Article Imprisioned Ideas

Lori Jane

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Imprisoned Ideas - Foundation for Economic Education (fee.org)

Great article shared by a fellow exJW on a whatsapp group.

But, as I think, the only categorization which really matters is that which divides men as between the Servants of the Spirit and the Prisoners of the Organization. That classification, which cuts right across all the other classifications, is indeed the fundamental one. The idea, the inspiration, originates in the internal world, the world of the spirit. But, just as the human spirit must incarnate in a body, so must the idea incarnate in an organization. Whether the organization be political, religious, or social is immaterial to my present argument. The point is that, the idea having embodied itself in organization, the organization then proceeds gradually to slay the idea which gave it birth.

Before long the principal concern of the church will be to sustain itself as an organization. To this end any departure from the creed must be controverted and if necessary suppressed as heresy. In a few score or few hundred years what was conceived as a vehicle of a new and higher truth has become a prison for the souls of men. And men are murdering each other for the love of God. The thing has become its opposite.

Among the rank and file many things combine to keep them in the organization, even when they become uneasily conscious that there is a dawning, and even a yawning, gap between organization and idea. First there is the force of inertia. It is easier not to resign than to resign. Drift is easier than decision. Next there is the factor of personal humility, the tendency to assume that, difficult as the thing seems, the leaders, after all, probably know best. Next there is the factor of sentiment. All of us tend to project onto the organization of which we are members the virtues we would like it to have, and to be blind to its defects. And, finally, men are gregarious creatures and dislike falling out of the ranks away from the comrades of years.
 
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DJ-Hopskipper

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I agree Lori, and very insightful as to the nature of human groups. We all tend to want to be in a group. This is our nature. Whether it be for social, business, political, religious or even tribal purposes, it is the need of men (mankind) to band together for mutual interest, support, and survival. But as you well pointed out, there is a danger when the group establishes rules and expectations that become the main focus and lose sight of why the group was started in the first place.

Only wise and insightful leaders will be open to adjust and reform the group if it has become skewed to its stated purpose. If the organization is based on love, then it should be able to administer with wisdom and promote love over legalisms that the group eventually may have developed. For when men, in shepherding roles, become "obedient" to the organization leaders, this can easily lead them astray and away from living in Christ's love. While they say with their lips they love, they pay more attention to following the rules with the consequence that love suffers, and bondage ensues.

Jesus came to teach us to Love and free us from bondage. It really is about the heart condition and developing love. If we live in love, then no rules are necessary. While an organization must have some guidelines to avoid chaos, these should be based on love (no shunning allowed) and not develop rules that evolve into self-worship itself. When members are obedient to an organization to such a strict degree, the collective culture of "performance" weighs them down. Then worship of the organization becomes a substitution for the worship of God. It is subtle, it is deceptive, and it is idolatry.

The members don't even realize their good intentions become hijacked by man's corrupted expressions of love (and sometimes even the leaders' own self-delusions.) One day, when the Holy Spirit nudges the innocent, they begin to see that love HAS been corrupted by the organization's burdensome demands. Is the gardener cultivating love or has he suffocated love with rules, rigid structure, and performance measurements so now is promulgating merely “a culture based on pretense of love?" Have the leaders become authoritarian and led the members away from Christ's love substituting worship for the organization instead? Would Christ do that? No! Is something more sinister in play? Is it not a masterful deception for teachings to be close to truth and yet miss the mark by purposefully interweaving falsehoods? Who would do that? God’s enemy of course (and your enemy who wishes to deprive you of Christ’s Love!)

Imperfect men will stumble and fail, but Jesus forgives. We've heard the saying, "If you fall down, get back up and carry on." This is our challenge. To not focus on what hurt us and those that hurt us, but on what lies ahead when we reach the perfect love which we can only do if we let Jesus into our hearts and surrender ourselves to him. God is a Spirit so those worshiping him must do so in Spirit and Truth. This is about the heart, not the rules.

The law was first sent forth, but the Messiah fulfilled the law so that "all" men could come to know the Father and the one he sent forth, Jesus Christ. The Father changed the relationship between himself and mankind when he sent his son to die for our sins. We enter into a new relationship and call him Father just as our redeemer called him “Father.” We are to love one another and to love God. LOVE, LOVE, LOVE is the message Jesus broadcasted. If we love, we remain in him and he remains in us, and we have a friend in Jesus. So, when you wake up from the false prophet’s teachings, do not reject the Father and his Christ. Reject the organization doctrines which are not reflective of an accurate understanding of Holy Scripture.


Don’t reject Jesus. He is waiting for you to let him pick you up and carry you forward. He wants you to know his love and be free from the bondage of man’s corrupt religious teachings. Seek HIM. HE is knocking at your door; won’t you let him in to take care of you? You will find the true Jesus is not the one you were taught by the false prophet. Get to know him in the scriptures.

I fell in love with him 30 years ago after reading the Gospels for myself. I prayed for God to lead me to know Jesus better and to find his disciples. A magazine came to me, and I thought I was learning the truth. I don't regret my past journey because it has made me who I am today, stronger in faith and sharper to see the corruption of men and their organizational burdens. Love is not burdensome. The bruises and bashing (spiritually speaking) on me by the organization's misalignment with truth, have finally healed. It took some time. But I am alive today and can profess that Jesus IS my Lord and Savior, to the glory of God the Father. Praise Jah!

I no longer look to an organization to find or qualify my relationship with God. I partake of the bread and wine representing his body and blood to show my acceptance of Christ's sacrifice for my sins and to be obedient to his command to commemorate his gift of salvation.

Mt 26:26-28, "26 As they were eating, Jesus took some bread and blessed it. Then he broke it in pieces and gave it to the disciples, saying, “Take this and eat it, for this is my body.” 27 And he took a cup of wine and gave thanks to God for it. He gave it to them and said, “Each of you drink from it, 28 for this is my blood, which confirms the covenant* between God and his people. It is poured out as a sacrifice to forgive the sins of many." Notice the words "EACH of YOU!"

John 6:53-54 says, "Then Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you. 54 Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day" Notice the word "UNLESS!" ALL MUST PARTAKE in order to have eternal life. We are all children of God.

The Truth in the scriptures will set us free from false teachers that have created a doctrine which adds separation between you and Christ. Organizational corruption seeks to block you from partaking in communion which all Christians must do. His covenant is not reserved only for a few but is for ALL men and women that become believers. Your salvation cannot be through a man-made organization, but is only by means of the saving grace of Jesus' body and blood sacrifice. Therefore, honor the son by following his commandment to partake. In doing so, you honor the Heavenly Father that sent him.

The Heavenly Father bought you from death, paid dearly with his Son's shed blood, and now you belong to THEM. YOU belong to JESUS! He loves you more than you can even understand. He wants you to be free in his love, and to love one another. His power will help you break from the bondage to men that deceived you with a trap. Pray to The Father in the name of the Son, live a modest prayerful life asking for his Holy Spirit and read scripture, not WT.
 
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Diana S

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Imprisoned Ideas - Foundation for Economic Education (fee.org)

Great article shared by a fellow exJW on a whatsapp group.

I recognize Watchtower in this, that they deliberately deceive a large group of people with distorted ideas from the original Biblical truth(s) and do anything to protect the cult system that has started to exist. And they ostracize and disfellowship people who think and out themselves against it, even though they speak truth. Biblical and moral truth.
Thanks Lori for posting (and thanks to the Whatsapp group member)
 
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Diana S

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Staff member
Buddy
Bible Challenge
Oct 15, 2021
297
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The Netherlands
I agree Lori, and very insightful as to the nature of human groups. We all tend to want to be in a group. This is our nature. Whether it be for social, business, political, religious or even tribal purposes, it is the need of men (mankind) to band together for mutual interest, support, and survival. But as you well pointed out, there is a danger when the group establishes rules and expectations that become the main focus and lose sight of why the group was started in the first place.

Only wise and insightful leaders will be open to adjust and reform the group if it has become skewed to its stated purpose. If the organization is based on love, then it should be able to administer with wisdom and promote love over legalisms that the group eventually may have developed. For when men, in shepherding roles, become "obedient" to the organization leaders, this can easily lead them astray and away from living in Christ's love. While they say with their lips they love, they pay more attention to following the rules with the consequence that love suffers, and bondage ensues.

Jesus came to teach us to Love and free us from bondage. It really is about the heart condition and developing love. If we live in love, then no rules are necessary. While an organization must have some guidelines to avoid chaos, these should be based on love (no shunning allowed) and not develop rules that evolve into self-worship itself. When members are obedient to an organization to such a strict degree, the collective culture of "performance" weighs them down. Then worship of the organization becomes a substitution for the worship of God. It is subtle, it is deceptive, and it is idolatry.

The members don't even realize their good intentions become hijacked by man's corrupted expressions of love (and sometimes even the leaders' own self-delusions.) One day, when the Holy Spirit nudges the innocent, they begin to see that love HAS been corrupted by the organization's burdensome demands. Is the gardener cultivating love or has he suffocated love with rules, rigid structure, and performance measurements so now is promulgating merely “a culture based on pretense of love?" Have the leaders become authoritarian and led the members away from Christ's love substituting worship for the organization instead? Would Christ do that? No! Is something more sinister in play? Is it not a masterful deception for teachings to be close to truth and yet miss the mark by purposefully interweaving falsehoods? Who would do that? God’s enemy of course (and your enemy who wishes to deprive you of Christ’s Love!)

Imperfect men will stumble and fail, but Jesus forgives. We've heard the saying, "If you fall down, get back up and carry on." This is our challenge. To not focus on what hurt us and those that hurt us, but on what lies ahead when we reach the perfect love which we can only do if we let Jesus into our hearts and surrender ourselves to him. God is a Spirit so those worshiping him must do so in Spirit and Truth. This is about the heart, not the rules.

The law was first sent forth, but the Messiah fulfilled the law so that "all" men could come to know the Father and the one he sent forth, Jesus Christ. The Father changed the relationship between himself and mankind when he sent his son to die for our sins. We enter into a new relationship and call him Father just as our redeemer called him “Father.” We are to love one another and to love God. LOVE, LOVE, LOVE is the message Jesus broadcasted. If we love, we remain in him and he remains in us, and we have a friend in Jesus. So, when you wake up from the false prophet’s teachings, do not reject the Father and his Christ. Reject the organization doctrines which are not reflective of an accurate understanding of Holy Scripture.


Don’t reject Jesus. He is waiting for you to let him pick you up and carry you forward. He wants you to know his love and be free from the bondage of man’s corrupt religious teachings. Seek HIM. HE is knocking at your door; won’t you let him in to take care of you? You will find the true Jesus is not the one you were taught by the false prophet. Get to know him in the scriptures.

I fell in love with him 30 years ago after reading the Gospels for myself. I prayed for God to lead me to know Jesus better and to find his disciples. A magazine came to me, and I thought I was learning the truth. I don't regret my past journey because it has made me who I am today, stronger in faith and sharper to see the corruption of men and their organizational burdens. Love is not burdensome. The bruises and bashing (spiritually speaking) on me by the organization's misalignment with truth, have finally healed. It took some time. But I am alive today and can profess that Jesus IS my Lord and Savior, to the glory of God the Father. Praise Jah!

I no longer look to an organization to find or qualify my relationship with God. I partake of the bread and wine representing his body and blood to show my acceptance of Christ's sacrifice for my sins and to be obedient to his command to commemorate his gift of salvation.

Mt 26:26-28, "26 As they were eating, Jesus took some bread and blessed it. Then he broke it in pieces and gave it to the disciples, saying, “Take this and eat it, for this is my body.” 27 And he took a cup of wine and gave thanks to God for it. He gave it to them and said, “Each of you drink from it, 28 for this is my blood, which confirms the covenant* between God and his people. It is poured out as a sacrifice to forgive the sins of many." Notice the words "EACH of YOU!"

John 6:53-54 says, "Then Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you. 54 Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day" Notice the word "UNLESS!" ALL MUST PARTAKE in order to have eternal life. We are all children of God.

The Truth in the scriptures will set us free from false teachers that have created a doctrine which adds separation between you and Christ. Organizational corruption seeks to block you from partaking in communion which all Christians must do. His covenant is not reserved only for a few but is for ALL men and women that become believers. Your salvation cannot be through a man-made organization, but is only by means of the saving grace of Jesus' body and blood sacrifice. Therefore, honor the son by following his commandment to partake. In doing so, you honor the Heavenly Father that sent him.

The Heavenly Father bought you from death, paid dearly with his Son's shed blood, and now you belong to THEM. YOU belong to JESUS! He loves you more than you can even understand. He wants you to be free in his love, and to love one another. His power will help you break from the bondage to men that deceived you with a trap. Pray to The Father in the name of the Son, live a modest prayerful life asking for his Holy Spirit and read scripture, not WT.
Hello DJ-Hopskipper. to add to yes Jesus came to teach us love and free us from bondage and I think we need to become like Him. With this I think that also means to eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, so we can live as the body of Christ and in the body of Christ, part of it. Live it. Be a christian.
And being a christian does not necessarily mean to me that one believes in God or in his Son or in the Bible.
Just adding some of my thoughts.
 

LeeB

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Dec 3, 2022
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This is not just true of the JW’s but all of organized religion. The first church , the Ephesus church in Revelation 2:4 lost their first love and as Paul correctly says, 1 Corinthians 13:1-13 , love is the greatest of all because as John said , 1 John 3:8 . God is love. Love of an organization is not the love of God. The organized churches are of this world and the ministry of them are as well and this is why when men are in charge error will follow. I have seen this in every church that I have investigated in the last 30 years and that is a large number. According to Pew Research Center there are 2.18 billion people in the world claiming to be Christians in separate 55,000 different sects. I always believed there was only one as Ephesians 4:3–6 says. It should be obvious that unity fell apart and the love of many has waxed cold. This is why long ago God inspired Ezekiel to write chapter 34. I believe that only God and Christ have complete control of that one church and have removed men totally. This is the era of the Philadelphia church Revelation 3:7-13 . This church has been given an open door, THAT NO MAN CAN SHUT, because no man opened it. This church is directly taught and totally controlled by God Almighty through Jesus Christ by the omnipotent power of Gods Holy Spirit. Everyone in this church is a prophet or prophetess receiving teaching by that Spirit. This is how God removed the problem of false shepherds who mistreated the sheep and did not feed them.
 
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LeeB

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This is exactly what Satan has done since Pentecost but I do not think that very many understand the magnitude of this deception. Far to many yet look to some organization or to some person, man or woman, as being a teacher or leader. I will say this again, the only teacher is the Holy Spirt and the only leader is Jesus. Even if you learn a spiritual truth from hearing another speak it is both the speaker and the hearer that learned that truth from the same Spirit of God. Without the Spirit neither speaker or hearer would know anything. Give the glory to God and no one else. You speak of imprisoned ideas, this is Satan blinding the eyes to see the truth and the organizations of the world deceived by those evil spirits that dress up like sheep or as an angel of light. The magnitude of the deception that now exists in the world is all inclusive excepting the remnant of saints who will be alive and remaining at the return of Christ. This number is extremely small.