Where no counsel is, the people fall: but in the multitude of counsellors there is safety.
Where counsel is lacking the people fall and are put in danger, but in the multitude of counselors there is safety and strength. No single person's judgment alone is sufficient, infallible, or perfect, even when that person carries large responsibility. To choose a course apart from fellow believers and build separate interests is not a virtue but a danger that leaves the work open to error and defeat, for in division there is weakness while in union there is strength. When several minds consult together, plans and actions are viewed and criticized from every side and more carefully studied, and this guards against hasty, ill-advised moves that bring confusion and trouble. Safety comes when leaders share plans and burdens with experienced counselors of varied talents, counsel freely and kindly, and pray together for direction, trusting that God guides through His people by the Holy Spirit.
Meaning of Counsel and Safety
Where counsel is lacking the people fall and are endangered, but in the multitude of counselors there is safety and strength. Safety comes from seeking counsel from many counselors before acting, rather than building separate interests apart from workers chosen by God. Workers are to act in harmony with the judgment of God-fearing counselors instead of choosing a course independently of fellow believers, and this shared counsel is the source of safety and strength for the work. In managing donations this means young people who lack experience should receive counsel, large sums should not be entrusted to one person's judgment, and several wise advisers should consider the needs of the work carefully and seek God's light and knowledge through earnest prayer.
No single person's judgment alone is sufficient, infallible, or perfect, not even when the person holds a position of large responsibility in the work. Work carrying large responsibilities should be guided by wise counselors because one person's judgment is not enough to direct it, and people are safer when decisions are guided by several counselors rather than left to one person. No one should consider himself so perfect in judgment that he needs no instruction, and no one has sufficient wisdom to act without counsel merely because he has been appointed, for appointment does not make a man a god who can arbitrarily order brethren what to do, where to go, and what to say. In the sanitarium unity should not mean that everyone accepts one man's plans as faultless or lets his mind replace their own, but capable, wise men should share responsibility with the medical superintendent because united judgment is safer in most matters. In managing an office those with responsibility, knowledge, experience, reverence for God and respect for truth should share in planning and decision-making, and though each department should have an acknowledged head, that leader should not bear the responsibility alone but counselors should deliberate together and act with unity of mind and judgment. Safety is in consulting with brethren, counseling together freely and kindly, praying together, planning together for the advancement of the work and kneeling together to ask God to direct the course, depending on God, keeping learning, and sharing what God gives, while every soul keeps personal responsibility before God, looks to God rather than trusting in men's devisings, and trusts men's counsel only when there is evidence they are under the influence of the Spirit, with confidence that the Lord lives and rules and dwells in the hearts of men.
Counselors need clear judgment to give helpful advice, and intemperate eating and drinking can weaken the brain and impair that ability. Sound counsel from several people brings safety, but impaired health and judgment can deprive those around a person of needed counsel and cause them to suffer too. A person's impaired judgment can harm others who depend on that counsel, so choices about health affect the wider community, not only the person making them.
Peril of Acting Alone
Choosing a course independently of fellow believers and building separate interests apart from workers chosen by God is not a virtue but a danger that leaves people more vulnerable to error and fall and brings peril to the work. Safety and strength come from acting in harmony with the judgment of God-fearing counselors and seeking counsel from many before acting. United action is strength, while acting independently without counsel puts important plans and new fields of work at risk. One or two people should not move ahead in their own supposed wisdom, planning too quickly or beginning work they cannot complete, but should work with the workers chosen by God, seek His kingdom and righteousness, and ask Him in faith as the source of wisdom.
Selfishly placing a higher estimate on one's own plans, opinions, and labors threatens usefulness and proves ruin if not seen and overcome. Those in responsible positions should not rely on their own judgment or assume they have nothing more to learn, but need to keep learning from Christ and be willing to take counsel from brethren, or they risk becoming self-sufficient and failing in their work. Self-interest and confidence in one's own plans and opinions endanger the work, and the command to counsel together instead of moving independently is repeated again and again by angels.
One mind alone can be warped out of its proper channel, and two who view things in a similar light can also be succeeded with, but with several minds enlisted there is greater safety against Satan's wiles and misleading influences. When several people consider a matter together, judgments and plans receive closer scrutiny and proposed actions are studied more carefully. This reduces the danger of rash, hasty, ill-advised decisions that cause confusion, perplexity, and defeat.
Letting one person's mind and judgment control decisions exposes the work to failure, because personal likes, dislikes, and sympathies can distort judgment and harm people and damage the work. Unity should not mean that everyone accepts one man's plans as faultless or lets his mind replace their own, for God gives each person intellect to use and cultivate. Those responsible for the work should think, develop judgment, and share its burdens rather than depend on one leader. Following one person's ideas without question narrows thought and weakens the work, while the work is strengthened and can advance and grow when many people, including young men, are trained and encouraged to think, act, devise, plan, and counsel rather than being held to one person's ideas and direction.
In division there is weakness and defeat, while in union there is strength.
Wisdom of Counseling Together
When several people consult together, judgments and plans receive closer scrutiny and proposed actions are studied more carefully. Every plan is viewed and criticized from all sides and every advance is more carefully studied. This careful joint examination guards against being misled through one person's judgment and makes misleading influence harder to succeed. Unity in such counsel brings strength, while division brings weakness and defeat.
That scrutiny reduces the danger of hasty, rash and ill-advised decisions. It keeps people from entering enterprises that would bring confusion, perplexity, trouble and defeat to the work. Acting independently leaves people more vulnerable to error and peril, while united action is strength and safety.
Different people bring different understanding, talents, strengths and weaknesses, so counseling together lets one person's lack be supplied by another's strength. One may see what another misses, and combined counsel guards against error. When those with different areas of understanding counsel together, their views and actions are brought into harmony rather than left divided. That united counsel can reveal plans beyond the understanding of any one person.
Comparing understanding, doctrines and plans with others rather than relying only on one's own judgment brings knowledge and supports harmony in belief and action. This does not mean that one person should control everyone else. Each person is given intellect to use and cultivate, and should think, develop judgment and share the burdens of the work rather than letting one man's mind replace their own. Training and encouraging many, especially young men, to think, act, devise, plan and counsel allows the work to grow and advance, while holding all to one person's ideas without question narrows thought and weakens the work.
Leadership Through Shared Counsel
Safety in ruling comes from surrounding the leader with many counselors, as David showed when he gave the kingdom to Solomon and joined with his son and their counselors to plan an orderly administration. Jonathan, Ahithophel, Jehoiada and Abiathar were appointed as counselors and Hushai as friend, and by that prudent example Solomon was taught to lead in the same way. The thorough organization and wide sharing of responsibility that resulted is a lesson church leaders should understand and follow.
A leader's judgment alone may fail and may be deficient, so safety comes from seeking counsel from several trustworthy, experienced brethren with varied talents. Plans should be shared with them, their views heard, and burdens and responsibility shared rather than acting independently or bearing responsibility alone. In managing an office, those with responsibility, knowledge, experience, and reverence for God and respect for truth should share in planning and decision-making. Though each department should have an acknowledged head, that leader should not bear the responsibility alone, but counselors should deliberate together and act with unity of mind and judgment. This shared counsel builds confidence and helps the people sustain and advance the work.
No one mind or judgment is sufficient to control the affairs of offices, sanitariums, and institutions, and no single person's judgment is infallible or free from human weakness and error. Each department should have an acknowledged head who does not decide alone, but capable, wise men and councils of people with different characters should deliberate together in unity of mind. Their united judgment is safer in most matters, as when capable, wise men share responsibility with a medical superintendent such as at the sanitarium at Takoma Park. Those entrusted with responsibility should consult together before making decisive moves, considering plans, discovering and removing defects, correcting problems, understanding one another, acting in unity, and securing prosperity. Rejecting the Lord's counsel leads instead to variance and discord.
Choosing people for positions, assigning work, and managing institutional work should be done with several qualified, experienced counselors rather than by one person relying on personal judgment alone. Experienced counselors can discern character and qualifications that a less experienced person may miss and can judge more wisely, helping prevent harmful results and harm to the work. Consulting them helps prevent harmful decisions and brings peace and rest.
Acting without counsel puts people and their work at risk and in danger, while seeking counsel with others brings safety. Important plans, new fields of work, and new enterprises should be considered with brethren and not left to the supposed wisdom of one or two people. One or two moving ahead in their own supposed wisdom may plan too quickly or begin work they cannot complete, so counsel from brethren guards against mistakes. Brethren should consult experienced people who are sound managers in both temporal and spiritual affairs before entering new enterprises, and this counsel can spare perplexity and bring peace of mind while allowing them to receive sympathy and help if needed. In managing donations, young people who lack experience should receive counsel, large sums should not be entrusted to one person's judgment, and advisers should consider the needs of the work carefully and seek God's light and knowledge through earnest prayer.
Seeking Counsel Humbly and Prayerfully
Those who manage their affairs unwisely and lack sound judgment and economy should not rely on their own decisions but humbly seek advice from experienced fellow believers and be willing to follow it. In practical matters this means consulting those who are sound managers in both temporal and spiritual things before entering new enterprises, since wise counsel can prevent harmful choices, spare perplexity and hardship, and bring peace of mind. God's people are to counsel with one another so that one person's lack is supplied by another's strength. Those who accept counsel but still fall into difficulty are to be helped and receive their brethren's sympathy and help, while those who knowingly reject counsel and insist on their own course must bear the consequences and learn from experience.
New doctrines or interpretations of Scripture are to be presented humbly and prayerfully to trusted brethren, and their judgment is to be accepted when they see no light in the proposal. Plans affecting the church and its work are to be considered with experienced workers and appointed leaders, so that defects can be recognized and harmful choices avoided. A leader must listen to fellow ministers and committees, recognizing that God has given them commissions, experience, and wisdom too, since no one person has all the instruction needed to direct the work.
No one is to regard himself as so perfect in judgment as to need no instruction or be beyond learning, and no one in important work for God is to rely on his own ideas as if his wisdom were sufficient. All who counsel are to depend on God and counsel together freely and kindly, sharing what God has given them when they seek instruction from Him. Safety is in consulting with brethren, counseling together, praying together, and planning together for the advancement of the work, kneeling together to ask God to direct the course and seeking His light and knowledge through earnest prayer. This is especially needed where young and inexperienced persons are involved and where donations and large sums are managed, which are not to be left to one person's judgment but to be considered carefully by several wise advisers.
Even appointment to a position of responsibility does not give sufficient wisdom to act without counsel and does not make a man a god who can arbitrarily order brethren what to do, where to go, and what to say. Brethren counseling together bring different strengths and weaknesses, so that one may see what another misses, their combined counsel guards against error, and plans beyond any one person's understanding are revealed. The counsel is to work with the workers chosen by God and to seek His kingdom and righteousness, for God is the source of wisdom for those who ask Him in faith. Confidence rests in the Lord who lives and rules and dwells in human hearts and who guides the church through its members by the Holy Spirit. Every soul keeps personal responsibility before God, looking to God rather than trusting in men's devisings, and refusing confidence in the counsel of men unless there is evidence they are under the influence of the Spirit.
This way of counseling together, praying together, and planning together belongs to a people whom God is leading out and fitting for translation, who must stand as sentinels for God, unite their forces, become servants of all, and imitate Christ the great Pattern. Selfishly placing a higher estimate on one's own plans, opinions, labors, and judgment threatens usefulness and proves ruin if not seen and overcome, while in union there is strength and in division there is weakness and defeat. One mind alone can be warped out of its proper channel, and two who view things in a similar light can also be succeeded with, but with several minds enlisted there is greater safety against misleading influences. Then every plan is viewed and criticized from all sides and every advance is more carefully studied, so that no enterprise is entered upon that will bring confusion, perplexity, trouble, and defeat to the work. The command to counsel together is repeated again and again.
Where counsel is lacking the people fall and are put in danger, but in the multitude of counselors there is safety and strength. No single person's judgment alone is sufficient, infallible, or perfect, even when that person carries large responsibility. To choose a course apart from fellow believers and build separate interests is not a virtue but a danger that leaves the work open to error and defeat, for in division there is weakness while in union there is strength. When several minds consult together, plans and actions are viewed and criticized from every side and more carefully studied, and this guards against hasty, ill-advised moves that bring confusion and trouble. Safety comes when leaders share plans and burdens with experienced counselors of varied talents, counsel freely and kindly, and pray together for direction, trusting that God guides through His people by the Holy Spirit.
Meaning of Counsel and Safety
Where counsel is lacking the people fall and are endangered, but in the multitude of counselors there is safety and strength. Safety comes from seeking counsel from many counselors before acting, rather than building separate interests apart from workers chosen by God. Workers are to act in harmony with the judgment of God-fearing counselors instead of choosing a course independently of fellow believers, and this shared counsel is the source of safety and strength for the work. In managing donations this means young people who lack experience should receive counsel, large sums should not be entrusted to one person's judgment, and several wise advisers should consider the needs of the work carefully and seek God's light and knowledge through earnest prayer.
No single person's judgment alone is sufficient, infallible, or perfect, not even when the person holds a position of large responsibility in the work. Work carrying large responsibilities should be guided by wise counselors because one person's judgment is not enough to direct it, and people are safer when decisions are guided by several counselors rather than left to one person. No one should consider himself so perfect in judgment that he needs no instruction, and no one has sufficient wisdom to act without counsel merely because he has been appointed, for appointment does not make a man a god who can arbitrarily order brethren what to do, where to go, and what to say. In the sanitarium unity should not mean that everyone accepts one man's plans as faultless or lets his mind replace their own, but capable, wise men should share responsibility with the medical superintendent because united judgment is safer in most matters. In managing an office those with responsibility, knowledge, experience, reverence for God and respect for truth should share in planning and decision-making, and though each department should have an acknowledged head, that leader should not bear the responsibility alone but counselors should deliberate together and act with unity of mind and judgment. Safety is in consulting with brethren, counseling together freely and kindly, praying together, planning together for the advancement of the work and kneeling together to ask God to direct the course, depending on God, keeping learning, and sharing what God gives, while every soul keeps personal responsibility before God, looks to God rather than trusting in men's devisings, and trusts men's counsel only when there is evidence they are under the influence of the Spirit, with confidence that the Lord lives and rules and dwells in the hearts of men.
Counselors need clear judgment to give helpful advice, and intemperate eating and drinking can weaken the brain and impair that ability. Sound counsel from several people brings safety, but impaired health and judgment can deprive those around a person of needed counsel and cause them to suffer too. A person's impaired judgment can harm others who depend on that counsel, so choices about health affect the wider community, not only the person making them.
Peril of Acting Alone
Choosing a course independently of fellow believers and building separate interests apart from workers chosen by God is not a virtue but a danger that leaves people more vulnerable to error and fall and brings peril to the work. Safety and strength come from acting in harmony with the judgment of God-fearing counselors and seeking counsel from many before acting. United action is strength, while acting independently without counsel puts important plans and new fields of work at risk. One or two people should not move ahead in their own supposed wisdom, planning too quickly or beginning work they cannot complete, but should work with the workers chosen by God, seek His kingdom and righteousness, and ask Him in faith as the source of wisdom.
Selfishly placing a higher estimate on one's own plans, opinions, and labors threatens usefulness and proves ruin if not seen and overcome. Those in responsible positions should not rely on their own judgment or assume they have nothing more to learn, but need to keep learning from Christ and be willing to take counsel from brethren, or they risk becoming self-sufficient and failing in their work. Self-interest and confidence in one's own plans and opinions endanger the work, and the command to counsel together instead of moving independently is repeated again and again by angels.
One mind alone can be warped out of its proper channel, and two who view things in a similar light can also be succeeded with, but with several minds enlisted there is greater safety against Satan's wiles and misleading influences. When several people consider a matter together, judgments and plans receive closer scrutiny and proposed actions are studied more carefully. This reduces the danger of rash, hasty, ill-advised decisions that cause confusion, perplexity, and defeat.
Letting one person's mind and judgment control decisions exposes the work to failure, because personal likes, dislikes, and sympathies can distort judgment and harm people and damage the work. Unity should not mean that everyone accepts one man's plans as faultless or lets his mind replace their own, for God gives each person intellect to use and cultivate. Those responsible for the work should think, develop judgment, and share its burdens rather than depend on one leader. Following one person's ideas without question narrows thought and weakens the work, while the work is strengthened and can advance and grow when many people, including young men, are trained and encouraged to think, act, devise, plan, and counsel rather than being held to one person's ideas and direction.
In division there is weakness and defeat, while in union there is strength.
Wisdom of Counseling Together
When several people consult together, judgments and plans receive closer scrutiny and proposed actions are studied more carefully. Every plan is viewed and criticized from all sides and every advance is more carefully studied. This careful joint examination guards against being misled through one person's judgment and makes misleading influence harder to succeed. Unity in such counsel brings strength, while division brings weakness and defeat.
That scrutiny reduces the danger of hasty, rash and ill-advised decisions. It keeps people from entering enterprises that would bring confusion, perplexity, trouble and defeat to the work. Acting independently leaves people more vulnerable to error and peril, while united action is strength and safety.
Different people bring different understanding, talents, strengths and weaknesses, so counseling together lets one person's lack be supplied by another's strength. One may see what another misses, and combined counsel guards against error. When those with different areas of understanding counsel together, their views and actions are brought into harmony rather than left divided. That united counsel can reveal plans beyond the understanding of any one person.
Comparing understanding, doctrines and plans with others rather than relying only on one's own judgment brings knowledge and supports harmony in belief and action. This does not mean that one person should control everyone else. Each person is given intellect to use and cultivate, and should think, develop judgment and share the burdens of the work rather than letting one man's mind replace their own. Training and encouraging many, especially young men, to think, act, devise, plan and counsel allows the work to grow and advance, while holding all to one person's ideas without question narrows thought and weakens the work.
Leadership Through Shared Counsel
Safety in ruling comes from surrounding the leader with many counselors, as David showed when he gave the kingdom to Solomon and joined with his son and their counselors to plan an orderly administration. Jonathan, Ahithophel, Jehoiada and Abiathar were appointed as counselors and Hushai as friend, and by that prudent example Solomon was taught to lead in the same way. The thorough organization and wide sharing of responsibility that resulted is a lesson church leaders should understand and follow.
A leader's judgment alone may fail and may be deficient, so safety comes from seeking counsel from several trustworthy, experienced brethren with varied talents. Plans should be shared with them, their views heard, and burdens and responsibility shared rather than acting independently or bearing responsibility alone. In managing an office, those with responsibility, knowledge, experience, and reverence for God and respect for truth should share in planning and decision-making. Though each department should have an acknowledged head, that leader should not bear the responsibility alone, but counselors should deliberate together and act with unity of mind and judgment. This shared counsel builds confidence and helps the people sustain and advance the work.
No one mind or judgment is sufficient to control the affairs of offices, sanitariums, and institutions, and no single person's judgment is infallible or free from human weakness and error. Each department should have an acknowledged head who does not decide alone, but capable, wise men and councils of people with different characters should deliberate together in unity of mind. Their united judgment is safer in most matters, as when capable, wise men share responsibility with a medical superintendent such as at the sanitarium at Takoma Park. Those entrusted with responsibility should consult together before making decisive moves, considering plans, discovering and removing defects, correcting problems, understanding one another, acting in unity, and securing prosperity. Rejecting the Lord's counsel leads instead to variance and discord.
Choosing people for positions, assigning work, and managing institutional work should be done with several qualified, experienced counselors rather than by one person relying on personal judgment alone. Experienced counselors can discern character and qualifications that a less experienced person may miss and can judge more wisely, helping prevent harmful results and harm to the work. Consulting them helps prevent harmful decisions and brings peace and rest.
Acting without counsel puts people and their work at risk and in danger, while seeking counsel with others brings safety. Important plans, new fields of work, and new enterprises should be considered with brethren and not left to the supposed wisdom of one or two people. One or two moving ahead in their own supposed wisdom may plan too quickly or begin work they cannot complete, so counsel from brethren guards against mistakes. Brethren should consult experienced people who are sound managers in both temporal and spiritual affairs before entering new enterprises, and this counsel can spare perplexity and bring peace of mind while allowing them to receive sympathy and help if needed. In managing donations, young people who lack experience should receive counsel, large sums should not be entrusted to one person's judgment, and advisers should consider the needs of the work carefully and seek God's light and knowledge through earnest prayer.
Seeking Counsel Humbly and Prayerfully
Those who manage their affairs unwisely and lack sound judgment and economy should not rely on their own decisions but humbly seek advice from experienced fellow believers and be willing to follow it. In practical matters this means consulting those who are sound managers in both temporal and spiritual things before entering new enterprises, since wise counsel can prevent harmful choices, spare perplexity and hardship, and bring peace of mind. God's people are to counsel with one another so that one person's lack is supplied by another's strength. Those who accept counsel but still fall into difficulty are to be helped and receive their brethren's sympathy and help, while those who knowingly reject counsel and insist on their own course must bear the consequences and learn from experience.
New doctrines or interpretations of Scripture are to be presented humbly and prayerfully to trusted brethren, and their judgment is to be accepted when they see no light in the proposal. Plans affecting the church and its work are to be considered with experienced workers and appointed leaders, so that defects can be recognized and harmful choices avoided. A leader must listen to fellow ministers and committees, recognizing that God has given them commissions, experience, and wisdom too, since no one person has all the instruction needed to direct the work.
No one is to regard himself as so perfect in judgment as to need no instruction or be beyond learning, and no one in important work for God is to rely on his own ideas as if his wisdom were sufficient. All who counsel are to depend on God and counsel together freely and kindly, sharing what God has given them when they seek instruction from Him. Safety is in consulting with brethren, counseling together, praying together, and planning together for the advancement of the work, kneeling together to ask God to direct the course and seeking His light and knowledge through earnest prayer. This is especially needed where young and inexperienced persons are involved and where donations and large sums are managed, which are not to be left to one person's judgment but to be considered carefully by several wise advisers.
Even appointment to a position of responsibility does not give sufficient wisdom to act without counsel and does not make a man a god who can arbitrarily order brethren what to do, where to go, and what to say. Brethren counseling together bring different strengths and weaknesses, so that one may see what another misses, their combined counsel guards against error, and plans beyond any one person's understanding are revealed. The counsel is to work with the workers chosen by God and to seek His kingdom and righteousness, for God is the source of wisdom for those who ask Him in faith. Confidence rests in the Lord who lives and rules and dwells in human hearts and who guides the church through its members by the Holy Spirit. Every soul keeps personal responsibility before God, looking to God rather than trusting in men's devisings, and refusing confidence in the counsel of men unless there is evidence they are under the influence of the Spirit.
This way of counseling together, praying together, and planning together belongs to a people whom God is leading out and fitting for translation, who must stand as sentinels for God, unite their forces, become servants of all, and imitate Christ the great Pattern. Selfishly placing a higher estimate on one's own plans, opinions, labors, and judgment threatens usefulness and proves ruin if not seen and overcome, while in union there is strength and in division there is weakness and defeat. One mind alone can be warped out of its proper channel, and two who view things in a similar light can also be succeeded with, but with several minds enlisted there is greater safety against misleading influences. Then every plan is viewed and criticized from all sides and every advance is more carefully studied, so that no enterprise is entered upon that will bring confusion, perplexity, trouble, and defeat to the work. The command to counsel together is repeated again and again.