The apostle Paul wrote to his young understudy, Timothy, saying: "That statement is faithful. If any man is reaching out for an office of overseer, he is desirous of a fine work."

Jehovah's Witnesses agree that the Christian overseers in our midst are doing a fine work. Of the hundreds of thousands of brothers serving in various offices of oversight in the organization, most are fine upstanding men. But, being an elder and teacher carries with it a heavy responsibility towards God. Whereas, Paul commends those men who are "reaching out," James cautions such men, saying: "Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, knowing that we shall receive heavier judgment."

Please take note that the scripture does not say that elders might receive heavier judgment. It says "we shall receive heavier judgment." In what way shall elders receive a heavier judgment? Oddly, the Watchtower doesn't have much to say on that topic. Although every elder, circuit overseer, district overseer, and Governing Body member was appointed to their office through the organization, the Watchtower does not seem to impress upon such men that they are going to be held accountable before God Almighty. Despite the Bible's clearly stated warning; for the most part elders seem to be under the impression that they are only accountable to God indirectly through the Watchtower Society.

No doubt this vague sense of accountability is due in large measure to the fact that Jehovah's Witnesses have been seduced into believing that God's judgment upon the organization was carried out decades ago—this despite the fact that the entire 1919 adult generation has long since passed away.

But how reasonable is it that God would simply allow the meek to inherit the earth without first passing his judgment upon them? It is unthinkable. There is a day of reckoning for Jehovah's Witnesses; someone has to be held accountable. In accord with Jehovah's established judicial decisions, the most responsible brothers will bear the heaviest judgment—it is unavoidable! As Jesus himself indicated in connection with his faithful slave, "everyone to whom much was given, much will be demanded of him; and the one whom people put in charge of much, they will demand more than usual of him."

Whether overseers or otherwise, the question that each of us should frequently ask ourselves is this: How well do I know Jehovah? For example, if we know Jehovah and Jesus, we will value the things that they value—love the things that they love. Jesus said that he loves his sheep. He demonstrated his great love on virtually every occasion. When the Pharisees criticized Jesus for associating with people whom they considered to be the untouchable dregs of humanity, Jesus responded that the physician ministers to the ailing not the well.

Seeing that Christians are under obligation to follow the example of Christ, every Christian is obligated to look after the disadvantaged. In fact, the same Christian writer who assures us that teachers will receive heavier judgment reveals that looking after widows and orphans is the very essence of true worship. James 1:27 reads: "The form of worship that is clean and undefiled from the standpoint of our God and Father is this: to look after orphans and widows in their tribulation, and to keep oneself without spot from the world."

As the Lord of the congregation, Jesus specifically charged his apostles to look after and feed his little sheep in his absence. That responsibility rests with every appointed shepherd to this today and it is on that basis that elders will receive heavier judgment.

Paul advised the Corinthians to "keep testing" whether they were still in the faith. Based on the above criteria for true worship, it is questionable whether we as a people are still in the faith. That is because the organization is seriously deficient on both of these crucial aspects of true worship—looking after orphans and widows in their tribulation and in remaining spotless from the world.

No more needs to be said here regarding the Watchtower's long-running NGO relationship with the United Nations. Suffice it to say, simply, that it can hardly be claimed that the Watchtower is unspotted from worldly alliances.

Consider, though, the other vital aspect of the pure religion—"to look after orphans and widows in their tribulation."

We are reminded that Jesus had a special fondness for children. On one occasion when parents brought their little ones to Jesus to have him pray over them, the misguided apostles reprimanded the parents and tried to prevent their coming to Jesus. However, Jesus reproved the disciples and took the children to himself and pronounced a blessing upon each one. And what a blessing those children had being blessed by Jesus Christ personally!

Let's suppose that Jesus returned in human form today and were to visit one of our local kingdom halls. No doubt he would also display a special affinity for the children, the same as he did formerly. Let's suppose, though, that one of the young girls came up to Jesus and told him that a "brother" in the congregation had sexually abused her. What do you suppose Jesus would do?

Would the same Jesus we know ask her how many witnesses she had to back up her story of this alleged crime? Or perhaps we might imagine whether the same Jesus we know would sternly tell her to keep it quiet and not go "blabbing to the cops," so as "not to bring reproach on Jehovah?" Or we might try to picture the same Jesus telling her to simply "have more faith" and "wait on Jehovah." Or, can we even imagine Jesus telling her she would be disfellowshipped as a slanderer if she breathed a word of this to anybody in the congregation? Or that same Jesus privately reproving the offender but not warning the congregation that a sexual predator resides in their midst. Again, how well do we know Jesus?

From what we know about Jesus in the Bible, he would do none of the above.

Yet, how is it that the elders, under the direct supervision of the Watchtower Society, have done all of the above? Worst of all, our elders have even used Jesus' own counsel at Matthew 18:15-17 as a pretext for denying sexually abused children justice! That's where Jesus gave instructions for setting matters of dispute straight between individuals. As the second step in the judicial process Jesus instructed the offended party to "take along with you one or two more, in order that at the mouth of two or three witnesses every matter may be established."

Obviously, the one or two witnesses were not witnesses of the specific offense. They were to become witnesses of the fact that the offended brother took steps to set matters straight with the other person. Yet, the Watchtower insists that victims of abuse must produce witnesses to the specific crime because God's law demands it! What an outrageous perversion of Christ's instructions! In effect, the Watchtower takes the position that the elder's hands are tied because Jehovah's own law forbids our rendering justice to the children of such heinous crimes without numerous witnesses to collaborate the child's story!

In reality, though, it is the Watchtower that has tied the hands of the elders. Could anything be more wicked than using God's law against children that way?

If anyone thinks this is too harsh a criticism, consider the most recent legal maneuvering on the part of the Watchtower Society.

Law.com is a widely-read journal for lawyers, which features an article on the law practice of Kimberlee Norris. Her practice is now devoted exclusively to cases involving sexual abuse of minor Jehovah's Witnesses. There is a case now being argued in Texas involving a plaintiff named Amy. Apparently, Larry Kelly, an elder in the Dumas Texas congregation at the time, sexually abused some children. (He claims that they were not in the congregation but it is unclear whether the initial victims were children of Jehovah's Witnesses) He confessed and was supposedly "disciplined" by being removed as an elder. Some time later, Brother Kelly moved to another congregation in Amarillo, Texas. But the legal issue at stake is not that Larry Kelly molested another victim. The over-riding issue is that the friends in the Amarillo congregation were never notified by their elders that a known sexual predator had moved into their congregation from Dumas. Although Kelly did not serve as an elder in the Amarillo congregation, he evidently took the lead for field service. By doing so, he won the trust of the unsuspecting brothers and sisters—young 8-year old Amy being one of them.

The Society's hired lawyer speaks for Jehovah's Witnesses; claiming that the Watchtower's shepherds have no responsibility whatsoever to lookout for the welfare of our children. On the Law dot com website, we read:  "Collectively representing all the "Watchtower defendants," he wrote in a motion for summary judgment that his clients owed no duty to protect Amy B. from the crime of a congregant."

How similar to the calloused attitude of Cain, who claimed that he was not his brother's keeper. But, if the Watchtower and her elders are not duty-bound to at least try and protect Jehovah's little sheep from becoming prey, why do they insist on being called shepherds in the first place? What are shepherds supposed to do if not protect the sheep?

While the Watchtower's legal department hypocritically appeals to the Law of Moses in regards to the need for two witnesses in child abuse cases, which under different circumstances the Society alternately argues that the Law of Moses is not binding upon Christians, it is worth noting that the Watchtower's own policies also clearly violate key legal principles embodied in the Law.

For example, Exodus 21:28-29 states: "And in case a bull should gore a man or a woman and that one actually dies, the bull is to be stoned without fail, but its flesh is not to be eaten; and the owner of the bull is free from punishment.  But if a bull was formerly in the habit of goring and warning was served on its owner but he would not keep it under guard, and it did put a man or a woman to death, the bull is to be stoned and also its owner is to be put to death."

According to God's clearly-stated law, the owner of a bull who knew that the animal in his possession posed a danger to others but he did not take appropriate measures to protect the unwary from being gored; and someone ended up being gored to death by the bull, then the negligent owner was also to be put to death.

The principle certainly applies in cases where child predators are allowed to remain in congregations and the elders neglect to even warn others of the danger. In the case of Larry Kelly, he even confessed to the Dumas elders; so the "two witness" business is a moot point. Clearly, though, in accord with the principle of law regarding the negligent owner of a goring bull, the elders who knew of Kelly's perverse propensities were responsible to warn the brothers and sisters in their charge. The elders in his new hall were equally responsible to make sure that steps were taken to protect the children whom Jehovah had entrusted to their care.

While Watchtower lawyers may argue that they have no responsibility in such cases, we may be sure that elders shall receive heavier judgment before Heaven's court, come Judgment Day.

By taking the legal position that elders bear no responsibility for what happened to Amy, as well as thousands of other children like her, the Watchtower is repudiating true worship and denying Jehovah!

No wonder Jehovah's judgment at Isaiah 59:13-15 indicts his people with the following words: "There have been transgressing and a denying of Jehovah; and there was a moving back from our God, a speaking of oppression and revolt, a conceiving and a muttering of words of falsehood from the very heart. And justice was forced to move back, and righteousness itself kept standing simply far off. For truth has stumbled even in the public square, and what is straightforward is unable to enter. And the truth proves to be missing, and anyone turning away from badness is being despoiled. And Jehovah got to see, and it was bad in his eyes that there was no justice."

It is interesting that the Law of Moses did not contain any mention of child abuse. However, Jehovah specifically condemned the abhorrent practice of child sacrifice. The Watchtower has correspondingly condemned Christendom for practicing a modern form of child sacrifice by sending her young men off to war. But is that really an accurate comparison? After all, men who go to war are not defenseless children—as were the victims of ritual sacrifice. Many young men even eagerly volunteer to go fight for their country.

Since the demons are the ultimate sexual perverts—having once materialized as humans in order to seduce the beautiful women before the Flood—any sort of sexual perversion amounts to demon worship; since the practicers of such things are merely imitating the corrupt gods of this world. In fact, anyone who seeks to exploit someone weaker than themselves is imitating the demons. Child abuse is demonic.

More aptly, then, the disgusting practice of child sacrifice finds a parallel in the fact that adults, some even the very fathers of their victims, sexually violate children—offering up their innocence to the grotesque image of Molech, as it were. In view of the ruined lives, agonizing shame, sexual dysfunctions and suicidal tendencies of the survivors, the end result of sexual abuse is not that much different than had the victims actually been slaughtered upon an altar to the demon-gods Chemosh or Molech.

Isaiah 57:4-5 appropriately asks the question of God's people: "Are you not the children of transgression, the seed of falsehood, those who are working up passion among big trees, under every luxuriant tree, slaughtering the children in the torrent valleys under the clefts of the crags?"

The answer is yes.

The Watchtower may vigorously protest that there is no way that the above judgment applies to Jehovah's "clean people." However, the context of the 57th chapter of Isaiah indicates that it does apply. For example, a few verses down we read: "Whom did you become frightened at and begin to fear, so that you took up lying? But I was not the one that you remembered. You took nothing to your heart. Was I not keeping silent and hiding matters? So you were in no fear even of me. I myself shall tell forth your righteousness and your works, that they will not benefit you. When you cry for aid your collection of things will not deliver you, but a wind will carry even all of them away. An exhalation will take them away, but the one taking refuge in me will inherit the land and will take possession of my holy mountain. And one will certainly say, 'Bank up, you people, bank up! Clear the way. Remove any obstacle from the way of my people.'"

Please note, as the last verse indicates, God calls out for all such obstacles to be removed "from the way of my people," and the ones who ultimately inherit the earth and God's kingdom are those who actually take refuge in Jehovah when the judgment axe finally falls. So, the above judgment most definitely applies to the organization as well as the individuals in it who are faithful to God.

According to recent reports, the Watchtower Society is listed as one of the most profitable corporations in New York City—raking in revenues only 50-million shy of an astounding one-billion dollars annually! With such a war-chest, instead of fighting tooth and nail in the courts to keep from having to accept responsibility for its harmful policies, the Watchtower Society could perhaps preserve Jehovah's blessing if it voluntarily spent a few hundred million dollars towards victim's restitution.

Instead, to our shame, it has put much more value on trying to preserve the 'kingdom coffers' than on doing justice and righteousness toward the proverbial orphans.  That is why Jehovah's judicial decree, stated above, is that "your collection of things will not deliver you, but a wind will carry even all of them away."

Jesus taught his followers in his Sermon on the Mount a vital lesson that the Watchtower would do well to take to heart. Jesus said that even if we are ready to make a sacrifice at the temple and yet, while there, it comes to mind that a fellow believer has a grievance against us, we are to leave our gift at the altar and quickly go back and straighten out our personal affairs first, and then return to make our religious offerings to God afterwards.

There are many thousands of stumbled brothers and sisters who have grievances against local congregations and the Watchtower Society. It would be finer for the Watchtower to even shut down the presses and suspend the publication of the Watchtower and Awake magazines, if necessary, in order to make right its affairs. It is the Christian thing to do.

At the very least it might be a way of alleviating the heavier judgment that is sure to come from Jehovah.  

Part Two next week: "WOE TO THE SHEPHERDS WHO HAVE BECOME FEEDERS OF THEMSELVES." 

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Copyright © 2004, by Robert King
All Rights Reserved.