The marketing of Jahovah

This past week I finally sat down and had a conversation with a pair of Jehovah Witnesses (JW's) that have been coming to my home for the past year or so. I wasn't meeting with them to give them a platform for their "gospel." I was meeting with them for an opportunity to share the true Gospel with them.

In my attempt to be courteous, I allowed them to lead the way with what they believed. For some reason they decided to start with Jesus Christ. Who he was. Who he is. Why he came. And, his special position in God's plan. I was bothered by the presentation. On the front end the things they said about Christ are quite similar to what an orthodox believer would say. This quickly took a turn for the worse as I knew it would.

The JW's would eventually get to a point where they were claiming that Christ is a created being. Unique as the "first born" but not a part of the God head and not God at all. They stated that he is "a god." To them, "god" is a term for excellence not Deity. They even went so far as to compare Christ to the little "g" gods in the Bible (which in a clear translation is a "no-god" or idol). I was expecting this and waited for them to unveil it.

What really bothered me is how they remained latched on Christ as if he is the lynch pin of their faith. They wouldn't move away from him. Instead they stayed incredibly close to his name. I was bothered by this because it's a deceiving approach to stay as closely associated with orthodox Christianity as possible while seeking to convert people to a non-Christian faith.

A casual believer or a non-believer could easily be deceived by such a marketing scheme. Some Christians would struggle with debate as to who Christ is. This ploy to market JW as a Christian faith is not unique to them. Years ago the Mormon's were instructed by a marketing firm to promote Jesus as the pinnacle of their faith. How deceptive.

I shouldn't be surprised by all this. Satan did his best to deceive Christ by quoting scriptures out of context. He is a crafty foe. Of course his tactics haven't changed as he seeks to draw people away from the truth. Christians must be on guard for such schemes and continue to preach the truth. Truth must win over marketing and deception.