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.
         2. WHEN YOU GIVE ANY NEW RULES OR REQUIREMENTS, 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! Compliment them & encourage them first of all on what they have done & thank'm! 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. So you've got to start off on a positive note.
         3. 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. Then you say, "Now in order to enjoy these advantages, we're going to have to make a few simple, minor changes."
         4. 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. 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.
         5. 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.
         6. 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)
         7. 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."
         8. YOU'VE GOT TO WRITE THINGS 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!--Put it in the simplest possible terms.
         9. 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 has got a heart for them, I know that. I've seen it, I've read it, I've felt it. He's 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.

         10. 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!
         11. 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!
         12. 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.
         13. 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. 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.
         14. SO, 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 more little chore they just almost hate to have to do, that's gotta be done every month, but they don't particularly relish it.
         15. 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.
         16. 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!
         17. 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!

         18. 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!
         19. 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!
         20. 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! 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! 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.
         21. IF WE'RE TRAINING PEOPLE TO RUN THE WORLD, WE'VE GOT TO HAVE PEOPLE WHO REALLY LOVE GOD & WHO LOVE THE SHEEP. 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, but most of all for our people, God's sheep!
         22. 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. 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. 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?
         23. 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.
         24. 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?--ILY!--D.


Copyright (c) 1998 by The Family