Item Twelve: Promptly and Accurately Identify the Various People, Events, and Things That Disrupt and Disturb God’s Work and the Normal Order of the Church; Stop and Restrict Them, and Turn Things Around; Additionally, Fellowship the Truth So That God’s Chosen People Develop Discernment Through Such Things and Learn From Them (Part Three)

The Various People, Events, and Things That Disrupt and Disturb Church Life

At the last gathering, we fellowshipped on the twelfth responsibility of leaders and workers: “Promptly and accurately identify the various people, events, and things that disrupt and disturb God’s work and the normal order of the church; stop and restrict them, and turn things around; additionally, fellowship the truth so that God’s chosen people develop discernment through such things and learn from them.” Regarding this responsibility, we primarily fellowshipped on various problems related to the church life, which we divided into eleven issues. Go ahead and read them. (First, often going off topic when fellowshipping the truth; second, speaking words and doctrines to mislead people and win their esteem; third, prattling about domestic matters, building personal connections, and handling personal affairs; fourth, forming cliques; fifth, vying for status; sixth, engaging in improper relationships; seventh, engaging in mutual attacks and verbal spats; eighth, spreading notions; ninth, venting negativity; tenth, spreading baseless rumors; and eleventh, manipulating and sabotaging elections.) Last time, we fellowshipped on the fifth issue which is vying for status and the sixth issue which is engaging in improper relationships. These two types of problems, like the previous four issues, also cause disturbances and disruptions to the church life and the normal order of the church. Looking at the nature of these two types of problems, the harm they cause to the church life, and their impact on people’s life entry, they can both constitute people, events, and things that disrupt and disturb God’s work and the church’s normal order.

VII. Engaging in Mutual Attacks and Verbal Spats

Today, we will fellowship on the seventh issue—engaging in mutual attacks and verbal spats. Such problems are common in church life and apparent to everyone. When people gather to eat and drink God’s word, fellowship on their personal experiences, or discuss some actual problems, divergent viewpoints or debates over right and wrong often lead to arguments and disputes between people. If people disagree and have varied perspectives, but this does not disturb the church life, does this count as engaging in mutual attacks and verbal spats? This does not qualify; it belongs to normal fellowship. Therefore, on the surface many problems may seem related to the seventh issue, but in fact, only those that are more severe in terms of circumstances and nature, and thus constitute disruptions and disturbances, belong under this issue. Let’s fellowship now about which problems’ nature qualifies them for inclusion under this issue.

Firstly, looking at the manifestations of engaging in mutual attacks, this is certainly not about normal fellowshipping on the truth or seeking the truth, or having different understandings or light based on fellowshipping the truth, or seeking, fellowshipping, discussing the truth principles, and seeking a path of practice with regard to a certain truth, instead it’s about arguing and disputing over right and wrong. This is basically how it manifests. Does this kind of issue occur sometimes in church life? (Yes.) Just based on outward appearances, it’s evident that an act like engaging in mutual attacks is certainly not about seeking the truth, or about fellowshipping the truth under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, or about cooperating harmoniously, but is instead rooted in hotheadedness, and the language used in it contains judgment and condemnation, and even curses—this kind of manifestation is truly a revelation of Satan’s corrupt disposition. When people attack each other, regardless of whether their language is sharp or tactful, it carries within it hotheadedness, malice, and hatred, and it is devoid of love, tolerance, and forbearance, and naturally it is even more so devoid of harmonious cooperation. The methods people use to attack each other are varied. For instance, when two people are discussing a matter, person A says to person B, “Some people have bad humanity and an arrogant disposition; they show off whenever they do a bit of something, and they do not listen to anyone. They’re just like what God’s words say about those who are as barbaric and lacking in humanity as beasts.” After hearing this, person B thinks, “Wasn’t what you just said directed at me? You even invoked God’s words to expose me! Since you’ve talked about me, I won’t hold back either. You’ve been unkind to me, so I will do wrong to you!” And so, person B says, “Some people might seem very devout on the outside, but actually deep down they are more sinister than anyone else. They even engage in improper relationships with the opposite sex, just like the harlots and prostitutes spoken of in God’s words—God is utterly disgusted by such people, He feels averse toward them. What’s the use of appearing devout? That’s all pretense. God dislikes pretenders the most; all pretenders are Pharisees!” After hearing this, person A thinks, “This is a counterattack against me! Fine, you’ve been unkind to me, so don’t blame me for not holding back!” Back and forth, the two of them have started fighting. Is this fellowshipping God’s words? (No.) What are they doing? (Attacking each other and fighting.) They even seize upon some leverage and find a “basis” for their attacks, invoking God’s words as the basis—this is engaging in mutual attacks, and at the same time, it is engaging in verbal spats. Is this form of fellowship sometimes seen in church life? Is this normal fellowship? Is it fellowship within normal humanity? (No.) Then, does this form of fellowship cause disruptions and disturbances to church life? What kind of disruptions and disturbances does it cause? (Normal church life gets disturbed, people fall into disputes about right and wrong, and consequently are unable to quietly ponder and fellowship on God’s words.) When people engage in such fighting and arguments about right and wrong, and carry out personal attacks during the church life, does the Holy Spirit still work? The Holy Spirit does not work; this kind of fellowship throws people’s hearts into disarray. There are some words in the Bible, do you remember them? (“Again I say to you, That if two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of My Father which is in heaven. For where two or three are gathered together in My name, there am I in the middle of them” (Matthew 18:19–20).) What do these words mean? When people gather together before God, they need to be of one heart and mind and united before God; God will only bestow blessings upon them, and the Holy Spirit will only work, when people are of one heart and mind. But were the two arguing people I mentioned just now of one heart and mind? (No.) What were they engaging in? Mutual attacks, fighting, and even judgment and condemnation. Although they did not use foul curse words or name names on the surface, the motivation behind their words was not to fellowship the truth or seek the truth, and they were not speaking within the conscience and reason of normal humanity. Every word they spoke was irresponsible, and carried with it aggressiveness and malice; each word did not conform to the facts, nor did it have any basis. Every word was not about judging a matter according to God’s words and God’s requirements, it was about launching personal attacks, judgments, and condemnations based on their own preferences and will against a person they hated and looked down on. None of these are manifestations of being of one heart and mind; rather, these are words and manifestations that come from hotheadedness and Satan’s corrupt disposition, and they are not pleasing to God; therefore, there is no work of the Holy Spirit there. This is a manifestation of engaging in mutual attacks.

In church life, disputes and conflicts often arise between people over minor matters or conflicting viewpoints and interests. Disputes also often occur due to incompatible personalities, ambitions, and preferences. Various kinds of disagreements and discord also emerge among individuals due to differences in social status and education levels, or differences in terms of their humanity and nature, and even differences in terms of ways of speaking and handling matters, among other reasons. If people do not seek to resolve these issues using God’s word, if there is no mutual understanding, tolerance, support, and assistance, and if people instead harbor prejudices and hatred in their hearts, and treat each other with hotheadedness within corrupt dispositions, then this is likely to lead to mutual attacks and judgments. Some people have a bit of conscience and reason, and when disputes occur, they can exercise patience, act with reason, and help the other party with love. However, some people cannot achieve this, they lack even the most basic tolerance, patience, humanity, and reason. They often develop various prejudices, suspicions, and misunderstandings against others over trivial matters, or a single word or facial expression, which leads to them having various kinds of thoughts, doubts, judgments, and condemnations toward them in their hearts. These phenomena frequently occur within the church and often affect the normal relationships between individuals, the harmonious interactions of the brothers and sisters, and even their fellowship of God’s words. It’s common for disputes to arise when people interact with each other, but if such issues frequently arise in church life, they can affect, disturb, and even destroy normal church life. For example, if someone starts an argument at a gathering, then that gathering will be disturbed, church life will fail to bear fruit, and those attending the gathering won’t gain anything, and they will essentially be gathering in vain and wasting their time. Consequently, these issues will have already affected the normal order of church life.

A. Several Kinds of Manifestations of Engaging in Mutual Attacks and Verbal Spats

1. Mutual Exposure of Shortcomings

Some people always like to prattle about domestic matters and unimportant topics during gatherings, and they talk about trivial household affairs and engage in chitchat with the brothers and sisters whenever they meet them, which leaves those brothers and sisters feeling helpless. Someone may stand up to interrupt them, but what happens then? If they are constantly interrupted, they become unhappy, and them being unhappy means trouble. They think: “You always interrupt me and don’t let me speak. Fine, then. I’ll interrupt you when you speak! When you fellowship God’s words, I’ll cut in with another passage of God’s words. When you fellowship about knowing yourself, I’ll fellowship about God’s words that judge people. When you fellowship about understanding your arrogant disposition, I’ll fellowship God’s words on determining people’s outcomes and destinations. Whatever you say, I’ll say something different!” Not only that, if others join in to interrupt them, then this individual stands up and attacks them. At the same time, because they harbor resentment and hatred in their heart, during gatherings they often expose the shortcomings of the person who interrupted them, talking about how that person used to cheat others in business before they came to believe in God, how unscrupulous they were in their dealings with others, and so on—they talk about these things whenever that person speaks. At first, that person can exercise patience, but over time, they begin to think: “I always help you, I always show tolerance and patience toward you, but you don’t show me any tolerance. If you treat me this way, don’t blame me for not holding back! We’ve lived in the same village for so long—we both know each other well. You’ve attacked me, so I’ll attack you; you’ve exposed my shortcomings, but you have plenty of them yourself.” And so, they say, “You even stole things when you were young; those petty thefts you did are even more disgraceful! At least what I did was business, it was all for the sake of making a living. Who doesn’t make a few mistakes in this world? What about your behavior? Yours is the behavior of a thief, a robber!” Is this not engaging in mutual attacks? What is the method of these attacks? It’s a mutual exposure of shortcomings, isn’t it? (Yes.) They even think to themselves: “You keep exposing my shortcomings, letting everyone know about them and about my dishonorable past, making it so others won’t esteem me anymore—well then, I won’t hold back either. I know all about how many partners you’ve had, how many people of the opposite sex you’ve been with; I’ve got all this ammunition loaded up. If you expose my shortcomings again and push me too far, I’ll bring all your misdeeds to light!” Mutual exposure of shortcomings is a common issue among those who are well-acquainted with each other and who know each other well. Perhaps because of a disagreement or because there are conflicts or grudges between them, two people drag out old and trivial matters to use as weapons to attack each other during gatherings. These two people expose each other’s shortcomings and attack and condemn each other, taking up everyone’s time for eating and drinking God’s word, and impacting normal church life. Can such gatherings bear fruit? Do the people around them still feel like gathering? Some brothers and sisters start to think: “These two are really troublesome, what’s the point of bringing up those past matters! They both believe in God now, they should let those things go. Who doesn’t have issues? Haven’t they both come before God now? All of these issues can be resolved with God’s word. Exposing shortcomings is not practicing the truth, nor is it learning from one person’s strengths to make up for another’s weaknesses; it’s mutual attacks, it’s satanic behavior.” Their mutual attacks disturb and destroy normal church life. No one can stop them, and they won’t listen no matter who fellowships the truth to them. Some people advise them: “Stop exposing each other’s shortcomings. Actually, this whole thing is not such a big deal; isn’t it just a momentary verbal disagreement? There’s no deep hatred between the two of you. If both of you could open up, lay yourselves bare, let go of your prejudices, resentment, and hatred to pray and seek the truth before God, all these issues could be resolved.” But the two people are still in a deadlock. One of them says, “If he could apologize to me first, and if he opened up and laid himself bare first, then I would do the same. But if, like before, he won’t let this thing go, then I won’t hold back against him! You ask me to practice the truth—why doesn’t he practice it? You ask me to let things go—why doesn’t he do it first?” Is this not being unreasonable? (Yes.) They start acting unreasonably. No one’s advice has an effect on them, and they don’t listen to fellowship on the truth. As soon as they see each other, they argue, they expose each other’s shortcomings and they attack each other. Except for not coming to blows, there is hatred in everything they do to each other, and every word they say contains hints of attack and cursing. If, in church life, there are two people like this who attack and engage in verbal spats as soon as they see each other, can this church life bear fruit? Can people gain anything positive from it? (No.) When such situations arise, most people become worried, saying, “Every time we gather, those two are always fighting, and they don’t listen to anyone’s advice. What should we do?” As long as they are there, the gatherings are not peaceful, and everyone is disturbed by them. In such cases, the church leaders should step in to resolve the issue; they must not allow such individuals to continue disturbing church life. If after repeated advice, fellowshipping, and positive guidance, no results are achieved, and both parties continue to hold onto their prejudices and refuse to forgive each other, and continue to attack each other and disturb church life, then it’s necessary to handle the matter according to the principles. They should be told: “The two of you have been in this state for a long time, and it has caused serious disturbances to church life and to all the brothers and sisters. Most people are angry at this behavior of yours, but they are afraid to say anything about it. Given your current attitude and manifestations, the church must, in accordance with the principles, suspend your participation in church life and get you to isolate for self-reflection. When you are able to get along harmoniously, engage in normal fellowship, and have normal interpersonal relationships, then you can return to church life.” Regardless of whether or not they agree to this, the church should make this decision; this is handling the matter based on the principles. These matters should be handled in such a manner. In one respect, this is beneficial for the two individuals; it can prompt them to reflect and know themselves. In another respect, it primarily protects more brothers and sisters from being disturbed by evil people. Some people say, “They haven’t done any evil; in terms of their essence, they are also not evil people. They just have minor flaws in their humanity, they are just willful, prone to being unreasonable, and prone to jealousy and disputes. Why isolate them just because of this?” Regardless of how their humanity is, as long as they constitute a disturbance to church life, church leaders should intervene to address and resolve the issue. If these two individuals are evil, then as soon as this is discerned, the response should not be as simple as isolating them; a decision must be made immediately to directly clear them out. If their actions are limited to attacking each other and arguing about right and wrong without causing harm to others or committing other bad deeds that would cause losses to the interests of God’s house, and they are not evil, then they do not need to be cleared out. Instead, their church life should be suspended, and they should be isolated for self-reflection. This approach is most appropriate. The purpose of handling the matter in this way is to ensure the normal order of church life and guarantee that church work can proceed normally.