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 Five)

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

IX. Venting Negativity

Today, we continue our fellowship 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.” Concerning the various disruptions and disturbances that arise in church life, last time we fellowshipped about the eighth issue—spreading notions—and today we will fellowship about the ninth—venting negativity. Venting negativity is also something often heard in everyday life. Similarly, acts or statements of venting negativity should also be restricted and stopped when they appear in church life, because venting negativity is not edifying for any person; rather, it impacts, disturbs, and causes loss for people. Therefore, venting negativity is a negative thing, similar in nature to other behaviors, actions, and statements that disturb church life; it can also disturb people and have adverse impacts. No one can edify others or bring benefits to them by venting negativity; it only brings harmful effects and can also affect people’s normal performance of their duties. Thus, when venting negativity occurs in the church, it should similarly be stopped and restricted, not indulged or encouraged.

A. What Venting Negativity Is

First let us look at how venting negativity should be understood and discerned. How should we discern venting negativity? Which of people’s remarks and manifestations are those of venting negativity? Above all, the negativity that people vent is not positive, it is something adverse that contradicts the truth, and it is something produced from their corrupt disposition. Having a corrupt disposition leads to difficulties in practicing the truth and submitting to God—and because of these difficulties, negative thoughts and other negative things are revealed in people. These things are produced in the context of them trying to practice the truth; these are thoughts and viewpoints that affect and hinder people when they try to practice the truth, and are wholly negative things. No matter how in line with the notions of man and how reasonable these negative thoughts and viewpoints sound, they do not come from the understanding of God’s words, much less are they experiential knowledge of God’s words. Instead, they are produced by the human mind, and not in agreement with the truth at all. Therefore, they are negative things, adverse things. The intention of people who vent negativity is to find many objective reasons for their failure to practice the truth, so as to earn other people’s sympathy and understanding. To varying degrees, these negative statements influence and undermine people’s initiative in practicing the truth, and can even stop many people from practicing the truth. These consequences and adverse impacts make these negative things even more deserving of being characterized as adverse, in opposition to God, and totally hostile to the truth. Some people cannot see through to the essence of negativity, and think that frequent negativity is normal, and that it has no great effect on people’s pursuit of the truth. This line of thought is wrong; in fact, it has a very great effect, and if someone’s negativity becomes too much for themselves to bear, it can easily lead to betrayal. This terrible consequence is caused by none other than negativity. So how should the venting of negativity be discerned and understood? Simply put, to vent negativity is to mislead people and stop them from practicing the truth; it is the use of soft tactics, of seemingly normal methods, to mislead people and trip them up. Is this harmful to them? It is actually profoundly damaging to them. And so, venting negativity is something adverse, it is condemned by God; this is the simplest interpretation of venting negativity. So just what is the negative component of venting negativity? What things are negative, and liable to have an adverse impact on people, and to cause disruption and harm to church life? What does negativity include? If people have a pure comprehension of God’s words, will the words they fellowship contain any negativity? If people have an attitude of true submission toward the circumstances laid forth for them by God, then will their knowledge of these circumstances contain any negativity? When they share their experiential knowledge with everyone, will it contain any negativity? Certainly not. With regard to anything that happens in the church or around them, if people are able to accept it from God, have the correct approach, and can have an attitude of seeking and submission, then will their knowledge, understanding, and experience of what happens contain any negativity? (No.) It absolutely will not. So viewed in these regards, just what is negativity? How can it be understood? Doesn’t negativity contain things of this nature—people’s disobedience, dissatisfaction, grievances, and resentment? More serious cases of negativity also include resistance, defiance, and even clamoring. Voicing remarks that contain these elements can be characterized as venting negativity. So judging from these manifestations, when a person vents negativity, is there any submission to God in their heart? Certainly not. Is there any willingness to rebel against the flesh and resolve their negativity? No—there is nothing but resistance, rebelliousness, and opposition. If people’s hearts are filled with these things—if their hearts have been taken over by these negative things—then this will produce resistance, rebelliousness, and defiance toward God. And if this is the case, will they still be able to practice the truth and submit to God? They will not; all that will happen is that they will become distant from God, and grow more negative, and may even doubt, deny, and betray God. Isn’t this dangerous? Anyone who is often negative is capable of venting negativity, and to vent negativity is to oppose and deny God; as such, people who often vent negativity are liable to betray God and leave Him at any time or place.

Judging from the meaning of the word “negativity,” when a person becomes negative, their mood falls into a very low state and they enter a bad frame of mind. Their mood is filled with negative elements, they lack an attitude of actively making progress and striving forward, and they lack positive, active cooperation and seeking; even more so, they demonstrate no willing submission, showing instead an incredibly despondent mood. What does a despondent mood represent? Does it represent the positive aspects of humanity? Does it represent having conscience and reason? Does it represent living with dignity, living within the dignity of humanity? (No.) If it does not represent these positive things, what does it represent? Can it represent a lack of true faith in God, as well as a lack of determination and resolve to pursue the truth and proactively make progress? Can it represent a strong dissatisfaction with and trouble understanding one’s current situation and difficulties, and an unwillingness to accept the facts of the present? Can it represent a situation in which one’s heart is filled with disobedience, a desire to defy, and a desire to escape and change the current situation? (Yes.) These are the states that people exhibit when they face the current situation with negativity. In short, no matter what, when people are negative, their dissatisfaction with the current situation and with what God has arranged is not equivalent to something as simple as them merely having misunderstandings, not understanding, not comprehending, or not being able to experience. Not comprehending may be a matter of caliber or time, which is a normal manifestation of humanity. Not being able to experience may also be due to some objective reasons, but these are not considered negative, adverse things. Some people are also unable to experience, but when faced with things they do not understand or see through, or things they are unable to comprehend or experience, they will pray to God and seek His desires, wait for God’s enlightenment and illumination, and actively seek from and fellowship with others. However, some people are different; they do not have these paths of practice, nor do they have such an attitude. Instead of waiting, seeking, or finding someone to fellowship with, they develop misunderstandings in their hearts, feeling that the events and circumstances they encounter do not align with their desires, preferences, or imaginings, thereby leading to disobedience, dissatisfaction, resistance, complaints, defiance, clamoring, and other such adverse things. Having generated these adverse things, they do not think much of them, nor do they come before God to pray and reflect to gain knowledge of their own state and corruption. They do not read God’s words to seek God’s desires or use God’s words to resolve problems, much less seek from and fellowship with others. Instead, they insist that what they believe is correct and accurate, harboring disobedience and dissatisfaction in their hearts, and remain trapped in negative, adverse emotions. When trapped in these emotions, they might be able to keep them bottled up and withstand them for a day or two, but over a longer period, many things are produced in their minds, including human notions and imaginings, human ethics and morals, human culture, traditions, and knowledge, and so on. They use these things to gauge, calculate, and understand the problems they face, completely ensnared in Satan’s web, thus giving rise to various states of dissatisfaction and disobedience. From these corrupt states, various erroneous ideas and viewpoints then emerge, and in their hearts these negative things can no longer be controlled. They then look for opportunities to pour out and vent these things. When their hearts are filled with negativity, do they say, “I’m filled with negative things inside; I shouldn’t speak recklessly, to avoid harming others. If I feel like speaking and can’t hold it in, I’ll speak to a wall, or talk to something that doesn’t understand human speech”? Are they kind enough to do this? (No.) What do they do then? They look for opportunities to have an audience to receive their negative views, remarks, and emotions, using this to pour out their various negative feelings such as dissatisfaction, disobedience, and resentment from their hearts. They believe that during church life is the best time to vent, and a good occasion to pour out their negativity, dissatisfaction, and disobedience because there are many listeners and their words can influence others to become negative and bring adverse consequences to the church’s work. Of course, those who vent negativity can’t hold back even behind the scenes; they always pour out their negative speech. When there aren’t many people to hear them vent, they find it unexciting, but when everyone gathers together, they become more energized. Judging from the emotions, states, and other aspects of those who vent negativity, their aim is not to help people understand the truth, see through what is true, clear up misunderstandings or doubts about God, know themselves and their own corrupt essence, or resolve their issues of rebelliousness and corruption so that they do not rebel against God or oppose Him but rather submit to Him. Their aims are essentially twofold: In one respect, they vent negativity to pour out their own emotions; in the other, they aim to draw more people into negativity and into the trap of resisting and clamoring against God along with them. Therefore, the act of venting negativity should absolutely be stopped within church life.

B. The Various States and Manifestations of People Who Vent Negativity

1. Venting Negativity While Feeling Dissatisfied About Being Dismissed

The emotions and manifestations of negativity are basically these. After I fellowshipped about these, people should compare themselves against them and see which of their behaviors, remarks, and methods in real life are those of venting negativity, and what situations cause them to fall into negativity, thus leading to the venting of negativity. Tell Me, under typical circumstances, what situations cause people to be negative? What are the common forms of negativity? (When someone is dismissed or when they are pruned, they may develop some negativity in their heart.) Being dismissed is one scenario, being pruned is another. Why does being dismissed lead to negativity? (Some people, after being dismissed, have no self-knowledge and think that it was their status that led to their downfall. They then say, “The higher you climb, the harder you fall,” voicing some negative viewpoints. They do not have a pure comprehension of being dismissed; they are disobedient in their hearts.) Inside them, there is disobedience and dissatisfaction, which are negative emotions. Do they complain? (Yes. They feel that they have endured hardship and paid a price, having always worked strenuously without getting anything good in return, and yet were still dismissed. So they say, “It’s tough being a leader; whoever becomes a leader is unlucky. Eventually everyone gets dismissed.”) Spreading these remarks is venting negativity. If they are merely disobedient and dissatisfied but do not spread it, that does not yet constitute venting negativity. If from disobedience and dissatisfaction there gradually emerges an aggrieved mood, and they do not acknowledge the fact that they have poor caliber and were unable to do the job, and then they start to argue their twisted logic, generating all sorts of statements, viewpoints, excuses, reasons, explanations, justifications, and so on while arguing, then making these types of remarks amounts to venting negativity. Some false leaders, dismissed for not doing real work, harbor disobedience and dissatisfaction in their hearts, not having any submission at all; they always think, “Let’s see who can take my place as leader. Others are no better than me; if I can’t do the work, neither can they!” What makes them disobedient? They think their caliber isn’t poor and they have done plenty of work, so why were they dismissed? These are the inner thoughts of a false leader. They do not reflect to know themselves and see whether or not they actually did any real work, how many actual problems they resolved, or whether or not it’s a fact that they did paralyze the work of the church. They seldom consider these things. They don’t think the issue is that they lack the truth reality and cannot see through things; rather, they believe that having done a lot of work, they should not be characterized as a false leader. This is the primary reason for their disobedience and dissatisfaction. They always think: “I have done my duties for many years, getting up early and staying up late every day for whom? After believing in God, I left my family behind, gave up my career, and even risked being arrested and imprisoned to do my duties. How much hardship have I endured! And now they say I haven’t done actual work and just dismiss me—it’s so unfair! Even if I haven’t had any achievements, I have endured hardship; if not hardship, then fatigue! With my caliber and ability to pay a price in my work, if even I am still considered not up to standard and get dismissed, then I think there are hardly any leaders who are up to standard!” Are they venting negativity by speaking these words? Is there a single sentence among them that conveys submission? Is there even a hint of wanting to seek the truth? Is there any self-reflection, like, “They say my work is not up to standard, so where exactly am I lacking? What actual work have I not done? What manifestations of a false leader do I exhibit?” Have they reflected on themselves in this way? (No.) So, what is the nature of these words they say? Are they complaining? Are they justifying themselves? What is their purpose in justifying themselves? Isn’t it to gain people’s sympathy and understanding? Don’t they want more people to come to their defense, to lament the injustice they’ve suffered? (Yes.) Then who are they clamoring against? Aren’t they arguing with and clamoring against God? (Yes.) Their speech is complaining about God, opposing God. Their hearts are filled with grievances, with resistance and rebelliousness. Not only that, but by venting negativity, they aim to make more people understand them, sympathize with them, and make more people develop negativity like them, to make more people foster grievances, resistance, and defiance against God, or clamor against Him, just like them. Don’t they vent negativity to achieve this purpose? Their purpose is simply to let more people know the so-called truth of the matter and to make others believe they are being wronged, that what they did was right, that they shouldn’t have been dismissed, and that dismissing them was a mistake; they want more people to come to their defense. Through this, they hope to restore their face, status, and reputation. All false leaders and antichrists, after being dismissed, vent negativity like this to win people’s sympathy. Not one of them can reflect on and come to know themselves, admit their mistakes, or show genuine remorse and repentance. This fact proves that false leaders and antichrists are all people who don’t love the truth, and don’t accept it at all. So, after being revealed and eliminated, they cannot come to know themselves through the truth and God’s words. No one has seen them show remorse or have genuine knowledge of themselves, nor has anyone seen them demonstrate true repentance. They seem never to gain knowledge of themselves or admit their mistakes. Judging from this fact, dismissing false leaders and antichrists is entirely appropriate and not unjust at all. Based on their complete lack of reflection and knowledge of themselves, as well as their being devoid of all remorse, it is evident that their antichrist disposition is severe, and that they do not love the truth at all.

Some false leaders, after being dismissed, don’t acknowledge their mistakes at all, nor do they seek the truth or reflect on and know themselves. They don’t have the slightest heart or attitude of submission. Instead, they misunderstand God and complain that God treats them unfairly, racking their brains to find various excuses and reasons to justify and defend themselves. Some even say, “I never wanted to be a leader before because I knew it was a difficult job. If you do well, you don’t get rewarded, and if you don’t do well, you get dismissed and become notorious, rejected by the brothers and sisters, and left with no face at all. How could someone show their face after that? Now that I’ve been dismissed, I’m even more convinced that it’s not easy being a leader or worker; it’s an arduous and thankless job!” What does the statement “being a leader or worker is an arduous and thankless job” mean? Is there any intention to seek the truth being conveyed here? Isn’t it the case that they’ve begun to hate the fact that God’s house arranged for them to be a leader or worker, and they are now using this kind of statement to mislead others? (Yes.) What are the consequences this statement can bring about? Most people’s minds, thinking, and their comprehension and understanding of this matter will be influenced and disturbed by these words. This is the consequence that venting negativity brings about for people. For instance, if you’re not a leader and you hear this, you’ll be startled, thinking, “Isn’t that true! I must not be chosen as a leader. If I am, I’ll have to quickly find all sorts of reasons and excuses to decline. I’ll say I lack the caliber and can’t do the work.” Some who are leaders are also affected by this statement, thinking, “How terrifying! Will I also be faced with the same outcome as them in the future? If that’s how things are going to pan out, I absolutely refuse to be a leader.” Do these negative, adverse emotions and this negative, adverse statement disturb people? They clearly cause disturbances. No matter the person, whether they have good caliber or poor caliber, when they hear these words, they will involuntarily take them in first, and these words will occupy a predominant position in their mind, and affect them to varying degrees. What are the consequences of being affected? Most people won’t be able to approach the matter of being a leader and being dismissed from leadership correctly, and they won’t have an attitude of submission. Instead, they will have a heart that is always misunderstanding and guarding against God, they will develop negative emotions concerning this issue, and they will be particularly sensitive and fearful when the issue is mentioned. When people exhibit these behaviors, haven’t they fallen into Satan’s temptation and misleading? It’s clear they have been misled and disturbed by the people venting negativity. Because the things vented by people who vent negativity stem from people’s corrupt dispositions and from Satan, and because they are not an understanding of the truth or the experiential insights gained by submitting to the environments God arranges, those who hear them are disturbed to varying degrees. The negativity people vent causes some adverse, perturbing effects on everyone. Some who actively seek the truth will be less harmed. Others, with no resistance at all, can’t help but be perturbed and deeply harmed, even if they know the words are wrong. Regardless of what God says, how He fellowships on the matter, or what requirements He has, they ignore all of this and instead keep in mind the words of those who vent negativity, always warning themselves not to relax their vigilance, as if these negative statements are their protective umbrella, their shield. No matter what God says, they cannot let go of their guardedness and misunderstandings. These people, who have no entry into the truth or God’s words, and who don’t understand the truth reality, have no discernment of these negative statements, and no resistance to them. They ultimately end up being constrained and bound by these negative statements, and can’t accept God’s words anymore. Haven’t they been harmed by this? To what extent have they been harmed? They can’t take in or understand God’s words but instead regard the negative words, the words of dissatisfaction, disobedience, and complaint voiced by people as positive things, regarding them as their personal mottos to be kept close to their hearts, and using them to guide their lives, to oppose God and defy His words. Haven’t they fallen into Satan’s web? (Yes.) These people get involuntarily trapped in Satan’s web, and they are captured by Satan. The negative statements these people voice about such a simple matter as being dismissed from a position nevertheless have immense impacts on others. There is a root cause to this: Those who accept these negative statements were already full of notions and imaginings—and even some misunderstandings and guardedness—about being a leader. Although these misunderstandings and guardedness weren’t fully formed in their minds, after hearing these negative statements, they are more convinced that their guardedness and misunderstandings are correct; they feel they have even more reason to believe that being a leader brings with it a great deal of misfortune and not many good things, and that they should absolutely not become a leader or worker so as to avoid being dismissed and rejected for making mistakes. Have they not been utterly misled and influenced by those who vent negativity? Just the negative statements voiced by a person who has been dismissed, as well as their feelings of disobedience and dissatisfaction, can cause such significant impacts and harm to people. What do you think—is it a serious issue that the negative emotions people vent are full of an atmosphere of death? (Yes, it’s serious.) What makes it so serious? It’s that it perfectly caters to people’s deep-seated guardedness and misunderstandings toward God, while also reflecting people’s states of misunderstanding and doubting God, as well as their internal attitude toward Him. Therefore, the statements spread by those venting negativity directly strike at people’s vital points, and people fully accept them, falling so completely into Satan’s web that they cannot free themselves. Is this a good thing or a bad thing? (A bad thing.) What are the consequences of this? (It makes people betray God.) (It makes people guard against and misunderstand God, become distant from God in their hearts, approach their duties negatively, and fear accepting important commissions. They become content with doing common duties and thus miss many opportunities to be perfected.) Can such people be saved? (No.)

Paul put forth many viewpoints and wrote many letters two thousand years ago. In those letters, he said a lot of fallacies. Since people lack discernment, those reading the Bible over the past two thousand years have predominantly accepted Paul’s thoughts and viewpoints while setting aside the words of the Lord Jesus, not accepting the truths from God. Can those who accept Paul’s thoughts and viewpoints come before God? Can they accept His words? (No.) If they cannot accept God’s words, can they treat God as God? (No.) When God arrives and stands before them, can they recognize God? Can they accept Him as their God and Lord? (No.) Why can’t they? The fallacious thoughts and viewpoints of Paul have filled people’s hearts, forming all sorts of theories and sayings. When people use these to measure God, His work, His words, His disposition, and His attitude toward people, they are no longer corrupt humans of the ordinary, simple type, but stand opposed to God, scrutinizing and analyzing Him, and becoming hostile toward Him. Can God save such people? (No.) If God does not save them, will they still have the opportunity to receive salvation? God’s predestination and selection have given people an opportunity, but if after God’s predestination and selection the path people choose is the one that follows Paul, does this opportunity for salvation still exist? Some people say, “I was predestined and chosen by God, so I’m already in the safe zone. I’ll definitely be saved.” Do these words hold up? What does it mean to be predestined and chosen by God? It means you have become a candidate for salvation, but whether you will be saved depends on how well you pursue and if you have chosen the correct path. Is it that all candidates will be selected and saved in the end? No. Likewise, if people accept the feelings, such as disobedience, dissatisfaction, and grievance, or the remarks, thoughts, and viewpoints expressed by those venting negativity, and their hearts are filled and possessed by these adverse things, this doesn’t indicate they just agree a little—it means they fully accept them and want to live by these things. When people live according to these adverse things, what does their relationship with God become? It turns into an antagonistic relationship. It’s not the relationship between the Creator and created beings, nor the relationship between God and corrupt humankind, and certainly not the relationship between God and those who receive salvation. Instead, it turns into the relationship between God and Satan, between God and His enemies. So, whether people can receive salvation becomes a question mark, an unknown. The negative statements made by those who have been dismissed are filled with complaints, misunderstandings, justifications, and defenses; they even say some things that mislead and draw people toward them. After hearing these statements, people develop misunderstandings and guardedness toward God, and even distance themselves from and reject Him in their hearts. Thus, when such people are venting negativity, they should be promptly restricted and stopped. Their inability to accept the situations they experience from God, seek the truth, and submit to God is their own issue, and they shouldn’t be allowed to affect others. If they cannot accept it, let them digest and resolve it gradually. But if they vent negativity and impact and disturb other people’s normal entry, they must be stopped and restricted in a timely manner. If they cannot be restricted and they continue to vent negativity to mislead and draw people to their side, then they should be promptly cleared out. They should not be allowed to continue disturbing the church life.