Proper Example for the Flock

Brother Rutherford did appreciate that for the work to continue to move ahead in an orderly and unified way, no matter how short the time might be, proper example for the flock was vital. Jesus had described his followers as sheep, and sheep follow their shepherd. Of course, Jesus himself is the Fine Shepherd, but he also uses older men, or elders, as undershepherds of his people. (1 Pet. 5:1-3) Those elders must be men who themselves participate in the work that Jesus assigned and who encourage others to do so. They must genuinely have the evangelizing spirit. At the time of distribution of The Finished Mystery, however, some of the elders had held back; certain ones had even been quite vocal in discouraging others from sharing.

A highly significant step toward correcting this situation was taken in 1919 when the magazine The Golden Age began publication. This was to become a powerful instrument for publicizing the Kingdom of God as the only lasting solution to the problems of mankind. Each congregation that desired to share in this activity was invited to ask the Society to register it as a “service organization.” Then a director, or service director as he came to be known, not subject to yearly election, was appointed by the Society.f As the local representative of the Society, he was to organize the work, assign territory, and encourage participation by the congregation in the field service. Thus, alongside the democratically elected elders and deacons, another type of organizational arrangement began to function, one that recognized appointive authority outside the local congregation and that gave greater emphasis to the preaching of the good news of God’s Kingdom.g

Among those zealous Witnesses were numerous humble, devoted servants of Jehovah who were elders in the congregations. However, in some places, during the 1920’s and early in the 1930’s, there was also considerable resistance to the idea of everyone participating in the field service. Democratically elected elders were often quite vocal in disagreeing with what The Watch Tower said about the responsibility to preach to people outside the congregation. Refusal to listen to what God’s spirit, by means of the Holy Scriptures, had to say to the congregation on this matter hindered the flow of God’s spirit in those groups.—Rev. 2:5, 7.

Measures were taken in 1932 to correct this situation. The point of principal concern was not whether some prominent elders might be offended or whether some of those associated with the congregations might withdraw. Rather, the desire of the brothers was to please Jehovah and to do his will. To that end, the August 15 and September 1 issues of The Watchtower that year featured the subject “Jehovah’s Organization.”