Not in my Congregation! - We are not called Pastors anyhow! - Be on the Watch! ~?? ?

[Bible Speaks]

Not in my Congregation! - We are not called Pastors anyhow! - Be on the Watch! -

?? ?

[Ann O'Maly]

[Bible Speaks]

36 minutes ago, Ann O'Maly said:

@Ann O'Maly

He deserved every bit of it! ?????

[JW Insider]

1 hour ago, Bible Speaks said:

We are not called Pastors anyhow

True. The last person at the Watch Tower Headquarters who was called Pastor, evidently never owned a car. The newspaper article starts out: Pastor Russell of the Peoples Pulpit Association today declared that he would use the yacht, Angel, presented to him by his association . . .

[TrueTomHarley]

TrueTom on his way to fleece the sheep.

[Queen Esther]

WOW....  nice  big  'Ami - Cars' !!   Btw. -  some  of  our  Brothers  and  Sisters  also  driving  big  cars  and  their  bigger  kids  driving  their  own  cars !  Thats  so  in  many  congregations  here...   Only  in  poor  countries its  different.   But  also  in  Africa,  many  Brothers  driving  big  cars  I  saw.  So  I  not  really  understand  this  post !    Our  Pastors  driving  smaller  cars,  bec. not  earning  so  much  money,  thats  it   haha....

A  nice  car  TOM,    WOW...   I  like  it !   Bigger  cars  very  cosy !

[TrueTomHarley]

18 minutes ago, Queen Esther said:

So  I  not  really  understand  this  post !    Our  Pastors  driving  smaller  cars,  bec. not  earning  so  much  money,  thats  it   haha..

The first photo is of a prosperity gospel church - there are many of them here - whereby the preacher and his family always make out financially very well indeed, thank you, though the flock is typically quite modest, or even poor. BibleSpeaks may have a specific church in mind, but I do not know that.

The next photo is from Ann being a smart-aleck. Judge Rutherford drove a nice car, too, she points out.

The next post is from BibleSpeaks, essentially saying: "OH YEAH?! Well, our guy deserved it because he was our guy!"

Then JWI adds some explanatory details and it is a wonder he does not go on for pages. 

Then follows a photo of me in a 56 Cadillac that is not mine. It belongs to a local businessman. He saw me looking it over. We got to chatting and he offered to take a picture of me in it. He bought the Cadillac from some mogul in Hollywood. It has apparently been in some movies but, for some reason, everyone is tight lipped about just which ones. 

 

[Queen Esther]

All  okay,  yes !   I  understand.....    Its  around  all  countries  little  different,  seems so.  Big  cars,  houses  etc.  is  not  all  -  in  poorer  countries  the  people  often  more  happy,  also  JW !   Importend  are other  things...  LOVE,  PEACE  a  bed,  clothes,  bread  and  water   All  others  is  little  LUXURY,  but  nice

[TrueTomHarley]

16 minutes ago, Queen Esther said:

in  poorer  countries  the  people  often  more  happy,  also  JW !   Importend  are other  things...  LOVE,  PEACE  a  bed,  clothes,  bread  and  water   All  others  is  little  LUXURY,  but  nice

Many years ago a brother from an African branch spoke here. He was amazed at the material wealth. He went on and on about how brothers here even have "washing-up machines." And: "Not only do you have cars here but you have garages in which to put the cars. In Africa, four families would live in that garage!"

[JW Insider]

40 minutes ago, TrueTomHarley said:

Then JWI adds some explanatory details and it is a wonder he does not go on for pages. 

There is still time!

I thought of the prosperity gospel churches too, and large "personality" mega-churches that highlight their evangelists and "faith healers" on television along with the audiences. However, I suspect that the person who made the original meme was aiming more at the hypocrisy inherent even in more typical church situations where the pastor is a couple of tax brackets higher than the congregation. Another form of clergy/laity distinction. It must seem exacerbated in those poorer neighborhoods with a church, two pawn shops and two liquor stores on every block. The churches in such neighborhoods often grow even with all the block-by-block competition, and the pastors therefore do well.

But I also noticed that Bible Speaks wanted to make it clear that this kind of thing does not happen in her congregation. But can it? She adds "Be on the watch" as if there might be some danger even among our own. But she also added "We are not called Pastors anyhow." This means, evidently, that the idea doesn't apply to us after all.

I take it for granted that most people here know that this is not really a problem among JWs. So is it something to watch out for? Ann shows that it has happened before. Rutherford kept a few houses for his personal use in several places around the world. He had more than one of these expensive cars, simultaneously during the great depression. His own "prosperity" gospel took advantage of the economic desires of his audience, but correctly turned them toward a more spiritual perspective. He had books and booklets and talks called Riches, Prosperity, and Prohibition is from the Devil? Oh wait, that last one didn't turn toward spirituality in the same was as the others, it just went ahead and "proved" that prohibition really was from the Devil. But money was clearly not the primary thing for either Russell or Rutherford. Both of them believed for much of their lives that the end was coming in a matter of years or often, even just a few months. Russell spent the Society's funds like crazy right up until October 1914. No reason to have anything left over. Rutherford didn't turn down the amenities, but he was clearly not driven by money, either.

It's always good to look at the possibilities even if we are really nothing like most of these churches that rake in millions for a feel-good and/or prosperity message that never seems to pan out for the average member. I mentioned the 125-foot yacht for the same reason that Ann mentioned the car. It's a bit thought-provoking about how easy it is to attach ourselves to material things without noticing the effect on onlookers. Watches, jewelry, vacations, chandeliers, cruises, yachts, and such can look like a showy display of one's means, even if that's not what one means.

[TrueTomHarley]

One of our elders bought a new Toyota SUV and it has all the doo-dads. Certain brothers are going gaga over it and all the things it can do.  Now - this is not me. I say: "look for a steering wheel and brakes. Whatever else it does nor does not have: get used to it."

So the brothers are slobbering over Frank's SUV and I climb aboard one Saturday morning and pretend to be one of them. "Frankie, does this car have a RADIO?" I ask, as though awestruck. 

But Frankie is cool and he plays along: "Naw, it doesn't have one of those."

[James Thomas Rook Jr.]

...but does your car have lifting hooks on the roof so when you stop for a break at McDonald's for a hamburger, you can have a helicopter take you back to the Territory?