False Leaders Do Not Follow Up on or Provide Direction Regarding the Work

We just discussed this aspect of the fifth responsibility of leaders and workers: “maintain a grasp and understanding of the status of each item of work.” By discussing this aspect, we exposed some specific manifestations of false leaders, as well as their humanity and character. Now, let’s look at “maintaining a grasp and understanding of the progress of each item of work.” Of course, the progress of work is somewhat related to the status of work, the relationship is relatively close. If one cannot maintain an understanding and grasp of the status of an item of work, then they similarly cannot maintain an understanding and grasp of the progress of the work. For instance, how the progress of the work is, to what stage it has advanced, what the states of the people involved are, whether there are any difficulties with professional aspects, whether there are any areas of the work that do not meet the requirements of God’s house, what the results which have been achieved are like, whether any people working who are not very skilled in professional aspects of the work are learning, who organizes the learning, what they’re learning, how they’re learning, and so on and so forth—these specific issues are all related to progress. For example, isn’t the work of composing hymns quite important? For one hymn, from the initial selection of classic passages of God’s words to the completion of composition, what specific tasks need to be undertaken in this process? First, it’s necessary to select classic passages of God’s words that are suitable for becoming hymns, and they must also be of appropriate length. The second step involves deliberating which style of melody suits the passage to make it pleasant and enjoyable to sing. Then, the right people to sing the hymn must be found. Aren’t these specific tasks? (Yes.) After a hymn is composed, the false leader doesn’t inquire at all about whether the composition is qualified or the style appropriate. The composer, noticing the lack of supervision, personally feels it’s adequate and proceeds to record it. The passage of God’s words that everyone was looking forward to being turned into a hymn is finally set to music and made into a hymn, but most find it still has flaws when singing. What problem arises? The composed hymn is not up to par: It got recorded despite lacking melody and appeal. The false leader, after hearing it, asks, “Who composed this hymn? Why was it recorded?” By the time they ask this question, at least a month has already passed. During this month, shouldn’t the leader have followed up on and promptly grasped the progress of this work? For instance, how was the composition going? Was the basic tune determined? Did it have a melody? Did the melody and style of this hymn match God’s words? Did individuals with relevant experience help with guidance? After composing it, could this hymn be widely sung? What effect would it have? Was the tune considered good? The false leader uniformly failed to follow up on matters such as these. And they have a reason for not following up: “I don’t understand hymn composition. How can I follow up on something I don’t understand? It’s impossible.” Is this a legitimate reason? (No.) It’s not a legitimate reason; so, can someone who is not familiar with composing hymns still follow up? (Yes.) How should they follow up? (They can work together with the brothers and sisters, and audit the melody based on principles to see if it’s suitable; they can practically follow up on the work, instead of washing their hands of it.) The chief characteristic of the work of false leaders is blathering on about doctrine and parroting slogans. After issuing their orders, they simply wash their hands of the matter. They don’t ask questions about the work’s subsequent development; they do not ask whether any problems, deviations, or difficulties have arisen. They consider their job finished as soon as they assign the work. In fact, as a leader, after arranging the work, you must follow up on the work’s progress. Even if you aren’t familiar with that field of work—even if you lack any knowledge of it—you can find a way to do your work. You can find someone who truly grasps it, who understands the profession in question, to carry out vetting and make suggestions. From their suggestions you can identify the appropriate principles, and thus you will be able to follow up on the work. Whether or not you are familiar with or understand the profession in question, at the very least you must preside over the work, follow up on it, and continuously make inquiries and ask questions about its progress. You must maintain a grasp of such matters; this is your responsibility, it is part of your job. Not following up on the work, not doing anything more once it has been assigned, washing your hands of it—this is the way false leaders do things. Not following up on or providing direction regarding the work, not inquiring about or resolving issues that arise, and not grasping the progress or efficiency of the work—these are also manifestations of false leaders.

False Leaders Do Not Do Real Work, Which Delays the Progress of the Work

Because false leaders do not learn about the progress of the work, and because they are incapable of promptly identifying—much less solving—problems that arise in it, this often leads to repeated delays. In certain work, because people have no grasp of the principles and there is no one suitable to be responsible for it or preside over it, those carrying out the work are often in a state of negativity, passivity, and waiting, which severely affects the progress of the work. If the leader had fulfilled their responsibilities—if they had presided over the work, pushed it forward, supervised it, and found someone who understands that field to guide the work, then the work would have progressed faster rather than suffering repeated delays. For leaders, then, it is vital to understand and grasp the status of the work. Of course, it is also very necessary for leaders to understand and grasp how the work is progressing, as progress relates to the efficiency of the work and the results it’s supposed to achieve. If leaders and workers do not have a grasp on how the church’s work is progressing, and they do not follow up on or supervise things, then the progress of the church’s work is bound to be slow. This is due to the fact that the majority of people doing duties are seriously scummy, do not have a sense of burden, and are often negative, passive, and perfunctory. If there is nobody with a sense of burden and work capabilities taking responsibility for the work in a concrete manner, learning about the progress of the work in a timely manner, and guiding, supervising, disciplining, and pruning personnel who do duties, then naturally, the level of work efficiency is going to be very low and the results of the work are going to be very poor. If leaders and workers can’t even see this clearly, they are foolish and blind. And so, leaders and workers must promptly look into, follow up on, and grasp the progress of work, look into what problems people doing duties have that need to be resolved, and understand which problems should be resolved in order to achieve better results. These things are all very crucial, a person acting as a leader must be clear on these things. To do your duty well, you must not be like a false leader, who does some superficial work and then thinks they’ve done their duty well. False leaders are careless and slapdash in their work, they have no sense of responsibility, they don’t solve problems when they arise, and no matter what work they’re doing, they only skim the surface of it and approach it perfunctorily; they just speak high-sounding words, spout doctrines and empty talk, and go through the motions in their work. In general, this is the state of how false leaders do work. Although, in comparison to antichrists, false leaders do nothing overtly evil and are not deliberately doing evil, when you look at the effectiveness of their work, it is fair to characterize them as being perfunctory, as not bearing a burden, as being irresponsible and having no loyalty toward their work.

We fellowshipped just now about false leaders not doing real work, and not understanding and grasping the progress of each item of work. Regarding the problems and difficulties that arise in church work, it is also the case that false leaders simply pay them no mind or just spout a little doctrine and parrot a few slogans to brush them off. For all items of work, one will never see them coming to the workplace themselves to try to understand and follow up on the work. One will not see them fellowshipping on the truth to resolve problems there, and less still will one see them there directing and supervising the work personally, preventing flaws and deviations from occurring in it. This is the most obvious manifestation of the perfunctory way in which false leaders work. Though false leaders, unlike antichrists, do not set out to disrupt and disturb the work of the church, nor do they do a variety of evils and establish their own independent kingdoms, their various perfunctory behaviors cause massive hindrances to the work of the church, so that various problems emerge endlessly and go unresolved. This seriously impacts the progress of each item of the church’s work, and affects the life entry of God’s chosen people. Shouldn’t such false leaders be eliminated? False leaders are unable to do real work—whatever they do has a strong start but peters out in the end. The role they play is that of an opener of ceremonies: They chant slogans and preach doctrines, and when they have assigned the work to others and arranged who will be responsible for it, they are finished with it. They are akin to the blaring loudspeakers one finds in rural areas of China—this is the extent of the role they play. They do only a bit of preliminary work; for the rest of the work, they are nowhere to be seen. As for specific questions such as how each item of work is going, whether it is in line with the principles, and whether it is effective—they do not know the answers. They never engage deeply with the grassroots and visit the workplace to understand and get a grasp on the progress and particulars of each item of work. Therefore, false leaders may not set out to cause disruptions and disturbances, or do various evils during their tenure as leaders, but, as a matter of fact, they paralyze the work, delay the progress of each item of the church’s work, and make it impossible for God’s chosen people to do their duties well and gain life entry. Working this way, how could they possibly lead God’s chosen people onto the right track of faith in God? This shows that false leaders do not do any real work. They fail to follow up on the work they should be responsible for or to provide guidance and supervision for it in order to ensure that the church’s work progresses normally; they fail to perform the intended functions of leaders and workers, and they fail to fulfill their loyalty or responsibilities. This confirms that false leaders are not loyal in how they do their duties, that they are just perfunctory; they deceive both God’s chosen people and God Himself, and they affect and hinder the carrying out of His will. This fact is visible to all. It may be that a false leader is truly not up to the work; it may also be that they are shirking their work and deliberately being perfunctory. Either way, the fact remains that they make a mess of the church’s work. Not a bit of progress is made in each item of the church’s work, and a pile of accumulated problems remain unresolved for a long time. This does not only affect the spread of the gospel work, but also gravely impedes the life entry of God’s chosen people. These facts suffice to show that false leaders are not only unable to do real work, but also become obstacles to the work of spreading the gospel, and impediments to the carrying out of God’s will in the church.

False leaders don’t do real work and are unable to solve real problems. Not only does this delay the progress of work and affect its results, but it also causes serious losses to the work of the church, wasting a lot of manpower, material resources, and financial resources. Therefore, false leaders should compensate for the economic losses. Some people say, “If leaders and workers have to compensate for losses caused by not doing their work well, then no one would be willing to be a leader or worker.” Such irresponsible people are not qualified to be leaders or workers. Those without conscience or reason are evil people—isn’t it troublesome if evil people want to be leaders and workers? Since much of the work of God’s house involves economic expenses, is it not necessary to account for them? Are God’s offerings something that people can waste and squander at will? What right do leaders and workers have to squander God’s offerings? Bringing about economic loss must be compensated for; this is perfectly natural and justified, and no one can deny this. For instance, say there is a job that could be completed in one month by one person. If it takes six months to do this job, do the expenditures of the remaining five months not constitute a loss? Let Me give an example about preaching the gospel. Say that a person is willing to investigate the true way and could probably be won over in just one month, after which they would enter the church and continue to receive watering and provision, and within six months they could establish a foundation. But if the attitude the person preaching the gospel takes toward this matter is one of disregard and perfunctoriness, and the leaders and workers also ignore their responsibilities, and it ends up taking half a year to win that person over, will this half a year not constitute a loss to their life? If they encounter the great disasters and they have not yet laid down a foundation on the true way, they will be in danger, and will those people not have failed them then? Such a loss cannot be measured with money or material things. Those people will have held up that person’s understanding of the truth by half a year; they will have delayed them in establishing a foundation and in starting to do their duty by half a year. Who will take responsibility for this? Can the leaders and workers afford to take responsibility for this? No one can afford to bear the responsibility for holding up someone’s life. Since no one can afford to bear this responsibility, what is appropriate for the leaders and workers to do? Four words: Give it your all. Give it your all to do what? To fulfill your own responsibilities, doing everything that you can see with your own eyes, think of in your mind, and achieve with your own caliber. This is giving it your all, this is being loyal and responsible, and this is the responsibility that leaders and workers should fulfill. Some leaders and workers do not treat preaching the gospel as a serious matter. They think, “God’s sheep will hear God’s voice. Whoever investigates and accepts will be blessed; whoever does not investigate and accept will not be blessed, and deserves to die in a disaster!” False leaders show no consideration whatsoever for God’s intentions, and bear no burden for gospel work; they also take no responsibility for newcomers who have just entered the church, and do not take the life entry of God’s chosen people seriously—they always focus on indulging in the benefits of their status. No matter how many people investigate the true way, they do not feel anxious at all, always having a mentality of just muddling along, acting like a retired emperor or an official. No matter how critical or urgent the work is, they never show up on the scene, and they don’t inquire about and understand the work situation, or follow up on the work and resolve problems. They just arrange tasks and think that their job is done and dusted, and they believe that this constitutes doing work. Is this not being perfunctory? Is this not deceiving both those above and below them? Are such leaders and workers fit to be used by God? Aren’t they just like the officials of the great red dragon? They think, “Being a leader or worker is just like holding an office, and one should enjoy the benefits of this status. Holding office grants me this privilege, exempting me from being present for all matters. If I were always on the scene, following up on work and understanding the situation, how tiring that would be, how demeaning! I cannot accept such fatigue!” This is exactly how false leaders and false workers work, concerned only with coveting comfort and enjoying the benefits of status without doing any real work, and completely devoid of any conscience or reason. Such parasites really should be eliminated, and even if they are punished, they deserve it! Some leaders and workers, despite many years of doing church work, don’t know how to preach the gospel, much less testify. If you ask them to fellowship on all the truths concerning the visions of God’s work to potential gospel recipients, they are incapable of it. When asked, “Have you ever put in the effort to equip yourself with the truth of visions?” false leaders ponder, “Why should I exert such effort? With my high status, that task isn’t for me; there are plenty of others to do it.” Tell Me, what sort of creatures are they? They’ve been doing church work for many years, yet don’t know how to preach the gospel. And when it comes to testifying, they must find a gospel preacher to do it for them. If leaders and workers cannot preach the gospel, testify, or fellowship with people on the truths regarding visions, what can they do? What are their responsibilities? Have they fulfilled them? Are they just getting by on what they already have? What is it that they have? Who authorized them to get by on what they already have? Some gospel team supervisors have never even observed and listened to others preaching the gospel. They don’t care to listen; they can’t be bothered, find it too troublesome, and lack the patience. They are leaders, don’t you know—officials, no less—so they don’t do these specific tasks; they get the brothers and sisters to do them. Suppose that some gospel workers happen upon a person of high caliber, who approaches all things with earnestness, and who wishes to understand some specific truths regarding visions. The gospel workers can’t fellowship entirely clearly, so they ask their leader to do it. The leader finds themselves at a loss for words, and even resorts to excuses, saying, “I’ve never done this work myself. You go do it; I’ll back you up. If any problems arise, I’ll help you fix them; I support you. Don’t worry. What is there to fear when we have God? When someone seeks the true way, you can testify or fellowship about the truths of visions. I’m only responsible for fellowshipping on the truths of life entry. The work of testifying is your heavy burden to bear, don’t rely on me.” Every time it comes to the crucial moment of testifying in preaching the gospel, they hide away. They are fully aware that they lack the truth, so why don’t they make an effort to equip themselves with it? Knowing full well that they lack the truth, why do they always desperately strive to become leaders? They have no talent whatsoever, and yet they have the gall to take on any official position—they would even take on the role of emperor if you let them—they are far too shameless! No matter the level of leadership they hold, they cannot do real work, yet they dare to enjoy the benefits of status without feeling any pangs of conscience. Are they not utterly shameless people? It would be understandable if they had been asked to speak in a foreign language and they couldn’t; but fellowshipping the truths of visions and God’s intentions in their native language should be possible, right? People who have only believed for three to five years may be excused for not being able to fellowship the truth. But some have believed in God for nearly 20 years and somehow still aren’t able to fellowship the truths regarding visions—aren’t such people useless individuals? Aren’t they good-for-nothings? It astonishes Me to hear that someone has believed in God for many years, yet doesn’t know how to fellowship the truths about visions. What do you all feel after hearing this? Isn’t it inconceivable? How have they been doing their work all these years? When asked to provide guidance for making music, they don’t know how to, and say that this specialized area is too difficult, that it’s not something the average person can understand. When asked to provide guidance in the work of producing art, or in film production work, they claim these jobs require too high a level of technical skill for them to handle. When asked to write articles of experiential testimony, they say that their level of education is too low and they don’t know how to write them, and that they have never trained in it. If they cannot perform these sorts of jobs, that’s forgivable, but gospel work is inherently part of their duty. They couldn’t be any more familiar with this work—shouldn’t it be easy for them? The most important aspect of fellowshipping on the truths about visions is to clearly fellowship the truth of the three stages of work. Initially, people don’t have much experience of doing it and may not fellowship that well, but by training at it over time, they are able to get better at fellowshipping the more they do it, such that they are able to speak in a structured way, with precise and clear language, and a nice turn of phrase. Isn’t this a specific area of specialized work that leaders should master? This isn’t like forcing an elephant to fly, is it? (No, it’s not.) But such false leaders are not competent to do even this bit of work. And yet, they still serve as leaders? What are they doing still occupying that position? Some people say, “I’m someone whose thinking is muddled and unclear, lacking in logic, and I’m not that good at talking about the truths concerning visions.” That being the case, can you identify and resolve the various flaws and deviations that occur in gospel work? If you can’t identify them, then you certainly can’t resolve them either. When false leaders are in charge of gospel work, they don’t play any role in vetting or supervising; they just let those under them do as they please, so that anyone can do things how they want, and preach to whomever they want—there are absolutely no principles or standards applied. Some people act on a whim, lacking in reason and especially in principles when they do things, and recklessly committing misdeeds. False leaders completely fail to spot or identify these issues.

It is said that in South America and Africa, some poor people have been brought into the fold through gospel work. These people have no steady income, and even getting enough food and surviving pose problems. So, what should be done? There was a leader who said, “It is God’s intention to save humankind, and in order to be saved, one must first have enough to eat, right? Shouldn’t God’s house provide relief then? If they believe in God, we can distribute a few books of God’s words to them. They don’t have computers or phones, so what should we do if they ask to do duties? Make some inquiries, see if they are sincerely willing to do duties.” Through inquiry, it was found that these people were currently without money, but if they had money and could eat their fill, they would be willing to go out and preach the gospel and do their duty. After understanding these circumstances, the leaders began to distribute relief funds, issuing them every month. The food and lodging, and even internet fees, and the purchase of phones, computers, and other equipment for these people were all paid for with the money of God’s house. Distributing money to these people was not aimed at spreading the gospel work, but rather, at providing relief for their survival. Was this in line with principles? (No, it was not.) Does God’s house have a rule that, when preaching the gospel and encountering poor people without a means of livelihood, as long as they can accept this stage of work, they should be given aid? Is there such a principle? (No.) On what principle, then, did this leader distribute relief funds to them? Was it because they thought that God’s house had money but nowhere to spend it, or because they regarded these people as being too pitiful, or was it in hope that these people would help to spread the gospel? What exactly was their intention? What were they trying to achieve? When it came to distributing phones, computers, and living expenses, they exhibited great gusto; they enjoyed engaging in such work that provided benefits to others, as it allowed them to curry favor with these people and win their hearts, and they were particularly invested in these kinds of tasks, going further and further and having not an ounce of shame. This is using God’s money to curry favor with people and buy their affection. In fact, these poor individuals didn’t truly believe in God; they were just trying to fill their stomachs and find a way to make a living. Such people were not looking to gain the truth or salvation. Would God save these people? Some, even if they were willing to do a duty, were not sincere, but rather, were motivated by the desire for phones and computers, for conveniences in life. But the false leader did not care about this; as long as someone was willing to do a duty, they took care of them, not only providing money for housing and food, but also buying computers, phones, and various equipment. But it turned out that these people did their duties without achieving any effect whatsoever. Was the false leader not just throwing money away? Were they not using the money of God’s house to show their generosity? (Yes.) Is this the work that leaders and workers should do? (No.) Wasn’t this a false leader? False leaders are fond of feigning goodness, benevolence, and kindheartedness. If you want to show kindheartedness, that’s fine, just use your own money! If they have no clothing, take off your own and give it to them; don’t spend God’s offerings! God’s offerings are meant for the work of spreading the gospel, not for distributing welfare benefits, and certainly not for providing aid to the poor. God’s house is not a welfare institution. False leaders are incapable of real work, and even less capable are they of supplying the truth or life. They focus only on using God’s offerings to distribute welfare benefits in order to curry favor with people and maintain their own reputation and status. They are shameless spendthrifts, aren’t they? If such false leaders are discovered, can anyone expose and stop them in time? No one stood up to stop them. If it hadn’t been for the Above finding out and putting a stop to it, the practice of using God’s money to provide benefits to people would never have ended. Those poor people stretch out their hands farther and farther, always wanting more. They are insatiable; no matter how much you give, it is never enough. Those who sincerely believe in God are able to leave their families and careers behind to do their duty in order to be saved, and even if they face difficulties in life, they can find ways to resolve them on their own without constantly demanding things from God’s house. They resolve what they can on their own, and for what they are unable to resolve, they pray to God and rely on their faith to experience. Those who always beg from God, expecting God’s house to provide for their living expenses and sustain them, are utterly lacking in reason! They do not want to do any duty yet wish to enjoy life, knowing only to extend their hands to demand things from God’s house, and even then, it’s never enough. Are they not panhandlers? And the false leader—this moron—just kept giving out benefits, and didn’t stop, continually pleasing people to earn their gratitude, and even thinking that such actions glorify God. These are the things that false leaders take the most delight in doing. So, is there anyone who can identify these issues, who can see through to the essence of these problems? Most leaders turn a blind eye, thinking, “At any rate, I’m not in charge of gospel work, why should I care about these things? It’s not my money being spent. As long as the cash in my own pocket goes untouched, it’s fine. You can give to whoever you want, what does it have to do with me? It’s not like that money ends up in my wallet anyway.” There are many such irresponsible people around, but how many can uphold the work of God’s house?