Anyone who believes that [Jehovah's] Witnesses have a higher rate of “turnover” has been misled by “phone polls” which are notoriously flawed. .... We need to beware of using figures which claim the JWs have a large turnover to draw any conclusions.
First, the fact is that losing members in any quantity has absolutely no relevancy on whether a religion is truly Christian. This is simply a distractive Logical Fallacy called a "Red Herring."
Further, these figures do not take in the fact that, unlike other religions, JWs only count *active* members. We don't even count those who regularly attend meetings but don't go out in the public ministry. That is unlike other Churches who continue to count as members EVERYONE regardless of whether they even attend services!
Also, JWs do not have a problem with such a number leaving their organization because this very situation was indicated by Christ in his parables of the Christian Congregation. Christ likened the gathering of followers to a dragnet. The bad would have to be separated out and thrown away (Mt.13:47-50).
Christ also illustrated those who become disciples to four types of soil. All types "hear," "receive" and even "believe" the Word, but only one type does not "fall away" or get "carried away." The majority do not "bear fruit with endurance" (Lk 8:11-15; cf. Mt.7:13,14, 21)
Also, the Bible records that "many" who had become Christ's disciples left his fellowship because they didn't like what he taught (Jn. 6:60-69). Since this happened to Christ who was a perfect teacher and even performed miracles, why would we think in wouldn’t happen to the Christian congregation now?
Also, we can get a better perspective of such figures when we place them alongside the figures of other religions. Facts show that around 1960 seventy-five percent of the "Christian" world attended church regularly. Yet in 2002, research showed that in most countries only 3-10 percent of the population are regular churchgoers. The highest figures are in the U.S. and Canada where head counts show only 20 percent attend church regularly.
This means that religions have lost between 55 and 72 percent of their attendees.
Even more important are the figures of how many church members even agree with their churches' teachings. One newspaper report showed that a majority of church members, 57 percent, disagree with the official teachings of their church regarding matters of morality.
This certainly shows that no one can criticize the Witnesses for their turnover rate. Especially when you see that we are still growing.
Jesus didn't say you would identify the true religion because they would never lose members, nor because they always would grow. He said that you would identify the true Christian Organization "by their fruits," or the results of their Biblical teaching (Mat.7:16,20).
SOURCE: This is an answer provided by BAR_ANERGES to a question at Yahoo Answers.
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