Cheon Seong Gyeong (Ⅱ) - 9 - 3 - 5. Witnessing and Pastoral Care

[대태양/김현수]

BOOK 9. HOME CHURCH AND THE TRIBAL MESSIAH

CHAPTER 3. The Mission of a Church Leader

Section 5. Witnessing and Pastoral Care

1 Considering the current situation of the Unification Church, we cannot expect any innovative developments in the future as long as the leaders cling to the same methods they have been using thus far. We must not just hold on to old ways of thinking, old attitudes, old methods of witnessing or existing approaches to faith. This is because these methods have not met our expectations in bringing results. It would be different had we achieved good results. However, since we have not, we should abandon our conventional faith and life, as well as witnessing methods, and transform ourselves into new and different people. Unless we come up with a new attitude of faith, a new attitude in life and new activities, it will be difficult to bring new development.( 030-120,19700321)

The standard of heart comes first

2 We all need to grow. However, before we pursue growth, more important is cultivating a pure heart. Therefore you need to take the time to pray and offer devotion. You should not offer devotion just the way you are. First you need to clean up your past. If your old concepts persist, you should consider where those concepts could drag you. You who are immersed in old concepts and stubbornly cling to them must eval‎uate yourself, and determine whether your past was pure. If you believe you were pure, consider whether you have been good and whether you are currently situated in a good position. Also, you need to eval‎uate whether your desires are pure. What is pure goodness? It is not living for your own sake. It is not strengthening yourself. Goodness is serving and attending God, as the owner of goodness. The owner of goodness is God, not fallen people.( 036-106,19701122)

3 When you go out to rural areas to witness, you should first attain internal unity with the people of that village. Internal unity refers to unity of heart. Then you need to attain unity with their life and thoughts. This means that your mind and body need to unite centered on God, as a reality in daily life. In other words, the mind attains a state of total unity with God, and then the body surrenders to the mind. That is how you connect the three points of formation, growth and completion. Do not follow this path just as an individual, but also take people with you as you travel this path.( 013-302,19640412)

4 Some church leaders believe they have reached the standard of Heavens perfection and demand that others serve, attend and honor them. This is very wrong. The position of a parent is to serve others rather than to be served; to live for the sake of others rather than to have others live for them. From the viewpoint of brothers and sisters, a church leader is in the position of Abel. From the viewpoint of a parent, a church leader is in a parent-child relationship with members. That is why it is very wrong for a leader to think that Cain should serve him or her in the position of Abel. For what does Abel exist? Abel exists to restore the position of a parent. Therefore you cannot become Abel without first having the heart of a parent. That is the principle. Yet many have forgotten that their position is to become a parent, thinking of themselves only as Abel in a relationship between siblings. You need to rid yourself of that wrong concept as quickly as possible.( 035-258,197010)

5 We have plenty of content by which to grow. We are also fully equipped with the favorable conditions and environment that have been given to us in this age. Then why are we unable to grow? It is because we are not adding anything to the people of this age or to the environment they are living in. Simply put, we are not benefiting them in any way. Although we are unable to benefit others materially, if we can make people feel deeply that they can benefit from us spiritually or mentally, then they are bound to come to church even if told not to come.( 056-016,19720510)

6 Why is our church not growing? It is because the church fails to take care of new members to the end. Instead of showing greater interest in them as time passes, the church pays attention to them only when they are being witnessed to. Once they join the church, they are neglected. The church needs to pay attention to new members for at least three years, no matter what. Why is this the case? People's spirituality develops gradually. Their state when they first listened to the Principle is different from their state one year later. After a year they are able to understand the multidimensional content of the Principle both internally and externally. The more deeply they understand its content, the thirstier they become. They have a craving to learn more about the Principle, and they will want to meet people who can teach them about it. Therefore the church needs to invest more time in such people. It needs to make a detailed plan about how it will satisfy the internal cravings of their hearts.( 029-191,19700228)

7 Why can’t the church grow? It is because its leaders do not live for the sake of others. Therefore the spirit world does not cooperate with them. The leaders know how to tell the members what to do, but they do not know that they need to run errands for the members. Therein lies the problem. The church cannot grow because the leaders are not willing to live ninety-five percent of their lives for others.( 134-254,19850720)

8 Witnessing is the activity of leading people to leave Satan's world behind and follow the path to Heaven with a smile. It is an activity to guide them to the heavenly kingdom. When you try to witness to others, I see you telling them forcibly, "Come, come," regardless of whether they want to or not. You should not do that. People are spiritual beings. So, as an experiment, try praying for a certain person. Try loving that person sincerely and shedding tears with an anguished heart to bring that person before the Will. Then study what happens. The issue is how you can truly advance to the position where you can love that person more than his or her parents do. It is a battle. The issue is whether you can win over that person by demonstrating a heart greater than that of his or her mother and father.( 050-279,1971 1108)

9 Abel is in the plus position whereas Cain is in the minus position. In relation to Satan's world, you are in the position of plus, or Abel. Witnessing is to bring the plus of Satan's world to obey, so that it can become the minus of Heavens world. Thus, witnessing is the act of creation. That is, it is to re-create that person so that he or she unites with you. Therefore, you should be glad to witness to him or her. You should do it joyfully. When God created heaven and earth, did He do it out of joy or sorrow? He did it out of joy. Likewise, you should invest amazing love for that person rather than thinking about the difficulties and hardships of witnessing. Thinking that you exist for others, if you care for others you will become their subject partner. You can re-create others by investing yourself. When their re-creation is completed you become their subject partner, and they will all happily bow their heads before you.( 108-084,19800622)

Our attitude to witnessing

10 How should you witness to people? Do not just wander around aimlessly every day. Visit one hundred homes and choose ten of them, and out of those ten homes choose one person. Then concentrate on conveying the Word to that one person. I tell you, focus on the goal of witnessing to one person a month. To attain this, you must offer devotion and work hard during that month. After witnessing to that one person, you should tell him or her, "Just as I have done for you, you should witness to your relatives with devotion." If you establish such a tradition and guide others to do the same, you will certainly do well. By following this uniform method of witnessing to one person per month, a horizontal expansion of witnessing will unfold from one person to another, and membership will markedly increase.( 042-158,19710304)

11 You say that you go out witnessing, but what is witnessing? It is showing the way. You are showing the way for the world to return to God. How wonderful this work is. If you ask a person's original mind, "Where are you going?" it would reply, "Oh! After passing through this world, I shall return to the heavenly kingdom." You are pioneering the way for people to do just that; how marvelous this task is!( 117-102,19820214)

12 Religion until now has been focused on individual salvation. However, that kind of religion is bound to decline. It will come to an end. Even if it has become a worldwide religion, it will have to be resurrected once again. It must do so at all costs. Religious believers, Christians in particular, maintain their faith in order to save their individual lives. But for what purpose? They assert that they will be saved and go to the kingdom of heaven, but they should not have such a purpose. Even if you go to the kingdom of heaven, what are you going to do there all by yourself? You should be living a life of faith that aims to bring all humankind with you into the kingdom. If you live that way, you cannot help but witness to others even if you are told not to witness. You cannot help but practice goodness, even if you are told not to.( 035-205,19701014)

13 You go out to witness not only to save Cain but also to save yourselves. In other words, witnessing is the path of taking action to receive certificates from God and Satan. You should strive, even fight, to make the conditions that will entitle you to receive those certificates. You should witness with this understanding. But did any of you understand this when you went out witnessing? All of you have been going out without knowing why. Hence the greatest enemy is not Satan, but yourself. You stand in the position of the enemy; therefore the enemy Satan chases you. For this reason, always keep in mind that you yourself are the enemy. That is because the enemy manifests through your own body. To put it another way, because we are connected to Satan through our bloodline, our bodies stand in the position of the enemy.( 040-252,19710206)

14 If by offering your life you can overcome evil, God's love will come to you and you will recover your life. This is the formula. It is like placing weights on a scale: if one side goes down, the other side goes up. If you eliminate much evil, good will go up; if evil increases, good will go down. You will receive love to the same extent as the evil you eliminate. That is also why God told you to love Him more than anyone else. He told you this because the more you love Him, the more love you can receive from Him. You have loved God, and that is why you can receive more love from Him.( 040-243,19710206)

15 When you are witnessing, you ought to devote yourself and pray, clinging to God and shedding tears, "Please guide me so that I may not fail You in connecting with this person whom You have prepared for me today. Please allow me to become a person whom everyone here can welcome and who can motivate each of them." Try going out witnessing with such a heart. If you neglect to do this and go out unwillingly, even if you meet the nicest per-son in the village, that person will reject you and drive you away. You need to go through such experiences in your daily life. You need to realize on your own through experimentation, "Ah, God is with me in this situation, but He is not with me in that situation." You can then develop yourself and cultivate your character to reach the world of God's heart. It is no good if you just sit around harboring greed in your heart and thinking only about what you can gain.( 050-314,1971 1108)

16 Witness to people through your boundless giving. When you have done so, those who do not respond will be summoned by Heaven. They will have no excuse. Once goodness is sown, it will always be reaped. Hence when a good person calls you, if you do not respond to that person, you will face consequences. Although goodness has extended its hand, if no results ensue, that neighborhood and even the neighboring villages will be entangled in the snares of Satan. When you go out witnessing in a certain place, the ancestors who have good connections there will try to gather their descendants and guide them to meet you. Because they know the basic principle they try to guide their descendants, even by appearing in their dreams.( 050-315,1971 1108)

17 Have you ever wept and prayed all through the night for the sake of the person you are witnessing to? I am asking whether you have shed tears for that person more than you would at the death of your father or mother, or even your lover. If you have not, then you should. You should weep bitterly throughout the night. If only you could save one life, is there anything you would not spare? Money, clothes or a house would not even be an issue. Be crazy about loving people.( 034-270,19700913)

18 To witness, you need to study people’s psychology. You should be able to tell whether a person would like something just by looking at his or her facial expressions and manner of walking. Learn the formulas to analyze people's emotions. You should be able to tell just from listening to your wife's footsteps whether or not she has had a good day. When your wife comes into the room, suppose you asked her, "Why are you upset?" She would be at a loss for words because it would seem you already knew everything before seeing her. You should live your life in such a way. When you pray for someone out of interest, that person is bound to take an interest in you.( 042-174,19710103)

19 When you go out witnessing, your heart should be totally different from yesterday. In other words, you should think as you start the day, "In the past I went forth with such and such a heart, but today I resolve to undertake the work with a new heart." By thus changing your resolve and your motivation you will surely bring good results. However, if instead you set out more depressed than before, with a heart worse than yesterday, you will inevitably retreat. The more you continue working in such a way, the more destruction you will bring upon yourself. Moreover, if you spread that negativity to everyone else, no matter how great your purpose and how strong your inner resolve, you will find yourself completely stuck, at a standstill, and unable to advance, no matter how hard you try.( 042-066,19710221)

20 All people, regardless of who they are, need to walk the path of restoration centered on the Word. On that path, before you can reach the position to indemnify the national level, you first need to complete the indemnity on the tribal level. Then you can appoint someone to stand on your behalf and defend you from opposition by the tribe. He or she can also defend you from opposition by other families. Once you have set up your tribal representatives, they can stop all such attacks. That is why we are witnessing. Even when we have climbed up high, we still need to establish successors and expand the ground on which our successors can follow our path. They too will defend us from opposition. That is why it is necessary to witness.( 040-249,19710206)

21 We do not witness with weapons; rather, we witness with love. Our victory is based on saving Cain through the love of Abel. It is to restore with true love those who were conquered by false love. This is the only way we can return to the original world, a world devoid of conflict. If we were to witness by any other means or method, Satan would still have some tricks left up his sleeve; he could employ other means and methods. Jesus, even on the way to his death, until the final moment of his life, established the way of love. Since he was not able to completely establish the course of saving Cain in his lifetime, through his death he demonstrated the way to open the gate to Cain's salvation.( 040-249,19710206)

22 We do not witness to benefit the Unification Church. We witness not to save our church, but to save the nation. Furthermore, we witness to save the world. Our purpose is different from that of Christians. They witness for the growth of their own denomination, but we do not witness for our own sake. Even if the Unification Church were to become perfect in and of itself, it needs ultimately to find the way to save the nation. If we walk the path to perfect the nation, even if we have to abandon the church, we move to a higher level of perfection. Since that path is more worthy, we need to seek the nation even at the sacrifice of the church.( 063-188,19721014)