Some people attend gatherings with the aim of finding a good job for themselves, some to help their husbands get promoted, some to find good jobs for their children, and some to buy discounted goods. Others come to find a good chief physician for the sick in their family without having to give so many gifts. In short, these disbelievers who do not pursue the truth and have ulterior motives, find the time of church gatherings to be the best time to build personal connections and handle personal affairs. Often, under the guise of fellowshipping God’s words or knowing this wicked world and the essence of this corrupt humankind, they bring up their own difficulties and the matters they wish to discuss, eventually exposing bit by bit their hidden selfish motives and the personal affairs they aim to get done. They expose their own intentions, and make others mistakenly believe they are facing difficulties, suggesting that everyone should show love and help them unconditionally and without expecting anything in return. They fly the banner of believing in God to exploit various loopholes, searching in the gathering places for friends they wish to make and those who can get things done for them. Some, looking to buy a car at an inside price, scope out among the brothers and sisters for anyone working in a car dealership or who has connections with the owner of a car dealership. Once they’ve identified their target, they move in, cozying up to them and building connections. If that individual likes reading God’s words, they often visit their home to read God’s words together, and at gatherings they sit next to them and exchange contact information. Then they start their offensive, determined not to give up until their objective is achieved. All these are issues that frequently emerge within the church and among people. If these issues arise in the places of gatherings and during the time of gatherings, they will, in effect, cause disruptions and disturbances to church life, affecting church life. If there is no church life at a church for a long period of time, then that church becomes a social group, a venue for conducting transactions, a place for building personal connections, seeking favors through backdoors, and handling personal affairs. The nature of this place changes, and what are the consequences of this? At the very least, it leads to the loss of church life, meaning the loss of precious time spent pray-reading God’s words with the brothers and sisters and understanding the truth. Moreover, and most importantly, it leads to the loss of the precious opportunity for the Holy Spirit to work, to enlighten people to understand the truth. This all harms people’s life entry. Therefore, for the benefit and life entry of God’s chosen people, and to be responsible for everyone’s life, it is necessary to stop and restrict such individuals; this is the work that leaders and workers should do. Of course, if ordinary brothers and sisters can see through these people and their actions, they should also stand up to refuse and say “no” to them. Especially while living church life, which is the most important time for people, if someone occupies the time of gatherings to talk about and handle these matters, the brothers and sisters have the right to ignore them, and even more so, the right to stop and refuse such things. Is doing this correct? (Yes.) Some people think that God’s house doing this shows a lack of human warmth. Is human warmth normal humanity? Does human warmth conform to the truth? If you have human warmth and occupy the gathering time for your personal affairs, even making most people accompany and support you, achieving your purpose of handling your personal affairs, and disturbing the normal order of God’s chosen people reading God’s words and fellowshipping the truth, and causing them to lose this precious time, is this fair to them? Does this conform to having human warmth? This is the most inhumane and immoral approach, and people should stand up and denounce it. If the leaders and workers are ineffectual pushovers, useless, and unable to promptly stop and restrict such behaviors, not engaging in actual work, then the brothers and sisters with a sense of justice should unite to prevent such behavior and this atmosphere from spreading in the church. If you do not want to lose the precious time for reading God’s words and fellowshipping the truth, do not want your life entry to be disturbed and suffer losses, ruining your chance of salvation, then you should stand up to refuse, stop, and restrict these occurrences. Doing so is appropriate and aligns with God’s intentions. Some of you are embarrassed to do so; you may be embarrassed, but the wicked are not. They have the gall to occupy your precious gathering time: the time for the Holy Spirit to work and for God to enlighten you. If you find it embarrassing to refuse them, then you deserve the loss to your life! If you are willing to show love to Satans, devils, and disbelievers, offering help to them, sacrificing yourself for others and disregarding principles, whom can you blame for the loss to your life? Therefore, all instances of building personal connections and handling personal affairs must be completely wiped out from church life. If someone persists in their own way, and insists on chatting about their domestic matters, engaging in idle chatter, handling personal affairs, or finding jobs and romantic partners for others during gathering times, in this way finding various excuses to pass this time, how should such a person be handled? First, they should be stopped; if they still do not listen, then isolation and restrictions should be implemented. If they continue to cause disturbances behind the scenes, cozying up to whomever they can and harassing the normal lives of the brothers and sisters everywhere, then they should be cleared out and not considered as brothers or sisters. They are not qualified to live church life and are not worthy of participating in gatherings. Such people should be restricted and rejected. This work, of course, is also an important task that leaders and workers at all levels should do. When such matters and situations arise, the leaders and workers should be the first to stand up and stop them. How should they stop them? They should say to them, “Do you know that this behavior of yours has already caused disruptions and disturbances to church life? This is something that all the brothers and sisters find disgusting and loathe, and it is also condemned by God. You should stop this behavior. If you do not listen to persuasion and persist in going your own way, then your church life will be stopped, your books of God’s words will be taken away, and the church will no longer acknowledge you!” Of course, there are some people who, due to their small stature and lack of understanding of the truth, might occasionally chat about domestic matters, forge a connection with someone, or handle some minor matter, and the situation is not too serious. Is this okay? (Yes.) Under circumstances that do not cause any disturbance to everyone, it is acceptable for brothers and sisters to help each other out and show a little love to one another. But what is it we are fellowshipping about? It is when such behaviors and actions have already caused disruptions and disturbances to normal church life; in such cases, those involved should be stopped and restricted. We should not indulge them to continue disrupting and disturbing church life. Taking these actions is beneficial to the life entry of the brothers and sisters. Some people exhibit similar behaviors, but the situation is not severe and does not constitute disruptions and disturbances; it is merely normal interactions among the brothers and sisters, helping each other and consulting for information normally, or inquiring about common knowledge that one does not understand. As long as it does not occupy the time of gatherings and as long as both parties consent and are willing without imposing on each other, and it is interaction that falls within the scope of normal humanity, then it is permissible and the church will not restrict it. There’s just one thing, though: If someone’s imprudent speech and actions in church life cause harassment or disturbance to the brothers and sisters, and some people have felt disgusted by this and expressed their objections, then the leaders and workers should step forward to resolve this issue. Or, if others have already reported someone, stating that this person does not fellowship God’s words during gathering times but instead chats about their domestic matters and builds personal connections, treating the gathering place as a venue for building personal connections and handling personal affairs, asking favors from others and exploiting whomever they can; and stating that this person is of low character, selfish, despicable, and vile, and does not pursue the truth but seeks advantages everywhere, looking for various opportunities for their own benefit, then such a person should be isolated.

Some individuals exploit some of the wealthy and influential brothers and sisters to get things done for them, and if their requests are not met, they often judge them behind their backs, claiming these people lack love and are not true believers, and even wanting to report them. Have you encountered such individuals? Shouldn’t such people be addressed? When faced with such situations, what should be done? Leaders and workers should step in to resolve the issue, acting according to principles, to ensure the brothers and sisters are not disturbed. Is it wrong for someone to refuse to do something for them? Is refusing to help them tantamount to not practicing the truth or not having love for God? (No.) Whether to help someone is their own freedom; they have the right to choose. God’s house does not stipulate that brothers and sisters must help each other solve family difficulties within church life. Church life is not a place for solving family problems, but a gathering place for eating and drinking the words of God and growing in life. Some people use church life to solve their own problems—what consequences can this bring? Doesn’t it impact God’s chosen people’s eating and drinking of God’s word and equipping themselves with the truth? One’s personal life problems can be resolved privately with the brothers and sisters; there is no need to bring them into church life for resolution. Everyone should know what consequences arise when the handling of personal affairs interferes with God’s chosen people living church life. Once leaders and workers discover such matters, they should step in to resolve them. They should protect those in the church who can do their duties normally, protect those who truly pursue the truth, restrict evil people, and prevent them from achieving their aims. This is the responsibility of leaders and workers. Clear distinctions should be made regarding how normal cases of the third issue are treated, what manifestations are of a severe nature or circumstance, and which types and manifestations constitute disruptions and disturbances. Once the severity of a circumstance is clearly distinguished, it should be handled according to its nature. This is something that leaders and workers need to understand, and it is also something that everyone should grasp.

IV. Forming Cliques

The fourth manifestation of disrupting and disturbing church life is forming cliques, which is of a very serious nature. What behaviors constitute forming cliques? If two people who believe in God have been believers for a similar length of time, have similar ages, family situations, interests, personalities, and so on, and they get along well together, often sitting together during gatherings, and are intimately acquainted with one another, does this count as forming cliques? (No.) This is a common phenomenon of normal interpersonal interaction, which does not constitute any disturbance to others; therefore, it is not considered forming cliques. So, what does forming cliques, as mentioned here, refer to? For example, among five brothers and sisters gathering together, three are urban workers and two are rural farmers. The three urban workers often stick together, speaking of how life is better in the city and worse in the countryside, where people lack education, broad horizons, and manners. They look down upon rural people, always talking down to the two rural individuals, who then feel aggrieved and want to oppose them, saying that city people are petty and calculate every detail, whereas rural people are generous. During gatherings, they never seem to agree, often leading to unnecessary disputes and debates. Do these five get along harmoniously? Are they united in God’s word? Are they compatible with each other? (No.) When city people always say “we city folks” and rural people always say “we country folks,” what are they doing? (Forming cliques.) This is the fourth issue we are going to fellowship about: forming cliques. This cliquish behavior means forming groups and factions. Forming various gangs, factions, and other in-groups based on region, economic conditions, and social class, as well as differing viewpoints, constitutes forming cliques. Regardless of who leads these cliques, within the church, the formation of different gangs and factions, and the formation of incompatible gangs, are all phenomena of forming cliques. In some places, an entire extended family believes in God, and at a gathering location, aside from two people with different surnames, the rest belong to their own family. This family then forms a faction or gang, making the two people with different surnames outsiders. Regardless of who in this family faces any issue or is pruned, if one person expresses grievances, the rest join in to echo the sentiment. If anyone acts against principles, the others cover for them and conceal their actions, forbidding anyone from exposing them; not even the slightest mention of this issue is acceptable, let alone pruning. What is the problem here? Can you discern it? When these family members gather, it’s like they are all singing the same tune and in sync, seeing which way the wind blows and listening for cues before they speak. If their ringleader takes a particular stance, everyone else follows suit, and others dare not provoke them or voice objections. Does the occurrence of this phenomenon in church life not constitute disruptions and disturbances to the normal order of the church? The people of this gang dictate which passages of God’s words are to be eaten and drunk during gatherings, and everyone must listen; even the church leaders must give them face and cannot object. They declare who should be elected as leaders and workers, and the church leaders must consider their opinion the most important and not take it lightly. At the same time, they continuously recruit “talents,” pulling those who will listen to them, those whom they can trust, and those who are of use to them into their group to use for the group’s purposes, continually expanding their influence. This clique aims to control church life; their ringleader wants to control the church. This group has significant power; they band together to act within the church. Whatever happens in the church, they want to be involved. Others must read their expressions before speaking or managing anything, even to the extent that the content of each gathering for eating and drinking must adhere to their arrangements and wishes. Even if the church leaders want to do something, they must first consult their opinions and listen to their ideas. Most of the brothers and sisters are controlled by them, and many matters of the church’s work are also under their control. These people who form cliques seriously disrupt and disturb church life and the work of the church. Is this issue serious? Should these actions be restricted? Should they be addressed? The ringleaders of these cliques should be restricted and cleared out or expelled, while those muddled individuals who blindly follow along should first be given fellowship and help. If they do not repent or reverse course, then they must be restricted. Do not show them any courtesy!

What constitutes forming cliques—is this easy to understand? If one person raises an issue and several others echo their opinion, does that count as forming cliques? (No.) If some brothers and sisters, who have a relatively greater burden and sense of justice, call on others to join them in completing an important task, or if, for the purpose of achieving results in a gathering and being able to understand the truth and God’s intentions on a significant topic, they lead everyone in fellowship, and everyone follows their line of thought in fellowshipping and pray-reading God’s words, does this count as forming cliques? (No.) In the church, which people are prone to forming cliques? What kind of behavior constitutes forming cliques? (Several people covering for and indulging each other, or engaging in jealousy and strife, which all disrupts and disturbs the work of the church—this is forming cliques.) This is one aspect. What is the key point here? Mutual covering and indulgence lead to disruptions and disturbances; knowing that doing something is wrong and does not conform to the truth principles, yet still deliberately concealing it, making sophistical arguments, and not telling the truth, preferring to damage the work of the church and the interests of God’s house just to protect someone’s face and status, and covering for those who do evil and cause disruptions and disturbances at the cost of betraying the interests of God’s house—this is forming cliques. Another scenario involves instigating and enticing people to collectively oppose the arrangements of God’s house. This is serious in nature, it is also a form of disrupting and disturbing God’s work and the normal order of the church. What is the main purpose of forming cliques? It is to control the church and to control God’s chosen people.

There is also a kind of clique formation that involves smooth-talking people in order to win over various types of individuals. On the surface, it seems that everyone in these sorts of gangs can speak freely and express their own opinions. However, by looking at the ultimate results, you can see that they are actually following the lead of what one person says—that person is their weathervane. So, how does that person draw others over to their side? They see who they can draw over and who is easy to draw over, and they do them small favors, offering a bit of loving assistance to them. Then they fish for information on them, figuring out what they like, how they like to speak, their personalities, and their hobbies. At the same time, they often agree with them in conversation to win over their hearts, and in the end, they gradually “move” them bit by bit, making them unknowingly enter into their clique and join their ranks. Generally speaking, smooth-talking people in order to win them over is a very gentle method, it’s full of “human warmth,” and it is very effective. For instance, if someone regularly shows another person love, agrees with them in conversation, and shows understanding and tolerance toward them, that person will unconsciously develop a favorable impression of them and draw closer to them, and then will get incorporated into their forces. In what situations do such gangs and factions take effect? As soon as one of their die-hard followers gets exposed, feels wronged, or has their interests, status, or reputation perturbed or damaged by something or someone outside of their faction, this kind of person will stand up to speak for them, fighting for their interests and rights—this is them forming a clique. The two obvious kinds of clique formation are covering for people and indulging them, and collective opposition. However, forming cliques through smooth-talking doesn’t seem as forceful as the two kinds just mentioned, and members of such cliques usually go unspotted within the church. But when it’s time for people to make a choice, to have a clear stance, such factions become distinctly apparent. For example, if the ringleader of a faction says that a certain church leader has caliber, their followers will immediately give a bunch of examples of how that leader exhibits this caliber. If the faction’s ringleader says that the church leader lacks work capability, has poor caliber, and has bad humanity, the other members will follow suit, speaking about how that church leader is incompetent, how they aren’t able to fellowship the truth, how they speak words and doctrines, and they will say that everyone should choose the right person instead. This is a type of invisible clique. Although they do not publicly come forward to seize power and control people in the church, there is an invisible force within such factions and gangs that controls the church life and the order of the church. This is a more terrifying, hidden form of clique formation. Besides the two easily discernible situations of clique formation that were previously mentioned, which are problems that church leaders should resolve, this hidden kind of clique formation is a problem that church leaders should even more so resolve and take care of. How should they go about this? They must directly address the ringleader of this sort of gang through fellowship. Why focus on fellowshipping with this ringleader first? On the surface, it seems that the members of such a clique are not controlled by anyone, but in actuality, they all know deep down who it is they obey, and wish to obey that person. Therefore, the one they idolize and who controls them should be handled and addressed, and the truth should be fellowshipped to them so they understand the nature of their actions. Although the ringleader may not have openly opposed God’s house or clamored against the leaders, they control these people’s right to speak, their thoughts, viewpoints, and the path they follow. They are a hidden antichrist. Such individuals must be identified, then discerned and dissected. If they do not repent, they should be restricted and isolated. Then, an investigation into each of their members should be conducted to see who among them is of the same kind. First, separate out these individuals, and then fellowship with the muddled ones who are timid, cowardly, and have been misled. If they can repent and give up following the antichrist, they may stay in the church; if not, they should be isolated. Is this an appropriate approach? (Yes.) Does this phenomenon exist within the church? Should this kind of issue be resolved? (It should be resolved.) Why should it be resolved? Since God’s house began to spread the gospel, the forces of antichrists have been ubiquitous within the church life, and many of God’s chosen people have been affected, constrained, or controlled by these forces to varying degrees. Whenever these people speak or act, they aren’t in a state of freedom and liberation, but rather are swayed, influenced, controlled, and imprisoned by the thoughts and viewpoints of some individuals. These people feel compelled to speak and act in certain ways; if they do not, they worry and are afraid of bearing the consequences that arise. Has this not affected and disturbed the church life? Is this a manifestation of normal church life? (No.) This kind of church life is not of normal order but is controlled by evil people. As long as evil people hold power in the church, it is not God’s word or the truth that reigns there. Leaders, workers, and brothers and sisters who understand the truth will be oppressed. Such a church is one that is controlled by the forces of antichrists. This is also an issue and phenomenon of God’s work and the normal order of the church being disrupted and disturbed, which leaders and workers should address and resolve. Some people who are in the gang of an antichrist fear losing the trust of their gang, losing their backers, losing friends, having no support in times of need, and so on. Therefore, they try their utmost to remain in the gang. Isn’t this situation serious? Shouldn’t it be resolved? (Yes.) When this kind of situation arises within the church, do most people sense it? Do most people discern it? Some people are controlled by someone without realizing it, they always have to follow that person’s thoughts and viewpoints, their statements and actions, their teachings, and they are afraid to say “no,” afraid to go against that person, and even have to insincerely nod in agreement and smile when that person speaks, for fear of offending them. Do situations like this exist? What is the problem that should be resolved here? Church leaders should address and handle that antichrist ringleader who is capable of misleading and controlling others. Firstly, they should fellowship the truth to enable the majority of people to discern this antichrist, then restrict the antichrist themselves. If the antichrist does not repent, they should be promptly cleared out to prevent them from continuing to disturb the normal order of the church.

In summary, in normal church life, the brothers and sisters should be able to freely and unrestrainedly fellowship on God’s words, as well as on their personal insights, understandings, experiences, and difficulties. Of course, they should also have the right to make suggestions about, criticize, and expose any actions of leaders and workers that violate the principles, while also having the right to provide help and advice. This should all be free, and all these aspects should be normal; they should not be controlled by any individual, leading God’s chosen people to be constrained—that would not be normal church life. God’s house has requirements, rules, and principles for how the brothers and sisters should speak, act, and comport themselves and how they should establish normal interpersonal relationships in church life, and so on, and these things are not determined by any individual. When the brothers and sisters do something, they do not have to check the expression of any individual, they need not follow any individual’s commands or be constrained by any person. No one should serve as a weathervane or helmsman; the only thing that can provide direction is God’s word, the truth. Therefore, what God’s chosen people must adhere to is God’s word, the truth, and the principles of fellowshipping the truth at gatherings. If you are always constrained by another person, always taking your cues from them, and no longer dare to keep speaking when you see their displeased look or frowning face, if you are always restricted by that person while fellowshipping on God’s words and on your personal experiential understandings, always feeling constrained, unable to act according to the truth principles, and if that person’s words, looks, facial expressions, tone of voice, and the implied threats in their speech constantly bind you, then you are being controlled within a clique led by this person. This is troublesome; this is not church life, but the life of a faction ruled by an antichrist. When it comes to this kind of issue, leaders and workers should come forward to resolve it, and the brothers and sisters also have the obligation and right to defend the normal order of the church. Those who disrupt and disturb the church life, especially those who form cliques and want to control the church, should be stopped, exposed, and dissected, enabling everyone to gain discernment and see through to the essence of the problem, which is that of attempting to establish an independent kingdom. The church does not permit clique formation and the dividing up of the church for any reason. For example, dividing into gangs based on social identity and status, neighborhoods, regions, or religious denomination, or dividing into gangs based on level of education, wealth, race and skin color, and so on—this all goes against the truth principles and should not occur in the church. No matter what pretext is used for dividing people into these hierarchies, ranks, factions, and cliques, it will disrupt and disturb the work of the church and the normal order of church life, and it is an issue that leaders and workers should resolve promptly. In short, regardless of the reasons for people dividing into cliques, factions, or gangs, if they have amassed a certain force, and they constitute a disturbance to the work of the church and the order of church life, they should be stopped and restricted. If the members of such cliques cannot be dissuaded, these evildoers can be isolated and cleared out. Handling these issues is also part of the work and responsibilities that leaders and workers should perform. So, what needs to be understood here? It is that when some people have formed forces in the church, and are capable of contending with and opposing the church leaders, the church’s work, and God’s words, and are capable of disturbing and damaging the normal order of church life, such behaviors, manifestations, and situations should be restricted and handled promptly. No distinctions are made based on the number of people involved when it comes to clique formation. If two people get along well and do not cause any disturbances to the church, there is no need to interfere. However, once they start causing disturbances and form a force in order to control the church, these individuals should be stopped and restricted. If they do not repent, they should be promptly cleared out or expelled. This is the principle.

May 22, 2021