Cheon Seong Gyeong: Episode 286
Chapter 3: The Mission of a Church Leader
Section 3: A Church Leader's Devotional Life, 16-25
(16) There have been people who were responsible to lay the foundation for the way of the Principle, but who could not fulfill their responsibility. Subsequently, based on the numerous spirits who went to the spirit world, God established a foundation to pass down the same responsibility and bestowed His grace so that the successors on that path could overcome the previous failure. At that time, God did not think of His own situation. Rather, He worked based on their offering of devotion. God worked so they could climb up step by step.
(17) A church leader is in the position of a parent. Parents cannot go to sleep before they have put their children to bed. Unless they get sick, they cannot go to bed early. The parents' heart is such that they shed tears worrying about the future of their sons and daughters who are still immature. When their children experience difficulties in life, the parents will not go to bed without first praying for their children. Likewise, church leaders should feel so concerned about the members that they are unable to sleep. In the quiet moments of early morning or late at night, they should tearfully offer devotion for the church members. That is how leaders can lay a foundation. After raising the members in this way, as their children, what should church leaders do? They should inspire their members to become patriots who live for their country more than for their church. Leaders can do so only if they, in the parent position, set the example.
(18) Upright parents, before telling their children to do something, first educate them properly with love. If you live that way, God will not be able to leave you, even if He wants to. If you become that kind of person, you will have a mysterious and strong power that will automatically attract others' attention. People will have to be interested in you. In the winter, when you make a fire in the stove, people will flock to it. No one has to tell them which stove is hot and which stove is cold; they will know. In the same way you have to become a person that other people flock to. You need to establish your own foundation based on this tradition. Then, with sacrificial determination, you must expand it to a family foundation and then connect it to the tribe and the nation. This is the path that Heaven takes.
(19) What should you do if your leader does something wrong, or makes a mistake? You need to wholeheartedly work with that person to correct the situation. If the leader is beset with problems and has to leave that position, you will become the successor. If you are that kind of person, you will advance wherever you go. No matter how bad your leader may be, if you continuously attempt to unite in heart, that leader will surely be replaced one day. If you are ordered to do something impossible but accomplish it anyway, the leader who gave that direction without personally having fulfilled it will not be in that position much longer. The person who orders others to do what he or she has not done can be likened to a bud that has stopped growing, but the person who faithfully carries out those orders is like a growing bud.
(20) People who are always indebted to others are the rejects of society. No one likes them. They are treated as outsiders. You should not say that a particular leader is bad. Rather you should think, "Under this leader I have a good opportunity to fairly demonstrate my ability and let my results shine." Do so, and everyone around you will recognize you. If your leaders are capable and guide you in detail, how can you claim your own results? Deficiencies in a leader give you a good chance to shine. That is why I am telling you not to complain when other people do, and not to draw back when others do. When the leader dies, you should even have the heart to lead the funeral service for that person, and put flowers on his or her grave. This is how you emerge as the owner.
(21) When you go to a high mountain and pray, you should be able to hear the voices of people around you calling out, "Save me!" You should also sense your ancestors in the spirit world imploring you to save them quickly. They are calling out to you because they want you to fulfill your responsibility for them, as their high priest. That is a role of the high priest, and you have to fulfill your responsibility. A high priest cannot say, "I have a headache," no matter how bad his headache is. He cannot say, "I am exhausted," no matter how tired he is. He cannot rest until God permits him to rest. If he is unable to fulfill his responsibility he has to pay indemnity, and thus, falls ill. To avoid that, he may even need to put himself in the situation to be persecuted. A high priest needs to eat the kind of food that beggars eat, and climb up from there. Also, he should start by wearing the humblest clothes. In this way he should restore everything in every field. If he wants the nation and the people to become one with him, he has to start at the bottom before he can go up. He has to experience the misery of the people. Seen in this light, I am often thankful for the persecution I get. The noise that the outside world is making about us enables my family and our church to pay all the indemnity that needs to be paid.
(22) As a leader, you have to suffer. Suffering means that you are making indemnity conditions. If you pray without sleeping and offer other devotional conditions, what will happen? And if you work hard without resting and do your best to pay external indemnity, what will happen? Attend other people as your kings. That is also paying indemnity. Suppose you attend a very difficult person as if he or she were your lord. Even if that person does not accept your heart of sincere devotion, God will accept it. If that person does not want to follow the Unification Church and leaves, you will inherit all the blessings that his good ancestors had stored up for him. It is a daunting strategy. You will receive All his blessings. You will harvest them and gather them in.
(23) The Unification Church teaches that the individual sacrifices for the family. If that is so, that family too will naturally pay indemnity. Then it will surely be blessed and prosper, and the person who sacrificed himself more than anyone else will become the center. The one who benefited everyone around him will surely become the leader. Do not offer devotion for your own success, or to receive blessings. Rather, offer devotion to be given the grace to become the person who can take responsibility for the whole. You should know clearly that the heavenly principle and history require that we take this path. It is based on this principle that the Unification Church teaches that the individual sacrifices for the family. We do not say this arbitrarily. If you sacrifice yourself in this way, you will become the center of your family. Your family will be blessed and will pass on these blessings to your sons and daughters. Later, when your family expands into a tribe, your family will become the central family of your tribe and the center of all its blessings.
Offering devotions for the members
(24) The person who offers the most devotion becomes the center. God's blessing will manifest through that person. The higher a broadcast antenna is, the farther it can transmit radio waves throughout the world. Even if it is only a few inches higher than others, it can transmit beyond all other radio waves and reach the whole world. We can apply exactly the same logic to the offering of devotion. That is why you have to offer a lot of devotion, investing yourself and forgetting about it. Because this is God's Principle of Creation, the person who invests more than others, and forgets having done so, becomes the eternal leader.
(25) You have to pray. You can offer two types of devotion: for the people and for God. As a spiritual leader, you are in the position of a mediator who links God's life force with the people. Hence, the results depend on how much devotion you offer. If you are completely focused on the cause, placing God at the center of all you do, then the complete result that God desires can be manifested through you. The church members will unite with you according to the degree of your oneness with God. The members will unite with you to the degree you have become one with me. For this reason, you cannot help but think of me as your lifeline. God may be somewhat difficult for you to grasp, but you can think of me even when you are asleep or walking on the street. Try to keep me in mind at all times, day and night. Then the door of the spirit world will open to you. Forget about your own situation. Offering devotion is the fastest way to do this. If you offer devotion, your members will have spiritual experiences involving you. The result will reflect the cause.
FFWPU, USA