Cheon Seong Gyeong – Sun Myung Moon

Book Seven - Etiquette And Ceremonies
Chapter Three - Worship Service and Etiquette in Church Life
Section 3. Attitude of a Church Leader

3.1. Church leaders must practice a public life

The person who is a leader of more than a thousand people has been evaluated and approved by the spirit world. (8-223, 1967.6.9)

One does not start out as a central figure with confidence. I, too, have never thought myself as being confident. I realized that before I liked myself, I had to like God and I had to like the one whom God was seeking. How to possess this kind of heart was my endeavor. If I have that heart, there is nothing that is impossible. You must have a mind to make people happier and console the sorrowful person. (70-170, 1974.2.9)

The true shepherd does not say he is the true shepherd. He always quietly embraces God's will and the entire universe in his heart and goes out; he does not make excuses. (3-210, 1957.11.1)

After working hard for the public purpose, you might fall asleep without realizing how tired you are, and yet in the morning you would wake up totally refreshed. From this experience you realize, "Ah, this is the principled way of life!" But if you think, "Well, I slept only three and a half hours last night. Therefore, I should sleep at least six hours, " your entire body will feel as though it weighs a thousand or even ten thousand pounds and you will have pain all over. That is why I tell you not to have such thoughts. (44-160, 1971.5.6)

A leader should not be the first to lie down no matter how tired he may he. He should lie down only after everyone else has lain down. He should be the last to finish praying. Even in his life of faith, he should offer devotion without food, clothes, and shelter. Such is the position of a leader. If he can live that way, he will not perish. (33-169, 1970.8.11)

I am at a loss for words before a devoted person. As leader of the Unification Church, when I am considering which of two people is better, I do not take into account who is handsome, but rather I look at the direction of their mind. In other words, I see whether their mind is public or personal. (31-260, 1970.6.4)

Even when you take your first step in the morning, you should think whether or not it is for the public purpose. And when you go to bed after finishing your daily work, you should reflect on whether or not the day was spent for the public or personal purpose. Furthermore, looking back at the past twelve months of your life or your entire past life, you should reflect on whether or not you led a public life or a personal one. (39-76, 1971.1.9)

The person who is in a public position is pitiful. What if, even though he does his best, he makes a mistake in following God's will and a thousand years of merit goes wrong? He lives with such a serious heart. (46-55, 1971.71S)

We cannot drift along day by day as months pass. If we are not focused on preparing for the new day's advance, then we will become prey for vultures here in the wilderness. (135-279, 1985.12.15)

We are historical pioneers. The pioneer must break through difficult surroundings and advance with a prepared attitude toward a hopeful tomorrow. (The Way of a Spiritual Leader - 63)

Once you take the responsibility, the next thing is to fight and struggle. You must go through a struggle of life and death. In that battle, you should lay the foundation to bring at least three people who oppose you to natural submission during your lifetime. (14-13, 1964.4.19)

You must first have ideological knowledge and then faith that it will work. If your thoughts and faith do not come up to a certain level, then you cannot claim them and they can easily be taken away by someone else. The foundation that I have accomplished and strengthened, and the ground that has roots that are firmly planted, can never be taken away except by the application of a strength and faith that is greater than them. (9-39, 1967.12.24)

What type of heart must you have before taking on responsibility? You must have the determination to exchange your life it you cannot accomplish the responsibility. In that case, a solution will emerge that resolves the core of the problem. (9-142, 1968.1.1)

When you can say, "I have done all that I could have done as a human being. Day and night I have offered my entire heart and extreme dedication, " and God can see you are leaving after having done everything you could, even though you could not complete your mission, then God will return to you in excess of your effort. You should know these things. (56-33, 1972.5.10)

A church leader is like the high priest of that region. You must pray for the people even if you lose sleep. Since you must make offerings in order to save the people, you have to give your full devotion. In an offering, the high priest and God must become one for there to be a response. (9-110, 1960.4.12)

Who must take charge of the religious service? The high priest must. It is not right if a guest takes responsibility for the service. For this reason, you cannot prosper if you do not take a formal gathering seriously. 117-293, 1967.2.15)

It is heavenly law for participants to bow in front of offerings. God comes down to that altar and intervenes. God will help only when you offer all your passion, strength, and effort, and when you speak with more sincerity than you have ever shown in your lifetime. (60-347, 1972.8.18)

Offerings should be made with a serious mind and commitment. Can blessings be given to those who go to their grave after a life of comfort, abundant food, laughter, and dance? Only grass would grow on the graves of such people. But on the graves of those who died shedding blood for the nation, flowers will bloom as long as that nation remains. (16-347, 1971.8.17)

It is not easy to be the teacher of the Unification Church. It is extremely difficult. It feels the same as wearing a prisoner's uniform and walking toward the execution chamber, and yet I am walking that path. You probably do not understand because you have never spent time in prison.

I live in a well-appointed mansion, but I do not need it. I have been trained to live in a hut. I can just as easily live there. I have trained myself to become the best laborer; I can remove my jacket and work on a construction site. If there was someone in prison whom God loved, then I trained my heart to hold on to him, maintain complete dominion over the environment, and become a friend with whom he could shed tears. (85-43, 1976.3.2)

3.2. Devotion and sincerity must be invested to guide members

You should feel the same heart of longing for members as you fell for your first love. (The Way of a Spiritual Leader - 290)

You should stay up all night making devoted efforts to raise core members. If you can offer this effort for three days, they will bond with you and feel grace that will stay with them throughout their lives. If you witness with strong determination, feeling that time is too short, and become anxious when your guests leave because it is late, then the spirit world will cooperate with you. (23-249, 1969.5)

You must first be absolutely dedicated to God's will in order to convey it to others. (23-249, 1969.5)

You should go through indescribable hardships in raising members, just as I have done. If you have a guest at night, you should ask on bended knees for heaven's blessings for that person. For guests who come during the day, you should invite them into the living room and receive them more warmly than you would your own relatives. You should establish a family tradition such that you can say, "Our home is such a home." If you establish such a family tradition, who would those people live for?

Would people with a tradition of warmly receiving others let their church leader starve? Those who let their church leader starve and still ask for blessings should have their mouths filled with sand. (60-308, 1972.8.18)

Even when you talk through the night, you should make it interesting. When you talk past twelve midnight until two or three in the morning and you think, "I wish they would leave. I should get some sleep," they would all run away. Even when it is three or four in the morning, you should be thinking, "I hope they do not go. 1 wish that time would stop." When they return home after experiencing that situation, their spirit will realize how important it was. They will feel sorry and, immediately after eating, will want to go back. I have been working in this manner. (56-51, 1972.5.10)

Whenever we meet anyone, we must not think this is the end of things. Especially if we meet someone centering on God, we must never forget that relationship. Even if that person stops coming to the church, you should not cut him off or despise him. Even if that person falls away, you must never abandon the relationship that you have made with him. (92-162, 1971.3.4)

Therefore, never be discouraged if a member falls away. When a member falls away, a very interesting phenomenon occurs: A person who resembles that person's character, speech, and even the way he walks, will join the church. From every angle, the new person who joins amazingly resembles the person who fell away, and yet he is much better. When you see such a phenomenon, you can understand that sincere investment and prayer are never lost. This is an absolute fact. (42-162, 1971.3.4)

If there is something bad, do not get rid of it right away. Even if there is something bad, you should deal with it, having the flexibility and capacity to find some conditions that will improve it while you keep the bad aspects on hold. If a person is cut off due to a mistake he made a year ago, then he may spiritually die completely. But if he is kept for one, two, or three years in the belief that the mistake is a secondary consideration, then after that time there may be a way for him to live. (72-413, 1974.7.14)

If you love the members who have just joined, then they can quickly set the condition for indemnity. The reason the church is not able to make progress is because this is not being done. This is the reason why God said to love each other and live in harmony. (18-40, 1967.5.15)

In the early years of our church, when I was raising members in Korea, I did not sleep at night. I employed a one-on-one strategy. When I was giving a lecture to one person, I imagined that I was giving it to an audience of a hundred or even a thousand people. I thought that that particular person could determine the lives of several thousands or even tens of thousands of people. If you want to have a person follow you, whatever your directions may be, you must invest yourself totally into creating such a motivation in that person. (96-284, 1978.2.13)

How many members with longing, yearning hearts have you met? I have met numerous such people. They visit from the ends of the earth to bow before me. Why is this? It is because I have already thrown the line of love, bonded in heart to the ends of the earth, and because I have already sent an electrical current through it, they know the direction they have to go. That is how it should be. (171-30, 1987.12.5)

To become a leader, you must truly stand in the position of the doctor who cures the sick. If an ill person's spiritual situation begins to deteriorate, you will have to make an effort to cure that person's heart while you shed tears day or nigh, oblivious to time. That is a spiritual leader. How many nights have you stayed up trying to save lives? How busy have you been trying to save lives? If such deeds go up to the spirit world with you, then you will be the object of commendations and you will set an example of good character. (69-165, 1973.10.31)

3.3. Man-woman relationships and public money require strict discipline

From now on, there will be no forgiveness for problems with man-woman relationships. Don't even mention forgiveness; God does not want to deal with this. What was the Fall? Didn't it occur because people failed to control themselves sexually? The greatest problems for people are the problems of food, clothing, shelter, sexual desire, and excessive desire for material things; these are the roots of sin. Those who fail to control these things will not become a leader. (194-87, 1989.10.17)

The greatest enemy is the problem that exists in man-woman relationships. Through this, the world came to ruin and the laws of heaven and earth were violated. I am stating clearly that those who are not confident about this should not participate in the Blessing. If you receive the Blessing and bring ruin and go to the spirit world, I will have nothing to do with you. It will not be my responsibility. Once caught, there is no escape. You should clench your teeth and never deviate. (120-220, 1982.10.16)

From now on, you must take extreme caution regarding the relationship between man and woman. Those who have exchanged words with the opposite sex, saying that they like each other, can never become leaders. That should never be allowed to happen. (67-55, 1973.5.20)

You have to be clear about man-woman relationships. Leaders should strictly follow this principle. Unless they do, they will be misunderstood. They will have no way to excuse themselves. There will never be a way out for you if you are caught with this problem. (66-226, 1973.5.12)

The problems in the relationship between man and woman have always been connected to religion. Spiritual groups have always been faced with the problems of man-woman relationships. Why is that so? It is because when Eve fell, she was dealing with her husband Adam and the archangel.

Hence, in the Last Days, women are destined to discern between good and evil in their relations to two men. When a man joins a religion and disciplines himself, at the final summit, a beautiful woman will appear before him to tempt him. If he succumbs to this, he will fall off a cliff into a bottomless abyss. (38-286, 1956.1.24)

You church leaders are raising your own children. You should not do anything that goes against your conscience, nor should you use public money recklessly. It would be better just to starve. If you starve, heaven and earth will have sympathy for you. There is no one who would not sympathize to see people going hungry. When children are starving, they need to be fed.

It is human nature to feel compassion for those who are near death. For this reason, when a murderer is about to be executed, he is granted one last wish. That is why I believe we should have compassion for those in sorrow and difficulties. (60-162, 1972.8.17)

Even among the leaders of the Unification Church, there are those who might misuse public money or material things. They might be tempted to use public money to take care of their children out of sympathy for them. Misusing money tramples the hearts of others. This is the same as supplying your children with poison. There is no doubt about it. This will become a condition through which the satanic world will accuse these leaders. What shall we do about public money? How will things be decided and managed? In the future, the leaders of the Unification Church must reform. (46-95, 1971.7.25)

The most fearsome laws among the laws of the spirit world are those regarding the embezzlement of public funds and unkind treatment of a person in a public position. These are the most fearsome laws. When a leader or a person sent by God is treated unkindly, the nation and world will be judged. (96-154, 1978.1.3)

You should not be careless with material things in your daily life; you should take care in handling public money. Just because you received promotion to a higher position does not give you the right to arbitrarily change the personnel. If you misuse public money, you will be judged by the constitution of the heavenly kingdom. After your promotion, you may find the children of your enemy in the place you enter. If you send them off to a place of misery or death, you will be in trouble. (196-233, 1990.1.1)

When I use public money, I do so with consideration for the whole. (19-266, 1968.2.19)

From now on, you have to be thorough in distinguishing between public and private matters. Public money is poison let loose by Satan. You will be ruined if you misuse public money. Public money causes all kind of problems. Treacherous servants emerge from there. They bring their nation to ruin and even sell their nation. (33-172, 1970.8.11)

I cannot arbitrarily use this money that I made with my sweat and blood. The day I do, my relatives eight times removed and my ancestors will be accused. This is a fearful thing. I see it as money with God's seal on it. Civil servants are punished if they embezzle the nation's funds. However, God's wrath will be upon those who misappropriate the heavenly funds on which He has placed His seal. (85-209, 1976.3.3) 

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