IT JUST DOESN'T ADD UP

The leadership of Jehovah's Witnesses has long been obsessed with numbers. To them, like most other religious people, hefty numbers are a sign of God's approval – a divine stamp of approval.

The late Bill Cetnar, who was a PFO director, told of an incident that occurred in the 1950s while he was a Jehovah's Witness at Bethel, the organization's headquarters in Brooklyn. Cetnar told of how he, along with a couple others from the Bethel staff, were in an automobile with Watchtower president Nathan H. Knorr. Knorr was hushing Cetnar and the other occupants as he tried to find the broadcast of Billy Graham on the car's radio. Graham was in New York for a crusade at Yankee Stadium.

Why was Knorr frantically trying to locate Graham on the car radio? Was it to find out what message was being proclaimed by one of the more popular vanguards of "Babylon the Great?" No, nothing that profound. Knorr, Cetnar said, was trying to find out how many were attending Graham's meeting. It seems Knorr was consumed with the ambition to address a larger audience when he spoke at Yankee Stadium, where the Watchtower would host one of its international conventions.

Each year, the Jehovah's Witnesses release statistics on their active membership and the number of hours their members spend in "field service." Field service for a Jehovah's Witnesses is "Door–to–door literature distribution, return visits, home Bible studies, and other activity reportable to the organization" (see Jehovah–Talk by David Reed, pg. 72).

The January 1, 2001, issue of The Watchtower contains four pages detailing the "2000 Service Year Report Of Jehovah's Witnesses Worldwide" (pp. 18–21). The numbers are, as they are every year, staggering.

In the United States alone, it was reported that 945,000 Jehovah's Witnesses spent more than 181 million hours in field service. Worldwide, more than 6 million Jehovah's Witnesses spent nearly 1.2 billion hours in the Society's field service. Yet, in all of this, there are some figures that are even more remarkable – but go unreported (perhaps even hidden) by the Watchtower organization. Those are the statistics that would show how long it takes to recruit one new baptized Jehovah's Witness.

In the United States last year, the Watchtower reported 30,290 baptisms. Take that number and divide it into the number of hours of field service. The result is 5,991 hours of field service per convert. Based on that figure, it would take a Jehovah's Witness who spent 40 hours per week in field service 150 weeks – nearly three years – to make one baptized convert.

Worldwide, the figures are better, but still astounding. The Watchtower reported 288,907 baptisms worldwide. This number divided into the nearly 1.2 billion hours of service means 4,054 hours are required worldwide per convert. Based on 40 hours of field service per week, that's still 101 weeks – nearly two years – per a baptized convert.

And there's a component in all of this that hasn't been taken into account: internal growth (that is, children who grow up in Watchtower families and are baptized into their parents' religion). If 25 percent of all Watchtower baptisms are the result of internal growth, then another year of field service has been added to the amount necessary to produce a baptized convert.

One reason it takes so long for the Watchtower to produce one convert is that the work is accomplished solely through human effort. Absent is the work of the Holy Spirit, whose mission is to glorify our Risen Savior, convict the world of sin, and bring illumination to the Word of God (John 16:5–14).

The Watchtower, in relying upon human effort, also restricts God's ability to save and regenerate. Through the merit of the Lord Jesus Christ, God can (and does) set free sinners instantaneously. No need to study a Watchtower book or two, no months of attending Kingdom Hall meetings and no 80 questions to answer in order to become a "Christian." A simple faith in the person and work of Christ is the biblical requirement.

The late professor of evangelism, Paul E. Little, describes for the Christian God's role in bringing one to faith:

"When we tell others about Jesus Christ, we study the Word of God with new eyes to sharpen our ability to communicate its message. We pray to God in specific name–address–phone–number terms for our friends in whose lives we are involved. We ask God to illumine them specifically, to introduce them to the Savior and a new life. With anticipation we watch God answer prayer. We will see indifference or antagonism ebb and interest grow. Meanwhile, the Bible becomes increasingly alive when we see others respond to its truth. Passages that once seemed dry and extraneous take on new meaning. When we see the Holy Spirit transform the life of another, we will know we are on the cutting edge of supernaturalism. We can relate not only to our own story of God's work but also the updated events of God's work in the lives of others" (How to Give Your Faith Away, pg. 36).

Jehovah's Witnesses may boast of their quarter–million–plus baptisms last year. However, their converts are a result of their own human efforts; hand–dug cisterns that are wells of stagnant, polluted water. Sadly, they are missing the connection to the pure, clean, fresh water that Jesus gives: the "living water" of the Holy Spirit (John 4:14; 7:38–39). When one is united with the Jesus of Scripture, the "living water" inside him becomes a spring so that he will become a source of life for other people.

For Jehovah's Witnesses, it just doesn't add up. They can plant and sow for billions of hours on end. But any harvest is their own doing. God is not the One who gives the increase to their labor.

– MKG

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