What should leaders and workers do if they’re still not sure about how to accurately communicate work arrangements? There is a very simple and easy method for this. After leaders and workers receive work arrangements, they should first fellowship on the work arrangements with the other leaders and workers, take a look at how many specific items are being required by the Above for these work arrangements, and list them one by one. Then, based on these work arrangements, they should consider the actual situation of the local church, such as the circumstances of the gospel work, the various kinds of professional work, and the church life, as well as the caliber and family circumstances of all the different kinds of people, and so on, integrating all these things to see how these pieces of work are to be carried out. Through fellowship, all leaders and workers must arrive at an identical and accurate understanding of the work arrangements, and have corresponding methods for communicating them—only in this way will the work arrangements be communicated accurately. If a leader or a worker receives work arrangements, and, without knowing what they specifically entail, blindly gets the brothers and sisters together and issues and communicates them, is this appropriate? The result of this is that a month or two after the work arrangements are communicated, it’s discovered that there are deviations in how they’ve been implemented in every church, and, only when the leader or worker takes a close look at the work arrangements, do they find that the work arrangements have been communicated with deviations. If that leader or worker had conscientiously read and fellowshipped on the work arrangements back then, it would have been fine, but due to them being momentarily lazy and perfunctory, they caused many errors and deviations to appear in the church work, and afterward, they have to correct them. This adds a whole unnecessary extra step and wastes time. It would have been better if they had directly fellowshipped work arrangements clearly and then communicated and implemented them one by one. Isn’t it a mistake when work is not done well? (It is.) Therefore, there are steps to accurately communicate work arrangements. Leaders and workers must first have a genuine comprehension and an accurate understanding of the specific content of work arrangements, and then they must have concrete plans and methods for implementing them, as well as people with whom they should be implemented, in mind—only in this way can work arrangements be accurately communicated. Is it appropriate if leaders and workers blindly issue and communicate work arrangements when they only have an incomplete understanding of them, only seem to understand them, are vague and unclear on them, or simply do not understand the specific requirements and content in them? (No.) Can such leaders and workers perform work well? Obviously not. So, in situations where brothers and sisters don’t know what the specific required standards and principles in work arrangements are, or how exactly to carry them out, leaders and workers will already have an accurate understanding of the work arrangements, as well as concrete plans and steps for implementing them—only in this way can leaders and workers carry out the first step, that is, communicating the work arrangements. Once the work arrangements have been communicated, and the brothers and sisters all accurately understand the content of the work arrangements, and have some knowledge of the significance, value, and standards of God’s house doing this work, then leaders and workers should immediately fellowship on how to allocate people and specific pieces of work, and the specific plan for who is to implement and carry out this work—these are the steps for performing work. What do you think of following up on the work in this way? Can it be considered following up on the work closely? Is it following up on the work promptly? (Yes.)

II. How to Implement Work Arrangements

It’s not the case that, once leaders and workers receive a work arrangement, they just need to communicate it and issue it, and that’s it. Can the work arrangement be considered to have been implemented once God’s chosen people in every church know that it has been issued? This is not truly carrying out or implementing a work arrangement, it is not fulfilling their responsibilities, nor is it the standard that God ultimately requires. Communicating and issuing a work arrangement is not the aim—implementing it is the aim. So, how are work arrangements to be implemented specifically? Leaders and workers must call all the relevant supervisors and brothers and sisters together and fellowship with them on how the work is to be done, while at the same time selecting a primary supervisor and team members to carry out the work. The first thing leaders and workers should do when implementing work is fellowship—fellowship on how to do the work in line with principles and in conformity with this work arrangement from God’s house, and how to do it in a way that means this work arrangement from God’s house is implemented and carried out. While fellowshipping, brothers and sisters and leaders and workers should suggest various plans, and finally select a way, method, and steps that are most suitable and most in conformity with principles, deciding what to do first, and what to do next, so that the work can proceed in an orderly manner. Once this is understood in theory, when people no longer have any difficulties or imaginings, when they won’t feel any resistance toward this work, and can understand the meaning and purpose of this work arrangement of God’s house, the work still cannot be considered as having been implemented. It must also be decided who is most suited for and skilled at this work, who can shoulder the responsibility of this work, and who has the ability to complete this work. The people who will take on this work must be selected, the implementation plan and deadline for completion must be set, and the resources, materials, and other such things needed for the work to be completed must be prepared and stated clearly—only then can the work be considered as having been implemented. Of course, before implementation, it is also necessary to carry out specific communication and discussions with the people responsible for this work individually, asking if they have done this work before and what their views and thoughts on it are. If they provide some plans and thoughts that accord with principles, then these may be adopted. Moreover, in implementing every work, attention must also be paid to discovering how many problems actually exist—this step should not be neglected. After problems are discovered, ways must be thought up to resolve the problems in a timely manner, and only after thoroughly solving all existing problems will the work arrangement be actually implemented. Furthermore, mustn’t you also seek how to do this work in a way that accords with the required principles of God’s house? Moreover, whether God’s house has any requirements in terms of time for this work, within what timescale it must be completed, whether there are any concrete stipulations in terms of professional skills, and so on, are all topics leaders and workers should fellowship on with the relevant supervisors. This is implementation. Implementation doesn’t end with oral communication or with theory, but rather it involves the actual progress of the relevant work, as well as certain specific problems and difficulties that need to be resolved. These are all things leaders and workers should consider when implementing the work arrangement with supervisors. That is to say, before performing this specific work, leaders and workers should conduct this kind of fellowship, analysis, and discussion with the supervisors—this is implementation. This implementation is the responsibility of leaders and workers, and it is what leaders and workers should achieve. To practice in this way is to perform real work. Suppose that a leader says, “Right now, I don’t know how to do this work, either. In any case, I’ve handed it over to you. I’ve also communicated and issued the work arrangement to you, and I’ve told you about all related matters. As for whether you know how to do it or not, how you do it, whether you do it well or badly, and how long it takes you, that’s all up to you. These things have nothing to do with me. By doing this much work, I have fulfilled my responsibility.” Is this something leaders and workers should say? (No.) If a leader says this, what kind of person are they? They are a false leader. Whenever the Above has requirements and it is necessary to perform work according to the work arrangements, this kind of person completely pushes it onto someone else, saying, “You do it, I don’t know how. You understand it all anyway. You’re an expert, I’m a layman.” This is a “famous saying” often spoken by false leaders; they find an excuse and then sneak away.

To sum it up, false leaders are not responsible in their work. Regardless of whether their caliber is high or low, or whether they are up to the work, the main thing is that they aren’t attentive and they don’t put their heart into it, and they’re always perfunctory. These are manifestations of not being responsible. Say that a leader or worker is somewhat lacking in caliber and depth of experience, but they can work attentively and put their heart into their work. Although the results they achieve in their work are not that great, at the very least, they are a responsible person, they put their whole heart into their work, and they give it their all. It’s only because they’re somewhat lacking in caliber and small in stature that they don’t do the work well. If they will become fully competent in their work after training themselves for some time, then this kind of leader should continue to be cultivated. If a leader has not one shred of conscience or reason, and they only hold onto their position and indulge in the benefits of status, but do no real work at all, then they are a bona fide false leader and they should be dismissed immediately, and never again may they be permitted to be promoted or used. A true leader, a responsible leader, puts their all into their work—they dedicate their mind to it, they find all sorts of ways to accomplish God’s commission, and they make the greatest effort they can—in this way, they are fulfilling their responsibilities. While implementing the work arrangements of God’s house, responsible leaders will also observe and follow up on the status of the implementation. When an unexpected situation occurs, they will be able to adopt response measures and solutions instead of sneaking away and washing their hands of the matter. Implementing work in this way is called being responsible. When a work arrangement is issued, leaders and workers should regard that piece of work as the most important one at present and take charge of it; they must personally follow up on it, be responsible for it from start to finish, and only let go of the work once it gets on the right track and the leaders of each team know how to perform it. But after letting go of it, leaders and workers still need to understand the status of the work and inspect it from time to time, only in this way can it be assured that the work is done well. Leaders and workers not leaving their posts, persisting from start to finish, getting the work on the right track—this is called doing real work. During this time, leaders and workers also need to attend to and look into the progress of other items of work. No matter what difficulties or problems arise in the work, leaders and workers should quickly go to the worksite to provide direction and resolution. The primary leader must hold fast to the most critical work, and at the same time, it is also necessary for them to follow up on, understand, inspect, and supervise other work of the church and ensure that all of it proceeds normally. When it comes to the most critical work, the primary leader must personally work on-site and take command of this work, and especially when it comes to critical parts of the work, they certainly must not leave the worksite. If one person is not enough, another person should be arranged to partner with them and direct the work—this is making every effort and uniting together with a common purpose to do the critical work well. Because God’s house has a most critical piece of work in every stage and time period, if the primary leader doesn’t do the critical work well, there is a problem with their caliber and they must be dismissed. The primary leader must take charge of the most critical work while other leaders do the same for the ordinary work; leaders and workers must learn how to prioritize work in order of importance and urgency, and how to weigh up pros and cons. If leaders and workers can master these principles, then they are up-to-standard leaders and workers.

Most of the leaders and workers in God’s house are young people, they’re beginners, and they’re training to perform work, so the most crucial thing is for them to learn to master the principles. Some may say, “Aren’t the requirements God’s house has for leaders and workers too high?” Not at all, actually. How is requiring people to master the principles a high requirement? How can someone perform the church work well if they can’t master the principles? How can someone be a leader or worker if they handle matters without principles? Mastering the principles is a requirement for leaders and workers, not for ordinary people; if someone can’t master the principles, then they won’t be able to do the work well. People who are too lacking in caliber fall short of the principles, God’s house won’t cultivate them, and they’re not qualified to be leaders, either. Some people always feel that it’s hard to be a leader, and there are two reasons for this: One is that they don’t understand the truth at all and aren’t able to use the truth to solve problems; the other reason is that they’re lacking in caliber, they don’t know what it means to do work, they can’t explain the principles and path of practice for the work clearly, and they can’t even speak doctrines clearly. People like this are not suited to being leaders. Say that someone’s caliber is too poor, they don’t know how to do work, and they aren’t efficient at all in doing their duty—that is, they take several days to do a job that should take one day, and six months to do a job that should take one month—such people are useless, they’re good-for-nothings. People whose caliber is too poor can’t do any duty well. It’s both fair and reasonable for Me to have these requirements of people, and they are things leaders and workers can achieve. Some people feel that the requirements made by God’s house are too high—this shows that their caliber is too poor, that they’re not qualified to be leaders and workers, and that they should take accountability and resign. They aren’t up to taking on the responsibilities of a leader or worker, and they aren’t suited to being one, so even though they are a leader, they are a false one. If they can’t even do one piece of work well, how could they attend to other work at the same time? Are people whose caliber is too poor worthy of being leaders and workers? If they’re not even as good as a guard dog, then they aren’t worthy of being called human. When a dog watches over a home, not only does it watch over the front yard, back yard, and vegetable garden, but it can even watch over the chickens, geese, and sheep of the home. The moment it finds a stranger approaching, it lets out a bark—it won’t let anyone into the yard and it knows to alert its owner to the stranger’s approach. Even a dog’s mind is not simple. If someone’s caliber is too poor and they can’t even be compared to a dog, isn’t that kind of person useless? Some people love leisure and hate work, are gluttonous and lazy, and they want to freeload off God’s house without doing anything themselves—aren’t they parasites? By requiring leaders and workers to handle matters with principles, God’s house is cultivating and training them to be able to practice the truth and enter reality in the performance of their duties. Some leaders and workers are able to pursue the truth and submit to the arrangements of God’s house—these people are all blessed by God. Those who love leisure and hate work and who don’t do anything real must be eliminated. All those useless people who covet comfort, who fear hardship and fatigue, who always complain about hardships and difficulties and can’t endure hardship at all must be eliminated—not a single one may remain! If, when leaders and workers begin their work, they encounter various difficulties, they should search for the source of the problem, and then cleanse away those obstructive and unreasonable troublemakers—those stumbling blocks and obstacles. When those who are left are all people who can accept the truth, obey, and submit, it will be much easier to lead them. When leaders and workers work, they should first fellowship clearly on the truth so that people have a way forward after hearing them. They should not speak doctrines, shout slogans, and much less compel people to heed and obey them and to practice. If leaders and workers fellowship clearly on the truth, then most people will be willing to put it into practice. It is concerning if leaders and workers don’t explain things clearly or lucidly yet still require the brothers and sisters to practice, and the brothers and sisters don’t know how to practice and can’t find the path of practice—this will impact the results of the work. So long as leaders and workers can explain lucidly and fellowship clearly on the truth principles involved in every specific kind of work, then most people will be understanding and reasonable, and they will be willing to cooperate. Everyone is willing to listen to someone if what they say is correct, in line with the truth, and beneficial to the church work and to the life entry of the brothers and sisters. However, there is a situation where some leaders and workers only speak words and doctrines, and when someone asks them about the specific path of practice, they can’t explain it, and they instead speak some grand doctrines and shout some slogans, and then send that person on their way. That person is not convinced, and they think, “You’re asking me to go put this into practice but you haven’t explained it clearly—how can I practice it then? I have no path to follow! I asked you because I don’t understand, but it turns out that you don’t understand either, and only know how to speak doctrines and shout slogans. You’re not better than me. Why should I obey you? I obey the truth, not you speaking doctrines and shouting slogans!” This kind of situation happens. If leaders and workers can avoid speaking empty doctrines, speak truly, and fellowship the principles and path of practice clearly, then most people will be able to obey. Therefore, the work of the church is actually easy to do; as long as leaders and workers can earnestly implement work arrangements, hold to their work posts, and get involved with specific work, then they will absolutely be able to do the work well. What’s worrying is if leaders, workers, and supervisors are irresponsible and act superior, only know how to speak doctrines and shout slogans, and don’t get involved in specific work on-site—then there will surely be problems in the work. This is because those below can’t see through to these sorts of things, they need someone to show them the way, they need a mainstay, they need someone to personally lead them and tell them what to do, they need someone to provide supervision and carry out inspections, otherwise the work won’t be implemented. If you expect that you can just shout a couple of doctrines and slogans from a position of status, and then the people below will take action and do as you say, dream on. The people below are like machines: If no one activates them, they won’t take action. If those who serve as leaders and workers can’t even see through to this, then they are too lacking in insight! When false leaders work, they can’t see through anything. They don’t know what work is critical and what is general affairs work, nor are they able to prioritize tasks in order of importance and urgency. No matter what they do, they have no principles, they can’t explain clearly the path of practice, and they just speak doctrines and shout slogans, saying only some impractical things. Consequently, they aren’t able to do any work at all and can only be eliminated. Leaders and workers must know how to arrange and implement work, and they must know how to inspect and direct work, and personally solve problems that arise. Only leaders and workers like this can do real work and completely convince people. If a leader can’t direct work or discover and solve problems, if they are only able to continually lecture and prune others, and they blame others when they themselves mess things up, then this is being an incompetent leader. Such a leader is a useless person, they are a false leader, and they must be eliminated. If you don’t know how to do some specific work, you must at least find two suitable people to act as your assistants to help you do this specific work well, and you must at least first handle and clear out obstructive people who create disturbances. Isn’t this creating favorable conditions for doing this work well? If, when you find people who can do something real, you immediately promote them, and if you immediately handle and clear out those who cause disturbances and disruptions, then there will be far fewer difficulties when you continue doing this work. Leaders who are too lacking in caliber aren’t able to work like this. They’re afraid of offending people, and when they see an evil person constantly causing disturbances and disruptions, they don’t handle them. They also can’t tell who is capable of doing something real, and they don’t know who is appropriate to promote to take charge of the work. Leaders like this are blind and they aren’t capable of performing their work. If leaders and workers don’t understand the truth or professional skills, they won’t do their work well, so leaders and workers must frequently train in doing real work. So long as they master the principles, know how to prioritize tasks in order of importance and urgency, and know how to weigh up pros and cons, then they can do their work well and become up-to-standard leaders and workers.

Now that I’ve fellowshipped on this content of accurately communicating, issuing, and implementing work arrangements in accordance with the requirements of God’s house, do you leaders and workers now have some basic understanding of how to approach and implement work arrangements? And do you now have some specific understanding of the responsibilities and obligations you should fulfill when implementing work arrangements? (Yes.) Now that you have this specific understanding, you should consider what you should do and to what extent you are able to do it, and then you should be able to judge whether or not you possess the caliber to be a leader or worker, and whether or not you are up to the work of a leader or worker. As for certain leaders and workers who are of poor caliber and who don’t do real work—that is, those we call false leaders—once they’ve understood the specific content of the ninth responsibility of leaders and workers, what should they do? Some say, “I didn’t really understand the responsibilities of leaders and workers before, and after I became a leader, I just relied on my notions and imaginings to do some work for appearance’s sake, and I thought that because I was enthusiastic and willing to endure suffering, I was probably an up-to-standard leader. I feel dumbfounded after listening to God fellowshipping in this way. It turns out that I’m a false leader, my caliber is too poor, and I can’t do real work. I’m not even capable of implementing a single specific work arrangement of God’s house. I used to think that reading a work arrangement several times, passing it on to everyone, and then urging and overseeing the people below as they worked on it, meant that I was implementing that work arrangement. After a while, I discovered that the work hadn’t been done well and that many specific jobs had been overlooked, and only then did I realize that my caliber was really lacking, and that I wasn’t leader material.” So, what should a person like this do? Would it be alright if they gave up their work? (No.) Then is there a way to solve this problem? Or is this problem unsolvable? (No, it’s not unsolvable. Those people must strive to do better in accordance with God’s requirements.) This is a positive and active perspective; it is a very good perspective. They should strive to do better in accordance with God’s requirements, have faith and rely on God, and not become negative, or give up their work—this is one solution. Is it a good solution? (Yes.) But is it the only solution? (No, it’s not. If their caliber is too poor and they really can’t do any actual work, then they can take accountability for this and resign from their position.) This is the second solution. If they have tried before, and they feel they can’t do the work of a leader—that is, if it’s very strenuous and laborious for them, and they feel very anxious about it and can’t sleep well, and every day they feel as though a great mountain is pressing down on them so that they can’t lift their head or draw breath, and they even feel that their legs are heavy when they walk—and after listening to these specific requirements they feel even more that their caliber is too poor and that they simply can’t do the work, what should they do? There is something they can do, and that is to resign immediately. If they can’t do real work, then they shouldn’t impact the work of God’s house—this is the reason they should have. They shouldn’t blindly push themselves beyond their limits, insist on attempting to do something that exceeds their abilities, or do foolish things. Only those who refrain from doing these things possess reason. People with reason have self-awareness; they are clear on their own caliber, and they know their own shortcomings. Only when people clearly know their own measure can they accurately understand what they’re capable of, what they’re not capable of, and what they’re most suited to doing. Why must people know their own caliber? This helps them ascertain the duty they should do, and it also helps them to do that duty well. If you have already examined yourself and seen that you only have this caliber and know that you can’t do the work of a leader, then there’s no need for you to examine yourself again and prove it again. You should resign immediately—don’t hold onto your position and refuse to step down; don’t impact and cause hold-ups for other people while you’re not able to perform specific work. Isn’t resigning a path forward? These two paths are laid before you, and you can choose one; you’re not lacking a way forward, and there isn’t only one path. You can make practical and accurate judgments about your actual situation based on your understanding of yourself, as well as based on the evaluations made of you by the brothers and sisters around you who know you, and then make the correct choice. God’s house won’t make things difficult for you. What do you think of this? (It’s good.) Some people say, “I want to try again and strive to do better. I think I can do it. I just didn’t pay much attention to pursuing the truth during those years, and after I became a leader, I still didn’t know how to seek the truth and worked in a muddled way. I used to think being a church leader was very easy, that all it entailed was organizing people to attend gatherings, taking the lead in fellowshipping on the truth, solving problems in a timely manner when they arose, and immediately implementing any arrangements from the Above, and leaving it at that. I never imagined that, after being a leader for a while, I’d discover that there were so many problems that I couldn’t solve, that when the Above asked about the work, I didn’t know how to respond, and that when some of God’s chosen people raised real issues, I wasn’t able to provide an answer. Over these years that the brothers and sisters have believed in God, they have all read God’s words and listened to sermons frequently. They certainly all understand some truths and possess some discernment. Without the truth reality, I really cannot water or provide for them.” Now it’s clear that it’s not that simple to perform any kind of specific work in God’s house well. In one respect, people need to possess caliber, while in another respect, they need to bear a burden, as well as understand the truth—all these things are absolutely necessary. It won’t do for someone to not pursue the truth or to be lacking in caliber, nor will it do for someone to be lacking in humanity and not bear a burden. Specific work needs a specific approach, and this is not such a simple matter. Some people, however, remain unconvinced. They still want to try again, and they ask to be given another chance—should people like this be given another chance? If their work capability and caliber are both average, but they can perform some specific work, and they’re not perfunctory and focus on solving problems to achieve results in their work, and can obey and submit to any arrangement made by the Above, and basically implement work according to the work arrangements and required principles of God’s house, and even though they didn’t perform their work well before because they were young, didn’t understand the truth, and had a shallow foundation, they are right people, then they should be given another chance and continue to train themselves—don’t blindly dismiss them. It’s not that easy to be a leader or worker, nor is it that easy to elect a leader or worker. Now, most leaders and workers have some understanding of their responsibilities, and they will at least be somewhat better at their work than they were before—this is a fact.

Now that I’ve finished fellowshipping on the truth principles regarding the ninth responsibility of leaders and workers—accurately communicate, issue, and implement the various work arrangements of the house of God in accordance with its requirements, providing guidance, supervision, and urging, and inspect and follow up on the status of their implementation—your hearts are all bright, and you have a path of practice. You are not only able to fulfill your duty now and have life entry, but you should also have some knowledge or discernment of leaders and workers, and at the very least have attained clarity and understanding of the responsibilities that leaders and workers should fulfill and the work that they should do. In short, knowing whether leaders and workers are doing real work or not is helpful and beneficial to each and every one of God’s chosen people, and in this way their understanding of the responsibilities of leaders and workers will no longer be hollow, but rather will become more concrete.

April 10, 2021