Re: UBF's sincerety -- RSQUBF discussion forum

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Date Posted: 04:01:47 08/22/04 Sun
Author: Chris
Subject: Re: UBF's sincerety
In reply to: Mitch 's message, "Re: To Mitch and J" on 20:16:26 08/21/04 Sat

Mitch, I think you grasped one point very well, namely that sincerity and love for God and His word do not always go together. Yes, UBFers are very sincere when it comes to follow the regulations of the organization and it sometimes looks like they love God, or they themselves even believe they love God. BUT: They do not love the God of the Bible, the God of truth, but the God of UBF, an image of God that Samuel Lee has created. You said you have been kept in the group because of its "sincerity" and I think that's exactly the reason why I and others stayed in UBF. They seem so devoted and sincere, much more devoted than other Christians. Unfortunately, they are not devoted to God. That's the big disappointment I experienced in the time of the reform movement around 2000. I learned that the hardcore UBFers (those who seem to be the most sincere!) loved their organization more than God, and their image of God more than the real God of the Bible, they were able to cover up and even lie, they were not willing to be corrected by the Word of God, they showed no respect for the Word of God, they had no fear of God, they only fear the leaders and the leaders love honor and their position above all.

I really did not believe and did not want to believe that it was like that, but I had to concede to myself that I had lived in an illusion for 10 years. I made many attempts to speak with them as I really wanted to disavow this conclusion. But unfortunately, it was true, and it proved to be true by their behaviour in all the time since then until today.

Maybe you have met Jehovah's witnesses. Wouldn't you agree they are sincere? They are even more sincere than the usual UBFer. They are standing at street corners for hours. They may have even more boring meetings than UBF. The are doing this for years and decades, so they are also very loyal and faithful. Wouldn't you also agree they are devoted and decicated people? Of course they are. Wouldn't you say they are eager? They are very eager!

But sincerety, faithfulness, dedication and eagerness is not enough! The pharisees had all these qualities, but the Bible says they had "zeal without knowledge." The same happens today in many cults and churches. That's why this problem is so emphasized in the Bible. Sometimes I asked myself why the Gospels talk so much about the discussion with the Pharisees. The reason is, it was not a problem of that time only. It is the ultimate challenge even today.

As my last point, do you think the Jehovah's witnesses do not love God? They love God as much or even more as UBFers do. But just as UBFers, they have a false image of God, an image they got from years of reading the "watchtower," just as UBFers have a false image of God from years of hearing slightly twisted messages, and one-sided testimonies and Bible studies, with the hidden agenda of making people devoted followers of UBF, not of helping them to grow to mature Christians.

The Jesus of UBF is comfortable with people taking honor from each other, calling each other "missionary," "Dr.," "shepherd" or "Reverend mother." The Jesus of the Bible however, is pretty different. He said: "How can you believe if you accept praise from one another, yet make no effort to obtain the praise that comes from the only God?" And he said: "But you are not to be called 'Rabbi,' for you have only one Master and you are all brothers. And do not call anyone on earth 'father,' for you have one Father, and he is in heaven. Nor are you to be called 'teacher,' for you have one Teacher, the Christ. The greatest among you will be your servant." The Jesus of UBF is comfortable if people are divorced for the sake of UBF and remarried. The Jesus of the Bible, however, says: "Anyone who divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery against her." The problem is that UBFers love their false image of Jesus more than the real Jesus. From a spiritual point of view, the sin of UBF must be actually named "idolatry."

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Replies:

Re: UBF's sincerety -- Mitch, 09:44:31 08/22/04 Sun
- Re: UBF's sincerety -- Chris, 10:49:42 08/22/04 Sun