things, but not any more than most people. The truth is that people of average to above average intelligence are perfectly capable of being duped. 

As explained in a blog post for Psychology today, we often believe people whom we trust, and that effect can be amplified if many of the people we trust all believe the same thing:

“Although the effect of believing something due to trust often happens when just one person we trust causes us to believe in something, the effect is magnified when more people around us believe. Being recruited into a harmful cult by a trusted friend can be difficult, but leaving a cult — at which point all of our close friends are believers — is far more difficult. And growing up in an authoritarian regime, where everyone we’ve met seems to believe a certain thing, makes it that much more difficult to resist believing it too.” – Why Do Smart People Fall for Stupid Ideas? | Psychology Today

I made an understandable mistake – I trusted my parents and the other spiritual leaders around me more than I trusted God. But just because the mistake was understandable doesn’t mean it was harmless. The Bible is clear about whom we ought to trust:

“Do not trust in nobles, in merely a son of man, in whom there is no salvation. His spirit departs; he returns to the earth; In that very day his plans perish. How blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in Yahweh his God, who made heaven and earth, The sea and all that is in them; Who keeps truth forever; Who does justice for the oppressed; Who gives food to the hungry. Yahweh sets the prisoners free.”

We were not designed by God to live apart from him. We do not do well without God’s constant guidance. Yes, we have been given free will. The question is, how will we use it? When we make decisions based upon human reasoning and feelings, we often end up deceived and in a mess. But when we consult our heavenly Father about everything, things have a way of working out much better. 

When Jesus’s disciples asked him to tell them about the last days, the very first thing that Jesus said was this:

“And Jesus answered and said to them, “See to it that no one deceives you. For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many.” – Matt. 24:4-5

I believe that we are living in the last days that Jesus was describing in Matthew 24, which means that there is a pretty good chance that we’re going to be exposed to deception. We recently saw a vivid example of the type of deception Jesus was referring to when multitudes of Christians believed false prophets who claimed that they knew the exact date of the rapture despite the fact that Jesus clearly taught that “…that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone.” (Matthew 24:36) They were all sorely disappointed, and I pray that their faith has not been destroyed.

Now is not the time to get lazy about prayer, to think that we can reason things out for ourselves, or to start uncritically listening to random internet prophets. Now more than ever, we need God’s guidance and wisdom. 

I have learned that God has a strange way of teaching lessons. In response to my pleas for wisdom and discernment, you would think he would just give me wisdom and discernment. But instead, He has repeatedly led me into intellectually or spiritually confusing situations to show me how easy it is to get fooled and how important it is to trust in his guidance. Be careful what you pray for!

So, what have I learned? 

In a nutshell, we must truly love and submit to our heavenly Father. And we must have both God’s written word and his spirit. 

We need the Holy Spirit to help us to understand the scriptures. Many people, including Jehovah’s Witnesses, claim to follow the scriptures, and yet they are deceived. What is missing? True submission to God and to the guidance of the Holy Spirit is needed. Reading scripture with a personal agenda and without God’s guidance can be very dangerous.   

For example, I believe that Charles T. Russel, though he claimed to have studied the Bible with a pure heart, may have actually been studying with an agenda. He seemed determined to find something in the scriptures other than the faith of his fathers which so offended him. For example, the idea of the punishment of hell deeply troubled Russel, so he looked for another way to understand the scriptures. Similarly, another president of the Watchtower organization, Joseph F. Rutherford, seems to have come up with many doctrines that were based not on an honest exegesis of scripture, but on a personal agenda of his. 

Other groups seem to have the opposite problem. They claim to be guided by God’s Spirit or his angels, yet their supposed revelations are completely contrary to what God has already revealed in scripture. Paul wrote in his first letter to Timothy that, “… the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons…” Yes, demons speak too. We must take exceeding care that we listen only to the Holy Spirit of God, and not to any other spirit.

Mormonism is an example of this type of deception. Joseph Smith listened to a being who claimed to be an angel of God, but who offered revelations that were contrary to what God had already revealed in his word. Smith failed to “test the spirits.” – 1 John 4:1

So, what are the hallmarks of a true teaching of God? 

First of all, God has already revealed truth in scripture. The apostle Paul wrote that “all scripture is God-breathed and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be equipped, having been thoroughly equipped for every good work.” (2 Timothy 3:16-17) The Bible can be regarded as a sort of spiritual guard rail – its truths, once read, properly understood and believed, can protect us from deception. For that reason, instead of letting someone else tell us what the truth is, it is imperative that we carefully and prayerfully read and study the Bible for ourselves.

Another hallmark of the truth is that it will produce good fruit:

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,gentleness, self-control.” – Galatians 5:22-23

““Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves.  You will know them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thorn bushes or figs from thistles? Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. So then, you will know them by their fruits. Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, in Your name did we not prophesy, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name do many miracles?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.’” – Matthew 7:15-23

Obviously from the text above, even those who claim to follow Jesus can be deceivers. Is the person you are listening to teaching Biblical truth and producing good fruit? Are they doing the will of the Father? Does their speech reflect love, joy, peace, and all the other qualities produced by the Holy Spirit? Is their life a testament to Biblical principles?

Jesus’s disciples loved Him, but they often allowed their own desires to trump what Jesus said, which shows that even true followers of Jesus can be led at times by the wrong spirit. When Jesus’s disciples, John and James, wanted to call down fire over a village of Samaritans who would not receive Jesus, He said this: 

“You do not know what kind of spirit you are of, for the Son of Man did not come to destroy men’s lives, but to save them.” – Luke 9:55-56

John and James were being influenced by a spirit of vengeance and destruction. If two of the disciples that were closest to Jesus could fall for a deception like that, how much more vulnerable might we be if we act out in our flesh instead of letting the Spirit of God guide us? 

Something similar happened to Peter, as recorded in Matthew 16:21-23:

From that time Jesus began to show His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised up on the third day. And Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, “God forbid it, Lord! This shall never happen to You.” But He turned and said to Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to Me; for you are not setting your mind on God’s interests, but man’s.”

Peter was under the influence of the wrong spirit. He refused to accept the hard truth of what Jesus had just revealed to him. How many of us have had a hard time accepting something God has revealed because it would mean a trial or a hardship for us? 

Many of the Pharisees of Jesus’s day were under the influence of the wrong spirit. They seemed to think that they were the guardians of ultimate truth. They had the scriptures and the only correct interpretation of those scriptures, or so they believed. And yet this is what Jesus said to them:

“And the Father who sent Me, He has borne witness about Me. You have neither heard His voice at any time nor seen His form.  And you do not have His word abiding in you, for you do not believe Him whom He sent. You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; it is these that bear witness about Me; and you are unwilling to come to Me so that you may have life. I do not receive glory from men; but I know you, that you do not have the love of God in yourselves. I have come in My Father’s name, and you do not receive Me; if another comes in his own name, you will receive him. How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another and you do not seek the glory that is from the only God? Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father; the one who accuses you is Moses, in whom you have set your hope. For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me, for he wrote about Me. But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe My words?”

The Pharisees loved the accolades of their peers more than they loved God and his truth. They refused to acknowledge the authority of Jesus, claiming that they knew better because they were educated and had the scriptures as their authority. 

What can we learn from this? 

The only way to arrive at the truth and avoid deception is through radical submission to God. True, deep submission to God can only come through true love of God. Jesus is “the way, the truth, and the life…” If we love truth, we will love Jesus. And our love will bring us to submit to him, to take up our cross and follow him, and to put his will ahead of our own every time. In turn, God will lead us in the way of truth.

Let us pray as did David:

“Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me and know my anxious thoughts; And see if there be any hurtful way in me and lead me in the everlasting way.” – Psalm 139:23-24

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How to Talk About the Bible with Jehovah’s Witnesses

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I’m going to tell you a little story from my past, but before I do that, I want to explain to you why this subject means so much to me. I want Christians to learn how to effectively evangelize JWs because I was a JW and because some of my most beloved family members still are. They have completely cut me off. I cannot speak to them. But you can. They come to your doors all the time, seeking to talk about the Bible with you. Please don’t ignore them or shut them down. They need what you have, and some of them have family members like me who are waiting for you to show them the truth.

Okay, on to my story:

When I was a JW, I delighted in engaging in online debates. I belonged to a discussion forum that was mostly about pop psychology, but which had a section just for discussing religion. A JW friend and I decided to create a discussion thread titled, “Ask me anything about Jehovah’s Witnesses.” We got a LOT of questions. Most of them were pretty predictable: “Why don’t JWs celebrate Christmas, Birthdays, Easter? etc. Why won’t JWs stop knocking at my door? Do JWs think that they’re the only ones who will be saved? Those all were very easy questions to answer. But a few brave Christians decided to challenge us on the deity of Christ. I was prepared with an arsenal of JW literature on how to prove that Jesus is not God. I’m afraid the Christians did not fare well. And there were even a few who said they were attracted to our way of worship. I felt very proud of myself, until….the apostates started coming. At that point, I jumped ship. Most Christians, unfortunately, are easy targets for JWs. Ex JW Christians, however, are a whole other beast.

Christians, you need to learn to reason like a seasoned Christian ex JW if you want to talk scripture with Jehovah’s Witnesses. JWs don’t think like you, and, generally, they are more prepared than you. I realize there are some Christians who have gone to seminary or studied a lot on their own. But for the rest of you, you probably have some learning to do before you will be effective in a Bible discussion with JWs. 

The most important thing to get clear in your mind is this: What is your goal? Why do you want to talk about the Bible with a JW? Is it because you want to prove that you’re right and they’re wrong? Or is it because you care about their spiritual welfare? Is it out of pride or out of love? Unless your motivation is pure love, the endeavor will be pointless from God’s standpoint. The apostle Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 13: “If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.”

In my last post, I wrote about why JWs are so resistant to change. JWs are taught to completely shun former members. So, they know very well that if they discover that JWs do not have the truth and feel the need to leave the organization, they will probably lose every person they know who is a JW, very often all of their family. They have everything to lose and only one thing to gain: Christ. Christ is more than worth “the loss of all things.” But most JWs think they already have Christ. So they are unlikely to feel motivated to question the doctrines of the organization that is likely holding their family and friends hostage. Just remember that if they do begin to question, it will cause painful cognitive dissonance, something most people try to avoid. If they are able to make it past that hurdle, then they will be faced with the biggest dilemma of their life: Do I pretend to believe something I know is not true? Or do I jump ship and risk the loss of everything and everyone I’ve ever known or loved?

If out of sincere Christian love you have taken some time to learn about JWs, you now understand more about how they think and what they have to lose, and you also feel secure in your ability to skillfully defend your faith, you are ready to learn how to talk to a JW about the Bible. And remember that if you are successful, you will need to disciple and support that JW through a very difficult transition.

How to begin? 

JWs are taught to view non-JWs as potential students. They want to teach you what they know. They do not want to be taught by you. So act like a student. Ask sincere questions, the kinds of questions that will be difficult for them to answer. 

At the beginning, it’s important to avoid the subject of the Trinity or the deity of Christ. Nothing turns a JW off faster than the subject of the Trinity. It has been drilled into them over and over that the Trinity is a wicked, pagan teaching that dishonors their God, Jehovah. You can return to this subject once you have made some progress in other areas. 

Start with low lying fruit. JWs are taught that Jesus’ second coming occurred invisibly in the year 1914. This is the easiest doctrine to get them to question because most of them don’t understand it to begin with and it’s ridiculously easy to prove that it is incorrect. If you can get them to see the error of this one doctrine, everything else comes tumbling down. It’s like pulling that one Jenga block that’s holding it all up.

Charles T. Russel, the founder of the Watchtower organization, set many dates related to the end times and second coming, all of which turned out to be wrong. But the one date the organization never let go of was 1914. In the beginning, it was thought that Jesus would come, rapture all the faithful Saints, and set up his Kingdom on earth in that year. When that did not happen, instead of admitting that he had been wrong, it was taught that Jesus actually HAD come in 1914, only it had been invisible. It was taught that Jesus came to “inspect his temple”, or the worldwide body of Christ. Once that inspection was complete, apparently sometime in the year 1919, Jesus is said to have determined that the International Bible Students Association (which eventually became Jehovah’s Witnesses) was the one and only organization that was found to be adequately doing the will of God. For that reason, it was determined to be the “faithful slave” of Matthew 24 and Luke 12, the one and only “channel of communication” of Jesus Christ to mankind.

Russell based his calculations for the date of 1914 on the prophecy in Daniel about the “7 Gentile times.” The explanation for this teaching is extremely complicated and convoluted. But what you need to know is that Russel believed that Christ would come at the end of the “Gentile times,” which, according to the book of Daniel, would last 2, 520 years and would begin at the destruction of Jerusalem. Their critical mistake, other than the obvious one of date setting, was that they used 607 BCE, the assumed year of the destruction of Jerusalem by Babylon, as their start date for the 2,520 years. But that date is supported by almost no one other than JWs. Most Bible scholars set the date for the fall of Jerusalem at 586/587 BCE. 

But more important than the fact that the date was wrong was the fact that Russel was trying to set a date for something that Jesus clearly stated no one would know, not even He Himself:

“But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone.” – Matt. 24:36

Further, Jesus warned about those who would try to deceive by claiming that He had come invisibly: 

“Therefore, if they say to you, ‘Behold, He is in the wilderness,’ do not go out, or, ‘Behold, He is in the inner rooms,’ do not believe them. For just as the lightning comes from the east and appears even to the west, so will the coming of the Son of Man be.” – Matthew 24:26-27

Jesus’s second coming will not be hidden. It will be obvious to all, just like a bolt of lightning.

JWs also teach that only 144,000 anointed Christians (all JW of course) will go to heaven. The rest of mankind, the so-called “great crowd of other sheep”, has the hope of living forever on earth, as long as they become baptized Witnesses and carefully listen to and obey the Governing Body of Jehovah’s Witnesses. I find that many JWs feel uneasy about this doctrine, and it is very easy to disprove. 

There are just two main passages of scripture that are used to teach this doctrine. The first is found in John 10:16 where it says, “And I have other sheep, which are not from this fold; I must bring them also, and they will hear My voice; and they will become one flock with one shepherd.” It is claimed by JWs that these “other sheep” are the same group that is spoken of in Revelation 7:9-17 called the “great crowd” or “great multitude”. It is taught that this “great crowd of other sheep” is not part of the new covenant with Christ (Luke 22:20), which means that they do not have Jesus Christ as their mediator. It also means that they are not permitted to partake of the communion bread and wine during the annual memorial of Christ’s death celebrated by JWs around the time of the Jewish passover. The only hope for this group lies in their willingness to attach themselves to the “anointed class” of JWs and follow their lead. The governing body of JWs, of course, are all of the anointed class.

This is all utter nonsense, of course. 

The two groups spoken of in John 10:16 are Jewish and Gentile followers of Jesus Christ. He was announcing his intention to bring the Gentiles into his sheepfold, which is exactly what happened after his death and resurrection. (Acts 10) The passage has absolutely nothing to do with two classes of Christians, one going to heaven and one not, within the organization of Jehovah’s Witnesses. 

The interpretation of Revelation 7 is easy enough if you simply look at the entire context of the verses. The 144,000 are obviously a group of Jewish followers of Christ, if you want to take the passage literally. And the great crowd spoken of starting in verse 9 of chapter 7 is a group of Christians who have been martyred during the “great tribulation” and are standing before the throne of God in heaven. 

What I find funny is that JWs seem to get the interpretation of this chapter of Revelation exactly backwards. They say that the 144,000 is a heavenly class and that the great crowd is an earthly class when, in fact, the text makes it clear that the 144,000 are on earth and the great crowd is in heaven.

This is an incredibly destructive doctrine for several reasons. The first is that it creates a two tier system of salvation that is completely unscriptural and sets the stage for the kind of totalitarian governance that we see within the Watchtower organization. It is an oppressive doctrine. And most importantly, it forces JWs to disobey a direct command of Jesus Christ regarding communion, “do this in remembrance of me.” – Luke 22:19. So serious is this command that Jesus said “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in yourselves.” – John 6:53 

The governing body of Jehovah’s Witnesses bars the vast majority of JWs from the table of the Lord. They are like the scribes and Pharisees of Jesus’s day, of whom He said: “But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you shut off the kingdom of heaven from people; for you do not enter in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in.” – Matthew 23:13

JWs teach many false doctrines besides the two that I just covered. But if you can get them to acknowledge the falsehood of just those two, they are well on their way out of the organization. 

But keep in mind this one thing: if you can argue a JW into the kingdom, then they can most likely be argued out of it. They need something more than intellectual assent to the true gospel. Paul wrote in Romans 10 that “if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, leading to righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, leading to salvation.” 

That kind of belief does not come from the intellect. It develops when the Spirit of God speaks to the spirit of man, as Paul stated in Romans 8: “The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God,” This happens when we have a genuine encounter with the Holy Spirit. 

How can we help JWs to have that type of encounter? Pray for them. Let the light of God shine through your speech and actions. Pray with them if they will let you. Be patient and never forget that this could mean their life.