Seems there is a group of Jehovah Witnesses assigned to converting my household. They stop by several times a week, right during naptime, and knock on my door. Loudly. Despite the fact that I let them know my kids are sleeping every time they come.
Then, they hand me the Watchtower and Awake. If you are somehow living under a rock and haven’t had these left at your door, they are short little books chock full of lame stock photography from the 1980’s. They feature articles with ominous titles like “Are We Nearing Armegeddon?” and “Is It Later Than You Think?” Now, I have absolutely no interest in reading these things, and as soon as I close the door, I pretty much make a beeline to the trashcan. They might as well be saying, “here you go. could you throw these away for us?” But instead of just declining the books, I always take them with enthusiasm. I am a relatively direct and assertive person, but when cultish people are witnessing to me, I become sheepishly passive. I somehow feel like I have to prove to them that I, too, am down with the JC. I should decline the books, and I should tell them to stop coming by. But instead, I smile and say something ridiculous like, “thanks, I can’t wait to read these to the kids during our devotional time.” What is my problem? I have no idea why I feel the need to prove something to these people.
So I am inwardly annoyed and outwardly thrilled by their visits, until last week. They stopped by, and by some miracle my kids were not yet napping. So both India and Jafta are hanging to my skirts while I accept their waste of trees propaganda with a smile. And one of the women takes one look at my kids and says,
“Do you run a daycare from your home?”
OH my head this made me laugh.
You MUST speak with my dh — he would have A LOT to say about this… and he would give you a piece of advice that will knock your socks off — a perfect truth.
I will get him on here to comment himself (was a witness until age 19)
I feel sad for them, their “goodness” is totally dependent on coming to your door. Can you imagine living like that? GRACE GRACE GRACE … thankful to live in it.
more soon…
t.
So did you invite them in for coffee?
oh.my. people can be so clueless…
I had one at my house the other day! But, I’m pretty flat out rude. Not such a great witness for the big JC….
I can’t wait to hear Troy’s advice!
we used to have the same ones stop by all the time too. they knew my kids names and even my in-laws since they were home when they came once.
i always just stood there, nodded my head, listened, took their magazine and allowed them their time.
UNTIL … we met TROY LIVESAY and he told us what to say!!! After our trip to Haiti in May they showed up again and Aaron told them the words that Troy had given him and yeap, we haven’t seen them again!!!
:)jamie
oh geez, I was reading the comments and realized mine sounds pretty judgemental in general. I was referring to the question about whether or not you run a daycare…
I’m also staying tuned to hear this advice…so curious.
Wow, that’s a lot of pressure…I would just suggest making one statement – something I learned from our current pastor – because even when I heard it recently it stopped me in my tracks and could at least cause a JW to have to think for a minute – I know it would have thrown me for a loop back in the ‘door to door’ days.
Kindly point out to the person on your doorstep that you know that they are not really there for you or your salvation. The simple way our pastor says it is “I know you’re not here for me.” Sounds like it works like a charm.
They may argue and say that they are, but in reality and all honesty the fact is that they go door to door out of a sense of obligation and a need to perform good works.
They are good, sincere people who really do have the best intentions, but sadly are caught in a false religion that takes grace out of the picture and replaces it with works.
And if they ask you if you’re running a daycare again, ask them if they’re running a mind-control cult. That should provide for some interesting conversation. 😀
T
I like the “I know you are not hear for me” comment. But I’m also a fan of the question about running a mind-control cult. That would probably end our little visits!
I had to come out of lurkdom to say I couldn’t agree more. I am usually an assertive person but when the JE’s come a’knockin…i become little Miss Submissive. I cannot count how many “Awakes” I have tossed.
I had to come out of lurkdom to say I couldn’t agree more. I am usually an assertive person but when the JE’s come a’knockin…i become little Miss Submissive. I cannot count how many “Awakes” I have tossed.