LAW 7 GET OTHERS TO DO THE WORK FOR YOU, BUT ALWAYS TAKE THE CREDIT. Use the wisdom, knowledge, and legwork of other people to further your own cause. Not only will such assistance save you valuable time and energy, it will give you a godlike aura of efficiency and speed. In the end your helpers will be forgotten and you will be remembered. Never do yourself what others can do for you. I suppose this makes perfect sense if one of an individual's goals in life is to become an absolute jerk! Proverbs 3:27 Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in your power to do it. 2 Thessalonians 3:10 "For even when we were with you, this we commanded you, that if any would not work, neither should he eat." Matthew 20:25-28 Jesus called them together and said, "You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave—just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many." Of course, when it comes to delegating authority, that's a whole different matter altogether... Exodus 18:21-23 "But select capable men from all the people—men who fear God, trustworthy men who hate dishonest gain—and appoint them as officials over thousands, hundreds, fifties and tens. Have them serve as judges for the people at all times, but have them bring every difficult case to you; the simple cases they can decide themselves. That will make your load lighter, because they will share it with you. If you do this and God so commands, you will be able to stand the strain, and all these people will go home satisfied." Acts 6:2-3 So the Twelve called a meeting of the disciples. They said, "It wouldn't be right for us to abandon our responsibilities for preaching and teaching the Word of God to help with the care of the poor. So, friends, choose seven men from among you whom everyone trusts, men full of the Holy Spirit and good sense, and we'll assign them this task. Meanwhile, we'll stick to our assigned tasks of prayer and speaking God's Word."
LAW 8 MAKE OTHER PEOPLE COME TO YOU—USE BAIT IF NECESSARY When you force the other person to act, you are the one in control. It is always better to make your opponent come to you, abandoning his own plans in the process. Lure him with fabulous gains - then attack. You hold the cards. Matthew 5:16 Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven. that they may see your good works: meaning their zeal and fervency; their plainness and openness; their sincerity, faithfulness, and integrity; their courage and intrepidity; their diligence, industry, and indefatigableness in preaching the Gospel; their strict regard to truth, the honor of Christ, and the good of souls; as also their very great care and concern to recommend the doctrines of grace, by their example in their lives and conversations: Romans 12:2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect. And be not conformed… The word rendered "conformed" properly means to put on the form, fashion, or appearance of another. It may refer to anything pertaining to the habit, manner, dress, style of living, etc., of others. be ye transformed - The meaning is, do not cherish a spirit devoted to the world, following its vain fashions and pleasures; rather, cultivate a spirit attached to God, His kingdom and His cause. by the renewing - By the making new; the changing into new views and feelings. (The Christian is often represented as a new creature.) your mind - The word translated "mind" properly denotes intellect, as distinguished from the will and affections. But here it seems to be used as applicable to the whole spirit as distinguished from the body, including the understanding, will, and affections. As if he had said, let not this change appertain to the body only, but to the soul. Let it not be a mere external conformity, but let it have its seat in the spirit. All external changes, if the mind was not changed, would be useless, or would be hypocrisy. Christianity seeks to reign in the soul; and having its seat there, the external conduct and habits will be regulated accordingly.
LAW 9 WIN THROUGH YOUR ACTIONS, NEVER THROUGH ARGUMENT Any momentary triumph you think you have gained through argument is really a Pyrrhic victory: the resentment and ill will you stir up is stronger and lasts longer than any momentary change of opinion. It is much more powerful to get others to agree with you through your actions, without saying a word. Demonstrate, do not explicate. From my perspective, there is nothing in the Bible that even remotely resembles this advice. To me, in order to simply get close, you have to start grotesquely twisting and torturing Scripture so that it hardly resembles its original meaning. Consequently, I stopped searching my memory. And given that this instruction strikes me personally as being kind of dumb, I felt I should read some or all of the matching chapter to get a better idea of what this text is trying to say. But, this didn't help any in that the book's illustrations were just as stupid. People were not actually winning. Instead, they were getting out of situations by tricking others into believing they had done this or that, when in reality, they had not. To be perfectly honest, I'm all for individuals bringing people over to their side by winning the hearts and minds of the masses. And if one can actually show others that they are wrong as opposed to merely trying to convince them of it...all the better! Why does it have to be an either/or situation? I see no reason why one can't apply a both/and approach in such situations!
LAW 10 INFECTION: AVOID THE UNHAPPY AND UNLUCKY You can die from someone else's misery—emotional states are as infectious as diseases. You may feel you are helping the drowning man but you are only precipitating your own disaster. The unfortunate sometimes draw misfortune on themselves; they will also draw it on you. Associate with the happy and fortunate instead. 2 Corinthian 6:14 Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness? Albert Barnes Paul proceeds here to state reasons why there should be no such improper connection with the world. The main reason, though under various forms, is that there can be no fellowship, no communion, nothing in common between them; and that therefore they should be separate. The word "fellowship" ( μέτοχὴ metochē) means partnership, participation. What is there in common; or how can the one partake with the other? The interrogative form here is designed to be emphatic, and to declare in the strongest terms that there can be no such partnership.
LAW 11 LEARN TO KEEP PEOPLE DEPENDENT ON YOU To maintain your independence you must always be needed and wanted. The more you are relied on, the more freedom you have. Make people depend on you for their happiness and prosperity and you have nothing to fear. Never teach them enough so that they can do without you. Are you kidding me? The more you are relied on, the less freedom you have, because people will be constantly demanding your time and attention! And you have plenty to fear if you make people depend on you for their happiness and prosperity, because should they ever have occasions to feel you have come up short, that you have failed them in some way, they will turn on you in an instant! Better that you should teach people how they ought to depend on God. And if they happen to learn enough so that they can do without you, there will be an endless supply of other needy individuals to take their place. The best way to enjoy more independence is by finding some way to attain scalability. Similarly, if you you want more freedom, again, delegate more authority to others, as suggested under Law 7... Exodus 18:21-23 "But select capable men from all the people—men who fear God, trustworthy men who hate dishonest gain—and appoint them as officials over thousands, hundreds, fifties and tens. Have them serve as judges for the people at all times, but have them bring every difficult case to you; the simple cases they can decide themselves. That will make your load lighter, because they will share it with you. If you do this and God so commands, you will be able to stand the strain, and all these people will go home satisfied." Acts 6:2-3 So the Twelve called a meeting of the disciples. They said, "It wouldn't be right for us to abandon our responsibilities for preaching and teaching the Word of God to help with the care of the poor. So, friends, choose seven men from among you whom everyone trusts, men full of the Holy Spirit and good sense, and we'll assign them this task. Meanwhile, we'll stick to our assigned tasks of prayer and speaking God's Word."
LAW 12 USE SELECTIVE HONESTY AND GENEROSITY TO DISARM YOUR VICTIM One sincere and honest move will cover over dozens of dishonest ones. Open-hearted gestures of honesty and generosity bring down the guard of even the most suspicious people. Once your selective honesty opens a hole in their armor, you can deceive and manipulate them at will. A timely gift—a Trojan horse—will serve the same purpose. Luke 12:2 Nothing is covered up that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known. Revelation 21:8 But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars; their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death. Psalm 141:10a Let the wicked fall into their own nets... Galations 6:7 Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap. (It seems to me that rather than selectively use open-hearted gestures of honesty and generosity to disarm victims, one could just as easily use them in all sincerity to gain or win allies.)
LAW 13 WHEN ASKING FOR HELP, APPEAL TO PEOPLE'S SELF-INTEREST, NEVER TO THEIR MERCY OR GRATITUDE. If you need to turn to an ally for help, do not bother to remind him of your past assistance and good deeds. He will find a way to ignore you. Instead, uncover something in your request, or in your alliance with him, that will benefit him, and emphasize it out of all proportion. He will respond enthusiastically when he sees something to be gained for himself. This is the first law with which I actually agree, except I would change the word "NEVER" to "NOT MERELY."
LAW 14 POSE AS A FRIEND, WORK AS A SPY Knowing about your rival is critical. Use spies to gather valuable information that will keep you a step ahead. Better still: play the spy yourself. In polite social encounters, learn to probe. Ask indirect questions to get people to reveal their weaknesses and intentions. There is no occasion that is not an opportunity for artful spying. Generally speaking, Scripture reveals that a believer's ultimate rivals exist within the spiritual realm, especially Satan himself. Consequently, Christians primarily need to understand how the devil operates—and that information is readily available in the Bible. Moreover, God will sometimes opt to warn believers supernaturally by the power of the Holy Spirit, as occurred in Acts 21:10-11: While we were staying for many days, a prophet named Agabus came down from Judea. And coming to us, he took Paul's belt and bound his own feet and hands and said, "Thus says the Holy Spirit, 'This is how the Jews at Jerusalem will bind the man who owns this belt and deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles.'" If we are sensitive to His direction, there are any number of ways the Lord might guide us, whether through dreams and visions, or by the gifts of the Spirit, including the following... The gift of discernment is a term used in Orthodox, Roman Catholic and Charismatic (Evangelical) Christian theology to indicate judging various spiritual agents for their moral influence. These agents are from within the human soul itself. The gift of wisdom is the special ability that God gives to certain members of the Body of Christ to know the mind of the Holy Spirit in such a way as to receive insight into how given knowledge may best be applied to specific needs. Wisdom is the ability to think and act using knowledge, experience, understanding, common sense and insight. The gift of knowledge is the special ability God gives whereby the Spirit enables certain Christians to understand in an exceptional way the great truths of God's Word and to make them relevant to specific situations.