Our last gathering’s fellowship was about the eleventh responsibility of leaders and workers. We fellowshipped about the responsibility leaders and workers should fulfill and the work they should do in safeguarding offerings. What work should leaders and workers do in safeguarding offerings? (The first task is to safeguard them; the second is to check the accounts; and the third is to follow up on, to look into, and to inspect whether the various expenditures align with the principles. Strict checks must be carried out, and unreasonable expenditures must be strictly restricted. It is best to prevent profligacy and waste before they occur. If they have already occurred, those responsible must be held accountable. Not only should warnings be issued, but compensation must also be demanded.) Those are basically it. The main thing is to safeguard them, and then to check the accounts, and after that, to follow up on and inspect expenditures, and to use and spend them correctly. Having finished our fellowship on the eleventh responsibility, people now have an accurate understanding and knowledge of offerings, and they also now know the work that leaders and workers need to do in safeguarding the offerings, as well as how false leaders do this work, and their specific behaviors in doing it. Whether our fellowship is about the responsibilities of leaders and workers or about the various behaviors of false leaders, and whether it’s fellowship about positives or the exposure of negatives, its main purpose is to get people to understand how to do the work of safeguarding offerings properly, and how to eliminate unreasonable practices in the safeguarding, expenditure, and distribution of offerings. All of God’s chosen people—whether or not they are leaders or workers—should fulfill their responsibility in the safeguarding of offerings. What responsibility is this, then? It’s to supervise and to promptly report any problems found—that is, to perform the functions of supervising and reporting. Do not think that “safeguarding offerings is the responsibility of leaders and workers and has nothing to do with us ordinary believers.” This view is incorrect. Since people have understood these truths, they should fulfill their responsibility. For issues that leaders and workers are unable to identify, or for blind spots, places that aren’t easy to identify, if anyone finds any problems of unreasonableness or of principles being violated in the safeguarding, distribution, and use of offerings, they should promptly report these to the leaders and workers, so as to ensure the reasonable safeguarding, reasonable use, and reasonable distribution of offerings. This is the responsibility of every one of God’s chosen people.

Item Twelve: Promptly and Accurately Identify the Various People, Events, and Things That Disrupt and Disturb God’s Work and the Normal Order of the Church; Stop and Restrict Them, and Turn Things Around; Additionally, Fellowship the Truth So That God’s Chosen People Develop Discernment Through Such Things and Learn From Them (Part One)

Now that the fellowship on the eleventh responsibility is completed, we move on to fellowshipping the twelfth responsibility of leaders and workers: “Promptly and accurately identify the various people, events, and things that disrupt and disturb God’s work and the normal order of the church; stop and restrict them, and turn things around; additionally, fellowship the truth so that God’s chosen people develop discernment through such things and learn from them.” What is the primary content of this responsibility? It is primarily about requiring leaders and workers to address the various people, events, and things in the church—as well as the various problems—that disrupt, disturb, and damage the normal order of the church. What must leaders and workers first understand to effectively address and resolve these problems, fulfill their responsibilities, and perform this work well? This responsibility is to “promptly and accurately identify the various people, events, and things that disrupt and disturb God’s work and the normal order of the church”; this is the scope of this work. With a goal and a scope, it becomes clear which issues need to be resolved, and what work and responsibilities leaders and workers are expected to undertake. Within the twelfth responsibility, what is the primary requirement for leaders and workers? It is to stop and restrict the various people, events, and things that cause disruptions and disturbances, and turn things around, while also fellowshipping the truth so that God’s chosen people can develop discernment through such things and learn from them. What preconditions must be met in order to do this? If you see various people, events, and things that disrupt, disturb, and damage the normal order of the church yet think these are not problems, then there’s trouble. This indicates that you cannot see through to the essence of the problem, that is, not understanding the harm that disrupting and disturbing church life can bring to the church’s work, and the consequences and impacts it may have on the life entry of God’s chosen people. Can such leaders and workers still do church work well? Can they resolve problems and turn things around? (No.) What then is the key point to be fellowshipped here? It is that only by first understanding the truth principles can leaders and workers see through to the essence of various issues and effectively solve various actual problems. To do church work well, leaders and workers first need to know what problems commonly arise in church work. Then, they must accurately understand, discern, and judge the nature of the problems that arise, whether they affect church work and the normal order of church life, and whether they are of the nature of disrupting and disturbing church work. This is a very important issue that leaders and workers should first understand. Only after understanding this is it possible to effectively solve these problems, and be able to “stop and restrict them, and turn things around” as mentioned in the twelfth responsibility. In summary, before solving a problem, you first need to understand where the problem lies, what the states and situations involved are, the nature of the problem, how severe it is, how to dissect and discern it, and how to practice accurately. This is what leaders and workers need to first understand. Since leaders and workers need to understand these things, let’s fellowship about them from several aspects specifically, so that both leaders and workers and God’s chosen people can understand how to face these problems when they arise, how to correlate them with God’s words, and how to use the truth principles to resolve them. This way, when leaders and workers encounter difficulties they cannot resolve, all of God’s chosen people can face them together and seek the truth for solutions, and when encountering issues of disruption and disturbance in church work, everyone can stand up to stop and restrict them. At the same time, for negative people and matters, they can carry out public dissection, discernment, and characterization, thus allowing these issues to be stopped, restricted, and eradicated at the root. Let’s then fellowship beginning with the most specific issues.

The Various People, Events, and Things That Disrupt and Disturb Church Life

To identify issues that disrupt and disturb God’s work and the normal order of the church, what are the areas that leaders and workers should start with? They should begin by looking into church life to discover these issues. Do you all know a bit about which problems typically come up in church life whose nature is that of causing disruption and disturbance? However many people there are in a church, there are sure to be more than a few who would disrupt and disturb church work. What are the acts of disruption and disturbance that you have learned of? (Always going off topic when fellowshipping the truth in gatherings, without centering around the core issues.) (Also, habitually speaking words and doctrines.) Going off topic when fellowshipping the truth. For example, when others are fellowshipping about how to be loyal in doing one’s duty, they’ll talk about how to attend to their husband (or wife) and children well. When others are fellowshipping about how being loyal in doing one’s duty is meant to satisfy God and submit to Him, they’ll talk about how being loyal in doing one’s duty is meant to gain blessings for one’s family and loved ones. Isn’t this going off topic? (Yes.) If you don’t interrupt them, they’ll go on endlessly. If you restrict them, they’ll become angry, and fly into a rage out of embarrassment, thereby taking their bad behavior a step further. This issue, then, is by nature on the level of disruption and disturbance, which is very severe. Although going off topic when fellowshipping on the truth is a common issue, objectively speaking, it can disrupt and disturb the life of the church. This is the first issue. Regarding the second, “speaking words and doctrines,” whether this qualifies as a disruption and disturbance depends on the severity of the case. Some people speak words and doctrines because they lack the truth reality; as soon as they open their mouths, it’s all words and doctrines, just empty theories. However, their intention is not to mislead others and win their esteem. With restrictions and dissuasion, they’ll gain self-awareness, and afterward, they’ll speak fewer words and doctrines, and they’ll no longer hinder the life entry of the brothers and sisters. This doesn’t count as a disruption and disturbance. However, those who intentionally speak words and doctrines with the intent to mislead others do so even when they know full well that what they say is words and doctrines. Their objective in doing this is to win others’ esteem; they want to draw people over to their side and mislead them, and to grab status. This is quite severe in nature. It’s different in nature from only being able to speak words and doctrines because of not understanding the truth. Such behavior constitutes a disruption and disturbance. The various people, events, and things that cause disruptions and disturbances in church life are pervasive. They’re not just issues like speaking words and doctrines or going off topic. What are some others? (Forming cliques, sowing dissension, and dampening others’ positivity.) (There’s also venting negativity, and troublemaking and persistently bothering people.) (When some people have notions about the work arrangements of God’s house, they spread these notions and vent their negativity, causing notions about the work arrangements to arise in others, too.) Those things do qualify as disruptions and disturbances. Forming cliques is one, sowing dissension is another, along with tormenting and attacking people, spreading notions, venting negativity, spreading baseless rumors, and vying for status—all of these are disruptions and disturbances. These problems are much more serious in nature than going off topic when fellowshipping the truth. There’s also an issue that relates to elections. What type of problems that arise during elections pertain to causing disruption and disturbance? There’s manipulating votes, for instance—promising benefits to secure votes for oneself. This is one way to undermine an election. And covert actions—working on people’s minds behind the scenes in order to draw them over to your side, mislead them, and get them to vote for you. These are all issues that arise during elections. Do these constitute disruptions and disturbances? (Yes.) These problems are collectively termed as violating election principles. Another issue is prattling about domestic matters, building personal connections, and handling personal affairs. Someone may come to gatherings for this stuff—not to understand the truth or fellowship God’s words, but to handle personal affairs. Is such a problem of a severe sort? (Yes.) It also amounts to causing disruption and disturbance.

Now, let’s summarize the various issues of disruption and disturbance that arise within church life: First, often going off topic when fellowshipping the truth; second, speaking words and doctrines to mislead people and win their esteem; third, prattling about domestic matters, building personal connections, and handling personal affairs; fourth, forming cliques; fifth, vying for status; sixth, sowing dissension; seventh, attacking and tormenting people; eighth, spreading notions; ninth, venting negativity; tenth, spreading baseless rumors; and eleventh, violating election principles. Eleven in total. These eleven manifestations are the issues of disruption and disturbance that often arise within church life. When living church life, if these issues arise, it’s necessary for leaders and workers to stand up and stop them, restrict them, and not allow them to develop unchecked. If the leaders and workers are unable to restrict them, then all the brothers and sisters should come together to restrict them. If the person involved does not have evil humanity, and is not intentionally causing disruptions and disturbances but simply lacks an understanding of the truth, they can be helped and supported through fellowship of the truth. If the person causing disruptions and disturbances is evil, and the case is minor, then their disruptions and disturbances should be stopped and restricted through fellowship and exposure. If they are willing to repent, and no longer speak or act in ways that cause disruptions and disturbances, are willing to be the least significant member in the church, can listen and obey dutifully, and do whatever the church arranges, accepting the restrictions set by the brothers and sisters, then they can stay in the church temporarily. But if they do not accept and instead oppose and become hostile toward the majority, then the second step—clearing them out—should be taken. Is this approach appropriate? (Yes.)

I. Often Going off Topic When Fellowshipping the Truth

Now, we’ll fellowship about the various people, events, and things appearing in church life that by nature constitute disruptions and disturbances. The first of them is often going off topic when fellowshipping the truth. How is going off topic when fellowshipping the truth to be determined? How can we clearly perceive words of fellowship that have gone off topic? Do you often go off topic in your fellowship of the truth? (Yes.) How far must this problem go for its nature to count as that of disruption and disturbance? If every instance of going off topic when fellowshipping the truth were characterized as a disruption and disturbance, wouldn’t people be afraid to speak or fellowship in church life in the future? And if people are afraid to fellowship, doesn’t it mean that they haven’t perceived the issue clearly? (Yes.) So, when it’s accurately determined what sort of going off topic while fellowshipping the truth constitutes a disruption and disturbance, most people will be freed from their constraints. Seeing as you go off topic even in normal conversation, doing so when fellowshipping the truth is all the more common. Therefore, it’s necessary to fellowship about this with great clarity, to keep you from being constrained. Don’t let the fear of going off topic and constituting a disruption and disturbance deter you from speaking and make you not dare to fellowship even though you have knowledge, or—when you do want to fellowship—compel you to first consider: “Does what I want to say relate to the theme? Is it off topic? I should draft and outline my thoughts before speaking, and then stick to the outline so that I won’t go off topic, no matter what. If I do go off topic, it wouldn’t benefit anyone and would waste the gathering’s precious time, affecting the brothers’ and sisters’ understanding of the truth. And if it’s severe, it could even disrupt and disturb church life.” How should we view the matter of going off topic, then? First, we need to consider whether going off topic is beneficial to the brothers and sisters, and then we must clearly see what the consequences of going off topic are to church life. This way, we can see clearly that going off topic is not a minor issue; in serious cases, it can even constitute a disruption and disturbance to church life and the church’s work. Say that, on some topic, you look for a passage of God’s words to fellowship your knowledge and comprehension; or suppose that, on some topic, you fellowship about the knowledge you’ve gained, the truths you’ve understood, and intentions of God you’ve understood from something you experienced; or say that your fellowship on a certain topic is a bit long-winded, and you don’t express yourself so clearly about it, repeating yourself several times over—in these situations, are you going off topic? None of these count as going off topic. What is it to go off topic, then? Going off topic is when what you say has little or no relation to the topic of fellowship, when it’s just rambling about external matters, and isn’t edifying to people at all. That is completely going off topic. Now, let’s discuss what it is to cause disruption and disturbance. In the case of going off topic when fellowshipping the truth, what kinds of words and behaviors constitute disruptions and disturbances? What is the essence of the problem here? How does going off topic constitute by nature a disruption and disturbance? Isn’t this worth fellowshipping about? Once it’s been fellowshipped about, will you understand what going off topic means? (Yes.) You give your answers to the question, then. (When someone’s fellowship is about topics that have nothing to do with the truth—idle chatter and talking about domestic affairs, for instance, and discussing things involving social trends that disturb people’s hearts, preventing them from being quiet before God and contemplating His words—that fellowship has gone off topic.) How many main points does that speak to? (One is that the topics are unrelated to the truth.) This is a very important point: being unrelated to the truth. One point is idle chatter and prattling about domestic matters. Another is speaking of traditional culture, of human moral thinking, and of things people consider to be noble as if they were the truth. This is a problem of distorted comprehension; all these things are unrelated to the truth. For instance, God’s words say, “Young people should not be without aspirations.” Someone fellowships, “Since ancient times, heroes have emerged during their youth,” or “Ambition is not confined by age.” Or, when you talk about how to fear God, they fellowship: “There is a god three feet above you”; “When man acts, Heaven is watching”; “If you have a clear conscience, you need not fear ghosts knocking at your door”; or “One’s heart must lean toward goodness.” Isn’t this going off topic? Aren’t these words unrelated to the truth? What are these words? (Satanic philosophies.) They are satanic philosophies, and they’re also the traditional culture of a certain ethnicity. The first manifestation of going off topic is when the spoken topic is unrelated to the truth; it’s when one says philosophies and theories that nonbelievers hold to be right and lofty, and forcibly links them to the truth. That’s going off topic. The topic is unrelated to the truth—this manifestation should be easy to understand. The second manifestation is when the discussed topics disturb people’s minds. When the truth isn’t fellowshipped in gathering, and what’s fellowshipped about is knowledge, scholarship, philosophy, and law, or societal phenomena and various complex interpersonal relationships, then it disturbs people’s minds. This is when someone fellowships about issues that fundamentally don’t involve the truth and have nothing at all to do with it as if those things were the truth. This causes confusion in others’ minds, and as they listen, their thinking goes from fellowship of the truth to external matters. How do these people behave then? They start to focus on knowledge and scholarship. Disturbing people’s minds is in its nature a serious thing. The third manifestation is when the topics discussed cause people to misunderstand God, resulting in a lack of clarity about visions. Some people aren’t very clear about the truth themselves, yet they want to pretend that they have clarity and understanding. So, when they fellowship the truth, they throw some profound doctrines into what they say, jumbling together religious doctrines they’ve heard and understood, speaking baselessly and extravagantly. After listening to them, people lose clarity about visions; they don’t know just what truth the person meant to discuss. The more they listen, the more muddled they become and the more their faith in God is diminished, and they may even develop misunderstandings about God. People don’t just come away from this talk without an understanding of the truth—their minds become muddled. It has a negative effect. This is what comes from going off topic.

Going off topic when fellowshipping the truth manifests in several ways, and each of them by its nature constitutes a disturbance to people’s life entry. When people have listened to such fellowship, they don’t just lack a clear understanding of the truth and a path of practice. Instead, their minds become muddled, they grow hazier about the truth, and they develop some misinterpretations and misconceptions, too. This is the impact and the adverse consequence that going off topic when fellowshipping the truth has on people. Each of these three manifestations is quite serious in nature. For example, the first one is “the spoken topic is unrelated to the truth.” Saying things that seem right but aren’t, and bringing satanic things, such as human knowledge, philosophy, theories, traditional culture, and the famous sayings of renowned figures, into the church to preach and analyze, using a chance to fellowship the truth to mislead people, constitutes a disturbance to them. This is very serious in nature. If a discerning person were to listen to such fellowship, they would say, “What you’re saying isn’t right; it’s not the truth. What you’re speaking about is moral behavior and sayings that nonbelievers think are good. Those are nonbelievers’ tenets for how to comport themselves and conduct their worldly dealings, which are fundamentally unrelated to the truth.” However, some people lack discernment, and when they’ve heard these fallacies, they even go along with them, and adhere to them as the truth. If leaders and workers do not put a stop to this and restrict it at such times, if they don’t fellowship about it and dissect it so that people gain discernment, then some of God’s chosen people could be misled. What are the consequences of being misled? They’ll believe that the preachings of famous nonbelievers that people think are correct, good, and profound, such as folk proverbs and famous people’s maxims and theories of living as a person, are all correct and that they’re the truth, just as God’s words are. Haven’t they been misled? On the surface, it seems like they are fellowshipping the truth, but in actuality, it’s mixed with some human ideas and some of Satan’s misleading philosophies, and this obviously constitutes a disturbance to people. If someone misleads people by passing Satan’s philosophy and human knowledge off as the truth, then leaders and workers should expose and dissect the matter, so that the brothers and sisters grow in discernment and understand what the truth really is. This is the work that leaders and workers should do. The second manifestation is “disturbing people’s minds.” Some people always seize chances to fellowship the truth to speak about things that seem right but aren’t, exalting human knowledge, scholarship, gifts, and talents. They also speak about moral norms, traditional culture, and so on. They pass these things that come from Satan off as positive things, as the truth, which leads people to the mistaken belief that these are to be advocated for, to be spread and extolled in the church, to be adhered to by everyone; causes an increase in fallacies and heresies, which seem right but aren’t, in people’s minds; and confounds people’s minds and makes them feel adrift, not knowing what the truth actually is, or how to practice correctly when faced with issues, or which path is the correct one. This plunges their hearts into darkness. This is the consequence of spreading heresies and fallacies to mislead people. As for the third manifestation, we won’t fellowship on it in detail. In summary, some of the off-topic discussions involve knowledge, some involve human notions, and some involve morally good behaviors, among other things. But none of these things relate to the truth—they are all contrary to it. Therefore, when these issues arise, leaders and workers should put a stop to them and restrict them. If, after hearing someone fellowship, people not only lack clarity in their hearts on the truth, but are also disturbed, with their once-clear minds muddled, not knowing how to practice properly, then the fellowship of such a person should be stopped and restricted. For instance, in their fellowship on truths regarding normal humanity, some people say: “What God likes the most in normal humanity is the ability to endure hardship, to not covet fleshly enjoyment or ease, to forgo delicious food, to not enjoy what one should enjoy or what God has prepared, to be able to rebel against these fleshly desires, to restrain all desires of the flesh, to subdue one’s body, and to not let the flesh have its way. So, when you want to sleep at night, you need to rebel against the flesh. If you can’t, you need to find ways to restrain it. The greater your will to rebel against the flesh is, and the more you rebel against the flesh, the more manifestations of practicing the truth and the more loyalty to God you are proven to possess. I think the most prominent manifestation of normal humanity—and the one that should be most advocated for—is subduing one’s body, rebelling against the desires of the flesh, not coveting fleshly ease, and being frugal in material enjoyment. The more frugal you are, the greater the blessings you will accumulate in the kingdom of heaven.” Don’t these words sound quite positive? Is there a mistake in them? Measured by human logic, tenets, and notions, these words would pass in any religious or social group; everyone would give them a thumbs up to express their approval and say that what they say is right, that their faith is good and pure. Are there not some people in the church who’d believe this as well? Measured by human notions, all these words are correct—what’s correct about them? Some may say, “God does like such people. That’s the frugal way He lives, too.” Isn’t this a human notion? People harbor this kind of notion, so if some person were really to give this sort of fellowship, wouldn’t it just be conforming to the majority’s notions? (Yes.) When people approve of this kind of notion, aren’t they agreeing with that person’s point of view? And when people have agreed with and accepted that person’s point of view, aren’t they then agreeing with their actions? Won’t they then try to emulate them? And when they’re able to, won’t the path they follow, their path of practice, then be fixed? What does it mean to be fixed? It means that they’re determined that they’ll act and practice in such a manner. As they believe in their hearts that God loves such people and likes it when they act this way, that only by doing so can they be someone whom God accepts, someone who can enter the kingdom of heaven and be blessed in heaven, who has a good destination, they then resolve to act this way. When they make this resolution, haven’t their minds already been disturbed and misled by this kind of thought and viewpoint? This is a fact; this is the consequence. Their minds are disturbed, and they don’t even realize it. There’s another issue here, too: Once their minds are paralyzed and disturbed by such thoughts and viewpoints, don’t they then lose clarity on God’s intentions and requirements? Don’t they then develop misunderstandings about God, and become distant from Him? Doesn’t this indicate that they’re unclear about visions? Think about it carefully: When you are misguided by some thought or viewpoint that people see as right but is mistaken, isn’t your mind then disturbed? Can the visions in your heart still be clear then? (No.) So, is your knowledge of God accurate or is it a misunderstanding? Clearly, it is a misunderstanding. So, is what you understand and what you believe to be right actually the truth? No, it isn’t—it contradicts God’s words, the truth, running counter to them. Therefore, this sort of going off topic when fellowshipping the truth does indeed constitute a disturbance to people’s minds. Given that this going off topic constitutes such a great disturbance to people’s minds, can it be said to constitute a disruption of God’s work? It leads people into notions and into Satan’s philosophy and logic, so doesn’t it pull people away from God’s presence? When people misunderstand God, when they don’t understand His intentions and can’t practice according to His intentions and requirements, but practice instead according to Satan’s logic and human notions, are they then closer to God or further from Him? (They’re further from Him.) They’re further from Him. So, shouldn’t fellowshipping this sort of topic be restricted during gatherings? (Yes.) The nature of this sort of going off topic is that of a disturbance to people, so it must indeed be restricted. If it’s not made to stop and restricted, there will be a number of muddled people who are of poor caliber and numb—in particular, those without spiritual understanding—who imitate and follow the person who goes off topic. This is when leaders and workers should promptly stand up to stop it. They must not allow that person to continue to go off topic; they must not allow the topic of their fellowship to mislead more people and disturb more people’s minds. This is a responsibility leaders and workers should fulfill, a function they should serve.

That’s about it for our fellowship on the topic of going off topic when fellowshipping the truth. Next, we’ll summarize how far off topic one must go in their fellowship of the truth and what topics one must fellowship on for the nature of this to qualify as that of disruption and disturbance. Some sorts of going off topic are obvious: When someone is completely off topic, when they begin to engage in idle chatter or discuss domestic affairs, that’s easy to discern. For example, when everyone is fellowshipping about how to do their duty, someone may fellowship about their “glorious” past, talking about the good deeds they have done or how they have helped the brothers and sisters, and so forth. No one wants to listen to this, and the more they do, the more averse to it they become, until they ignore the person. The person will then find it embarrassing. As long as the majority can discern this person, they won’t be able to continue. It doesn’t take much of an understanding of the truth to be able to discern this variety of going off topic. Chatting idly, prattling about domestic matters, exalting oneself, showcasing oneself, and taking advantage of the topic of fellowship to speak about one’s own “glorious” past—this sort of going off topic is easy to discern. It basically doesn’t constitute much of a disturbance, because most people are repulsed by such things and unwilling to listen to them, and they know that they’re showing off and not fellowshipping the truth, that they’ve gone off topic. The group might try not to embarrass them right when they start speaking, but as they go on longer, people become repulsed and unwilling to listen further, and feel that it would be better to read God’s words on their own instead. If the person continued, they would stand up and leave. When the person sees that things have taken a turn and that they’re embarrassing themselves, they won’t go on speaking. What sort of going off topic has already had an adverse influence on people, yet people still can’t see through it as something negative, and instead take the off-topic content as the truth and listen intently to it? This sort of going off topic can constitute a disturbance to people, and one should be discerning of such cases. Give an example of this sort of going off topic. (When someone doesn’t reflect on themselves after being pruned, but focuses their talk only on the rightness and wrongness of the issue, it confuses everyone’s minds. This doesn’t just leave people unable to develop discernment; instead, people feel that what this person says is in line with the truth, and that they are correct. This gets everyone to side with them.) On the pretext of fellowshipping about how to accept being pruned, they defend and vindicate themselves, making people think they have been wrongfully pruned, getting people to side with them and sympathize with them, and additionally, making people admire their ability to submit and accept being pruned under such circumstances. This misleads people; it’s an intentional, deliberate instance of going off topic, which not only makes the listeners unable to submit when faced with pruning, and unable to accept pruning and reflect on and know themselves, but instead leaves them guarded against and resistant to being pruned. Such fellowship fails to help people understand the significance of being pruned, how people should adopt the correct attitude when faced with pruning, how to accept it, and how to practice. Instead, it leads people to choose another way to deal with pruning, a way that isn’t the practice of the truth and isn’t acting in accordance with the truth principles, but one that makes people more sly. Such fellowship serves to mislead people. Going off topic when fellowshipping the truth is one type of issue that arises in church life. If this type of issue reaches the level of disruption and disturbance, leaders and workers should step up to stop and restrict it, fellowshipping and dissecting it, so that the majority grows in discernment, learns from the experience, and learns a lesson.

II. Speaking Words and Doctrines to Mislead People and Win Their Esteem

The second manifestation of people, events, and things causing disruptions and disturbances in church life is when people speak words and doctrines to mislead people and win their esteem. Usually, most people may speak some words and doctrines. Most people have done this. We should regard the typical occurrence of one speaking words and doctrines as a result of that person’s small stature and lack of understanding of the truth. As long as they don’t take up too much time, aren’t doing it on purpose, don’t monopolize the conversation, don’t demand indulgence from everyone to speak at will, don’t require everyone to listen to them, and don’t mislead others and try to win their esteem, then it does not constitute a disruption or disturbance. Because most people lack the truth reality, speaking words and doctrines is a very common occurrence. Speaking somewhat inappropriately, it is excusable; it can be forgiven and not treated too seriously. However, there is one exception, which is when the person speaking words and doctrines is deliberate. What is it they do deliberately? It is not the speaking of words and doctrines that they do deliberately, because they also lack the truth reality. Their actions, such as speaking words and doctrines, shouting slogans, and talking about theories, are the same as everyone else’s. However, there is one difference: When they speak words and doctrines, they always want to be esteemed by others, and to compare themselves with the leaders and workers and with those who pursue the truth. Even more unreasonably, no matter what they say or how they say it, their goal is to draw people over to their side, to mislead people’s hearts, all for the sake of being esteemed. What is the purpose of seeking esteem? They desire to have status and prestige in the hearts of people, to become a standout individual or a leader among the crowd, to become someone extraordinary or uncommon, to become a special figure, someone whose words carry authority. This situation differs from the typical occurrences of people speaking words and doctrines and constitutes a disruption and disturbance. What sets these people apart from those who speak words and doctrines in the more commonly seen manner? It is their constant desire to speak; given any opportunity, they will speak. As long as there is a gathering or a group of people assembled—as long as they have an audience—they will speak, possessing a particularly strong desire to do so. Their purpose in speaking is not to share their inner thoughts, their gains, experiences, understandings, or insights with the brothers and sisters to foster an understanding of the truth or a path to practice it. Instead, their purpose is to use the opportunity to speak doctrines to showcase themselves, to let others know how erudite they are, to show they have brains, knowledge, and learning, standing above the average person. They want to be known as capable individuals, not just ordinary ones. They want it so that for any matter, everyone turns to them and consults them. For any issue in the church or any difficulty the brothers and sisters face, they want to be the first person others think of; they want it so others can’t do anything without them, so they don’t dare to handle any matter without them, with everyone waiting for their command. This is the effect they desire. Their purpose in speaking words and doctrines is to ensnare and control people. For them, speaking words and doctrines is merely a method, an approach; it’s not because they don’t understand the truth that they speak words and doctrines but rather, through doing so, they aim to make people admire them from the heart, look up to them, and even be afraid of them, becoming constrained and controlled by them. This type of speaking words and doctrines thus constitutes a disruption and disturbance. In church life, such individuals should be restricted, and this behavior of speaking words and doctrines should also be stopped, not allowed to continue unchecked. Some might say, “Such people should be restricted; then should they still be given a chance to speak?” In terms of fairness, they can be given a chance to speak, but as soon as they revert to their old ways of showing off, with their ambition about to erupt again, they should be promptly cut off, to make them lucid and calm. What should be done if they often show off in this way, and their ambition still is often revealed, and their desires are difficult to restrain? They should be restricted outright and kept from speaking. If no one wants to listen to them when they speak, and their tone and demeanor, and the look in their eyes, and their gestures are repulsive for everyone to hear and see, then it’s a problem of a serious sort. It reaches the point where everyone is averse. Shouldn’t such people, who play a foil’s role in the church, then exit the stage? It’s time for their role to exit. Doesn’t that mean that they’ve finished rendering their service? What should be done when they’ve rendered the last of their service? They should be cleansed away. As soon as they start speaking, it’s the same old talk of theirs, which restriction can’t put a stop to. Everyone is tired of listening to it. Their hideous face, that face of Satan, of a devil, becomes apparent. What kind of people are these? They are antichrists. If they are cleared out too early, most people will harbor notions and not be convinced at heart, and say, “God’s house lacks love, clearing someone out without even subjecting them to a period of observation, leaving them without any chance to repent. They just said a few words of outsiders, revealed a bit of corrupt disposition, and were a little arrogant, but their intentions weren’t bad. It’s unfair to treat them like this.” However, when a majority can discern and see through to the essence of evil people, is it then appropriate to allow such evil people to continue their reckless wrongdoing, disruptions, and disturbances in the church? (No.) It’s unfair to all the brothers and sisters. In such cases, clearing them out resolves the issue. Once they have rendered the last of their service and a majority is discerning of them, most people won’t have objections when you clear them out then—they won’t complain or misunderstand God. If there are still people who defend them, you can say: “That person committed many evils in the church. They have been characterized as an antichrist and cleared out. Yet you still sympathize with them so much; you still think of the kindness they have shown you, and come to their defense. You’re being too sentimental, and you are entirely lacking in principles. What are the consequences of this? A little help from them, and you cannot forget it; whatever they say, you earnestly obey it, wishing always to repay them. They have now been cleared out. Do you want to accompany them? If you wish to be cleared out as well, then let it be so.” Is this an appropriate way to handle the situation? At this point, it is. If such people consistently speak words and doctrines to mislead others, disturbing people so insufferably that they do not want to come to gatherings anymore, isn’t this because the leaders and workers are numb and dull-witted, lacking discernment and unable to handle these people in a timely manner? This is an inability to do their work, a failure to fulfill their responsibilities.

By now, most people have some degree of discernment toward those antichrists who speak words and doctrines. Unless they keep their heads down, as soon as they rear their heads, performing specifically enough in various ways, and their various manifestations are sufficient for people to identify them as antichrists, then there should be no further delays or hesitation. They should be promptly restricted and isolated. If their service has no value anymore, then they should be cleared out straight away. It is easy to discern such hypocritical antichrists, who speak words and doctrines, because such people are obviously antichrists. It’s just that this type of antichrist always wants to mislead people by using the opportunity of speaking words and doctrines, to achieve their goal of holding power. This is one way in which antichrists manifest, and it’s easy to discern. This topic has already been discussed enough before, so it will not be elaborated on here. In summary, leaders and workers should pay close attention to such people, promptly and accurately understanding and gaining a grasp on their movements, thoughts, and viewpoints, as well as their plans and actions, and the erroneous remarks they spread, and promptly take care of them accordingly. This is a responsibility of leaders and workers. So, at the very least, leaders and workers should be spiritually keen and mentally meticulous in this task, not numb and dull. If an antichrist misleads many people by speaking words and doctrines during gatherings, and church leaders still do not recognize them as an antichrist and cannot expose and handle them promptly, this is a failure to fulfill their responsibilities. If many people have already been misled by antichrists, and they find gatherings meaningless when they can’t hear the antichrists speaking words and doctrines there, and so are unwilling to attend gatherings, or even unwilling to eat and drink God’s words and listen to sermons, preferring to listen to antichrists preach—if church leaders only realize the severity of the situation and start to take action and turn things around when people have been misled and controlled to this extent by antichrists—this would cause significant delays! Many of God’s chosen people’s life entry would suffer due to the numbness and dimness of such false leaders. When antichrists are dissected, discerned, and cleared out, some people may be misled and follow them. Some may even say, “If you clear them out, we won’t believe in God anymore. If you make them leave, we’ll all leave!” At this point, it becomes entirely clear that the church leaders are not doing any actual work whatsoever, which is a severe failure to fulfill their responsibilities.

In church life, the first thing that leaders and workers must do is to grasp the state of various individuals. They must carefully observe and understand what path each individual member of the church has taken and their disposition essence through interaction, and promptly and accurately discover and identify who is walking the path of an antichrist and who possesses the essence of an antichrist. Then, they should focus on these individuals, pay close attention to them, and promptly understand and grasp the viewpoints and statements they spread, and what actions they are currently preparing to carry out. When they want to mislead people and ensnare and control them, leaders and workers should quickly stand up to stop them, rather than wait passively. If you wait until God reveals them, or until the brothers and sisters are misled or the brothers and sisters have understanding and discernment of them before exposing the antichrists, that would already delay matters. Therefore, in guarding against antichrists, leaders and workers should take the initiative to strike first and prepare in advance. The first step is to promote and cultivate those who are relatively upright and can pursue the truth; that is, to properly water and supply those who take a leading role in various items of work, and to cultivate them to be pillars in the church. Only in this way can various items of church work proceed smoothly and unimpeded, and the gospel work can continue to spread. Regardless of what it is, if any work lacks a good leader, then it becomes very difficult to carry out. The main manifestation of antichrists’ defiance against God is to mislead God’s chosen people into following them so as to disrupt and disturb every item of work in God’s house. In a church, the first thing antichrists aim to do is harm those with a sense of justice and those who take a leading role in various items of work. They draw those they can mislead and control over to their side, and frame, entrap, and bring down those they cannot mislead or control, and ultimately clear them out. This paves the way for antichrists to control the church. They bring down the few key individuals who can pursue the truth first; the majority of the rest are those who go whichever way the wind blows. After that, it becomes much easier for them to deal specifically with leaders and workers. Without the cooperation and help of those pursuing the truth, the leaders and workers are essentially fighting alone without assistance. They are in the light, while the antichrists lurk in the darkness, ready to make sneaky attacks, frame, entrap, and slander them at any moment, knocking them down to the ground so that they can’t get up. Then the antichrists find people to kick them while they’re down, leaving them completely disheartened and despairing. Therefore, it is very difficult to thoroughly resolve the issue of antichrists if those who pursue the truth do not join forces against them. In church life, the first thing that leaders and workers must do is to maintain the normal order of the church. With these evil people who walk the path of antichrists present, no good results will come from church life, it will not easily get on the right track, and most people will often be disturbed and influenced. Therefore, discovering, understanding, grasping, and pinpointing evil people, antichrists, and those who walk the path of antichrists is the first and most important task for leaders and workers to undertake in regard to church life. Only by restricting or clearing out these people can the normal order of church life be maintained. If they are not restricted and are allowed to act with willful recklessness and cause disturbances, the various items of church work will come to a standstill. Since most people lack discernment toward them and cannot see through to their essence, and are even disturbed and misled by their various fallacious thoughts and viewpoints, it is difficult for God’s chosen people to get on the right track and enter into the truth reality in church life. If, during this period, church life is very normal, God’s chosen people make gains and progress in eating and drinking God’s words and fellowshipping the truth, and they finally have some life entry and a bit of the truth reality, but then they are misled and disturbed by the antichrists speaking words and doctrines, then not only do they lose that bit of pure comprehension and genuine understanding they just gained, but they also take in a lot of specious heresies and fallacies—they quickly become muddled again, like rowers pushed back by the current the moment they stop rowing, which is very troublesome. It’s not easy for people to realize life growth; it may take years to see a bit of progress, which is exceptionally slow. It’s difficult for people to acquire the bit of stature they do have—it’s not easily gained. Through the misleading and disturbance of the antichrists, the bit of pure comprehension people have is lost. What’s even more serious is that after the disturbance by Satan and antichrists, people are filled with a lot of Satan’s philosophy, Satan’s schemes and ruses, and the poison planted within them by Satan. These things not only fail to allow people to know and submit to God but, on the contrary, cause people to develop notions and misunderstandings about God, and drift away from Him, making people’s corrupt dispositions even more severe, further enabling their betrayal of God. The consequences of this are very serious. Tell Me, facing such serious consequences, is it necessary to stop and restrict those who mislead people with words and doctrines? Isn’t this an important task that church leaders should undertake? (Yes.) Therefore, restricting evil people and disbelievers is an important task for the church. Some people say, “I don’t have discernment. I don’t know how to do it.” In fact, as long as you have the will, observe carefully, and always examine people’s intentions and motives, you will gradually develop discernment. These disbelievers and evil people, as soon as they show themselves, have their own intentions and motives, all aimed at making people look up to and idolize them, and to have people listen to what they say. If you can perceive their intentions and motives, this is already having some discernment. If you’re unsure, you can fellowship about this matter with some people who relatively understand the truth. During the fellowship, for one thing, you can make a determination through the truth understood by everyone and the various pieces of factual evidence grasped. For another, you can—through God’s enlightenment and guidance and the light given by God during fellowship—get confirmation about this matter, confirming whether the person in question is indeed an antichrist and whether they are indeed someone who should be restricted. Through fellowship, if everyone gets confirmation and unanimously agrees, saying that this person is indeed an antichrist who should be restricted—after a consensus with the brothers and sisters is reached and everyone arrives at a shared perspective—the next step for the leaders and workers is to quickly handle and clear out this person according to the truth principles. This is the principle. Once people understand this principle, they ought to do actual work, which means fulfilling their responsibility and being loyal. Understanding principles is not for preaching or for filling your head with, but for applying them to the actual work of your duty. In actual work, understanding principles allows you to better and more thoroughly fulfill your responsibilities and obligations. Thus, this is also part of the work of leaders and workers. To maintain the normal order of church life and allow the brothers and sisters to live church life normally and enter into all the truths required by God, when antichrists who speak words and doctrines appear, leaders and workers should be the first to stand up to stop and restrict them. For those antichrists who speak words and doctrines, it’s not about restricting them just because they said a few wrong things. If long-term observation or the feedback of the majority and their specific manifestations are sufficient to determine that they are indeed of the antichrist type, then leaders and workers should come out to stop and restrict them, and should not allow them to continue to go unchecked. Indulging them is equivalent to letting devils, Satans, filthy demons, and evil spirits run amok in the church, which means such leaders and workers are neglecting their responsibilities, essentially working for Satan. The fellowship on the second type of issue regarding disruptions and disturbances in church life is now concluded.

III. Prattling About Domestic Matters, Building Personal Connections, and Handling Personal Affairs

Next, let’s fellowship on the third issue: prattling about domestic matters, building personal connections, and handling personal affairs. These problems contained within the third issue, which we shall address in our fellowship, obviously should not occur in church life. When living church life, people come to eat and drink God’s words, share God’s words, fellowship the truth, and fellowship their personal experiential testimonies, while also seeking God’s intentions and seeking an understanding of the truth. So, should problems like prattling about domestic matters, building personal connections, and handling personal affairs in church life be stopped and restricted? (Yes.) Some people say, “Is it not okay to greet each other? If two people are relatively close and already acquainted, and they meet during church life and chat for a bit, is that prattling about domestic matters? Should this be restricted too?” Is the third issue referring to these kinds of problems? (No.) Clearly, it is not. If even simple, polite greetings are to be restricted, then people would be afraid to speak when they meet in the future. The third issue—prattling about domestic matters, building personal connections, and handling personal affairs—may consist of only these three terms, but the problems these terms represent are not simple, courteous greetings or chats. They are evil actions that can disrupt, disturb, and damage church life. Since they constitute disruptions and disturbances, they are worth fellowshipping. What should be fellowshipped? Just which problems, which words people speak, which things they do, and which speech, behaviors, and demeanors of people can reach the level of disrupting and disturbing the work of the church. Let’s discuss some specific examples to see whether these problems are serious, whether they constitute disruptions and disturbances, and whether they should be stopped and restricted.

In church life, some people often talk about trivial family matters and their own notions and ideas as if they were main topics for discussion. She says: “Society is so dark now; it’s so tiring to interact with and live among nonbelievers. Nonbelievers are capable of anything; it’s really unbearable!” Then some brothers and sisters say, “We believe in God; no matter what situations we face, we must be able to exercise discernment and seek the truth and paths of practice. If you live like this, you won’t feel exhausted.” Yet she says, “God’s word is the truth but it’s not a panacea. I was worried that my husband was having an affair, and it turned out to be true—he found someone younger and more beautiful than me. How am I supposed to live my days?” Prattling on like this, she begins to cry sadly. Her speaking in this way stirs up the sorrows of some of the others. Some, who share her plight, immediately click with her and start chatting right there. During a two-hour gathering, she thoroughly discusses how she and her husband argued after he had an affair, how she tried to think of ways to transfer their shared property, how she consulted a lawyer so as to avoid suffering losses after the divorce, and so on and so forth. Is this the kind of topic that should be discussed in church life? (No.) If your family affairs are not settled and you are distracted from attending gatherings, it’s better not to come. The church’s gathering location is not a place for you to vent your personal grievances, nor is it for prattling about domestic matters. If you are facing difficulties at home and you do not want to be entangled, constrained, or restricted by these issues, and you want to seek the truth to understand God’s intention, and want to let go of all these, then you can briefly fellowship your problems during the gathering so that the brothers and sisters can fellowship the truth to help you. This can help you understand God’s intention and become strong, not be constrained by these issues, step out of negativity and weakness, and choose the path that is right and most suited for you. This is what you should fellowship about. However, if you bring these irritating trivialities from your home into church life to unload and preach about, and most people, out of embarrassment, don’t stop or interrupt you, but just muster their patience and force themselves to listen to you speak of these irritating trivialities, is this appropriate? Is this showing love? Is this being tolerant and patient? This behavior of yours has already caused disturbances to church life. Who suffers from this? It is God’s chosen people. Especially in the environment of mainland China, where gathering is not easy and believers must hide all over the place, even having to schedule things in advance—if someone unloads all these irritating family matters at the gathering place for everyone to hear and comment on, is this appropriate? Most people come to gatherings to understand the truth and God’s intentions, not to hear these irritating trivialities, not to listen to you prattle about domestic matters. Some people say, “I don’t have anyone else that I’m close to, so what’s wrong with speaking to the brothers and sisters about them?” You may speak about them, but timing is important. Outside of gathering times, as long as the other party is willing to listen, you may talk about them; that is your freedom, and God’s house will not restrict you. However, the place and time you now choose to talk about such matters are not right. This is in church life, during gathering time, and your endless chatter about family matters constantly perturbs the brothers and sisters and should be restricted. Is this not a rule? This is indeed a rule. Not understanding rules is unacceptable, as it can lead to acting without reason and disturbing others. Behaviors, speech, and demeanors that cause disturbances should be restricted; this is the responsibility of leaders and workers, as well as the responsibility of all brothers and sisters. Some people usually have little to fellowship at gatherings, but whenever issues crop up in their family life, they unload these irritating trivialities upon others for them to listen to. Are others obliged to listen? Are they obligated to judge right from wrong for those people? They have no such obligations. Those things are the personal affairs of those people, and they ought to handle them on their own; they shouldn’t talk about their personal affairs during the gathering time. This is against the rules and irrational, and such behavior should be restricted.

Some people’s children go to university, and they start worrying about their children’s prospects, seeking out connections for them, constantly pondering, “There aren’t any government officials in our family; what kind of job can my son find after graduating from university? What about his future? Will he be able to support me in my old age? I need to find a way to ensure he has a good job after graduation.” When attending gatherings, they say, “My son is very obedient. Not only does he support my faith in God, but he also wants to believe after finishing university. However, one thing is, even if we believe in God, we still have to make a living, right? I don’t know what kind of job he will be able to find after graduating. What jobs are well-paid now? Sister So-and-so, I heard your husband is a manager. Does he have any way to help out? My son is educated, he’s seen the world, he has better caliber than I do, and he’s good with computers; he can do duties in God’s house in the future. But now, the matter of finding a job needs to be resolved first; it would be tough for him if he can’t find a job.” Every time they come to the gathering, they bring up these matters, and the talk goes on endlessly. They look to see who might sympathize with them and then seek to build connections with those people. During gatherings, they try to get close to them, cater to their likes, and even give gifts, sometimes bringing delicious food or buying small items for them. Isn’t this building personal connections and laying groundwork? What is the purpose of laying groundwork? It is to use others to handle one’s personal affairs, to achieve one’s own goals. During gatherings, they aren’t willing to listen to the brothers and sisters sharing their experiential testimonies, they ignore whatever work God’s house arranges for them, and they are not willing to listen to the brothers and sisters who try to help and advise them about their state. They are only particularly enthusiastic about their son finding a job, talking endlessly about it. They not only speak to anyone they see but also during gatherings. In short, they are particularly attentive to this matter and put a lot of effort into it. At every gathering, they must take up some time from the brothers and sisters to talk about this matter. Even when fellowshipping their own experiences, they don’t forget to mention it, speaking until everyone is impatient and disgusted, with most people feeling too embarrassed to stop them. At this point, leaders and workers should fulfill their responsibility and restrict them, saying, “Everyone is aware of your situation. If any brothers and sisters are willing to help, that’s your personal relationship. If others are unwilling to help, you should not force them. Helping your son find a job is not the obligation or responsibility of the brothers and sisters; it is your personal matter and should not take up the precious time of the brothers and sisters eating and drinking God’s words and fellowshipping the truth. Do not interfere with others eating and drinking God’s words by fellowshipping about your own personal affairs. After the gathering, you can talk to whomever you want, seek help from whomever you want, but do not use the gathering time to talk about it. Utilizing gathering time for handling personal affairs is devoid of reason and shameful; it is a manifestation of disturbing church life. This matter should stop here.” This is what leaders and workers ought to do.

During gatherings, some elderly ladies find that the young sisters in the host families are good-looking, honest, and genuinely believe in God and pursue the truth, so they take a liking to them and want these young sisters to become their daughters-in-law. They not only bring this up all the time during gatherings but also give little favors and extra care to the young sisters every time they come to the gatherings. Even when the young sisters disagree, they persistently nag and pester them, not letting them go. What kind of people are they? Are they not of low character? Seeing as they’re all sisters in faith, most can only fellowship God’s intentions and His words to resolve these issues. However, some people lack conscience, reason, and self-awareness, have enormous personal desires, and want to bring whatever selfish desires they have to fruition without any sense of shame. Thus, some people become victims and feel uncomfortable during gatherings. Is this not causing disturbances to others? What should be done in such situations? Church leaders must step up to restrict and eliminate these kinds of matters from church life and among the brothers and sisters. Furthermore, some people carry all sorts of moods to the gatherings—their son being unfilial, their daughter-in-law always taking things to her parents’ house, conflicts between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law…. They speak of these irritating trivialities at every gathering, prefacing their complaints with: “Everything God says is true; humankind is so corrupt now! Just look at my son and daughter-in-law, lacking conscience, lacking reason—this is the lack of humanity God speaks of, they’re even worse than animals. Even lambs know to kneel when nursing, but my son forgets his mother once he has a wife!” Every time they attend gatherings, they express these complaints. There are also people who, upon attending gatherings, talk about matters in their companies—who has high performance at work and gets more bonuses; who will be promoted next month, while they have no hope; who dresses best and buys the most branded goods; who has married a wealthy husband…. For those who have believed in God for a longer time and have some foundation, they do not wish to hear such talk and are repelled by it. However, some new believers, who have not yet established a foundation or developed an interest in God’s words, find such topics stimulating, believing they have found a place to chat and build personal connections. During gatherings, they talk back and forth, and gradually, the two people find each other agreeable and form a connection, thus developing a private relationship. The gathering place has become a venue for transactions, a place for people to engage in idle chatter, build personal connections, conduct business dealings, and engage in commercial operations. These issues are what leaders and workers should promptly identify and stop.

Some people attend gatherings with the aim of finding a good job for themselves, some to help their husbands get promoted, some to find good jobs for their children, and some to buy discounted goods. Others come to find a good chief physician for the sick in their family without having to give so many gifts. In short, these disbelievers who do not pursue the truth and have ulterior motives, find the time of church gatherings to be the best time to build personal connections and handle personal affairs. Often, under the guise of fellowshipping God’s words or knowing this wicked world and the essence of this corrupt humankind, they bring up their own difficulties and the matters they wish to discuss, eventually exposing bit by bit their hidden selfish motives and the personal affairs they aim to get done. They expose their own intentions, and make others mistakenly believe they are facing difficulties, suggesting that everyone should show love and help them unconditionally and without expecting anything in return. They fly the banner of believing in God to exploit various loopholes, searching in the gathering places for friends they wish to make and those who can get things done for them. Some, looking to buy a car at an inside price, scope out among the brothers and sisters for anyone working in a car dealership or who has connections with the owner of a car dealership. Once they’ve identified their target, they move in, cozying up to them and building connections. If that individual likes reading God’s words, they often visit their home to read God’s words together, and at gatherings they sit next to them and exchange contact information. Then they start their offensive, determined not to give up until their objective is achieved. All these are issues that frequently emerge within the church and among people. If these issues arise in the places of gatherings and during the time of gatherings, they will, in effect, cause disruptions and disturbances to church life, affecting church life. If there is no church life at a church for a long period of time, then that church becomes a social group, a venue for conducting transactions, a place for building personal connections, seeking favors through backdoors, and handling personal affairs. The nature of this place changes, and what are the consequences of this? At the very least, it leads to the loss of church life, meaning the loss of precious time spent pray-reading God’s words with the brothers and sisters and understanding the truth. Moreover, and most importantly, it leads to the loss of the precious opportunity for the Holy Spirit to work, to enlighten people to understand the truth. This all harms people’s life entry. Therefore, for the benefit and life entry of God’s chosen people, and to be responsible for everyone’s life, it is necessary to stop and restrict such individuals; this is the work that leaders and workers should do. Of course, if ordinary brothers and sisters can see through these people and their actions, they should also stand up to refuse and say “no” to them. Especially while living church life, which is the most important time for people, if someone occupies the time of gatherings to talk about and handle these matters, the brothers and sisters have the right to ignore them, and even more so, the right to stop and refuse such things. Is doing this correct? (Yes.) Some people think that God’s house doing this shows a lack of human warmth. Is human warmth normal humanity? Does human warmth conform to the truth? If you have human warmth and occupy the gathering time for your personal affairs, even making most people accompany and support you, achieving your purpose of handling your personal affairs, and disturbing the normal order of God’s chosen people reading God’s words and fellowshipping the truth, and causing them to lose this precious time, is this fair to them? Does this conform to having human warmth? This is the most inhumane and immoral approach, and people should stand up and denounce it. If the leaders and workers are ineffectual pushovers, useless, and unable to promptly stop and restrict such behaviors, not engaging in actual work, then the brothers and sisters with a sense of justice should unite to prevent such behavior and this atmosphere from spreading in the church. If you do not want to lose the precious time for reading God’s words and fellowshipping the truth, do not want your life entry to be disturbed and suffer losses, ruining your chance of salvation, then you should stand up to refuse, stop, and restrict these occurrences. Doing so is appropriate and aligns with God’s intentions. Some of you are embarrassed to do so; you may be embarrassed, but the wicked are not. They have the gall to occupy your precious gathering time: the time for the Holy Spirit to work and for God to enlighten you. If you find it embarrassing to refuse them, then you deserve the loss to your life! If you are willing to show love to Satans, devils, and disbelievers, offering help to them, sacrificing yourself for others and disregarding principles, whom can you blame for the loss to your life? Therefore, all instances of building personal connections and handling personal affairs must be completely wiped out from church life. If someone persists in their own way, and insists on chatting about their domestic matters, engaging in idle chatter, handling personal affairs, or finding jobs and romantic partners for others during gathering times, in this way finding various excuses to pass this time, how should such a person be handled? First, they should be stopped; if they still do not listen, then isolation and restrictions should be implemented. If they continue to cause disturbances behind the scenes, cozying up to whomever they can and harassing the normal lives of the brothers and sisters everywhere, then they should be cleared out and not considered as brothers or sisters. They are not qualified to live church life and are not worthy of participating in gatherings. Such people should be restricted and rejected. This work, of course, is also an important task that leaders and workers at all levels should do. When such matters and situations arise, the leaders and workers should be the first to stand up and stop them. How should they stop them? They should say to them, “Do you know that this behavior of yours has already caused disruptions and disturbances to church life? This is something that all the brothers and sisters find disgusting and loathe, and it is also condemned by God. You should stop this behavior. If you do not listen to persuasion and persist in going your own way, then your church life will be stopped, your books of God’s words will be taken away, and the church will no longer acknowledge you!” Of course, there are some people who, due to their small stature and lack of understanding of the truth, might occasionally chat about domestic matters, forge a connection with someone, or handle some minor matter, and the situation is not too serious. Is this okay? (Yes.) Under circumstances that do not cause any disturbance to everyone, it is acceptable for brothers and sisters to help each other out and show a little love to one another. But what is it we are fellowshipping about? It is when such behaviors and actions have already caused disruptions and disturbances to normal church life; in such cases, those involved should be stopped and restricted. We should not indulge them to continue disrupting and disturbing church life. Taking these actions is beneficial to the life entry of the brothers and sisters. Some people exhibit similar behaviors, but the situation is not severe and does not constitute disruptions and disturbances; it is merely normal interactions among the brothers and sisters, helping each other and consulting for information normally, or inquiring about common knowledge that one does not understand. As long as it does not occupy the time of gatherings and as long as both parties consent and are willing without imposing on each other, and it is interaction that falls within the scope of normal humanity, then it is permissible and the church will not restrict it. There’s just one thing, though: If someone’s imprudent speech and actions in church life cause harassment or disturbance to the brothers and sisters, and some people have felt disgusted by this and expressed their objections, then the leaders and workers should step forward to resolve this issue. Or, if others have already reported someone, stating that this person does not fellowship God’s words during gathering times but instead chats about their domestic matters and builds personal connections, treating the gathering place as a venue for building personal connections and handling personal affairs, asking favors from others and exploiting whomever they can; and stating that this person is of low character, selfish, despicable, and vile, and does not pursue the truth but seeks advantages everywhere, looking for various opportunities for their own benefit, then such a person should be isolated.

Some individuals exploit some of the wealthy and influential brothers and sisters to get things done for them, and if their requests are not met, they often judge them behind their backs, claiming these people lack love and are not true believers, and even wanting to report them. Have you encountered such individuals? Shouldn’t such people be addressed? When faced with such situations, what should be done? Leaders and workers should step in to resolve the issue, acting according to principles, to ensure the brothers and sisters are not disturbed. Is it wrong for someone to refuse to do something for them? Is refusing to help them tantamount to not practicing the truth or not having love for God? (No.) Whether to help someone is their own freedom; they have the right to choose. God’s house does not stipulate that brothers and sisters must help each other solve family difficulties within church life. Church life is not a place for solving family problems, but a gathering place for eating and drinking the words of God and growing in life. Some people use church life to solve their own problems—what consequences can this bring? Doesn’t it impact God’s chosen people’s eating and drinking of God’s word and equipping themselves with the truth? One’s personal life problems can be resolved privately with the brothers and sisters; there is no need to bring them into church life for resolution. Everyone should know what consequences arise when the handling of personal affairs interferes with God’s chosen people living church life. Once leaders and workers discover such matters, they should step in to resolve them. They should protect those in the church who can do their duties normally, protect those who truly pursue the truth, restrict evil people, and prevent them from achieving their aims. This is the responsibility of leaders and workers. Clear distinctions should be made regarding how normal cases of the third issue are treated, what manifestations are of a severe nature or circumstance, and which types and manifestations constitute disruptions and disturbances. Once the severity of a circumstance is clearly distinguished, it should be handled according to its nature. This is something that leaders and workers need to understand, and it is also something that everyone should grasp.

IV. Forming Cliques

The fourth manifestation of disrupting and disturbing church life is forming cliques, which is of a very serious nature. What behaviors constitute forming cliques? If two people who believe in God have been believers for a similar length of time, have similar ages, family situations, interests, personalities, and so on, and they get along well together, often sitting together during gatherings, and are intimately acquainted with one another, does this count as forming cliques? (No.) This is a common phenomenon of normal interpersonal interaction, which does not constitute any disturbance to others; therefore, it is not considered forming cliques. So, what does forming cliques, as mentioned here, refer to? For example, among five brothers and sisters gathering together, three are urban workers and two are rural farmers. The three urban workers often stick together, speaking of how life is better in the city and worse in the countryside, where people lack education, broad horizons, and manners. They look down upon rural people, always talking down to the two rural individuals, who then feel aggrieved and want to oppose them, saying that city people are petty and calculate every detail, whereas rural people are generous. During gatherings, they never seem to agree, often leading to unnecessary disputes and debates. Do these five get along harmoniously? Are they united in God’s word? Are they compatible with each other? (No.) When city people always say “we city folks” and rural people always say “we country folks,” what are they doing? (Forming cliques.) This is the fourth issue we are going to fellowship about: forming cliques. This cliquish behavior means forming groups and factions. Forming various gangs, factions, and other in-groups based on region, economic conditions, and social class, as well as differing viewpoints, constitutes forming cliques. Regardless of who leads these cliques, within the church, the formation of different gangs and factions, and the formation of incompatible gangs, are all phenomena of forming cliques. In some places, an entire extended family believes in God, and at a gathering location, aside from two people with different surnames, the rest belong to their own family. This family then forms a faction or gang, making the two people with different surnames outsiders. Regardless of who in this family faces any issue or is pruned, if one person expresses grievances, the rest join in to echo the sentiment. If anyone acts against principles, the others cover for them and conceal their actions, forbidding anyone from exposing them; not even the slightest mention of this issue is acceptable, let alone pruning. What is the problem here? Can you discern it? When these family members gather, it’s like they are all singing the same tune and in sync, seeing which way the wind blows and listening for cues before they speak. If their ringleader takes a particular stance, everyone else follows suit, and others dare not provoke them or voice objections. Does the occurrence of this phenomenon in church life not constitute disruptions and disturbances to the normal order of the church? The people of this gang dictate which passages of God’s words are to be eaten and drunk during gatherings, and everyone must listen; even the church leaders must give them face and cannot object. They declare who should be elected as leaders and workers, and the church leaders must consider their opinion the most important and not take it lightly. At the same time, they continuously recruit “talents,” pulling those who will listen to them, those whom they can trust, and those who are of use to them into their group to use for the group’s purposes, continually expanding their influence. This clique aims to control church life; their ringleader wants to control the church. This group has significant power; they band together to act within the church. Whatever happens in the church, they want to be involved. Others must read their expressions before speaking or managing anything, even to the extent that the content of each gathering for eating and drinking must adhere to their arrangements and wishes. Even if the church leaders want to do something, they must first consult their opinions and listen to their ideas. Most of the brothers and sisters are controlled by them, and many matters of the church’s work are also under their control. These people who form cliques seriously disrupt and disturb church life and the work of the church. Is this issue serious? Should these actions be restricted? Should they be addressed? The ringleaders of these cliques should be restricted and cleared out or expelled, while those muddled individuals who blindly follow along should first be given fellowship and help. If they do not repent or reverse course, then they must be restricted. Do not show them any courtesy!

What constitutes forming cliques—is this easy to understand? If one person raises an issue and several others echo their opinion, does that count as forming cliques? (No.) If some brothers and sisters, who have a relatively greater burden and sense of justice, call on others to join them in completing an important task, or if, for the purpose of achieving results in a gathering and being able to understand the truth and God’s intentions on a significant topic, they lead everyone in fellowship, and everyone follows their line of thought in fellowshipping and pray-reading God’s words, does this count as forming cliques? (No.) In the church, which people are prone to forming cliques? What kind of behavior constitutes forming cliques? (Several people covering for and indulging each other, or engaging in jealousy and strife, which all disrupts and disturbs the work of the church—this is forming cliques.) This is one aspect. What is the key point here? Mutual covering and indulgence lead to disruptions and disturbances; knowing that doing something is wrong and does not conform to the truth principles, yet still deliberately concealing it, making sophistical arguments, and not telling the truth, preferring to damage the work of the church and the interests of God’s house just to protect someone’s face and status, and covering for those who do evil and cause disruptions and disturbances at the cost of betraying the interests of God’s house—this is forming cliques. Another scenario involves instigating and enticing people to collectively oppose the arrangements of God’s house. This is serious in nature, it is also a form of disrupting and disturbing God’s work and the normal order of the church. What is the main purpose of forming cliques? It is to control the church and to control God’s chosen people.

There is also a kind of clique formation that involves smooth-talking people in order to win over various types of individuals. On the surface, it seems that everyone in these sorts of gangs can speak freely and express their own opinions. However, by looking at the ultimate results, you can see that they are actually following the lead of what one person says—that person is their weathervane. So, how does that person draw others over to their side? They see who they can draw over and who is easy to draw over, and they do them small favors, offering a bit of loving assistance to them. Then they fish for information on them, figuring out what they like, how they like to speak, their personalities, and their hobbies. At the same time, they often agree with them in conversation to win over their hearts, and in the end, they gradually “move” them bit by bit, making them unknowingly enter into their clique and join their ranks. Generally speaking, smooth-talking people in order to win them over is a very gentle method, it’s full of “human warmth,” and it is very effective. For instance, if someone regularly shows another person love, agrees with them in conversation, and shows understanding and tolerance toward them, that person will unconsciously develop a favorable impression of them and draw closer to them, and then will get incorporated into their forces. In what situations do such gangs and factions take effect? As soon as one of their die-hard followers gets exposed, feels wronged, or has their interests, status, or reputation perturbed or damaged by something or someone outside of their faction, this kind of person will stand up to speak for them, fighting for their interests and rights—this is them forming a clique. The two obvious kinds of clique formation are covering for people and indulging them, and collective opposition. However, forming cliques through smooth-talking doesn’t seem as forceful as the two kinds just mentioned, and members of such cliques usually go unspotted within the church. But when it’s time for people to make a choice, to have a clear stance, such factions become distinctly apparent. For example, if the ringleader of a faction says that a certain church leader has caliber, their followers will immediately give a bunch of examples of how that leader exhibits this caliber. If the faction’s ringleader says that the church leader lacks work capability, has poor caliber, and has bad humanity, the other members will follow suit, speaking about how that church leader is incompetent, how they aren’t able to fellowship the truth, how they speak words and doctrines, and they will say that everyone should choose the right person instead. This is a type of invisible clique. Although they do not publicly come forward to seize power and control people in the church, there is an invisible force within such factions and gangs that controls the church life and the order of the church. This is a more terrifying, hidden form of clique formation. Besides the two easily discernible situations of clique formation that were previously mentioned, which are problems that church leaders should resolve, this hidden kind of clique formation is a problem that church leaders should even more so resolve and take care of. How should they go about this? They must directly address the ringleader of this sort of gang through fellowship. Why focus on fellowshipping with this ringleader first? On the surface, it seems that the members of such a clique are not controlled by anyone, but in actuality, they all know deep down who it is they obey, and wish to obey that person. Therefore, the one they idolize and who controls them should be handled and addressed, and the truth should be fellowshipped to them so they understand the nature of their actions. Although the ringleader may not have openly opposed God’s house or clamored against the leaders, they control these people’s right to speak, their thoughts, viewpoints, and the path they follow. They are a hidden antichrist. Such individuals must be identified, then discerned and dissected. If they do not repent, they should be restricted and isolated. Then, an investigation into each of their members should be conducted to see who among them is of the same kind. First, separate out these individuals, and then fellowship with the muddled ones who are timid, cowardly, and have been misled. If they can repent and give up following the antichrist, they may stay in the church; if not, they should be isolated. Is this an appropriate approach? (Yes.) Does this phenomenon exist within the church? Should this kind of issue be resolved? (It should be resolved.) Why should it be resolved? Since God’s house began to spread the gospel, the forces of antichrists have been ubiquitous within the church life, and many of God’s chosen people have been affected, constrained, or controlled by these forces to varying degrees. Whenever these people speak or act, they aren’t in a state of freedom and liberation, but rather are swayed, influenced, controlled, and imprisoned by the thoughts and viewpoints of some individuals. These people feel compelled to speak and act in certain ways; if they do not, they worry and are afraid of bearing the consequences that arise. Has this not affected and disturbed the church life? Is this a manifestation of normal church life? (No.) This kind of church life is not of normal order but is controlled by evil people. As long as evil people hold power in the church, it is not God’s word or the truth that reigns there. Leaders, workers, and brothers and sisters who understand the truth will be oppressed. Such a church is one that is controlled by the forces of antichrists. This is also an issue and phenomenon of God’s work and the normal order of the church being disrupted and disturbed, which leaders and workers should address and resolve. Some people who are in the gang of an antichrist fear losing the trust of their gang, losing their backers, losing friends, having no support in times of need, and so on. Therefore, they try their utmost to remain in the gang. Isn’t this situation serious? Shouldn’t it be resolved? (Yes.) When this kind of situation arises within the church, do most people sense it? Do most people discern it? Some people are controlled by someone without realizing it, they always have to follow that person’s thoughts and viewpoints, their statements and actions, their teachings, and they are afraid to say “no,” afraid to go against that person, and even have to insincerely nod in agreement and smile when that person speaks, for fear of offending them. Do situations like this exist? What is the problem that should be resolved here? Church leaders should address and handle that antichrist ringleader who is capable of misleading and controlling others. Firstly, they should fellowship the truth to enable the majority of people to discern this antichrist, then restrict the antichrist themselves. If the antichrist does not repent, they should be promptly cleared out to prevent them from continuing to disturb the normal order of the church.

In summary, in normal church life, the brothers and sisters should be able to freely and unrestrainedly fellowship on God’s words, as well as on their personal insights, understandings, experiences, and difficulties. Of course, they should also have the right to make suggestions about, criticize, and expose any actions of leaders and workers that violate the principles, while also having the right to provide help and advice. This should all be free, and all these aspects should be normal; they should not be controlled by any individual, leading God’s chosen people to be constrained—that would not be normal church life. God’s house has requirements, rules, and principles for how the brothers and sisters should speak, act, and comport themselves and how they should establish normal interpersonal relationships in church life, and so on, and these things are not determined by any individual. When the brothers and sisters do something, they do not have to check the expression of any individual, they need not follow any individual’s commands or be constrained by any person. No one should serve as a weathervane or helmsman; the only thing that can provide direction is God’s word, the truth. Therefore, what God’s chosen people must adhere to is God’s word, the truth, and the principles of fellowshipping the truth at gatherings. If you are always constrained by another person, always taking your cues from them, and no longer dare to keep speaking when you see their displeased look or frowning face, if you are always restricted by that person while fellowshipping on God’s words and on your personal experiential understandings, always feeling constrained, unable to act according to the truth principles, and if that person’s words, looks, facial expressions, tone of voice, and the implied threats in their speech constantly bind you, then you are being controlled within a clique led by this person. This is troublesome; this is not church life, but the life of a faction ruled by an antichrist. When it comes to this kind of issue, leaders and workers should come forward to resolve it, and the brothers and sisters also have the obligation and right to defend the normal order of the church. Those who disrupt and disturb the church life, especially those who form cliques and want to control the church, should be stopped, exposed, and dissected, enabling everyone to gain discernment and see through to the essence of the problem, which is that of attempting to establish an independent kingdom. The church does not permit clique formation and the dividing up of the church for any reason. For example, dividing into gangs based on social identity and status, neighborhoods, regions, or religious denomination, or dividing into gangs based on level of education, wealth, race and skin color, and so on—this all goes against the truth principles and should not occur in the church. No matter what pretext is used for dividing people into these hierarchies, ranks, factions, and cliques, it will disrupt and disturb the work of the church and the normal order of church life, and it is an issue that leaders and workers should resolve promptly. In short, regardless of the reasons for people dividing into cliques, factions, or gangs, if they have amassed a certain force, and they constitute a disturbance to the work of the church and the order of church life, they should be stopped and restricted. If the members of such cliques cannot be dissuaded, these evildoers can be isolated and cleared out. Handling these issues is also part of the work and responsibilities that leaders and workers should perform. So, what needs to be understood here? It is that when some people have formed forces in the church, and are capable of contending with and opposing the church leaders, the church’s work, and God’s words, and are capable of disturbing and damaging the normal order of church life, such behaviors, manifestations, and situations should be restricted and handled promptly. No distinctions are made based on the number of people involved when it comes to clique formation. If two people get along well and do not cause any disturbances to the church, there is no need to interfere. However, once they start causing disturbances and form a force in order to control the church, these individuals should be stopped and restricted. If they do not repent, they should be promptly cleared out or expelled. This is the principle.

May 22, 2021