Source: https://www.bertha-dudde.org/en/proclamation/1411

1411 Cult.... communities.... ?

May 9, 1940: Book 23

Without external coercion no church can be formed whose only endeavour is to gain recognition before people. For where this intention is the basic idea, the simple endeavour to serve God will have little effect, for this will make no impression on fellow human beings, whereas everything that is outwardly recognizable is effective towards fellow human beings and is therefore regarded as solely valuable and successful. However, the more a person focusses on outward appearances, the more he submits to the demands of those who want to be leaders and have made it their task to recruit followers for their cult.... for their outward worship. It is incomprehensible, but unfortunately too often the case, that external worship is something that people do not want to do without; they need certain actions that put them in an elevated state in the first place, and they are difficult to convince that it is precisely this cult that prevents them from being truly connected to God.... They cling to it with tenacity, and in the end they only serve the cult and not the eternal deity. They need outward confirmation that they belong to a church.... They form a tight circle and erect a wall to the outside world, for they only regard their fellow human being as their equal if he submits to the same external forms and conforms to the rules that apply in their circle. And this is of the greatest disadvantage to the human soul. External service is of no value to it; the human being can comply with every regulation decreed by people, but this will not benefit his soul's maturity in the slightest, for a certain compulsion underlies every fulfilment. Something is first demanded of people that makes the path to God more difficult.... Human commandments are fulfilled first, but God is not sought enough. And therefore a circle whose togetherness is outwardly recognizable will always fail to reach its goal.... It will take him a long time before the essence of the deity becomes comprehensible to him, for he will always be anxious to stand out in public. He will not seek contact with those who remain distant from their congregation but will keep away from them or always emphasize his efforts to the outside world. For he seeks to assert himself and show off to those who do not agree with him. He who believes himself to be in the centre of knowledge must also be in the midst of his fellow human beings, he must not want to limit his knowledge through the close association of individuals and separate himself, i.e. want to establish a community that only embraces those who share the same knowledge. Rather, he must willingly pass on what he believes he possesses, he must seek to enlarge this community, but quietly and without ostentation, without external forms and without compulsion.... he must only serve.... but only to his fellow man, to regard non-symbolic acts as valuable and ultimately to regard these acts as emblems of belonging to that community. Everything on the outside is only a shell, but the core should be desired, people should unite to serve God and their neighbour.... then they will also be in the right knowledge and have a beneficial effect, even if no outwardly recognizable bond ties them together. They only need to be of the same spirit, regocnize themselves and their unworthiness, seek to ennoble their nature and help their fellow human beings to the best of their ability. Then it is truly a church that serves the lord and lives and acts according to His will....

Amen

Translated by Doris Boekers