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Concern for the "Little People" |
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 "I've always been a champion of the underdog and the little fellow, the handicapped, and the poor guys who are getting a raw deal" |
Even though David did not "shepherd"
or guide his worldwide flock in person, he always kept his pastor's heart. Nothing hurt or
angered him more than to hear about abuse of power which resulted in hardship for members
of the group. In late 1977 he acted decisively when it became apparent to him that many
COG leaders were governing the group in a dictatorial manner. He publicly castigated the
errant leadership, dismissed them all, and disbanded the COG organization. In a series of
Letters, he exhorted everyone to remember that without God's Love as a motivation,
everything else was in vain. This dismissal of leadership and creation of the Family of
Love from the COG was known as the "Re-organization, Nationalization
Revolution," or the RNR. Perhaps no other single event in the history of the Family brought out so clearly David's deep love for each of his followers, and his sincere desire to see that they were treated in a loving, personal and considerate manner. At the time he wrote: "I've always had to go to bat for the underdogs. I guess the Lord has just given me a special sympathy and love and compassion for the underdogs, the people everybody else can't stand and want to get rid of. I was an underdog for a good many years, and I know how it feels to feel unloved and alone and that nobody cares." [121] "I'm on the side of the little people, beloved, and that's the way it's going to be! I think the Lord was, and is! He always hears the cry of the poor!" [122] "I've always been a champion of the underdog and the little fellow, the handicapped, and the poor guys who are getting a raw deal and who are not treated fairly, and who are being fleeced or abused and mistreated. So I became furious when I began to hear of some of the things that have been going on. "I am concerned about the little fellows down there who work hard on the pavements, on the front lines witnessing. To me, they are our greatest soldiers and heroes -- not the bigshots who sit in their offices … and do nothing but 'supervise on paper!' "[The leaders] still don't seem to understand that the whole thing is for the sake of the little people at the bottom -- not for the sake of the 'lords over God's heritage' at the top (1Peter 5:3). The whole idea is to preach the Gospel to the poor, set at liberty them which are bound, heal the sick, cast out devils, deliver the little people, the people that are right down there at pavement level. "We're looking now for real shepherds: I want to know, where are the folks who are concerned about the sheep? Where are those who are willing to lay down their lives for the sheep, as Jesus said? 'The hireling fleeth, but the good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep' (John 10:11-13)." [123] |
