By Cathy, Myanmar

In August of 2021, I was chosen as a watering deacon. At the time, I was both watering newcomers and spreading the gospel. Because I lacked gospel experience, I wasn’t getting great results in my gospel work. One day, the leader arranged for Sister Janine to partner with me for gospel work follow-up. Sister Janine quickly got a grasp on the problems everyone was having in gospel work, gathered brothers and sisters together for fellowship and review, and then shared some successful experiences and approaches. Gradually, they became more enthusiastic in their gospel work and they mastered some principles of the work. Before long, more than 20 people in our village had accepted Almighty God’s work in the last days, and more and more people were accepting it in other places, too. Soon, we set up a new church. I thought, Janine had believed for so long, had great caliber, and was capable in her work. Since she came, the gospel work had picked up quite a bit. I really admired her. I felt she was a capable worker and that she pursued the truth. She had a good impression of me. She’d say I was responsible and shouldered a burden, and talk up how good my caliber was and how capable I was in front of the others. I was really surprised to hear her say that. It turned out that she thought very highly of me, and it seemed I held quite a place in her heart. I was so happy. Later, I was chosen as a leader, and I was still partnered with Janine in my duty.

In June of 2022, I became a preacher, Janine was chosen to be a leader, and I took charge of her work. But Janine’s gospel work wasn’t making any improvements and I didn’t know why. She wasn’t focusing on nurturing newcomers, wasn’t gathering with gospel workers, and didn’t fellowship on or resolve the states or difficulties others were in. I was very worried when I saw these problems and sent her a message to find out about her work, and though she read it, she didn’t respond. I thought, “You’re a leader, how are you being so irresponsible about church work?” I was furious. I really wanted to prune her and expose her problems, but I thought about how well we’d collaborated in the past, what good impression she had of me, and how she said I was a good leader. If I pruned her, would her good impression of me vanish? I felt it was best to keep quiet to protect our relationship. At this thought, I chose to say nothing. I just sent her the responsibilities of leaders and workers to read and informed her of the scope of her responsibilities and the work she was to do to give her a sense of burden. I felt I’d made things clear for her, that she should know what to do next, and that her gospel work should slowly pick up. Yet after a while, her work still wasn’t showing results. This really upset me. She hadn’t been like this before, why was she this way now? I really wanted to prune her, to point out that she was being irresponsible in her duty and not doing real work so that she’d amend her attitude in her duty soon. But then I thought, “She’s always thought of me as a good leader and she’s often talked up how much of a burden I have for church work and how patient and compassionate I am. If I expose her problem, her good impression of me will vanish.” At this thought, I just said some comforting words to her and encouraged her to find more time for gatherings and to follow up on church work. When Janine heard this, she said she had to mend her attitude toward her duty and expressed that she wanted to do it well in the future. Overjoyed, I thought, “Janine is sure to do her duty well this time. With her leading the gospel workers, their results are sure to pick up.” Not long after, my partnered sister told me, “As a leader, Janine doesn’t follow up on work or nurture people. She’s a leader in name only and never does real work. She’s a false leader. I suggest she be dismissed and another leader chosen. This way, the church’s work can pick up.” Another sister pointed out to me that Janine not doing real work had already delayed church work, and that she should be dismissed soon. But I still thought Janine was capable and had good caliber, that she was just going through a rough patch with her family persecuting her, and that if she turned her state around, the gospel work would improve. So I put off dismissing her. Later, Janine’s performance continued to decline and others kept reporting she was the same as before, saying something nice, but doing nothing. The brothers’ and sisters’ reports made me very sad and I felt like I couldn’t see her clearly. I prayed to God, asking Him to guide me to learn discernment.

Later, I read these words of God: “How can one judge if a leader or worker is fulfilling their responsibilities, or if they are a false leader? At the most basic level, one must look at whether they are capable of doing real work, at whether or not they have this caliber. Then, one should look at whether they have the burden to do this work well. Ignore how nice the things they say sound and how much they seem to understand the doctrines, and ignore how talented and gifted they are when they handle external matters—these things are not important. What is crucial is whether they are able to properly carry out the most fundamental items of work of the church, whether they can solve problems using the truth, and whether they can lead people into the truth reality. This is the most fundamental and essential work. If they are incapable of doing these items of real work, then no matter how good their caliber is, how talented they are, or how much they can endure hardship and pay a price, they are still a false leader. Some people say, ‘Forget that they don’t do any real work now. They have good caliber and they’re capable. Train them for a while and they are bound to be able to do real work. Besides, they haven’t done anything bad. They haven’t done evil and caused disruptions or disturbances—how can you say that they are a false leader?’ How can we explain this? It doesn’t matter how talented you are, what level of caliber and education you possess, how many slogans you can shout, or how many words and doctrines are in your grasp; regardless of how busy you are or how exhausted you are in a day, or how far you’ve traveled, how many churches you visit, or how much risk you take and suffering you endure—none of these matter. What matters is whether you are performing your work based on the work arrangements, whether you are accurately implementing those arrangements; whether, during your leadership, you are participating in every specific task you are responsible for, and how many real issues you have actually resolved; how many individuals have come to understand the truth principles because of your leadership and guidance, and how much the church’s work has advanced and developed—what matters is whether or not you have achieved these results. Regardless of the specific work you’re involved in, what matters is whether you are consistently following up on and directing the work rather than acting high and mighty and issuing orders. Besides this, what also matters is whether or not you have life entry while doing your duty, whether you can deal with matters according to principles, whether you possess a testimony of putting the truth into practice, and whether you can handle and resolve the real issues faced by God’s chosen people. These and other similar things are all standards for assessing whether or not a leader or worker has fulfilled their responsibilities” (The Word, Vol. 5. The Responsibilities of Leaders and Workers. The Responsibilities of Leaders and Workers (9)). God’s words made me realize that I could not judge whether or not a leader is competent or is a false leader by listening to whether they speak well, or by examining their caliber, abilities, or the number of their good behaviors. The main things to check are whether they do real work, whether they are responsible, and whether they can fulfill the duty of a leader. Janine had some caliber and was a capable worker, but she’d just say nice-sounding things and then not really act or do real work. She wasn’t doing the work a leader should be doing. It didn’t look like she was doing anything bad or evil, but as a leader, she’d just send out messages and chant slogans. She never really looked into or followed up on church work. She didn’t nurture newcomers who were just starting their duties. When others had difficulties and problems in gospel work, she didn’t fellowship to resolve them, and she’d often neglect her duty. I warned her many times throughout this period to amend her attitude toward her duty, and although she’d agree to change, she’d just go on as before. Gospel work ground to a halt and other projects weren’t getting results. She wasn’t self-reflecting, but brushed off brothers and sisters with excuses. It was apparent from her attitude toward her duty and her various behaviors that she was a false leader who didn’t do real work, as revealed by God, and should have been dismissed earlier. But I didn’t see things or discern people based on God’s word. I only saw Janine’s brains, caliber, and capabilities. I felt she could do work, but I didn’t look at whether she was doing real work or what kind of results she was getting. I still had my hopes pinned on her. I hoped she’d get church work to pick up like before, so I kept giving her more chances. What an ignorant fool I was! My partnered sister had reported Janine’s situation to me and suggested she be dismissed, but I was sticking to my views, wanting to give her chances and support her further, so I didn’t dismiss her promptly, seriously impacting the church’s work. I saw I hadn’t been providing good oversight in my duty, impacting church work. Wasn’t this also the behavior of a false leader? I prayed to God, asking Him to guide me to know my corruption.

One day, I read these words of God: “When a church leader sees brothers or sisters doing their duties perfunctorily, they may not rebuke them, though they should. When they clearly see that the interests of God’s house are suffering, they do not concern themselves with this or make any inquiries, and they do not cause the least offense to others. In fact, they are not really showing consideration for people’s weaknesses; instead, their intention and goal is to win over people’s hearts. They are fully aware that: ‘As long as I do this and don’t cause offense to anyone, they’ll think I’m a good leader. They’ll have a good, high opinion of me. They’ll approve of me and like me.’ They don’t care how much damage is done to the interests of God’s house, or how great losses are caused to the life entry of God’s chosen people, or how greatly their church life is disturbed, they just persist in their satanic philosophy and cause no offense to anyone. There is never any self-reproach in their hearts. When they see someone causing disruptions and disturbances, at the very most they might have a few words with them about it, downplaying the issue, and then be done with it. They will not fellowship on the truth, or point out the essence of the problem to that person, less still will they dissect their state, and they will never fellowship what God’s intentions are. A false leader never exposes or dissects the errors people frequently make, or the corrupt dispositions people often reveal. They don’t solve any real problems, but instead always indulge people’s erroneous practices and revelations of corruption, and no matter how negative or weak people are, they do not take this seriously. They merely preach some words and doctrines and speak a few words of exhortation to deal with the situation in a perfunctory manner, trying to maintain harmony. As a result, God’s chosen people do not know how to reflect on and know themselves, there is no resolution for whatever corrupt dispositions they reveal, and they live amid words and doctrines, notions and imaginings, without any life entry. They even believe in their hearts, ‘Our leader has even more understanding for our weaknesses than God does. Our stature is too small to live up to God’s requirements. We just need to fulfill the requirements of our leader; by submitting to our leader, we are submitting to God. If a day comes when the Above dismisses our leader, we will make ourselves heard; to keep our leader and stop them from being dismissed, we will negotiate with the Above and force them into agreeing to our demands. This is how we will do right by our leader.’ When people have such thoughts in their hearts, when they have established such a relationship with their leader, and this kind of dependence, envy, and worship has arisen in their hearts toward their leader, they come to have ever greater faith in this leader, and always want to listen to the leader’s words, rather than seeking the truth in God’s words. Such a leader has almost taken the place of God in people’s hearts. If a leader is willing to maintain such a relationship with God’s chosen people, if they derive a feeling of enjoyment from this in their heart, and believe that God’s chosen people ought to treat them like this, then there is no difference between this leader and Paul, they have already set foot on the path of an antichrist, and God’s chosen people have already been misled by this antichrist, and are completely lacking in discernment” (The Word, Vol. 4. Exposing Antichrists. Item One: They Try to Win Over People’s Hearts). God’s word exposed my despicable intentions in my duty. I saw Janine wasn’t doing real work, but didn’t expose or dissect her problem, or promptly dismiss her. I just indulged her and gave her chances to repent. But this wasn’t because I was considerate of her weakness or wanted to help and support her, my real intentions were to preserve Janine’s impression of me as a good leader and to gain her esteem. We’d partnered in our duties before and she’d always had a good impression of me. She would often talk up how responsible I was for church work, and how good of a leader I was in front of the others. If I exposed and pointed out her problems and pruned her, our relationship could be ruined and her good impression of me would be gone. To protect this impression Janine had of me as a good leader, I didn’t expose her problems, prune her, or dissect her actions and conduct, which would have made her aware of her problems and let her promptly mend her ways. I just gave her a few words of comfort and advice, encouraged her to attend more gatherings and follow up on work, brushing over things in passing. My partnered sister called for me to dismiss Janine in line with principles several times, but I worried that I’d offend her by doing this, and that she’d no longer have a good impression of me, so I delayed in dismissing her. God exposes that antichrists work and speak for the sake of their name and status, that when they see others violating principles in their duties, they don’t point it out to them or prune them. Their goal is to hold a place in people’s hearts, gain others’ esteem, and bring people before them. I was just like that. To protect the impression others had of me, I disregarded church work, and when I found a false leader not doing real work, I didn’t expose, prune, or dismiss her. I did this to hold a place in people’s hearts and to make everyone think I was compassionate, patient, and a good leader. I wasn’t helping or edifying my brothers and sisters by doing my duty in this way, and this wouldn’t make them understand the truth or bring them before God. Rather, it would make them admire and worship me. In this I was misleading people and winning them over, walking the path of an antichrist. I thought of the antichrists in the church exposed and eliminated one by one. If I carried on like this without repenting or changing, I’d be expelled and eliminated just like them. With this understanding, I prayed to God, asking Him to guide me to reflect on myself.

Later, I read a passage of God’s words: “When something befalls you, you live by philosophies for worldly dealings, and do not practice the truth. You are always afraid of offending others, but not of offending God, and will even sacrifice the interests of God’s house to protect your interpersonal relationships. What are the consequences of acting in this way? You will have protected your interpersonal relationships quite well, but you will have offended God, and He will spurn you, and be angry with you. Which is better, on balance? If you cannot tell, then you are completely muddled; it proves that you do not have the slightest understanding of the truth. If you go on like that without ever waking up to it, the danger is great indeed, and if you are unable to attain the truth in the end, it will be you who has suffered a loss. If you do not seek the truth in this matter, and you fail, will you be able to seek the truth in the future? If you still cannot, it will no longer be an issue of suffering a loss—you will ultimately be eliminated. If you have the motivations and perspective of a people pleaser, then, in all matters, you will be incapable of practicing the truth and abiding by principle, and you will always fail and fall down. If you do not awaken and do not ever seek the truth, then you are a disbeliever, and you will never gain the truth and life. What, then, should you do? When faced with such things, you must pray to God and call out to Him, begging for salvation and asking that He give you more faith and strength and enable you to abide by the principles, do what you should do, handle things according to the principles, stand firm in the position you should stand in, protect the interests of God’s house, and prevent any harm from coming to the work of God’s house. If you are able to rebel against your self-interests, your pride, and your standpoint of a people pleaser, and if you do what you should do with an honest, undivided heart, then you will have defeated Satan and gained this aspect of the truth. If you always persist in living by the philosophy of Satan, protecting your relationships with others, never practicing the truth, and not daring to abide by the principles, then will you be able to practice the truth in other matters? You will still have no faith or strength. If you are never able to seek or accept the truth, then will such faith in God allow you to obtain the truth? (No.) And if you cannot obtain the truth, can you be saved? You cannot. If you always live by the philosophy of Satan, utterly devoid of the truth reality, then you can never be saved. It should be clear to you that obtaining the truth is a necessary condition for salvation. How, then, can you obtain the truth? If you are able to practice the truth, if you can live by the truth, and the truth becomes the basis of your life, then you will gain the truth and have life, and so you will be one of those who are saved” (The Word, Vol. 3. The Discourses of Christ of the Last Days. Part Three). From God’s words I understood the reason I was always safeguarding my status, image, and relationships, and disregarding church work was mainly because I was too influenced by people-pleasers’ philosophies for worldly dealings. I was influenced by satanic philosophies like “Keeping silent on the faults of good friends makes for a long and good friendship,” and “Stay on good terms with those you can’t avoid.” I thought that to make others like and admire you, you had to be gentle and kind, and you should never snap at people, that when you saw others’ problems, it was okay to just brush over them, that you shouldn’t be too severe, and this way, everyone would like you. I’d lived by these people-pleaser ideas and when I saw Janine not doing real work, I didn’t expose, prune, or dismiss her. I’d protected my status and image but because I hadn’t exposed Janine’s problems or promptly dismissed her, the church’s work had been delayed. I’d put my reputation, status, and relationship ahead of my duty and to protect my image and status, I hadn’t considered the church’s work at all. I was truly selfish and despicable. Living by these people-pleaser ideas had made me more and more slippery and deceitful, and lack any human likeness. God’s words say: “Those who walk the middle path are the most insidious people of all. They offend no one, they are smooth and slick, they are good at playing along in all situations, and no one can see their faults. They are like living Satans!” (The Word, Vol. 3. The Discourses of Christ of the Last Days. Only by Practicing the Truth Can One Cast Off the Shackles of a Corrupt Disposition). God hates and loathes people-pleasers. One can never gain the truth or be saved by living according to people-pleaser ideas. I felt pretty scared at this realization. I knew that I’d transgressed before God and that if I didn’t amend this state and truly repent, I would be abandoned and eliminated by God in the end. God’s words also pointed out a path of practice to me, that when I want to protect my name and status, I should pray more to God, ask Him to give me strength, so that I can practice the truth, act with principles and learn to do my duty with an honest heart. This not only benefits brothers’ and sisters’ life entry, but also the work of the church. I prayed to God that I would practice the truth, act with principles, and protect the interests of the church.

After that I read more of God’s words: “Keep abreast of the circumstances of supervisors of different work and personnel responsible for various important jobs, and promptly alter their duties or dismiss them as necessary, so as to prevent or mitigate losses caused by using unsuitable people, and guarantee the efficiency and smooth progress of the work” (The Word, Vol. 5. The Responsibilities of Leaders and Workers. The Responsibilities of Leaders and Workers (1)). “Leaders and workers must have a clear understanding of supervisors of different work and personnel responsible for various important jobs. It is within the scope of the responsibilities of leaders and workers to grasp the circumstances of supervisors of different work and personnel responsible for various important jobs. So, who are these personnel? Primarily, there are church leaders, followed by team supervisors and the leaders of various groups. Is it not critical and of great importance to understand and grasp circumstances like whether the supervisors of different work and personnel responsible for various important jobs possess the truth reality, are principled in their actions, and can do the church’s work well? If leaders and workers thoroughly grasp the circumstances of the main supervisors of different work, and make suitable adjustments in personnel, that is the same as them keeping each item of work in check, and it is the equivalent of them fulfilling their responsibilities and duties. If correct adjustments are not made regarding these personnel and a problem arises, the work of the church will be greatly impacted. If these personnel are of good humanity, possess a foundation in their belief in God, are responsible in handling matters, and are able to seek the truth to resolve problems, then putting them in charge of work will save a lot of trouble, and most importantly will allow the work to progress smoothly. But if the supervisors of various teams are not dependable, have poor humanity, aren’t well-behaved, and do not put the truth into practice, and, furthermore, are liable to cause some disruptions and disturbances, then this will have an impact on the work for which they are responsible and on the life entry of the brothers and sisters whom they lead. Of course, that impact may be large or small. If the supervisors are merely neglectful in their duties and do not tend to their proper work, this will probably just cause some delays in the work; the progress will be a little slower, and the work a bit less efficient. If they are antichrists, however, the problem will be serious: This will not be an issue of the work being a little more inefficient or ineffective—they will disturb and damage the church work they are responsible for, causing severe harm. And so, keeping abreast of the circumstances of supervisors of different work and the personnel responsible for various important jobs, and making timely reassignments and dismissals upon discovering that someone is not doing actual work is not an obligation that leaders and workers can shirk—it is very serious, very important work. If leaders and workers can promptly get to know the character of the supervisors of different work and the personnel responsible for various important jobs, and their attitude toward the truth and their duties, as well as their states and performance during each period and at each stage, and promptly make adjustments or handle those people according to the circumstances, then work can proceed steadily. By contrast, if those people run amok doing bad things and do not do real work in the church, and the leaders and workers are not able to promptly identify this and make timely reassignments, but wait until serious problems of all sorts have cropped up, incurring substantial losses to the work of the church, before casually trying to handle them, make reassignments, and rectify and salvage the situation, then those leaders and workers are pieces of trash. They are genuine false leaders who must be dismissed and eliminated” (The Word, Vol. 5. The Responsibilities of Leaders and Workers. The Responsibilities of Leaders and Workers (3)). From God’s words I understood that a leader is obliged to promptly look into the status of supervisors of various projects and personnel responsible for important tasks and to promptly dismiss or reassign anyone unsuitable they might find to ensure the successful development of church projects. When they find that a supervisor, leader, or worker is not doing real work, impacting and delaying church work, they need to promptly fellowship with them, and if they don’t change and aren’t even worthwhile for providing service, they need to be promptly reassigned or dismissed. This benefits the church’s work. Keep those who are fit for use and dismiss those who are not, provide fellowship and help to those in need of it, prune those who are to be pruned, and nurture those who pursue the truth. Janine had been perfunctory, unburdened, and irresponsible in her duty all along. Leaders had fellowshipped with her for many times, but she never changed. It was seriously impacting church work. She was indeed a false leader who did no real work and she needed to be dismissed immediately, while a responsible person with good humanity needed to be nurtured. This would benefit church work and allow the gospel work to develop smoothly. At this thought, my heart felt completely clear and bright, and I made a promise to God: “When I encounter this type of problem again, I will practice according to principles and fulfill my responsibilities.” I also asked God to guide me in practicing the truth.

I later brought up each of Janine’s problems with her, exposing her as a false leader who didn’t do real work. I saw that she was furious, and I didn’t dare say anything more. I thought, “If I expose more of her problems, our relationship will sink into deadlock and the good impression she has of me will be ruined.” I then realized I was relapsing into my old ways, so I prayed to God, “God, I want to practice the truth, fulfill my duty, fellowship what I ought to fellowship, and stop caring about the image others have of me. Please give me the strength to overcome the constraints of my corrupt disposition.” After praying, I continued to fellowship with Janine, bringing up her problems one at a time and exposing her lack of real work. Though she was displeased at the time, in the end she said without my exposure and criticism, she wouldn’t have seen her problems. She admitted the depth of her corruption and said she wanted to change, and that she’d accept however the church wanted to handle her. I thanked God when I heard her say this. Practicing by God’s words, my relationships didn’t fall apart like I’d imagined, and I felt a great sense of peace and ease. After dismissing Janine, we chose another brother to supervise the gospel work. He really shouldered his duty and led the others in spreading the gospel. After a while, the gospel work started to pick up.

This experience made me realize that relying on a satanic disposition to do your duty will not only hurt yourself, but also impact church work. Only doing your duty in accordance with God’s words and the truth principles aligns with God’s intentions.