I’ve been trying to figure this verse out in light of my own recent efforts to get a close JW friend to study and question WTS reasoning as I believe Jehovah wants all of us to do. Here’s the verse:
(1 Corinthians 1:10) Now I exhort YOU, brothers, through the name of our Lord Jesus Christ that YOU should all speak in agreement, and that there should not be divisions among YOU, but that YOU may be fitly united in the same mind and in the same line of thought.
This is one of the scriptures that he cites as his reason for not wanting to read any so-called “apostate” books- that it won’t do anyone any good to read it and get discouraged because there’s only one Organization to turn to anyway.
I can opt for giving you a list of dos and don’ts. The list comes from my personal and/or traditional preferences. It becomes my responsibility to tell you what to do or not to do and why. I then set up the conditions by which you begin to earn God’s acceptance through me. You do what I tell you to do . . . you don’t do what I tell you not to do, and you’re “in.” You fail to keep the list, you’re “out.” This legalistic style of strong-arm teaching is one of the most prevalent methods employed in evangelical circles.