By Meng Han, China

In 2023, I was elected as a district leader. I felt like I had a great responsibility. I went between churches every day, proactively addressing any issues I found. After some time, the church’s cleansing work yielded some results, and other tasks began to show progress as well. I became a little complacent, feeling like I had done some actual work. Later, when the upper leader, Sister Chenxi, followed up on the work, she pointed out that the election work was progressing slowly, that the election of leaders and deacons had not been completed, hindering church work, and that the gospel work wasn’t advancing either. When I heard Chenxi say this, although I felt somewhat embarrassed, these issues were indeed real, and I couldn’t deny them. So I started to follow up on these tasks. After some effort, both the election work and the gospel work showed some progress, and I thought to myself, “Ever since Chenxi pointed out these issues, I’ve been following up on work, the leaders and deacons have been put forward, and the gospel work has improved compared to last month. This time, she surely won’t mention that I’ve got any problems.”

Later, when Chenxi asked about the progress of the election work again, I shared what I knew of the situation with her, but to my surprise, she said, “Since the leaders and deacons have been put forward, have their resumes and evaluations been collected properly? When will the formal election begin?” Hearing Chenxi say this, I suddenly became anxious, thinking, “Even though I’ve been following up on the election work in each church, I’m not sure whether the resumes and evaluations have been fully collected, or when the formal election will happen.” I quickly said, “This still needs to be followed up on.” Chenxi then asked, “Within the scope of your responsibility, a lot more leaders and deacons are needed and the work is being hindered—why aren’t you acting with more urgency on this? There’s also the gospel work. Some churches haven’t had any results for a long time. Do you know what exactly the problem is? What are you doing to resolve this? The gospel results throughout your area aren’t good right now.” When I heard this, I felt resistant, thinking, “After you pointed out the deviations in our work recently, did we not quickly follow up on and resolve these things? We’ve been making sacrifices and haven’t been lazy. Implementing work also takes time, does it not? Besides, hasn’t there been progress in the gospel work and election work recently? Why are you still pruning us? It seems that no matter what we do, it’s never good enough for you. Are you not just deliberately targeting us and looking for faults to pick at?” The more I thought about it, the more resistant I felt, and in a huff, I said, “It’s clear that I have no work capabilities and that my duty isn’t producing good results. I may as well just be dismissed!” Seeing me like this, Chenxi said I didn’t accept the truth, and that when there were problems in the work, I wasn’t seeking the truth to correct the deviations, but feeling resistant and oppositional instead. But no matter what she said, I didn’t want to hear anymore, and I just lowered my head feeling very wronged. I thought to myself, “I’ve really been working hard lately. Haven’t I been following up on this work all along? Isn’t this doing actual work? You still think it’s not good enough, and you even say I’m not accepting the truth, so if I need to be dismissed, just get on with it and dismiss me! The requirements of a leader’s duty are too high, and I clearly can’t meet them!” After this incident, I felt really upset. As I calmed down to reflect on myself, I realized that Chenxi pointing out my problems wasn’t to make things hard for me, nor was it to make fun of me, but because she was thinking about the work of the church. Why couldn’t I accept that? I came before God and prayed, “Almighty God, the sister pointed out the issues in my duty today, and I found it really hard to accept it. I kept wanting to argue back and justify myself, and I kept feeling wronged. God, please enlighten and guide me to understand myself.”

In my seeking, I saw that God exposes the behaviors of antichrists who don’t accept the truth, and linked them to myself. Almighty God says: “When an antichrist is pruned, the first thing they do is resist and reject it deep in their heart. They fight it. And why is that? This is because antichrists, by their very nature essence, are averse to and hate the truth, and they do not accept the truth at all. Naturally, an antichrist’s essence and disposition prevent them from acknowledging their own mistakes or acknowledging their own corrupt disposition. Based on these two facts, an antichrist’s attitude toward being pruned is to reject and defy it, completely and utterly. They detest and resist it from the bottom of their heart, and have not the slightest hint of acceptance or submission, much less any genuine reflection or repentance. When an antichrist is pruned, no matter who does it, what it pertains to, the degree to which they are to blame for the matter, how blatant their error, how much evil they commit, or what consequences their evil creates for the church’s work—the antichrist doesn’t consider any of this. To an antichrist, the one pruning them is singling them out, or finding faults to torment them. The antichrist may even think that they are being bullied and humiliated, that they are not being treated as a human, and that they are being belittled and scorned. After an antichrist is pruned, they never reflect on what it was that they have actually done wrong, what corrupt disposition they have revealed, and whether they’ve sought the principles they ought to abide by, acted in accordance with the truth principles, or fulfilled their responsibilities in the matter in which they are pruned. They do not examine or reflect on any of this, nor do they think over and ponder these issues. Instead, they approach pruning according to their own will and with hot-headedness. Any time an antichrist is pruned, they will be full of anger, disobedience, and resentment, and will listen to advice from no one. They refuse to accept their being pruned, and are unable to come back before God to know and reflect on themselves, to address their actions that violate the principles, such as being perfunctory or running amok in their duty, nor do they use this chance to resolve their own corrupt disposition. Instead, they find excuses to defend themselves, to vindicate themselves, and they will even say things to provoke discord and incite others. In short, when antichrists are pruned, their specific manifestations are disobedience, dissatisfaction, resistance, and defiance, and some complaints arise in their hearts: ‘I paid such a high price and did so much work. Although I did not follow the principles or seek the truth in some things, I did not do this all for myself! Even if I caused some damage to the work of the church, I did not do so on purpose! Who doesn’t commit mistakes? You cannot seize onto my mistakes and prune me endlessly without showing consideration for my weaknesses, and without caring for my mood or self-esteem. God’s house has no love for people and it’s so unjust! Furthermore, you prune me for making such a small mistake—doesn’t this mean you look at me with unfavorable eyes and want to eliminate me?’ When antichrists are pruned, the first thing on their mind is not to reflect on what they have done wrong or on the corrupt disposition they have revealed, but to argue, explain and justify themselves, while making conjectures” (The Word, Vol. 4. Exposing Antichrists. Item Twelve: They Want to Withdraw When They Have No Status or No Hope of Gaining Blessings). From God’s words, I saw that no matter how much antichrists disrupt and disturb the work of God’s house, they feel no sense of guilt upon their conscience, and when pruned, they just feel resistant and justify themselves, constantly trying to argue their case, not accepting or admitting their mistakes. They even take brothers’ and sisters’ pruning as others picking faults or making things hard for them. This is caused by the antichrists’ nature of being averse to and hating the truth. Thinking back, when I was pruned, wasn’t what I revealed also the disposition of being averse to the truth? The upper leader pointed out that our election work was progressing slowly, and that I’d been passive and sluggish in my duties. She also pointed out that the overall gospel work within the scope of our responsibility hadn’t been effective. These were facts. She pointed out the problems in our work and guided us to correct these deviations. This was to protect the church’s work. I should have accepted this and reflected on the issues in my work, and then promptly corrected them. However, not only did I not reflect on myself, but I also lived in a state of complacency. I felt resistant to and disliked the upper leader, constantly arguing back and justifying myself inwardly, thinking that her pointing out my issues was just because she didn’t like me, and that she was just deliberately picking at my faults. I even thought that the demands of a leadership duty were too high, so I became negative and defiant, saying I lacked work capabilities and may as well be dismissed for not fulfilling my duty. For me to not fulfill my duty, feign incompetence, and give up on it was really lacking in reason! Wasn’t what I revealed precisely an antichrist’s disposition of being averse to and hating the truth? I thought about an antichrist expelled from the church. She always worked according to her own will, and when problems arose that harmed the church’s work, she felt no remorse, nor did she accept the brothers’ and sisters’ pruning, guidance, or help. Even afterward, she didn’t correct herself, and just kept arguing back and clamoring against them. In the end, she was expelled from the church for her many evil deeds. If I continued to refuse to accept being pruned, or the brothers’ and sisters’ advice, causing serious damage to the church’s work, then in the end, I would also be revealed and eliminated by God like an antichrist! Realizing that I too had the behaviors of an antichrist and the disposition of being averse to the truth, I began to feel afraid. I silently prayed to God, asking Him to keep me from doing evil and resisting Him.

After praying, I thought to myself, “What does it mean to do actual work?” In my seeking, I read God’s words. “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 work 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 criteria 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)). From God’s words, I saw that God measures whether a leader or worker is doing actual work not by how much suffering or how many sacrifices a person seems to have endured, but by how many difficulties and problems in the work have been resolved, how effective the work is, and how efficient they are in their duty. But I’d always relied on my own notions and imaginings, thinking that no matter the outcome, efficiency, or progress, as long as I wasn’t being lazy, kept myself busy every day, and the necessary work was carried out in time, then I was doing actual work. So, when the upper leader pointed out that I wasn’t doing actual work, I felt wronged, and I was unwilling to accept it and wanted to argue back. Reflecting on myself in light of God’s words, I saw that although I was busy every day, I wasn’t seeking the truth principles to resolve a lot of real issues, especially in the election of leaders and deacons. Although I wrote letters to spur people on, I was mostly just going through the motions, merely shouting slogans and following up on things in a basic way. I barely asked about how the church’s implementation went later, how progress was, and what difficulties hadn’t yet been resolved, leading to slow progress in the elections and very low work efficiency. The same problem occurred with my follow-up on the gospel work. On the surface, it seemed I followed up on the work a lot, but most of the time this was just passing information up and down. I was rarely asking about specific existing problems, and much less was I resolving them in good time, resulting in poor effectiveness in the work. This wasn’t doing actual work. In doing my duty like this, I was just going through the motions, essentially trying to deceive people and cheat God. God requires us to do our duties in a way that considers His intentions, and for us to focus on efficiency and effectiveness. Only by doing this are we doing our duties in a way that is up to standard. I only superficially implemented work and didn’t solve real problems, resulting in no real progress or results in the work within the scope of my responsibilities. If this continued, I would just end up being revealed as a false leader and dismissed. Realizing these things, I hated myself, and I silently resolved to myself, “When I do my duty again, I must do so with diligence and full commitment, and I must focus on efficiency and real results when carrying out work, allowing the work to be pushed forward as quickly as possible.” Later, when implementing the gospel work, I fellowshipped with the leaders and deacons about God’s intention of saving man as well as the significance of preaching the gospel, and I led them to actually participate in the gospel work. The brothers and sisters came to understand the significance of preaching the gospel and actively worked on the gospel work, and later, the gospel work made some progress. In the election work, I also followed up on and resolved problems in good time, and after a while, the majority of church leaders and deacons had been elected, and the church’s work was able to proceed normally.

Later on, I read more of God’s words: “When it comes to being pruned, what is the very least that people should know? Being pruned must be experienced to adequately do one’s duty—it is indispensable. It is something that people must face on a daily basis and often experience in order to attain salvation in their faith in God. No one can be apart from being pruned. Is pruning someone something that involves their prospects and destiny? (No.) So what is pruning someone done for? Is it done in order to condemn them? (No, it’s done in order to help people understand the truth and do their duty according to principles.) That’s right. That’s the most correct understanding of it. Pruning someone is a kind of discipline, a kind of chastening, and naturally it’s also a form of helping and remedying people. Being pruned allows you to alter your incorrect pursuit in time. It allows you to promptly recognize the problems you currently have, and allows you to recognize the corrupt dispositions you reveal in time. No matter what, being pruned helps you recognize your mistakes and do your duties according to principles, it saves you from causing deviations and going astray in time, and it prevents you from causing catastrophes. Is this not the greatest aid to people, their greatest remedy? Those with a conscience and reason should be able to treat being pruned correctly” (The Word, Vol. 4. Exposing Antichrists. Item Nine (Part Eight)). From God’s words, I understood the significance of being pruned, and that being pruned is a necessary experience for someone to do their duties in a way that is up to standard. When brothers and sisters notice problems or deviations in our duties, their being able to point out our problems and prune or expose us in good time helps us realize our problems and correct them quickly. This is protecting the church’s work and providing real help to us. I thought about how the upper leader pointing out the problems in my work repeatedly wasn’t to make things difficult for me or embarrass me, but to help me realize the gaps and deviations in my work, enabling me to do the church’s work better in the future, and also to help me know my corrupt disposition of being perfunctory in my duty. In that moment, I truly realized that the act of pruning not only benefits people’s life entry, but also helps them to promptly correct deviations and problems in their duties, keeping them from going their own way and preventing harm from coming upon the church’s work. Being pruned is God’s love and salvation! Later, when the upper leader followed up on my work, she continued to point out my issues, and although at times, I still found myself in a state of wanting to argue back, I realized that the leader following up on my work was her guiding me hand in hand, teaching me how to enter into principles in my work, and so in my heart, I didn’t feel as resistant.

Not long after, the upper leader sent a letter saying that I was being passive in following up on the gospel work, and that I had come to disregard the gospel work and pushed all the difficulties onto the gospel workers. After reading the letter, I couldn’t help but argue back in my heart, “How could you say I’ve come to disregard this? The gospel work hasn’t been effective, and I’ve been anxious and frustrated because of this. I’ve been working hard to spur on the gospel work lately, and I’ve provided fellowship and help in relation to issues that have arisen. How can you say that I’ve not been involved in the gospel work?” At that moment, I realized that I was starting to reveal a disposition of being averse to the truth again, and I thought, “The leadership’s letter must have pointed out a problem, so I need to have a sense of reason and submit first.” So I silently prayed in my heart, asking God to guide me to submit. Then I thought of a passage of God’s words I had read some time ago about how to handle being pruned, and so I quickly looked it up to read it. Almighty God says: “So what, exactly, is a submissive attitude? First off, you must have a positive attitude: When you are pruned, you do not analyze right and wrong at first—you just accept it, with a submissive heart. For example, someone might say that you did something wrong. Although you do not understand in your heart, and you do not know what you did wrong, you nevertheless accept it. Acceptance is primarily a positive attitude. Additionally, there is an attitude which is slightly more negative, which is to maintain silence and not offer any resistance. What kind of behaviors does this entail? You do not reason, defend yourself, or make objective excuses for yourself. If you always make excuses and offer reasons for yourself, and push the responsibility onto other people, is that resistance? That is a disposition of rebellion. You should not reject, resist, or reason. Even if you reason correctly, is that the truth? It is an objective excuse of man, not the truth. You are not being asked about objective excuses—why this thing happened, or how it came about—rather, you are being told that the nature of that action was not in line with the truth. If you have knowledge on this level, you will really be able to accept and not resist. First having a submissive attitude when things befall you is key. … When faced with pruning, what actions constitute an accepting, submissive attitude? At the very least, you must be sensible and possess reason. You must first submit, and must not resist or reject it, and you must treat it with rationality. This way, you will have the bare minimum of reason. If you want to attain acceptance and submission, you must understand the truth. It is no simple thing to understand the truth. First, you must accept things from God: At the very least, you must know that being pruned is something God allows to happen to you, or it comes from God. Regardless of whether or not the pruning is totally reasonable, you should possess an accepting, submissive attitude. This is a manifestation of submission to God, and at the same time, it is also an acceptance of God’s scrutiny. If you just reason and defend yourself, thinking that the pruning comes from man and not from God, then your understanding is flawed. For one thing, you have not accepted God’s scrutiny, and for another, you have neither a submissive attitude nor submissive behavior in the environment that God has set up for you. This is someone who does not submit to God” (The Word, Vol. 3. The Discourses of Christ of the Last Days. The Five Conditions That Must Be Met to Embark on the Right Track of Belief in God). God’s words tell us that when we are pruned, we shouldn’t analyze right and wrong or try to argue back and justify ourselves, but rather start by accepting and submitting. Even if we don’t understand, we should approach this matter with an attitude of seeking and submission. This is the sense of reason that a person should have. This pruning I faced was permitted by God, and I should accept it from God. Though I wasn’t yet aware of my problems, I should not try to argue back or justify myself. Instead, I should quiet myself and seek humbly, and reflect on the deviations and problems in my work. This is the correct attitude I should have when facing pruning. Upon further thought, although I usually followed up on the gospel work, I hadn’t been doing many of the detailed tasks. For example, I never specifically looked into or solved the issues gospel workers were facing when preaching the gospel and testifying to God. Wasn’t this exactly what the upper leader had said about not participating in the details of the work and disregarding the gospel work? Realizing these things, I accepted the leader’s guidance from the heart. Next, I actually followed up on the gospel workers, and in the event of issues, I would quickly seek the relevant truths and fellowship solutions. Gradually, the gospel work started to improve.

By experiencing these multiple rounds of pruning, I gained some understanding of my antichrist disposition, which is averse to the truth, and I realized that because people have corrupt dispositions, they often do their duties in a perfunctory manner, and that if we don’t accept being pruned and instead feel resistant and are defiant, then it will just bring serious harm upon the work. It was precisely these rounds of pruning that weren’t to my liking that protected me, allowing me to avoid walking down the wrong path of a false leader. Being pruned was really beneficial to my performance of my duty!