HomeARC ML 2443
DON'T FORCE PUBLIC DECISIONS! 6/88 DO 2443
1. Wherever you are guests at public functions, invited primarily to entertain or to advertise your School or some other project open to the GP, I don't think that most people would consider that an appropriate place to come right out & preach the Gospel & force them to make a decision! I don't think that's wise at all.
2. Of course, it depends on the situation, but as a general rule, normally, if you are invited to some public function where you'd classify it more or less as general public, businessmen, officials, etc., I think if you have a place that's open for the GP, like some of our Schools, I think you should invite them to come there, that's a real test. And if they're interested enough to come there, to your place, then you can invite them to the Lord on your own terms.
3. Attending such public functions is usually a good opportunity for good PR, to advertise your School & invite them to "come & see" (Jn.1:46), then only those who are really seriously interested will come. Those are the ones who really deserve to be invited to the Lord, & it's on your own turf, so you have the right & privilege & freedom to do so.
4. But when you are outside guests at various public & community functions, I think it's far better to invite them to come out to your place before you try to force them to make a decision for the Lord. It was inviting students to specifically make a decision to come to Jesus in the public & private schools--particularly Catholic schools, of some countries--that has gotten us in trouble & turned the officials against us. They didn't like our going to their schools & riding roughshod over their own religion & trying to proselytise, as they call it.--In other words, rip off their own sheep. They don't like it!
5. Now if you do that on your own territory, that's your business, but when you do it on their territory, it's almost like going into their church & trying to rip off their members! It's a very ticklish business. I've been through a lot of that in past experience, both in our independent evangelism & Soul Clinic work. In the Family, I know they have done it a lot, & not always wisely. In fact, sometimes, from the reports I have heard & read, which they were enthusiastic & thrilled about & virtually bragging about, I was shocked & actually very concerned that they had done such a thing on such territory!
6. Now it's a different thing when you go into Old Folks' Homes & hospitals, that sort of thing, people who can't get out & it may be their last chance, I would dare to go right ahead & give an invitation. (Maria: I think perhaps one of the reasons they're doing it is because they read in "Get Going--Or Get Out!" to sock it to them & preach the Gospel, so I think with any public meeting they go to now, they're openly witnessing about Salvation & trying to get decisions.) They're always going to the extreme!
7. I think you're really pushing it, & it will turn more people against you whom you might have had an opportunity to reach later by inviting them up to your School. If you go into a public meeting, like a Rotary Club or Lion's Club & that sort of thing, & give an evangelistic invitation at the end of your presentation, it will probably be the last time you're invited! (Maria: And they'll figure they have you pegged & they know all about you.) And then they will not recommend you to other groups or clubs or functions. (Maria: And they won't want to come to see you either then because they figure they already know what you're all about.) Exactly, you've satisfied their curiosity. It would be far better not to push it that far.
8. In many of our present situations I would absolutely recommend against it. Invite them to your School, give them a sample, tell them all about how wonderful it is & Who makes it that wonderful, etc., but don't force them to a decision there! Wait till they come to you, in the right atmosphere & on your own turf, then you're not going to offend a lot of people who weren't a bit interested in you in the first place & didn't invite you to their club, somebody else did, & they might even resent it & get him in trouble!
9. The Program Director or whoever invited you there, you're going to get him in trouble, & they're going to be mad at him for even having invited you.--"What's the big idea of inviting these Christian evangelists to preach us a sermon & give us an invitation?" It's just not the place for it! (Maria: Maybe that's one reason they didn't get very big donations in those Rotary Clubs other than the fact that [EDITED: "some"] are such tightwads.) Yes, exactly, they made it just too plain what it was all about & what they were after, trying to get Christian converts & raise money for a Christian school!
10. I don't think it's wise at all! I think it's a delicate situation & they need to really approach it with great wisdom. Enthusiastically present their sample & their singing & the kids & their pictures & the School & all the rest, & give out brochures & invite them to visit. But as far as when they are invited guests there, supposedly just to present their School & a program with the kids, to take such obvious advantage of the opportunity, they're really sort of pushing it.
11. They're sort of taking a little undue advantage to go ahead & push it right then & there for a decision in those circumstances with people who could easily come visit if they want to, if they're interested enough. (Maria: In other words, they should just get it in their heads that it's a PR thing, they're promoting their School, & it's not necessarily a witnessing & soul-reaping excursion.)
12. That's where Jesus & His disciples got into the greatest trouble, & it soon ended their ministry, when they went right into the Temple preaching away & proselytising. (Maria: But they were supposed to do it, weren't they?) Well, I'm just warning you. They did it boldly, but it sure got them in trouble.
13. That time He went into the Temple was just about the last time He had a chance to preach, because they were determined then to kill Him!--Mat.21-23. (Maria: But Jesus didn't make any mistakes, did He?) Well, if you're ready to end your ministry & be martyred, like Jesus, you've fulfilled your task on Earth & you're ready to be offered, go ahead!--If you want to end things in your area as well. You'll have them fighting you instead of inviting you!
14. After some of those club meetings, I notice from their reports, they haven't gotten any more invitations since. I think they pushed it a little too far. (Maria: Maybe they were thinking that it was their last chance to ever see a lot of those people who wouldn't come visit anyway.) Well if they're not interested enough to come & visit, if they're not hungry enough & interested enough to come & see, then they're not very interested & they're not very hungry!
15. There are probably a lot of them there you know are not interested, in fact, if not most of them, & they just feel like you're shoving something down their throat that they didn't want anyhow, they really didn't even want the program! And a lot of them may be applauding & blah blah, but at the same time resenting it in their hearts when they found out what you're really all about & you're pushing them to make a decision.
16. So I don't think it's wise at all, particularly, in a heathen country where you're trying to very gently woo them! I don't think it's wise to go in there & wound them instead of woo them! Because a lot of them are going to feel offended & hurt.
WHERE TO GET DECISIONS--ON YOUR OWN TURF, NOT THEIRS!
17. Jesus said, "If I be lifted up, I will draw all men unto Me" (Jn.12:32), & He can draw them up to your place where you can get a decision without having to do it there publicly right in front of their fellow businessmen & everything else! I think they'd consider that pushing them too far, taking advantage of the situation. Putting myself in their place, I would. (Maria: Especially in a place where Christians are looked down on & are in some ways a little bit persecuted.)
18. Yes, about the only Christians in some of those countries are mostly secret Christians, secret believers, & they certainly wouldn't usually confess Christ, those proud businessmen, right in front of all the rest of their colleagues! (Maria: They probably do it a lot of times just because you're there, just to please you & to keep from offending & hurting you.) Yes, because they're polite. But I think they're figuring at the same time if you were really polite you wouldn't have done it in the first place! I just think it's too much!
19. Now I have said--& I'm always extreme in some things--that that's what we're here for, to preach the Gospel, etc. But when we have a place on our own turf to preach it, where we can really get them in the Spirit & a spiritual atmosphere where we can really get them softened up for it & plow & water & cultivate the ground right there in our own place, after they have seen the School & the kids & all, I think they would consider we have a right, having given them all that, to ask them then.
20. But when we are on their turf in a public meeting with all kinds of disinterested people it's a different story! When we've been invited there by somebody who was interested & wanted to help us advertise our place, I think even your inviter is apt to be a little offended that you just went a little too far, & you won't get invited back.--And the word will get around & you won't get invited other places either!
21. But I would say in certain instances like orphanages, hospitals, old folks' homes, etc., where you in a way have a captive audience who cannot get out & will never be able to come & see you, & you know it's your only & last chance to reach these people who are actually suffering & in sad circumstances & are therefore much more inclined to receive the message because they are sad & suffering & some of them soon to go, it's an ideal opportunity.--And & I think your inviters, your hosts, will almost expect you to do it!
22. It's kind of like it's worked out at their ministry at the clubs in Japan. They fished & they found a few who nibbled, & now they're following up on those. But to keep going back & pushing the others that they've already pushed & pushed & invited & invited, it's just casting your pearls before swine!
INVITE THE SHEEP & AVOID THE DEVOID!
23. We're not to throw that which is holy unto the dogs nor cast our pearls before swine!--Mat.7:6. I think it's far better to wait till they come to your place & show that they're hungry sheep, looking & searching, & give it to them then, & not just publicly cram it down their throats! I wouldn't be surprised if some of their hosts & advisors at some of those businessman's clubs particularly were shocked that they would turn it into an evangelistic Gospel meeting with an altar call! They probably went away in a state of shock that we even had the nerve to do such a thing & they probably figured, "Well, they certainly haven't got much wisdom, they aren't very smart!"
24. And not only that, you expose yourself & give away your whole purpose & meaning to the whole general public, as well as advertising your efforts to your enemies so they'll all know what it's all about! Otherwise, they have to come to where you are to find out. (Maria: And then they can usually be won over a lot easier there on your own turf.) Oh yes, they're in a much better atmosphere to be talked to & invited, much better. And they will consider it your right! They're your guests then, you're the hosts, & hosts have certain privileges that guests just don't have.
25. So I certainly don't think it's wise to go in & be so pushy in such circumstances! Give them a sample, not a sermon! You can explain what it's all about & invite them to your School & all, then the hungry sheep will come. Otherwise, you are probably just casting your pearls before swine & that which is holy to the dogs, in a public open meeting situation like that. I think it's far better to weed'm out, to sift them & see if they're really hungry!
26. If they're really hungry, searching & want more, they'll come & visit. Just be sure you invite them & make it clear where you are, & give them a little hint of what it's all about. (Maria: The children's songs about Heaven would be all right?) Yes, songs & a sample of our children are fine, & tell them about the School & give them little hints what it's all about, then those who are hungry will catch it & they'll come.
27. In a host country of predominantly non-Christian religions, at a public function or affair where you're speaking to the general public, in a sense you're addressing the country, & I just don't think it's very wise to come right out & ask everybody to make a decision to invite Jesus into their hearts. You're going to queer yourself very soon with the general public, you're going to embarrass your backers, those that have already stuck their neck out for you, & people are going to get scared off, shy away, back off, & you're still going to get the cold shoulder! I think at those public functions you have to just try to be pleasing, entertaining, happy, give the sample, & invite them to come & visit.
WHETHER OR NOT TO DISTRIBUTE LIT AT GP MEETINGS!
28. When you're invited by public officials to a public function to address the general public, it's not the place to press for a specific altar call & an invitation. (Maria: Would you give them any lit that has a salvation message on it?) Well, that's a little bit more indirect, that's more of a private thing, you're not asking them to publicly confess Christ! You're not asking them to publicly make a decision!
29. So I think you could give them lit! (Maria: Lit that actually has an invitation on it?) Yes, & then that's their private affair whether they make a decision or not. (Maria: But that does show your hand & what you're all about.) Yes, but if you want to give out Lit, I think your hosts & school officials & even government officials & these sorts of people would probably expect & sort of wink at or look the other way to your giving out private material, private invitations & something for them to read. They don't have to read if they don't want to, & they don't have to make a decision if they don't want to.
30. But when you're giving a public invitation, you are forcing them to make a decision then & there on the spot, with very little, if any, preparation or knowledge or anything! In fact, I'd say in most cases they don't even know what they're doing, they're just doing it because you asked them to, just because it's their custom to be polite to their guests!
THE FOLLY & DANGERS OF HARD-SELL MASS EVANGELISM!
31. I think we've pushed a little too far & some areas have gone to the extreme in such situations. Well, some have been wrong in going to the other extreme, & said we shouldn't witness openly even on our own turf. But I'm saying we need to learn how to strike a happy medium & be temperate in all things, "let your moderation be known to all men!"--Phil.4:5.
32. Jesus Himself said, "I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves, be ye therefore wise as serpents & harmless as doves!"--Mat.10:16.--And I don't think it's very wise to push them to make an open decision for Jesus right there in front of the whole general public! I think it's going to harm your work more than help!
33. You know me, I have talked against mass evangelism for years & years & years! I think it worked against us a lot in the Philippines! I think it's worked against us a lot in lots of places when we came out too openly & publicly. When we were invited guests, we offended our hosts by trying to grab some sheep right there & run off with them, right there in their own folds! I really think it's been offensive.
34. They kind of wanted you to help their students or their people, & invited you to give them a little look at you & a little sample of you & hear you & sort of get them interested. But to turn their school or their club into an evangelistic service, a church, & ask them then & there on the spot to make a decision to walk off in spirit with you, that's proselytising!--And I think that's casting your pearls before swine & casting that which is holy unto the dogs!--Because most of them will be swine & dogs, especially in countries of other religions!
35. You're preaching right to the people who are apt to become your worst enemies, & you're apt to hurt yourselves real quick, & I think it's happened a lot of places for that very reason! We've been too open! And it's getting more & more where you just can't be so open when you're in meetings before the general public where you've been invited, whether it's a club or an outdoor meeting or whatever it may be! (Maria: Or an English class!)--Yes! Don't push it! You're going to push'm out before you get'm in!
36. They probably put themselves out on a limb by even inviting us & giving us the free use of their auditorium or their hall, & they don't want it to kick back, to backfire with a lot of objections & criticisms!--"How come you let these people come in here & turn this hall into a Gospel meeting to try to make Christians out of all of us?"
37. The Orientals are great on saving face & as long as they can say, "Well, we're just trying to help their School, they're good singers & they give a nice program," & act like they don't really know what we're all about, they can save face. But they're not going to want to be seen as openly inviting Christians to come there to openly invite their members to all become Christians!
38. When they have invited you to come in to talk to the general public on their grounds, in their halls or whatever it may be, you have got to watch your step! If you come in & are aggressive & overdo it & overly take advantage of the opportunity, & take advantage of them by going further than they had intended for you to go, & further than you should go, you're going to make them feel like you've gone too far!--And they're going to be offended & they won't want you back any more!
39. And the word's going to get around, & a lot of people who could have been secret friends & gotten away with it, befriending & helping you, are going to be afraid to do it! They're going to literally be afraid to help or show their colours because you have been so openly, aggressively evangelistic Christians who go right in where Angels fear to tread & try to invite the dogs & the swine & everybody to Jesus! I just don't think it's wise!
40. (Maria: We always want to be known as reapers, whereas Paul said some sowed.--1Cor.3:6-8. And by our sample, we're really sowing. But we want to sow & reap at the same time, & we feel like we've failed if we're not reaping.)
41. I consider those public open situations of schools, clubs, etc.--people who are free to come visit on their own time onto your turf--I think that our pushing for an instant believism, instant decision in these first-time contacts is ridiculous, really. I think if you have a School, if you have a sample, if you have a place to invite them, that should be the first test to see if they're really interested or hungry at all.
42. Lift up Christ, & His sheep will be drawn to Him.--Jn.12:32. That doesn't show movement on the part of Christ chasing after them, or chasing after the stray sheep or even the dogs & the goats & the pigs! That shows you're inviting them to follow, & if they're interested & hungry they'll follow you. You don't have to offend the rest of the public & throw your pearls to the swine & the dogs, the Lord says "lest they turn on you & rend you!"--Mat.7:6.
43. The dogs & the pigs & the swine & the goats are not going to receive it, & that's the majority of every audience! So what you're doing is just offending the vast majority of the audience by trying to woo & win the others who are then going to be afraid & embarrassed & ashamed to even come near you in a country of largely secret believers! I just don't think it's wise at all.
44. I think you ought to present your show, sing your songs, give testimonies about your School & what your kind of training has done, show your pictures & invite them to visit & let it go at that.--Not practically force them to make a decision either for or against Jesus right then & there! That's what you're doing, you're forcing them to make a decision, & they're offended & embarrassed & will feel like you took undue advantage of their hospitality.
45. Now it's a little different situation when you're visiting a place where there are people who are obviously suffering, & are much more open & hungry for help in a hospital or an old folks' home or even an orphanage, something like that. Those people have problems, they're victims, they're suffering, & your hosts know they need help & they're willing to try almost anything to help them, encourage them, cheer them up. Just like drug addicts & people like that, people will take almost anything with the hopes that maybe it will help them. They figure they're in such bad shape nothing would hurt them, so maybe it will help them.
46. But it's an entirely different situation with prosperous businessmen in an elite businessmen's club to which you're invited because somebody there wanted to help you, to get the help of those men for your School & all that. They certainly don't expect you to go so far as to force them all to make a decision there & then on the spot for or against Jesus!
47. Paul said, "Be instant in season & out of season" (2Tim.4:2), but I really feel, & I'm sure he knew too, that it's far better to be instant in season, & when out of season, go easy & try to give them a chance to get on your turf where it can be more in season! By doing it too much out of season you could ruin your chances to ever get'm where you could get them in season. I'll tell you, you sure get in trouble with the authorities when you go huntin' or fishin' out of season!--That's a good illustration.
48. I don't think it's wise, I think you're offending your hosts by pushing too far, & you're going to get notorious pretty soon. "Oh, that's that bunch of Jesus-pushers that cram it down your throat & try to make you make a decision standing right there on your feet on the spot!" Pretty soon word will get around even to the authorities, "School? Ha! They're a bunch of Christian missionary evangelists who are trying to shove Jesus down our throats!"
49. I've often warned you, when you push things too far, you often even make the officials come to a decision regarding you! People complain to them, "Why do you give those crazy people permission to stay here? Did you know they go around everywhere cramming Jesus down our throats & making us make decisions in public meetings where they were supposed to be guest artists? They're nothing but a bunch of evangelists, crazy wild evangelists with funny doctrines!"
50. People who hear about you second & third hand, they're not going to be so much under the influence of the Holy Spirit & the atmosphere & impressed by the testimony of the kids, etc. They have just heard about it, hearsay, & they usually hear the worst side from most people. Let's face it, most of the people that go out of one of those public meetings didn't make the decision, at least not voluntarily or willingly. There are very few sheep in such crowds who sincerely, honestly made the decision.
51. You force the rest of them to make a decision against you!--Whereas they could have just let it slide & turned the other way & saved face & ignored it. But you literally forced them to become enemies. So who will spread the word the most about how crazy you are & to the most people?--The vast majority of them in the meeting. So you're going to have more people out there talking against you than for you!
52. Those kinds of situations are very ticklish & they've got to be handled with kid gloves & tremendous wisdom. Jesus Himself said, "I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves, therefore be as wise as serpents, & harmless as doves."--Mt.10:16. But when you look to them like you are serpents & you are harmful to them & their culture & their religions, then they're going to be after you!
53. (Maria: Yes, that's how the Devil makes them see it.--Just like that man we heard about who came into one of our Homes & said, "There are bad spirits here!" From the Devil's viewpoint, our wonderful good spirits are bad spirits!) Yes, some of them could figure we're evil, we're a threat to their culture, we're a threat to their religions, therefore we're a threat to their nation. "Get'm out of here! They're not doing good, they're doing harm! They're hypnotising our young people, they're leading our sheep astray!"
PUBLIC EXPOSURE ENSURES PUBLIC REJECTION!
54. The way some of our people have been going about it, it's a miracle they've won any friends & people are backing us at all! I think it has been the people who've come & seen & heard & felt the example, who have really been won over to try to help & support. Even if not won to the Lord, at least they were won to us. But if you go around advertising exactly what you are & what you're after to all the dogs & the wolves & the swine & the goats, you're going to be publicly advertising that you're an enemy of theirs & publicly turning them against you, forcing them to make a decision against you!
55. Otherwise, "where ignorance is bliss, 'tis folly to be wise!" It's better they be ignorant of what you're doing or at least pretend to be ignorant, & turn the other cheek & turn their head the other way & wink at what you're doing, than for you to wise'm up & let it be publicly known exactly what you're doing & what you're after & what you're up to. Then they've got to take a stand against it.
56. Just like I've always said about approaching City Hall for permits or tax allowances or officials of the government or whatever, if you go around asking favours like that, they're going to require their "pound of flesh" like in Shakespeare's play, "The Merchant of Venice." Shylock wanted the poor guy to give him a pound of his flesh because he couldn't pay his debt! If you want favours, you then push them to make a decision.
57. "Wide is the gate & broad is the way that leadeth unto destruction & many there be that go in thereat!"--Mat.7:13. The vast majority of people are refusers, the vast majority of people are goats, the vast majority of the people are not only goats, but they're pigs & wolves & enemies, especially if you force them to make a decision!
58. The Family literally forced both the school system, the public, the government & everything in the Philippines. We made it a clear-cut decision that they were making, & we warned them & we literally forced them, even the general public through the newspaper articles, press releases & all. We forced them all to make a decision, & of course the majority made the wrong decision & they forced the Family out!
59. If you want to get so much publicity so that everybody knows what you're preaching, everybody has heard the Gospel, has heard your message, has been forced to make a decision either for or against Jesus & Christians & Christianity & your School & your sample, then your job is done! You have required instantaneous acceptance or rejection. And since the majority are going to be rejecters, that's what you're going to get, rejection!--Because that's what it always means in the long run.
60. Once we have publicised the message & we have reaped the harvest, then the vast majority who rejected it fight us, smear us & drive us out. Now if you want to precipitate that, then spread the word, let them know right now! [DELETED]
61. But about the only way we've been able to stay in most Eastern countries is by [DELETED] just giving them a little sugar-coated sample of the one essential message of Jesus. But even that, in many heathen, pagan countries, is offensive to them.
62. You can get people to go so far, but when you push them over the brink they're just not going to be shoved over willingly & voluntarily & just jump like a bunch of little lemmings! They're going to fight their way out, & fight you. And while you're trying to drive them over, they're going to drive you out!
63. Praise the Lord! Thank You Jesus! Help us, Lord, in Jesus' name to be as wise as serpents & harmless as doves!--Not only be harmless & look harmless to them, but harmless to ourselves! But by this foolishness & lack of wisdom, of going too far & pushing too hard, being too open, we're not being harmless as doves, we're being very harmful to ourselves, because the eagles are going to turn on us!
64. I think we should be very very careful in all public meetings with outside GP audiences, including telephone ministries, English classes, etc. I think that we should let those be sort of fishing ponds where we lure the few hungry fish into a little more private intimacy where they can make a private decision. Most Orientals do not like to be seen as out of line & out of step with the majority. But if they can make it in private & be [DELETED] disciples so nobody knows it, you have a better chance. And if they do any witnessing at all, they're going to have to do it personally. [DELETED] It all comes back to personal witnessing as being the most effective, the most fruitful & the best way of winning disciples.
WISE FISHING!--AND SCHOOL[EDITED: "S"]!
65. But if instead of just fishing for certain kinds of fish that are really good fish, you insist on getting out there in the open sea in the vast mob & casting a huge net that will just pull up & pick up anything & everything--including every poisonous horrible kind of fish & inedible unclean meat & whatnot--you're going to have to pick through that stuff to try to find something decent to eat, & you may get killed in the process, or poisoned or stuck or eaten yourself! So that kind of fishing is just downright dangerous, & you're going to get a lot of stuff that's just going to be in your way, which you almost have to throw away, & a lot who aren't going to like it!
66. Well, that's the way I feel about it.--Particularly in a situation like the heathen countries, pagan countries, countries of predominantly non-Christian religions, we have to be extremely careful & prayerful & cautious not to offend, not to embarrass publicly, to try not to drive people to a public decision & openly proclaim [DELETED] what we're trying to do!
67. Your Schools & samples should [show what you actually are, who you are & what you're trying to do, & to give you a chance to sort out the fish. "The Kingdom of Heaven," Jesus said, "is like a net you cast into the sea, & it brings up all kinds of fish."--Mat.13:47,48. And you keep the good & you throw the bad away. But right away the bad are going to know that it was a net & they almost got caught, & the next time they see a net they're going to swim the other way!--The next time they see you, & they're going to warn all the other bad fish to stay away too!
68. Well, that's fine, we don't have to deal with bad fish, but it may scare away some good ones & may frighten the good ones too!--"Well, I'm going to be embarrassed, I might lose my job, I might not do so good in school, I'll make a lot of enemies on the school ground or at work & in business, & they're not going to like me, they're going to give their business to somebody else because they found out I was a Christian!"
69. In that type of situation I believe with all my heart you have to go slow, go very prayerfully & try to find the sheep, the good fish, the real hungry ones, the ones who really sincerely want what you've got, & then you have a chance to give it to them. But just going out helter-skelter, pell-mell & everywhere just throwing out the nets so that immediately the wary fish are warned away & swim the other direction & resent you & your actions & warn others away from it, you'll soon be losing your fishing ground!
70. So if you want to survive in an open situation like that where you're open to the public & you're on display & vastly advertised, [DELETED] then don't go around broadcasting. [DELETED] Just go around trying to find the open ones, very carefully, prayerfully, [DELETED] seeking out the lost sheep, & not just casting your pearls & holy food every direction in the mud & amongst the dirty swine & hounds & wolves!
71. These Schools were in a sense intended to be [DELETED] a new type of approach to approach heathen in their own heathen land under other religions, to try to kind of get under their skin without slapping them in the face with it. But every time you go out to public meetings & insist on driving people to a public decision, you are offending people & slapping the vast majority of them in the face! They're going to be offended & the Family's not going to last there very long.
72. If you want to stay in some of those countries much longer, the smartest thing you can do is try to [DELETED] not be too [EDITED: "pushy"] about who you are, what you are & what you're doing.--Which again shows the advantage of personal, individual soul-winning, without fanfare, public advertising or huge public meetings at which you force them to make a decision!--Maybe against you!
73. Let's face it, in such meetings you force them to make a decision! When you ask for a decision, then you're forcing them to make a choice. You say, "Well, it's voluntary, they don't have to." Oh yes they have to, they have to! There's no neutrality! You can't just stand there & do nothing, say nothing, when you're asked to lift your hand or "pray this little prayer with me". They either have to do it, or they have to refuse to do it.
74. So if you want to last in some of those situations, I think the smartest thing to do is keep [DELETED] your profile low. [DELETED]
75. (Maria: Another point is that our people have to have an awful lot of discernment, which very few of them seem to have, to really know what people are thinking & what their actual attitude is. Often you just can't tell. Most Easterners & Orientals have a wonderful talent, a gift for just acting nice even when they're fuming inside & when they don't like you.) As some businessmen have said, the Orientals can be two-faced to the extreme! They can be nice to your face & stab you in the back! Because hospitality & politeness & courtesy, above all else, is really their religion.--To seem good!
76. (Maria: When they come on our turf it's easier for us to tell if they're really sincere & genuine. But in those big public meetings, like you said, no matter how much they clap or they even pray, "Jesus come into my heart" or they nod or whatever they do, there's no way to really tell if they mean it or not.) The Enemy is a liar from the beginning, the father of liars, & the father of deceit & the Great Deceiver.--Jn.8:44. So his people are like him, they will lie & deceive & will do their best to fool you.
MORE COUNSEL RE: LIT DISTRIBUTION AT GP MEETINGS!
77. (Maria: I have one more question, do you definitely think that they should go ahead & pass out lit with an invitation on it, "Dear Jesus, please come into my heart?") What kind of lit? (Maria: Well, if they're going to wholesale pass out something like that, I don't know if they should use Posters, maybe they could come up with some little thing that they could Xerox.)
78. In those Eastern, pagan, non-Christian countries, I would advise against it. When I said yes, I had the Posters in mind right then, that they've got all that kind of lit already, & it's already got the salvation message on it. But I would say that the best kind of lit for some of them right now would be their School Brochures & Flyers, neither of which has an invitation on it, neither of which really preaches the Gospel or plan of Salvation or anything. I'd say that's the only thing they ought to be passing out publicly to everyone, which are both invitations to visit & see a sample.
79. That's all they need to pass out in such GP meetings in such pagan countries, & certainly no outright Gospel literature. I just thought you had in mind that you felt you had to pass out something in the way of Gospel literature, that somebody was pushing for passing out Gospel literature, & the picture that immediately came to mind was the Posters. If that's all you've got to pass out, well, the Salvation prayer & invitation is on there, & that's it. But I was just comparing that as being better than forcing a public decision in a meeting.
80. I said, "Well, that's better, at least it's a private invitation & they can do it privately one way or the other." You're not pushing it, you're not forcing it, you're not asking for it publicly. I was just comparing & saying that the literature is a far better approach with such audiences, the Gospel invitation on the literature is certainly better than a public forced decision. But the best thing--not better, but the best thing--under those circumstances with those kinds of people, is what they've already got, their advertisements & brochures, that's all they need. As far as I'm concerned, in a completely pagan situation like that, that's all they should push publicly or in mass distribution, & even that's a little risky.
81. (Maria: If a crowd is mostly younger teens who probably won't ever get the opportunity to come visit a School, would we want to give them a stronger witness?) It depends on what you mean by witness. Just standing in front of them is a witness, especially if you're singing them our songs about Heaven & showing & telling them how happy we are in the Lord. (Maria: But that doesn't necessarily bring them to a decision.) It's one thing to witness, it is another thing to force a decision. (Maria: We may never see them again.) If they get curious enough, interested enough, desperate enough, they could find a way somehow.--And even if they can't visit, they can always write you for more information or lit!--Give'm Posters!
82. You've got to leave some things up to the Lord! At least if you have given them a brochure, they've got something to tell them where they can find you or where they can write you. If they've seen your program, they get a little idea what it's all about, & if they're hungry, they'll follow the invitation & come to see you. The point is, we don't have to [EDITED: "come on as"] Christian evangelists & missionaries who are trying to change their religion!--Just give'm Jesus!
83. Let's stop forcing public decisions! Search out, invite & personally witness to the truly hungry & sincerely interested, & we'll get a lot further & last a lot longer! Amen?
Copyright (c) 1998 by The Family
