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Humility, a real challenge?
Watchtower November 2007

The headline is emblazoned on the Watchtower of 1 November 2007:

Humility – a real challenge

Only from these few words the lying nature of the "faithful and understanding slave" becomes apparent. Because humility can never be a challenge, because one thing that comes as a challenge to a person is always connected with performance. And performance and the effort associated with it always has self-satisfaction as its success. But humility is exactly the opposite of complacency.

Jehovah's Witnesses are not humble either, for they must always be successful in their performance in order to get along with themselves to some extent. They are not in a position to throw their lives at Jesus and to trust that He is doing powerful works in them, of which they cannot and must not be proud. Jehovah's Witnesses depend on mobilizing their own strength. Now they also try this in humility.

The Watchtower of 1 November 2007 presents Jehovah's Witnesses with the thesis: Humility – a real challenge. The "faithful and understanding slave" has the forehead to present this attitude of the heart, which can only grow from the knowledge of one's own failure before God, as a self-producible quality of man. The slave thus makes of it another achievement which the Jehovah's Witnesses have to fulfil. Thus he achieves the exact opposite in the hearts of Jehovah's Witnesses.

If we observe Jehovah's Witnesses on the street at sermon service or in their meetings, we see arrogance in them that does not disappear even when they bend friendly toward us, to initiate by handshake the connection that entails another achievement of Jehovah's Witnesses, namely discipleship according to the Watchtower concept.

Jehovah's Witnesses – the high flyers

Jehovah's Witnesses – the high flyers

They are by their "knowledge" in their eyes the true worshippers and by their service in the preaching ministry they will come to the Kingdom of Jehovah one day. They study several times a day the writings of the "Faithful and Fair Slave," who bestows upon them the "Truth," that humility can be learned.

The Bible gives us every reason to value humility highly and to strive for it.

The slave has realized that humility is a good thing. He has seen: The Bible gives us every reason to value humility highly! What a knowledge! While every child knows the virtue of humility and Christians as saved sinners are humble of heart because they are enabled to humility by the grace of Jesus, the slave from Pennsylvania recognizes knife sheep: The Bible gives us all reason to value humility highly.

That's a reason to cheer, though. Again the slave has opened his eyes. And with his sharp eye he has also recognized that one must strive for humility.

Don't go so crooked, pull yourself together, control yourself, don't pick your nose, don't take your feet off the table, you don't talk when you're eating, don't smack around, don't bring down the garbage, don't slam the doors like that, don't leave your stuff everywhere, always go to meetings, increase your hours in sermon service, be nice to outsiders, follow the slave's instructions – and now also: Try to be humble.

But only someone who has fully understood his own weaknesses can be humble. Our Lord Jesus Christ is the only one who is humble of heart without the touch of a weakness that could have forced him to humility. All other beings under the sun must realize in their life experience that they must fail before themselves, before men and before God, before humility can enter their hearts.

The Watchtower teaches: "Anyone who strives for true humility and wants to be guided by it in life will find that this is anything but easy."

Humility as an attitude or artificial, played mindset is not true humility. Genuine humility can only arise in the connection of the heart with Jesus, but not through effort. Just as the Watchtower gives the impression here that humility can be appropriated, accustomed, so it spreads the deadly message that the Kingdom of Jehovah can be worked for. But the fact that our salvation can only take place in the heartfelt connection with Jesus and only by His grace is to be underbuttered with it.

Consider the exact formulation of the above quoted sentence to discover its refinement!

Those who strive for true humility and let themselves be guided by it in their lives wish [you will never succeed] will find that this is anything but easy. [and so little easy that you will never make it] The Watchtower trickily disguises this hopelessness of Jehovah's Witnesses to ever come into contact with God by always only expressing 90% of the truth.

The text that follows this 90% truth speaks volumes about how little the "faithful and understanding slave" values a genuine relationship with Jesus Christ, who alone can give us humility. But Jesus is the only mediator between God and man, and neither the slave from America nor Jehovah will do this for him.

The dizzying, humiliating watchtower text:

"It means to submit oneself consistently to the will of God and not to follow the path of least resistance or carnal inclinations. Developing humility requires inner strength, because if you want to selflessly work for Jehovah and others, you must put personal interests first."

Who puts personal interests aside, performs renunciation. Renunciation makes satisfied and not humble. The so-called "humility" has many lying faces. Monasteries are full of humble, renouncing people who do not trust Jesus to save them by pure grace. Inner strength is a feature of people who do not need help. To have inner strength means to be able to proudly do without the help of Jesus. Adolf Hitler and his people also had inner strength.

A famous personality once said to Paul: My power is mighty in your weakness.

The Jehovah's Witnesses do not know this personality and make themselves inwardly steel and strong. They tense their mental muscles so as not to follow the path of least resistance. But they will never be able to give up their inner resistance to Jesus. For this the "faithful and sensible slave" takes care.

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