Number 4: The Ability to Accept Things

What is the fourth ability? The ability to accept things. The ability to accept things has some differences from the ability to understand things and from comprehension ability. The ability to accept things involves whether, when new things appear, you can discern whether they are positive or negative, and what benefit or harm they have for your life, work, and survival, as well as how you view them, how you treat them, and how you apply them. If you are of good caliber, then when new things appear, you will be particularly sensitive and particularly perceptive. After quickly receiving information about some new thing, you will be able to identify what benefit or harm it has for people, or what drawbacks it has. If it is beneficial to a certain issue in your real life, you can immediately apply its strengths; if it is harmful, you can also avoid its harm or drawbacks for people. That is, you have a certain degree of acceptance toward new things, and you can quickly see through new things that are negative, harmful to people, and have drawbacks—this is having the ability to accept things. The difference between the ability to accept things, and the ability to understand things and comprehension ability, lies here. The ability to accept things mainly refers to a person’s sensitivity to new things and their ability to discern them. If you discern new things quickly, are able to quickly accept their strengths and benefits and apply them to real life to serve your life or work, and then let go of or eliminate the old things that these new things have replaced, this means you possess the ability to accept things and are a person of good caliber. After this are people of average caliber. Such people are particularly slow in accepting some new things that have already replaced old things, as well as new opinions and new technologies. What does this “slow” refer to? It refers to the fact that only when some new thing has already become widespread, is used very extensively, and the term for it has become very common, can they then accept it. They have no perception of new things and cannot discern whether they are positive things or negative things. Even when positive new things appear, they are resistant to them and disdainful of them in their hearts; they always have their own notions and their own attitudes, and always align themselves with worldly trends, and they are closed off and unaccepting toward new things, rejecting them. Only when some new thing spreads widely, and many people have experienced and realized its advantages, and people have benefited from it, do they begin to accept and apply it. This is having average caliber. Such people’s acceptance of new things is very passive; it is not an active acceptance. This is because, for one thing, they have no sensitivity toward new things; they are numb, backward, and closed off. For another, it’s also because they have certain notions and opinions about new things, carrying an attitude of scorn and disdain toward them. The subjective reason for this is that their caliber is average, and their ability to accept things is average, which makes them very numb; when new things appear before them, they have no awareness, have no feeling, and lack an attitude of actively accepting them. Additionally, they inherently are particularly backward, and particularly numb and dull-witted. These two reasons make them slow to accept new things. It is only when many people are already using some thing, talking about what its advantages are, what its convenience is, what impact it has on people, and what benefits it allows people to gain, and they have seen all this with their own eyes—and also seen the people around them personally experience it to some degree—that they slowly accept it in their hearts and then begin to use it. What kind of caliber does this indicate? Such people’s ability to accept things is average. Possessing an average ability to accept things means that one’s caliber is average. For example, in preaching the gospel or in doing some professional work, some brothers and sisters take the lead in trying out and applying a new method or professional technique. They quickly feel that it’s very good to use this professional technique, as with it, their effectiveness in doing their duty is pretty good and their efficiency is also increased. They then promptly promote this new technique or method, encouraging other brothers and sisters to learn it and apply it. People of good caliber are adept at seeking new techniques and methods in doing their duty. Very quickly, they can clearly perceive and accurately assess a new thing, and seize this opportunity, and can fully accept a new technique or method, and apply it to real-life work. Regarding what the strengths and weaknesses of this new thing are and what results it can achieve, they can continuously make conclusions and then make adjustments. Through a period of exploration, they gradually grasp which aspects of this technical profession or piece of information can be applied in church work and which cannot. Afterward, they progressively improve this new thing in their work according to principles and the requirements of God’s house. The more they improve this new thing, the better it becomes, eventually bearing fruit. This is a manifestation of good caliber. However, some people, in preaching the gospel, still rigidly cling to the original method, preaching either in a one-on-one or two-on-one fashion, or relying on sheer numbers. They are numb and dull-witted, and slow to accept the advanced method. Although they verbally acknowledge that the advanced method sounds pretty good and is feasible, in their hearts, they constantly have misgivings. They are afraid that if they apply this method, it will yield poor results, so they dare not try. Others persuade them, saying, “You don’t need to worry about all that. We’ve already tried it out; practicing that way yields especially good results.” But they still don’t dare to try, and continue holding onto the original method. Only when many people use the new method to preach the gospel, gaining more people each month and increasing efficiency, do they reluctantly decide to give it a shot, but they still only take small steps and do not dare to completely change their plans and strategies. This is being too slow in accepting new things; this is being of average caliber. People of poor caliber have even worse ability to accept things. They cannot clearly perceive a new thing, cannot judge it, and do not know how to treat it. In their hearts, they are resistant, thinking that people who believe in God should not accept new things, and should not accept new information and technologies. You see, they are quite closed off. People from certain denominations to this day do not use electricity, do not watch television, and do not use computers or any other electronic products. When they go out, they do not use modern transportation; they do not even ride bicycles. What do they ride around in? Ox carts and horse-drawn carriages, raising clouds of dust as they move. Some people ask, “Why don’t you ride a bicycle or take a car?” They say, “Those things are man-made. We are afraid God wouldn’t like it if we used them.” This is having poor ability to accept things. People with poor ability to accept things view many things in an incorrect way. They are stuck in their old ways, holding to their own viewpoints, being resistant to all new things. That they are resistant is in itself a problem with their thinking and their minds. What does having such a problem indicate? To put it conservatively, it shows that such people’s caliber is too average. If they consistently cannot accept new things, then their caliber is poor, and they are rigid-minded. They believe that God’s work is unchanging, and that whatever words God has spoken, God will forever only speak those same words, and that whatever work God has done, God will forever only do that same work. As for this humankind and this age, they believe that what they initially saw and experienced will forever remain unchanged and will always be that way. For example, 20 or 30 years ago, people had a certain notion regarding their understanding of clothing. They believed that cotton materials were purely natural and that all kinds of cotton textiles were good; whether it was cotton-padded jackets, T-shirts, or underwear, as long as it was made of cotton, it was better than synthetic fibers. They just firmly held to this belief. However, 20 or 30 years later, the textile industry has developed, and many fabrics similar to cotton have appeared, along with various synthetic fiber garments. There are many textiles that are better than cotton fabrics; they are more breathable, dissipate heat faster, absorb moisture faster, and don’t deform, shrink, or fade no matter how they are washed. Additionally, they are particularly comfortable and lightweight to wear, without causing any harm to the skin. But some people still cannot accept synthetic fibers. They still believe that only cotton textiles are good because cotton is grown in the ground, is created by God, and is natural, while synthetic fibers are man-made. They fail to realize that although cotton has been prepared by God and is the best, the land has been polluted, and the cotton bollworms that infest the cotton have grown stronger with each generation. Ordinary pesticides cannot resolve the problem. Ultimately, the cotton must undergo special disinfection treatments so that wearing it won’t cause itching. If treated well, the cost of the clothing becomes high, necessitating an extremely expensive sales price. If not treated well, then it is not as good as wearing synthetic fiber clothing. You see, the quality of synthetic fiber clothing is especially good nowadays; many professional athletes wear it, and the feedback is all quite positive. But some people, after hearing this, still do not accept it and remain convinced that cotton textiles are better. Aren’t such people ignorant and stubborn? (Yes.) This ignorance and stubbornness is a problem of their humanity. So, how is their caliber? (Their caliber is not good.) When a new thing appears before someone, their attitude in judging whether it is correct or incorrect—to decide whether to accept or reject it—depends on their caliber. If most people think the new thing is correct, and they follow the crowd and passively accept it, then such a person is at best of average caliber. If they cannot discern whether a new thing is correct or incorrect, whether it is beneficial to people, and what its strengths and drawbacks are compared with the old things they firmly believed in before, being unable to discern or distinguish the differences between new and old things—if they cannot judge any of this, then this proves that they have no ability to accept new things; that is, they have no comprehension ability. People like this are of poor caliber. Initially, when something new appears, they lack a certain degree of perceptiveness. When they hear about this thing, they also have no ability to accept it whatsoever. In the end, even if they reluctantly accept the new thing, it is only with the help and persuasion of others, who even have to compare the advantages and strengths of the new thing with old things, allowing these people to see with their own eyes that there are clear differences between the new thing and old things and that the new thing is obviously superior to the old things before they can accept it. However, in their hearts, these people still cannot see clearly what is good about many other new things and still feel that the old things are good and should be held onto. Only in circumstances where they have no choice do they reluctantly and passively accept new things. These people are of poor caliber. A person of average caliber is someone who, with a few pointers, immediately understands, realizing that they were viewing things in a distorted, outdated way. This is having average caliber. A person of poor caliber, on the other hand, requires repeated pointers and prompts, and collective persuasion from everyone—along with some facts and concrete examples showing how this new thing benefits people after its widespread adoption—before they reluctantly accept and use it. However, privately, they still choose the old thing. This is a person of very poor caliber. Having poor caliber means that they consistently fail to recognize the positive effects that the appearance of new things has on people, and cannot find the differences between new and old things, and consistently fail to discover or uncover the advantages and advancements of new things and the drawbacks and backwardness of old things, and also that they always hold on to their old thoughts and views; therefore, their ability to accept things is very poor. People with poor ability to accept things are of poor caliber. People with poor caliber cannot see through to the essence or root of problems, no matter how you explain things to them. That portion of people who have the poorest caliber cannot even be said to have any ability to accept things—when faced with new things, it is not a matter of whether they are subjectively willing to learn and accept them; rather, the issue is that they lack any perception toward them whatsoever. Whether in real life or in doing duty, no matter what new things appear, what things progress, or what things improve, they have no perception and no awareness. Is their ignorance of these things caused by not reading the news or newspapers? No, it is because their caliber simply lacks the ability to accept things. It is as if they have no receptive faculties. Regarding the appearance of any new things, they are numb, dull-witted, and lack perception. Even if they live in a bustling city, it is as if they are living in a remote mountain village. They are completely unaware of any major or minor events occurring in human life. Therefore, within their scope of life, there aren’t any new things that can influence their eating, clothing, housing, and transportation. They are just like animals. The things in their realm of thought are limited to the small range of things within their sphere of life, the things they know from the age when they were learning to view various things in the world. Beyond that, anything from the outside world has no influence on them at all, and they have no interest in it. What kind of people are these? Are they mentally deficient? (Yes.) Of course, the matters we are talking about here are very small, trivial aspects of daily life; we’re not referring to national affairs or major global news. Even the appearance of a very small new thing is something they are unaware of, showing no degree of acceptance at all. This “acceptance” refers to how the appearance of a new thing changes their thoughts and views, brings some improvements to their life—including lifestyle, basic life knowledge, and so on—and leads to some improvement and progress in their ability to handle problems in life. People with no ability to accept things always maintain their routine, original way of living. For example, people in the past often said that tofu stewed with spinach was a good thing, providing both iron and calcium, and someone grew up eating it that way. Later, some people said that food researchers discovered that spinach contains oxalic acid, and eating it with tofu over a long period can easily lead to the formation of stones in the body. After hearing this, this person thinks, “What is oxalic acid? Who has ever seen oxalic acid in spinach? I have eaten it for so many years and nothing happened. I’ll keep eating it!” They don’t accept it. This is someone who has no degree of acceptance toward new things or new viewpoints at all. In contrast, people with the ability to accept things, once they confirm that spinach contains oxalic acid, will think about how to remove the oxalic acid, and through finding out more about it, they discover that blanching the spinach in boiling water removes the oxalic acid. Those with the ability to accept things, upon hearing new information, will discern, through inquiry, the veracity of the information and whether it is beneficial to people, and then they will decide whether to accept or reject it. They will ask questions, learn about the details involved, and then apply this information to real life, avoiding the drawbacks or harm to people caused by the new thing in question. On the other hand, those muddled people who completely lack the ability to accept things, no matter what new information they hear, neither care nor inquire about it but directly reject it, holding only to old, outdated things. This ultimately boils down to the problem of their caliber. When it comes to new things, they do not know how to approach them or what principles they should grasp, nor do they consider what consequences rejecting new things might bring to their life or work. In short, they always harbor a suspicious attitude toward new things and new information, not daring to accept them. Such people are of poor caliber.

People with poor caliber cannot independently resolve problems they encounter in life, no matter how many arise. Such individuals lack independent living ability. Regardless of the matter, whatever way of doing things they inherited from their ancestors at the time is how they continue to do them; they do not change anything and rigidly adhere to it to the end. If you criticize them, saying that it is wrong to do things like that, they won’t listen and will even become extremely obstinate, arguing with you: “This is how it has been passed down from our ancestors. My grandfather’s generation and my parents’ generation all did it this way, and it has been handed down like this!” Are things that are handed down necessarily correct? They don’t consider this question, which proves their poor caliber. If they possessed the caliber of a normal person, they would think about this question. When hearing information about new things, they would exhibit a certain degree of acceptance. If they do not display these manifestations, it means they have no degree of acceptance. Such people lack the ability to live independently. No matter how old they live to be, they always say, “Back in my father’s day, it was like this. In my grandfather’s and great-grandfather’s time, it was like this. So, in my generation, it must still be like this.” These people are clearly fossils. They are like rotten logs of wood—hidebound! They have no ability to accept any new things, which shows they are of very poor caliber. No matter how you explain the advancements of new things, they will not accept them. Such people lack the ability to live independently. On the surface, they may appear to handle their eating, clothing, housing, and transportation on their own, but the ways and methods they use are subpar. They do not adapt their lifestyle to the times or to the growth in the various areas of common sense and knowledge that humankind has acquired. Such people are those with poor caliber. Although they are not starving, not freezing, and have not suffered any major illnesses, judging from their perspective on survival and their lifestyle, such people just live in a muddled way, and they can also be classified as the mentally deficient, idiots, or fools. Some people feel uncomfortable when they are called mentally deficient or idiotic, but even if they feel uncomfortable, it is true. Their caliber really is that poor. I would indeed like to say something that makes you comfortable, but you simply do not possess the caliber for that. You lack ability in every aspect and have no correct, accurate thoughts or views that align with the thinking of normal humanity toward any matter. Isn’t this lacking caliber? It’s already gracious enough not to call you a useless person. This kind of person who has no caliber is just one step away from being mentally disabled. Mentally disabled individuals lack even the ability to take care of themselves, relying entirely on the assistance of others. At mealtime, their parents still have to feed them bite by bite, and they don’t even know whether they themselves are full or not. People with poor caliber are mentally deficient; they are idiots, and just one step away from being mentally disabled. This is how poor their caliber is. Tell Me, aren’t such people pathetic? Aren’t they quite exasperating? People with poor caliber have no learning ability, no ability to understand things, and no comprehension ability; even less so do they possess the ability to accept things—they possess no abilities in any aspect. No matter how you explain things or give examples to them, they still can’t wrap their heads around or understand what was said. Isn’t this mental deficiency? No matter how you explain, they cannot understand. Even if you speak very clearly and explain thoroughly, they still don’t get it, and even find what you say to be very awkward. They lack the thinking of normal humanity and even come up with a set of fallacies to refute you. There’s no way to reason with such people; just give them three words: “You’re beyond reason!” Their caliber is this poor. Can you not feel anxious and exasperated with them? No matter what you say to such people, it’s useless. No matter how you try to enlighten them, they don’t understand. Even for a small matter, it takes all day to enlighten them, and if you speak in a slightly more profound way, they won’t understand; you have to use the shallowest terms and say a lot before they can understand. Even after they understand one matter, when a similar issue arises, they still don’t get it. Isn’t this mental deficiency? However, this kind of mentally deficient person does not think they are foolish. They say, “Don’t assume I’m foolish. If you offer to give me ten yuan or ten US dollars, watch which one I choose—I’ll definitely pick the US dollars because I know they are more valuable.” Others say, “You’re still foolish.” Why do others say that such people are foolish? Because an ordinary person would not use this kind of example to prove they are not foolish, nor would they use such an inferior method to demonstrate it. Precisely because such people have extremely poor caliber, have no standards for evaluating any people, events, or things, and do not know how to evaluate them, they never consider themselves to be foolish. Truly astute people, after striving and struggling consistently among a group of people for three to five years, will realize that in any group, there are those better than themselves, those who surpass them. They always feel their own caliber is not good enough, that their abilities and intelligence are not good enough. They are always able to discover their own inadequacies, recognize where they fall short compared to others, and identify their own problems; they can always see others’ strong points. This kind of person is astute and possesses caliber. Those without caliber, meanwhile, when living among a group of people, always feel that others are inferior to themselves. They see that some people cannot even spell certain words or cannot type, and they disdain them as having poor caliber. They use these insignificant, small things that they themselves can do to affirm that their own caliber is good. There are also people who, seeing others being less particular about their own hygiene or not knowing how to dress well, say they have poor caliber. They themselves are a bit cleaner, can put on a facade of refinement, or have some knowledge and strengths, so they consider their own caliber to be good. Are such people astute or foolish? They are foolish. Notice how astute people speak: “Why did I mess up again? I realize I’m foolish!” Those who often say that they’re foolish and that they have inadequacies are truly astute. Those who never admit to being foolish and always say, “You think I’m foolish? Try asking me for money and see if I give it to you!” are truly foolish. Foolishness, in colloquial terms, is called being “a few cards short of a full deck.” For them to be able to say such foolish things, isn’t that foolishness? Isn’t that being “a few cards short”? (Yes.) When they see someone with some flaws or defects, or who leaves gaps in what they do, they laugh behind their back, saying, “How could they be so foolish?” When they see someone who is full of calculations for taking advantage and cunning schemes, they regard them as astute and as having good caliber. Truly astute people evaluate the quality of a person’s caliber and whether they are astute or foolish based on their various abilities. Foolish people, however, only look at who is calculating, who takes advantage and always avoids losses, and who is adept at serving themselves through trickery, believing that all such people are astute and have good caliber. In actuality, these kinds of people are all foolish. Evaluating the quality of a person’s caliber based on how calculating they are—such people are fools themselves. Just before, we mentioned one of the most foolish manifestations: They say, “If you offer me ten US dollars or ten yuan, watch which one I choose. I certainly wouldn’t choose the renminbi—don’t think I don’t know US dollars are more valuable! If you offer me meat or tofu, watch which one I eat. Do you think I’m foolish enough to eat tofu and not the meat? I know meat tastes better!” Such people are, in fact, fools. If you really don’t want others to see your foolishness, you absolutely should not use such examples. Understand? (Yes.) Do foolish people often make this mistake? (Yes.) They even think, “Look how good I am at giving examples! See how astute I am? Do I look foolish to you? You’re the foolish one!” The most foolish type of person constantly exudes foolishness. This concludes the fellowship on this ability: the ability to accept things.