DO 1881 1/85—Are They Good for You & the Family?

1. I REALISE THAT IN THE BIBLE NEW DISCIPLES JUST QUIT THEIR JOBS ON THE SPOT & that was the usual method. Sometimes if people hang on too long they don't quit at all. But it seems that in due consideration on any job they ought to give some kind of notice. If they haven't got the strength to give at least one or two week's notice, if they're so weak they've got to quit quick or they won't, I wonder if they're really strong enough to stand everything else?

2. (MARIA: LOOK AT OUR CATACOMBERS WHO HAVE TO GO ON IN THE SYSTEM FOR YEARS!) And it's certainly a bad testimony to their employers, school administrators or whoever to just quit without notice, boom, not even a day's notice, & to their parents too.—Which sure made all Hell let loose on this particular Asian girl I just read about in the FN, but she stood strong anyhow‚ God bless her for that!

3. BUT I DON'T THINK IT'S RIGHT‚ I DON'T THINK IT'S CHRISTIAN, I DON'T THINK IT'S A GOOD TESTIMONY TO WALK OUT ON EMPLOYERS & LEAVE THEM FLAT. What kind of a Christian is that, when you know that they need you & need somebody & you've promised to be there & help them & then you walk out?

4. I DIDN'T JUST WALK OFF & LEAVE MY EMPLOYER, THE DISTRICT ATTORNEY IN MIAMI, WITHOUT NOTICE. I mean they really would have been left on the spot because I was a file clerk & typist, handling summonses & all kinds of stuff & that's why they hired me in the first place, because they were desperate for someone to carry that load.

5. SO WHEN THE LORD SHOWED ME I WAS TO QUIT MY JOB & HE'D TAKE CARE OF HIS OWN IF I'D TAKE CARE OF HIS WORK FULLTIME, I WALKED IN & GAVE MY BOSS NOTICE & EXPLAINED to him why, that that was my first calling & first place, that I was a preacher of the Gospel. And he said, "I certainly understand. I knew that when we hired you." But I said, "I don't want to leave you without any help so I'm giving you two week's notice to find somebody else to fill my place." (Maria: And so you could train someone too.) So I didn't just walk out & leave them in a lurch. That's not love‚ that's not consideration‚ that's not doing unto others as you'd have them do unto you. (Mt.7:12; Rom.13:10)

6. HER ACTIONS JUST BROUGHT DOWN A TON OF PERSECUTION ON HER, MADE EVERYBODY MAD AT HER. The boss threatened to report the Family to the Police & the teacher wrote her a warning letter against false prophets, her father came all the way from their country home in the islands, a 24-hour boat ride, & he was so mad at her! Her sister set up an appointment with a psychiatrist & bought her a ticket home. They tried everything they could to dissuade her, even her friend who had introduced her to the Family cried.

7. THEY ALL GATHERED TOGETHER & TALKED WITH HER FOR ONE WHOLE DAY BUT TO NO AVAIL, she stood her ground, so God bless her for that! I presume it all depends on the situation & the individual, but it looks to me like if it is at all possible, they should show a little more consideration & love to employers & their family to try to ease out of the situation instead of just drop out with an explosion! She said‚ "Nobody could dissuade me, not even Papa." But wouldn't it have been better to perhaps have given her notice to her employer so he could find someone to replace her?—And explain what was happening to her relatives‚ write her father & explain instead of just having the relatives tell him that something terrible was happening to her?

8. THERE WAS A PLACE FOR THAT SORT OF THING & THERE STILL IS A PLACE FOR THAT SORT OF THING UNDER CERTAIN CIRCUMSTANCES THAT WARRANT IT. You have to judge every case on its own, but I would say as a rule it is neither Christian nor a good testimony nor good PR nor wise. It's just plain not smart at all & it's just plain not right to leave them flat like that, a boss at a job. Now at school it doesn't make so much difference because nobody is depending on you. But after some real bad run-ins there in L.A., with tough guys like Josh & Mac creating more enemies than they made friends, when we started having better PR with parents things started going a lot more smoothly. We were pretty radical in the Early Days & we did a lot of that tough stuff & it caused a lot of trouble.

9. I MEAN THE PEOPLE WHO CREATED FREECOG ARE SOME OF THE PEOPLE THEY OFFENDED THERE IN LOS ANGELES by taking in their kids without notice, without even letting the parents have a phone call or informing them where they were or anything, until they had the Police out looking for them! That's great PR! That's a great way to be a Christian & show real consideration for others. If you love your enemies, or even if you don't love your enemies, you ought to love yourselves enough to not cause yourselves so much trouble!

10. WHEN WE STARTED WAKING UP TO THE FACT WE NEEDED TO HAVE BETTER PR WITH THE PARENTS before the kids dropped out, & even went to see the parents & talked to them & explained & tried to part at least in peace & not in pieces‚ things began to go a lot better. In the cases where they were much more diplomatic & handled the situation better‚ & notified the parents etc., letting the boy or girl go home to get their stuff & have a final talk & farewell with the parents & trying to explain the situation, they usually parted much better, at least they didn't usually call the cops! Most of the time the parents were disappointed or angry, but they parted peacefully.

11. BUT EVIDENTLY WE STILL HAVE VESTIGES OF THE OLD GUARD AROUND WHO COUNSEL THE NEW DISCIPLES TO BLAST THEIR PARENTS LIKE HAPPENED IN THIS LAST INCIDENT REPORTED, instead of thanking them & complimenting them & praising them for giving their daughter to the Lord. Well, you know she wouldn't have blasted her parents that way unless she had gotten it from her leaders, who probably told her to say it, "Blast them! Blow them away!" That's typical Old Guard tactics!

12. THE OLD LEADERS NEVER MADE ANY ATTEMPT TO BE DIPLOMATIC or tactful or loving or thoughtful or considerate or tried to explain or anything. You know how they ruled with an iron hand in L.A. They had the waiting room—what did they call it?—The purge room, the forsake-all room or whatever it was, where they made new disciples stay for 24 hours or several days while they were making a decision before they'd even let them into classes! I mean Josh & Mac were just terrible! They were just absolutely ruthless, cruel, harsh, with typical Old Guard methods! Boy, I'll tell you, they wanted them in chains, & the parents raised Hell & so did the authorities! I just don't think that's the way to do it in most cases. If there is any possibility of parting peacefully‚ at least with an attempted explanation, even if it doesn't satisfy the parents, at least they should lovingly try & show consideration & give the boss some notice & a chance to hire somebody in their place etc.

13. BUT JUST TO LEAVE, BOOM, LIKE THAT WITHOUT ANY NOTICE WHATSOEVER‚ just go down the next morning & get your things at your place of work & tell your boss you're leaving, bang, leave him in the lurch with nobody, nothing, that is not Love, that's certainly not good PR & that's certainly not going to win any souls that way! That's not being winsome, that's almost going out of your way to offend-some! I just think it's a mistake. If we haven't learned anything after 15 years, why then we'll sure never learn! "Ever learning but never coming to a knowledge" (2Tim.3:7)—& that certainly seems to be true of some of these people!

14. IF THERE IS ANY POSSIBILITY, THEY SHOULD TRY TO EXPLAIN & NOTIFY them & give them a little notice, a chance to get somebody in their place, & explain a little to the relatives, not just drop out & disappear! Now I'll grant you‚ some places they have to do that because they are pretty sure, they know ahead of time they could be kept prisoner if they don't.

15. (MARIA: BUT THEY SHOULDN'T BE AFRAID OF A LITTLE BIT OF PERSECUTION, right?—Or a little opposition‚ that's one of their first tests.) Sometimes I wonder if they don't just drop out & flee to escape the persecution because they don't want to have to face them or tell them face-to-face. That's not being a witness. That's not being a fearless witness & unafraid to stand up for your convictions. That's just trying to creep out & sneak out without facing the music. (Maria: If they can't pass that first test & they're not that strong, then probably they won't make it anyway.)

16. NO, BECAUSE FRANKLY, IF THEY CAN'T PASS THAT KIND OF TEST, AT LEAST GIVING THE BOSS SOME NOTICE, at least a few days' notice, I wonder if they could stand the tests to come? In all the jobs I quit I always gave them notice & said‚ "I will at least wait until you find somebody else to take my place", & the Lord almost immediately sent someone in to take my place so that I didn't have to wait that two weeks or one month or till the end of the semester when I was teaching‚ which was customary. I always gave them a chance to find somebody else & said I'd stay until they found somebody else to take my place, & the Lord almost always did it immediately. In fact‚ I can't remember a single case where He didn't send someone immediately to relieve me.

17. (MARIA: STUDENTS IN SCHOOL, WHAT KIND OF NOTICE WOULD THEY NEED TO GIVE? In college there is no one who has to take their place.) Usually they have to go back & get their things & sign out etc. & they can at least notify them, give them some explanation of what they're doing & why. If they're going to be afraid to witness at a time like that, when are they ever going to witness? That's the acid test, if they're willing to witness on the spot to their friends & classmates & workmates & boss & family, that's their first witness & that's the acid test. And if they can't take that‚ I doubt if they're going to be strong enough to stay in the Family.

18. JESUS' LAW OF LOVE STILL STANDS: "DO UNTO OTHERS AS YOU'D HAVE'M DO UNTO YOU"! (Mt.7:12; Lk.6:31)—Did you?—Do you?—God help you to have Love, or you have nothing! (1Cor.13)—Amen?

Copyright (c) 1998 by The Family