To the Editor:

Recently, while I was mowing my lawn, a car pulled into my driveway and one of the four occupants stepped out with a book and a leaflet in his hand. Like you, I recognized his intention right away so I asked him if he was a Jehovah's Witness.

After he affirmed that he was, I interrupted his spiel to ask him a simple question, “Based upon Jesus' statement in the Bible, that he would show himself to us if we would love and obey him (John 14:21), have you met Jesus yet?” His answer, as any honest Jehovah's Witness's answer would have been, was, “No I haven't.”

So when I asked what was missing, love and/or obedience, he immediately tried to discuss some other verses of the Bible. (When confronted, Jehovah's Witnesses always change the subject.) The sad part is, in the Watch Tower's version of the Bible, the last part of that verse is even more explicit — “I will plainly show myself to him.”

Unfortunately, what this Jehovah's Witness is witness to isn't Jehovah; it is the distorted version of the Bible that the Watch Tower Society produces. Their book purposely leaves out the word “me” in John 14:14 when Jesus stated, “You may ask me anything in my name, and I will do it.”

Jesus said, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6). How would any Jehovah's Witness actually be a witness for Jehovah, if they must go through Jesus first and they have not yet met him? In the same verse, Jesus stated, “If you really knew me, you would know my Father as well.” And, more pointedly, Jesus stated, “All things have been committed to me by my Father. No one knows the son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the son and those to whom the son chooses to reveal him.” (Matthew 11:27)

In a cult, an individual doesn't think for himself. He follows what some organization tells him. In the Bible, Jesus makes it quite clear when he states, “If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.” Jesus is the Christian's teacher, not some organization.

In Matthew 7:21-23, Jesus stated unequivocally, “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?' Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me you evildoers!' ”

Jesus reveals himself to those who love and obey him. Jehovah's Witnesses need to be confronted with the truth, and Jesus said that he is the truth. The next time one comes knocking at your door, ask him if he has met Jesus yet.

Jim Chapman

Creston