What Character Flaw Do ALL JW's Have In Common?

The answer: LAZINESS. A JW will protest, "but, I read ALL WT publications, I go door-to-door, I attend multiple Kingdom Hall meetings each and every week! How am I lazy?" Let's start with HEBREWS 11:6, "But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him." Note that God rewards “THOSE” i.e. the ones doing the "diligently seeking" after God. The context suggest that the seeking must be done personally by the one whom God will reward. Reward WILL NOT come to one who relies on the seeking and diligent work of another. Go here to see the 16 times the word "diligently" is used in the Bible. You will see that the “diligently seeking” must be done by the individual seeking.

The key word in Hebrews 11:6: DILIGENTLY. Diligence is like an investment, which means that what YOU put into something determines what YOU will get out of it. A diligent person works hard because anything worth doing is worth doing right. The opposite of diligence is LAZINESS.

OUR SEEKING OF GOD MUST BE DILIGENT. What does this mean? It means that we must give OURSELVES to the quest for God with a priority and a passion that WE don’t invest in any other pursuit. God must be first in our hearts. WE must be ready to sacrifice anything else — indeed all else — in order to see His face. In OUR longing for God WE must be utterly sincere, and in OUR seeking of God WE must be passionately committed. He deserves no less than OUR all.

The phrase “diligently seek” in Hebrews 11:6 is taken from the Greek word ekzeteo, and it carries an entire range of power-packed meanings. It means to zealously seek for something with all of one’s heart, strength, and might. It presents the picture of one who seeks something so passionately and determinedly that he literally exhausts all his power in his search.

Because the word ekzeteo portrays such an earnest effort, the idea of being hard-working, attentive, busy, constant, and persistent in one’s devotion to what he or she is doing is also included.

This tells us that Hebrews 11:6 means: “God is a rewarder of those who put all their heart, strength, and might into seeking Him. Those who are so committed in their search that they are willing to exhaust all their natural powers in their search for Him — they are the ones who will find what they are seeking! They WILL be rewarded."

How do you START to diligently seek God? First and foremost YOU diligently seek the truth; beginning with the eternally inspired pages of God's preserved, inerrant, infallible, and precious Holy Word.

And therein lies a huge problem for JW's. If you use the New World Translation to begin your “diligently searching”, you are using a Bible that has been altered to incorporate Watchtower Doctrine into Holy Scripture. See my six (6) part series Presto Change-O here and my five (5) part series Twisted Scriptures and other Shenanigans here chronicling this WT abuse of God’s Holy Word. I suggest you go to source documents instead of reading a fallible human translation. The WT has published such a source document, it is their Bible, The Kingdom Interlinear Translation of the Greek Scriptures 1969, a free copy is available here. (A description of the KIT, why it is a good source document and how to use it is here.) I know that his requires a LOT OF WORK but don’t be LAZY, be "diligent" in searching for the truth, in searching for God.

You will NEVER be encouraged to PERSONALLY search the Scriptures by the WT. Consider the following WT quotes. My comments are in RED.

“God has not arranged for that Word to speak independently or to shine forth life giving truths by itself. It is through his organization (Watchtower Bible and Tract Society) God provides this light.” The Watchtower, May 1, 1957, p. 274. You will not know the truths of the Bible unless you read what the WT says about each and every scripture.

“He wants his earthly servants united, and so he has made understanding the Bible today dependent upon associating with his organization (WTBTS).” The Watchtower, Nov. 1, 1967, p. 668. To understand the Bible you need to read what the WT says the scriptures mean. Reading the scriptures on your own will not reveal Biblical truths.

"All who want to understand the Bible should appreciate that the "greatly diversified wisdom of God" can become known only through Jehovah's channel of communication, the faithful and discreet slave." (The Watchtower, October 1, 1994, p. 8.) You cannot know the mind of God outside the WT.

“the Bible is an organizational book . . . For this reason the Bible cannot be properly understood without Jehovah’s visible organization (WTBTS) in mind.” The Watchtower, Oct. 1, 1967, p. 587. If you diligently seek God by reading the Bible, you will not understand the mind of God because you did not read what the WT said about the Bible.

Hebrews 11:6 states that YOU must “diligently search” but the WT says: “Heavy research is not necessary. The Watch Tower has done it for you. The most beneficial study you can do is to read The Watchtower or Awake! or a new book by the organization.” The Watchtower, June 1, 1967, p. 338. The WT counsels JW’s NOT TO DO the kind of research that Hebrews 11:6 says is necessary to find God.

“Jehovah caused the Bible to be written in such a way that you need his human channel (WTBTS) to understand it.” The Watchtower, Feb. 15, 1981, p. 17. You cannot understand the Bible outside the WT.

“An individual must have The Watchtower to understand the Bible.” 1983 Yearbook, p. 21. Reading the Bible but not the WT and you will have a misunderstanding of the Bible.

What if you, as a JW, do not agree with what the WT has said about scripture? “Avoid independent thinking . . . questioning the counsel that is provided by God’s visible organization (WTBTS).” The Watchtower, Jan 15, 1983, p. 22. As a JW, your thinking should be the same as WT thinking.

“We should meekly go along with the Lord's theocratic organization and wait for further clarification, rather than balk at the first mention of a thought unpalatable to us and proceed to quibble and mouth our criticisms and opinions as though they were worth more than the slave's provision of spiritual food. Theocratic ones will appreciate the Lord's visible organization and not be so foolish as to put against Jehovah's channel their own human reasoning and sentiment and personal feelings." The Watchtower, February 1, 1952, pgs. 79-80. As a JW, your thinking should be the same as WT thinking.