Qualifying to Be a Preacher of the “Good News”
AT THE recent “God’s Sons of Liberty” District Assemblies much valuable counsel was given in connection with the way of life of Christian people. Since those who are truly imitators of Jesus Christ share the Bible’s message with others, as Jesus did, the program featured upbuilding talks, helpful demonstrations and practical question-and-answer sessions that focused attention on this field ministry.
Many thousands of the readers of The Watchtower are preparing themselves to have a personal share in this work of preaching the good news of God’s kingdom, because they recognize that this is the will of God. (Matt. 24:14) If you are one of such, you will be particularly interested in a question that was raised and answered on Sunday morning at these assemblies. The questioner asked: “How much progress should a person have made in his study of Bible truth before we invite him to go with us in the field service?” The answer given was as follows:
“There is no rule on this. Individuals differ greatly. However, there are certain basic principles that we can keep in mind.
“Anyone is free to talk about the things he believes. When his heart is touched by the things he hears from God’s Word, he may be moved to share them with other people, and that is fine. For example, in Matthew 9:26 it says that, after Jesus had raised a young girl from the dead, ‘the talk about this spread out into all that region.’ People were naturally excited about what had happened, so they told others about it even though they were not Jesus’ disciples. On an earlier occasion, after Jesus had witnessed to a Samaritan woman at the well of Sychar, she hurried off to town to tell others about him and, as a result, many of those Samaritans believed in Jesus. Yet, according to John 4:18, she was improperly living with a man who was not her husband. Obviously, changes were needed in her life in order to prove herself a disciple of Jesus, but this did not hinder her from telling others what she had seen and heard. The same is true today.
“However, when you as one of Jehovah’s witnesses invite someone to go along with you in the service and share in giving the witness, and so identify him publicly with the work of Jehovah’s witnesses, it is somewhat different. Now he is going to tell people that he is calling as an associate of Jehovah’s witnesses, and others are going to view him as an example of what Jehovah’s witnesses are. Is he ready for that? Does he think like one of Jehovah’s witnesses? Does he believe what Jehovah’s witnesses teach? Does he really believe that ‘all Scripture is inspired of God’? If he does, that is good, but there is more to it.—2 Tim. 3:16.
“What does he know about the teachings of the Bible? If someone asks him a question, is he going to answer it according to the teachings of the churches of Christendom, or will he reply in harmony with the Bible? (Matt. 7:21-23) Even though he may not be experienced in explaining doctrines to others, does he at least know and believe the basic teachings of God’s Word? He should; otherwise, he really is not in a position to represent himself as an associate of Jehovah’s witnesses.
“There is another aspect of the matter to consider too. In order to qualify to represent oneself as a teacher of God’s Word, one’s own life must be in harmony with what he is teaching so that he does not bring reproach on what he claims to represent. Open your Bible to Romans 2:21, 22 and notice what it says there: ‘Do you, however, the one teaching someone else, not teach yourself? You, the one preaching “Do not steal,” do you steal? You, the one saying “Do not commit adultery,” do you commit adultery? You, the one expressing abhorrence of the idols, do you rob temples?’ Here the apostle Paul was addressing himself to Jews who claimed to be teachers of the Law, and he showed that, for them to represent that Law properly, they had to live in harmony with it; otherwise, they had no business teaching it to others.
“The same principle applies to the anointed remnant of spiritual Israel and to those who associate with them in the preaching work. They must be persons who apply what the Bible says about honesty. (Eph. 4:25, 28) They ought to know what it says about fornication and adultery, and live in harmony with it. (Heb. 13:4; Matt. 19:9) They should not be individuals who get drunk. (1 Pet. 4:3, 4) They certainly should not be attending and sharing in the activities of any false religious organization. (Rev. 18:4; 2 Cor. 6:14-18) And, in order to represent themselves as followers of Jesus Christ, who are ‘no part of the world,’ they definitely could not be involved in its political affairs. (John 15:19) It takes time for a person to learn and come to believe and apply these things, but it would not be proper to have him go out in the field service as one of Jehovah’s witnesses until he does.
“Something else to think about is this: There is more to being a Witness than living a moral life and knowing the truth and preaching it correctly. Jehovah’s witnesses also regularly meet together to study the Bible; that is part of our worship. So, before we take a person out in the field service, he ought to be associated with us in our congregation meetings. Otherwise, to what is he going to invite people who want to learn more? If he does not attend the meetings, he will not be encouraging others to do so. But the Bible does. It urges us not to neglect the house of our God.—Neh. 10:39; Heb. 10:24, 25.
“If someone who does not attend the congregation meetings makes out a field service report, really, what does it mean? He may do it because he feels that it pleases the one who took him along in the service. But are we sure he does it because he feels that he is with the organization and wants to be part of it? Are we sure he is doing it because he wants to have a regular share in Jehovah’s service? Certainly if he is going to turn in a field service report as one of Jehovah’s witnesses and be included in the congregation’s report, he should be associated with Jehovah’s witnesses by attending some meetings (if he physically and circumstantially can) and want to be one of them, in addition to living a clean, moral life and knowing basic truths.”
APRIL AND DECEMBER GOALS
After hearing that discussion, another brother inquired: “In view of this, then, might our attitude toward new peaks in the number of publishers in April and December each year be different than in the past?” The speaker replied:
“Really, there is nothing new in what I have just said. You will find it in the booklet Preaching and Teaching in Peace and Unity, on page 16. Likewise, on page 22, after pointing out that, as a result of our ministry, it is reasonable to hope that there will be expansion, it refers to those that start out in April and December as ‘new ones associating with the congregation.’ It is not talking about persons who are not associated with us and urging that we get them out into the service.
“So in April and December we are not trying to start out in service a lot of people who are not ready for it. But it is a good thing, from time to time, as in April and December, to stop and reappraise our work and to see if any are ready to start out in the service, and, if they are, we want to help them. So we put forth an extra effort along this line during certain months, and it is a good stimulus to all of us to keep in mind that we are preparing those with whom we study to become active praisers of Jehovah. (2 Tim. 2:1, 2) It is not that we do not start out new ones during other months; we do. But we have set aside certain times during the year to concentrate on this aspect of our work. And what a happy time it is when a new one joins us in actively serving Jehovah!”
What about you? Are you a preacher of the Kingdom good news? If it is your desire to be an imitator of Jesus Christ, who preached and declared the good news of the Kingdom, then by all means put forth an earnest effort to equip yourself to share in that work now, while there is still time to do so.—Luke 8:1; 21:34-36.