HomeARC ML 1819
WITHOUT LOVE IT'S NOTHING! DO 1819 7/84--"Above all things have fervent love!"--1Peter 4:8.
1. IF YOU DON'T HAVE LOVE, ALL YOUR TALENTS ARE NO GOOD AT ALL! (1Cor.13) You have to be loving in the first place, you have to be sympathetic & understanding of people's problems. When they write letters of instruction, request or rebuke, our leadership needs to be conscious of the hardships of the poor little struggling missionary on the field with little or no money, having a hard enough time just getting the most necessary things done each day. Then all of a sudden you give him tough new rules or more complicated requirements or assignments.
2. YOU'VE GOT TO SELL THEM FIRST OF ALL ON THE NEED, encourage them, start with something encouraging, with your encouraging paragraph thanking God for all the wonderful work they've been doing, the marvellous articles they've been sending & beautiful photos! Compliment them & encourage them first of all on what they have done & thank'm!
3. DID YOU EVER HAVE TO WRITE LETTERS FOR SUPPORT?--I'll tell you, Brother, you need to encourage & thank people to begin with & compliment them for their faithfulness & their support & all that sort of thing. People have to be lifted up before you can give them what to them is bad news:--More work or more complicated requirements or even a rebuke.
4. SO YOU'VE GOT TO START OFF ON A POSITIVE NOTE. FOR EXAMPLE, IF YOU'RE GOING TO ASK THEM TO CHANGE THEIR PROCEDURE FOR DOING FN ARTICLES, YOU SAY, "WE HAVE A WONDERFUL NEW FORMAT FOR YOU THAT'S GOING TO SAVE YOU TIME & TROUBLE & is going to be so much easier. It'll be more quickly & easily readable & at the same time save space in the FN & ensure greater security & economy!" You're getting around to the nitty-gritty now, but you attack it from the positive-salesmanship standpoint.
5. FIRST YOU NEED TO GIVE YOUR SALESMANSHIP TALK ON WHAT A GREAT ADVANTAGE IT'S GOING TO BE & how it's going to save them time & paper & money & the whole Family's going to enjoy it more. "We'll be able to get in more articles & more news & greater variety, more readability, much larger type in some instances, so many advantages! Just think of all the wonderful advantages there are!" Then you say, "Now in order to enjoy these advantages, we're going to have to make a few simple, minor changes."
6. DON'T MAKE IT SOUND NEGATIVE, LIKE THEY'RE LOSING SOMETHING, TRY TO ALWAYS SOUND POSITIVE!--NOT HARD & NEGATIVE & GET-TOUGH & "YOU'D BETTER DO SO-&-SO!" They've got enough problems on the field. You need to pity these poor little missionaries trying to raise their support & trying to write us articles or letters hoping that they'll get something out of it. You've got to be appreciative & conscious of the problems & needs of personnel & supervising personnel, you've got to be loving & encouraging, first thing, & then softly bring in any changes.
7. YOU NEED TO BEGIN WITH THE POSITIVE SIDE & GIVE A SALESMANSHIP TALK, then give the new dimensions & whatever particulars about it, then wind it up with another sales talk, how much better this is going to be & how much everybody's appreciating the new format so much better, how it's so much more readable & has so much more variety. Tell'm how much easier it is for us to print & mail etc. etc. Think of all the advantages you can, & first of all the advantages to them. The advantages to us doesn't make that much difference. In the first part you could put all the advantages to them.
8. I'VE ALWAYS TOLD YOU THIS, THAT WITH MOST LETTERS OR CORRESPONDENCE OF ANY KIND, PUT YOUR BEST FOOT FORWARD, THE WEAKEST POINT OR THE SADDEST NEWS IN THE MIDDLE, THEN END ON ANOTHER POSITIVE NOTE. Then maybe explain to them in the last paragraph why this is necessary, why we're doing it, in order to simplify the printing, to make it more economical, easier, faster, & more secure for mailing etc. "Now instead of big, bulky, suspicious-looking packages, you'll get your pubs in an entirely new form, looking like an ordinary business letter in an ordinary business envelope so as to attract as little attention as possible of any inquisitive people."
9. THE FAMILY WASN'T BUILT ON JUST TOUGH RULES, IT'S FIRST OF ALL BUILT ON LOVE & CONSIDERATION & SYMPATHY & COMPASSION! Jesus was tired out & tried to retire inside the house one day, but He looked out & there were thousands of people gathered there wanting healing. And He went out, it says, & He healed them all because He had compassion upon the multitude! (Mat.14:14)
10. IF YOU DON'T HAVE COMPASSION, IF YOU DON'T HAVE LOVE, IF YOU'RE NOT DOING THIS BECAUSE "THE LOVE OF CHRIST CONSTRAINETH ME" & you're sorry for these poor people & you want to help them & you're trying to do the best you can, if you can't sell them on that idea, then cold, hard, chop-chop-chop rules are never going to get you anywhere! They're going to give up & get discouraged & down-hearted & say, "Oh, this is too tough, I don't even understand this!" You have to have sympathy for & understanding of the people on the field & their problems & their simple-mindedness. You must always start off positively & sympathetically & complimentary & praising & encouraging & sympathising & making them feel like, "Well, it's been worth it all in spite of all the problems & everything."
11. EVEN WITH A LITTLE INSTRUCTION LIKE THIS, FOR MANY, EVEN A SMALL CHANGE IS A MAJOR CHANGE, & YOU'VE GOT TO SELL'M ON IT FIRST OF ALL, FIRST & LAST. Put the change in the middle & make it sound entirely positive. Use words that don't say "must" or "gotta" or whatever, but "you will so-&-so." Even in the Army that's the way they wrote rules. They didn't say you must or you've gotta or you have to do so-&-so, they just said "from now on you will do so-&-so or we'll expect you to do so-&-so". It's a nice soft way of putting it, in a way, but it's quite emphatic & evident that you're going to do this from now on!--Or even, "Will you please hereafter do so-&-so?"
12. YOU'VE GOT TO WRITE THINGS LIKE THAT IN LOVE.--And with sympathy & a consciousness of their problems & what they're up against. They're already almost half out of their mind with problems & raising support & resisting enemies & trying to do missionary work & everything, so that they can hardly think straight about anything technical & mathematical or any burdens more than they already have. Make it as simple as possible! Make it so simple that little Techi would understand it, that's about how simple-minded some people are.--Put it in the simplest possible terms.
13. YOU CAN BE SWEET, QUIET, WONDERFUL, FAITHFUL, loyal, diligent & hard-working, but it's not enough if you don't seem to know people very well or the problems of being a self-supporting, faith-living missionary! We need to have people who love the missionaries & who are so sorry for them & so sympathetic they could almost cry just thinking about them & are trying to do everything they can to help them & be easy on them & make it easy for them! People like that have got to write the letters! Peter, you've got a heart for them, I know that. I've seen it, I've read it, I've felt it. You've got a tender heart for those missionaries, & that's what you've got to have if you're going to love these people & you're going to lead them! You've got to be a shepherd & take them up in your arms lovingly & try to help them, especially when they're out there crippled, trying to operate.
14. SOME OF OUR FAMILY OFFICE PEOPLE, SAD TO SAY, THEIR HEART JUST ISN'T IN IT. They are told to do it & that's it. I guess they've been in technical work so long, business & office, but I don't see how you can even be a business manager like you, or an office worker without having love & compassion for the sheep! What the Hell are you in it for? What are you doing this work for, anyhow, if you don't really love the sheep?--If you don't have compassion for them & sympathy for them & you're not really trying to help them & make it easier for them & encourage them, inspire them, sell them!
15. WHAT DO YOU THINK MADE THIS OUTFIT IN THE FIRST PLACE?--SOMEBODY WAS CONCERNED, SOMEBODY LOVED THE PEOPLE, SOMEBODY WAS SORRY FOR THEM & WANTED TO HELP THEM OUT OF THEIR MESS & GET THEM STARTED ON THE RIGHT TRACK! But you couldn't just start hitting them over the head with the Bible, you had to do like Jesus did, come down to their level, live with them, see their problems, sympathise with them. "We have not a High Priest that cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities, but was in all things tempted like as we are." (Heb.4:15) He suffered the same things & went through the same things, & if you haven't been through these same things, if you don't know what it's like to be a faith missionary out on the field living by faith & trying to raise your support with one hand while you're trying to garner the sheaves with the other, then it's no wonder if you haven't got any understanding or sympathy or concern or real empathy for these people!
16. MY GOD, SOME OF OUR LEADERS NEED TO READ THE 13TH CHAPTER OF 1ST CORINTHIANS EVERY DAY LIKE DEAR OLD DR. KOGER USED TO! I mean it! I think they ought to have that assignment, to understand what love is. They need some recent experience on the field, living like a faith missionary under the sacrifices & the privations & the sufferings & the crucifixions of these missionaries & what they go through!--Self-supporting faith missionaries living by faith, having to earn their own living at the same time they're trying to preach the Gospel!
17. THANK GOD, PETER, YOU WERE IN SEVERAL DIFFERENT COLONIES & LIVING UNDER FAITH CIRCUMSTANCES SEVERAL TIMES, WEREN'T YOU? (Peter: Yes, Sir.) So can't you appreciate their problems? I know you can, I can tell by the way you write your letters & the loving way you begin them, showing them sympathy, encouragement & that you're trying to help them!
18. I DON'T EVEN THINK YOU CAN BE A GOOD SALESMAN UNLESS YOU HAVE A LOT OF LOVE! What makes a good salesman?--Somebody who's sincere, who's sold on his product! He's convinced that it will really be a help to the people he's trying to sell & can convey that sincerity & conviction, that, "You've gotta buy this & I'm selling it to you at the least I possibly can to make it easier for you to do the job" or do your work or whatever it is. I've seen some TV commercials in the U.S. that fall flat as a flounder, but some of them are almost as clever as the Devil, to really make it sound like they're concerned about you & your health, your beauty, your comfort! "We're trying to help you, we really sympathise with your problems, we really want to assist you in some way. Now here's the way we'd like to do it & we're doing the best we can to do it & we've made it as cheap as we possibly can. Look, it's a bargain, how can you do without it?"--Salesmanship!
19. REAL SALESMANSHIP, ESPECIALLY IN OUR BUSINESS OF PREACHING THE GOSPEL, HAS GOT TO HAVE LOVE, OR IT WILL NEVER GO OVER, IT'LL NEVER SELL! You could boil down the whole thing to maybe four paragraphs: One paragraph of encouragement & sympathy etc., just to them about them & their work. Then when you've said all this about how wonderful they are & what a wonderful job they're doing & what a sacrifice & all that, complimenting, encouraging & inspiring, all about them, then go to your sales talk & say: "Well, now here's a way we're trying to help you & which is going to get out your message to tens of thousands of people so you'll be able to tell'm what you're doing & you'll be able to get more support for what you're doing. We're trying to help you, & here's how we're going to help you!" Sell it! Give all the advantages!--Not bing, bang, bang, zap'm right between the eyes with a big mandatory change they don't even understand the necessity for.
20. PARAGRAPH ONE, TALK ALL ABOUT THEM, PARAGRAPH TWO, SELL THE IDEA, PARAGRAPH THREE, GIVE THE DETAILS!--And make them so simple a little child could understand them, because that's about the intelligence level of some of our folks.--Especially when their mind is full of everything else under the sun, & this is one little chore they just almost hate to have to do! It's gotta be done every month, but they don't particularly relish it.
21. I MUST SAY THAT WRITING PRAYER LETTERS WAS NOT ONE OF MY FAVOURITE THINGS!--HA!--IT WAS A HARD JOB & A CHORE! But once I got down to that typewriter & I really prayed & asked the Lord to help me, I'd get inspired! First thing I'd do is thank them for their help & their prayers & for what a wonderful job they were doing to help us & support us in their eternal investments & dividends in souls forever, I mean just really give'm a sales talk! Then I'd tell'm what an advantage it would be for them to support this or that. You've read my letters.
22. THEN FINALLY GET DOWN TO THE NITTY-GRITTY OF DETAILS OR WHATEVER YOU'RE ASKING THEM TO DO, & WIND UP AGAIN WITH A WHIRLWIND OF ENCOURAGEMENT & punch & "Thank God! Look what we're doing, look what we've accomplished, look how much more we're going to be able to do if you'll just comply with this request, & we'll have more variety & we'll have more in it & it'll be easier reading etc. etc." Sort of repeat, in a way.
23. THE CHAIN WAS HARD, TOUGH, COLD, CRUEL, UNFEELING, DICTATORIAL & TYRANNICAL, WITH HARDLY AN ENCOURAGING WORD IN THE WHOLE THING!--Nothing to sell'm, nothing to make them feel like they had feelings for them, nothing! We've gotten out of the Chain, but it doesn't seem we've been able to get the Chain out of some of these people!
24. WE NEED PEOPLE FIRST OF ALL WITH LOVE! IF THEY HAVEN'T GOT LOVE TO BEGIN WITH, THEY'RE NOTHING & THEY CAN DO NOTHING!--No matter how smart they are or anything. If they don't love our people & love souls & love the field, then they're nothing!--Anybody that's cold & hard & dictatorial & Chain-like & hasn't got real compassion & real love & isn't really concerned for those people in the field certainly doesn't belong in leadership writing letters to the sheep!
25. I DON'T WANT ANYBODY IN OUR LEADERSHIP ANYWHERE IN THE FAMILY THAT'S NOT WORKING FOR THAT ONE REASON, TRYING TO SAVE SOULS, THE LOST TO BEGIN WITH, & TRYING TO HELP THE SOUL-SAVERS!--Really, sincerely, honestly concerned about them, not just doing some kind of formal, mechanical job, going through the motions without the power thereof. (2Tim.3:5) What's the power?--Love! Love! And if they haven't got that power, they haven't got anything! You might as well kick'm out, forget'm!
26. BROTHER, I WANT TO SEE LOVE IN THESE PEOPLE! I see love in our artist's art! I see love in our Creation Overseer's concern even about her flock. I see love in you & Maria! I mean, Maria just lives for others! She has no other purpose in living, she won't even take care of herself hardly, she doesn't even hardly think about herself ever, you have to think for her & you've got to think of her & care for her or she'll neglect herself. "He saved others, Himself He couldn't save." (Mk.15:31)
27. IF WE'VE GOT PEOPLE IN OUR WS UNITS & THE FAMILY LEADERSHIP THAT ARE JUST THERE BECAUSE IT'S A GOOD JOB & a soft pad & luxury-living & they don't have to worry about raising their own support any more or living by faith, & they're not even concerned about the lost or the missionaries & that's not their primary burden, what are they doing? I mean it!
28. LOVE IS THE LIFE'S BLOOD OF THIS WORK!--THE SPIRIT OF GOD! As my Mother used to say, if the baptism of the Holy Spirit is anything at all, it is a baptism of Love! Nearly everybody I work with seems to have a real love & humility, which is a part of it, compassion. Just because a guy knows office work is not enough. Just because a guy knows how to use a typewriter or computer is not enough. Just because a guy knows the motions & the routine & the regulations & the little technical aspects, whether it's pubs or mailing or anything, is not enough!
29. YOU KNOW WHY MORDY DOES SUCH A GOOD JOB? LET'S FACE IT, HE HAS A HEART FOR THE WORLD, FOR THE FIELD & THE PEOPLE! He'll work himself to death & spare nothing in order to get those pubs out, because he feels the World needs'm & the people need'm & he risks his life to do it!--And that's the same with all of us! But the letters our Family leadership write must show compassion, love, feeling, sympathy, understanding, comprehension of what the poor person's problem is. And if they have the Spirit of God's Love, they will show these things. You know, some people rub me the wrong way sometimes, but do you know why I can love them & why I can stand them in spite of the fact that theirs & my personality & our astrological signs kind of clash?--Because they're tender-hearted, sympathetic, they break easily, they're humble, they've really got love!
30. BUT BROTHER, IF WE HAVE ONLY GOTTEN THEM OUT OF THE CHAIN & WE HAVEN'T GOTTEN THE CHAIN OUT OF THEM, I DON'T SEE HOW WE CAN HAVE THEM IN ANY POSITION OF RESPONSIBILITY of anything but proofreading & technical work.--Even then they're apt to make mistakes by just being cold, hard, technical & going by the letter of the law instead of the Spirit of God! You've even got to proofread with the Spirit of Love!--Not just the letter of the law & the letter of legality & the laws of punctuation & the laws of grammar & that sort of thing.
31. MY LORD, YOU'VE ESPECIALLY GOTTA HAVE LOVE TO GET IN A KITCHEN & COOK, OR OUT DOING HARD MAINTENANCE WORK! And I'll tell you, I've worked with our boys here & they're all sweet, humble, hardworking, sympathetic, obedient boys who are doing it for love! There's nothing else in this World that could get'm to do all they have to do & live the way they do except for love! The kind of people we have in this Unit are motivated by love. It's not enough motivation if it's only because they love & respect us.
32. IF WE'RE TRAINING PEOPLE TO RUN THE WORLD, WE'VE GOT TO HAVE PEOPLE WHO REALLY LOVE GOD & WHO LOVE THE SHEEP, which is something that obviously Rachel & her outfit & that bunch, Deb & Jeth & Rachel & the whole Chain had very little of! They were just hard, cold, tough, money-grabbing taskmasters!--It just offends me to be around that kind of people.
33. I THINK ALL OUR PEOPLE HERE & I HOPE IN OUR OTHER UNITS AROUND THE WORLD ARE VERY SWEET & VERY HUMBLE & REALLY TRY HARD TO PLEASE, they must have some love & they must have some humility. As we think over the people in this house, we can hardly think of one who is not humble & loving & hard-working & sweet & faithful & loyal & serving in the humblest tasks & is proving it & has proven it. But do they really understand what we're in this business for? Do they understand what it's all about & have a real concern & love & burden & sympathy & empathy for the poor people out there?--The lost souls, number one--but maybe that's number two--most of all for our people, God's sheep!
34. AFTER ALL, THE LORD LOVES HIS OWN PEOPLE MOST OF ALL! HE'D LIKE TO SAVE THE WORLD & SAVE THE SOULS, BUT HE LOVES HIS OWN CHILDREN MOST! I mean, you can't help but love your own children the most. If I saw one of our neighbour's little children suffering or something, I'd have compassion for them, I'd be concerned about them, but there's just something different about your own children, that's all, you can't help it. They're your responsibility. They're the children God has given you & they're the ones you're supposed to take care of, & that's why He gave them to you. My neighbour's children are a secondary responsibility, my lost neighbours are a secondary responsibility, but our first responsibility is the House of God, the Children of God! Our first responsibility is God's House! And how could we be expected to rule the rest of the World if we don't know how to have love at home?
35. THAT'S THE STORY, BROTHER, IF IT'S NOT LOVE, IT'S NOTHING! IF IT'S NOT IN LOVE, IT'S NOTHING! Maybe that's a good title for this.
36. THANK YOU LORD FOR ALL WE HAVE ACCOMPLISHED IN SPITE OF ALL OF OUR MISTAKES, FRAILTIES, WEAKNESSES & SIMPLE-MINDEDNESS. Help us to even be a little MORE simple-minded so the people we're writing to can understand us. Help us to make it simple, make it short & make it sympathetic most of all. Help us write to a child & make it so simple, make it so loving they'll ALL understand & want to DO it!--Amen? GBY! Thanks for your love! Thank God for your love!--And GBAKY LOVING ABOVE ALL Forever, in Jesus' name, amen!--Are YOU loving enough?--Am I?--ILY!--D.
Copyright (c) 1998 by The Family
