Pioneers with purses and Using Only Parts of Verses

 

For many years, the Watchtower Society has referred to Jesus’ sending out of the seventy disciples in Luke chapter 10 as a basis for their door-to-door work. Even a cursory search through the WT Library for Luke 10 will reveal their tactic of conflating the work of the Society with the work of these 70! They repeatedly juxtapose some of the verses with their special lingo, such as “pioneering”, “preaching work”, “door to door work”, etc.  The Society picks and chooses only the parts of Jesus’ instructions that suit them. For example – being sent out in pairs, viewing themselves as sheep in the midst of wolves, the woes upon those who don’t receive the message, even shaking the dust off your feet! (I have personally been the recipient of some angry dust-shaking as disgruntled JWs left my door!)

 It is very interesting, though, to examine Luke 10 in greater detail, and observe the verses that the WTBTS apparently disregards in regard to this topic. As per their usual modus operandii, they pluck from passages of Scripture only the verses of their choosing, and ignore the ones that don’t fit their novel doctrines and interpretations!

Verse 4 clearly states: “Carry no moneybag or knapsack.” I pointed out to one Witness her purse, and inquired why she was carrying it, and ignoring the instructions of Jesus, while at the same time claiming to be a “footstep follower of Jesus” just as the seventy and others that followed Him while on earth. After a minute, she responded with, “We don’t do that any more.”  Well….Ok then!   😉

In light of the WT application of this particular passage, verse 7 is most curious of all!  And remain in the same house, eating and drinking what they provide, for the laborer deserves his wages. Do not go from house to house. Apparently, the disciples were to find a household that would put them up – as in allow them for stay for days at a time, providing lodging and meals!  This home would then become their “outpost”, as it were, in that particular community.  Deliciously ironic is the last sentence in verse 7, “Do not go from house to house!” 

Another neglected verse is verse 9:  Heal the sick in it and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’ This verse is referenced 102 times in the WT magazine, since the year 1950. Only 8 of those times is it used in its entirety, including the phrase” heal the sick.” Only one of those references  attempts  to address the question this naturally brings to mind.  The Society’s preferred part of the verse is the second part, “The kingdom of God has come near to you,” and this is the phrase, the PART of a verse, that is referred to over and over again.  (The point is often made that so much of what the WT teaches uses verses taken out of context from the passage at hand. That’s not the half of it, as they often use Scripture that’s not even in the context of the VERSE it’s taken from!)

Lastly, in verse 17, the seventy have realized the incredible power of the name of Jesus over evil spirits.  They returned with joy, saying, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name!”  This obviously refers to supernatural experiences the seventy had with evil spirits – events that were miraculous and clearly observable. Do JWs have these experiences as well? Perhaps this also falls under the category of “we don’t do that any more.”