How long have we been fellowshipping about the responsibilities of leaders and workers for? (Four and a half months.) After fellowshipping on this for such a long period of time, do you now have a somewhat clearer understanding of the specific work that leaders and workers should do? (Yes, our understanding of this is somewhat clearer.) It should be clearer than before. My fellowship is so specific and clear that if someone still doesn’t understand, it would mean that they’re intellectually challenged, right? (Yes.) Looking at this now, do you think it is easy to be a good leader or worker? (It is not easy.) What qualities are needed? (One needs to possess the caliber and humanity necessary for leaders and workers, as well as the truth reality, and a sense of responsibility.) At the very least, one must have conscience, reason, and loyalty, and, following that, caliber and work capability. When a person possesses all these qualities, they can be a good leader or worker and fulfill their responsibilities.

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 Two)

At the last gathering, we fellowshipped on the twelfth item of the responsibilities 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.” Within this item, we primarily fellowshipped first about what people, events, and things disrupt and disturb the work of God and the normal order of the church. If leaders and workers wish to stop and restrict the various people, events, and things that cause disruptions and disturbances within the church, and want to perform this work well, they must first know and figure out which people, events, and things disrupt and disturb the work of God and the church’s normal order. After that, they must match these up with people, events, and things in the actual church work and church life, and then carry out various tasks such as stopping and restricting them. This is a requirement for leaders and workers. At our last gathering, we fellowshipped about some of the various people, events, and things that disrupt and disturb the work of the church and church life, starting with those that relate to the church life. We also categorized the people, events, and things in church life that have a nature of causing disruptions and disturbances to them. How many issues were there in total? (Eleven. 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.) The sixth issue is sowing dissension, which has a nature of causing disruptions and disturbances to it, but compared to the other evil deeds, it is a minor problem. Change it to “engaging in improper relationships,” and the nature of this is more serious than that of sowing dissension. The seventh issue is attacking and tormenting people. Change that to “engaging in mutual attacks and verbal spats”—isn’t this more serious in nature, and more specific and fitting? (Yes.) Mutual attacks and verbal spats are a commonly occurring kind of problem in church life that relates to disruptions and disturbances. Modifying these two issues like this makes them more fitting and closer to the problems that arise within church life. The eleventh issue is violating election principles. Change that to “manipulating and sabotaging elections.” This is merely a change in terms of wording; the nature of this remains the same, it is just that the degree is intensified—it now relates more to the nature of causing disruptions and disturbances.

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

V. Vying for Status

Last time, we fellowshipped up to the fourth issue, forming cliques. This time, we will move on to fellowshipping about the fifth issue, vying for status. The matter of vying for status is a problem which arises often in church life and it is something that is not uncommon to see. What states, behaviors, and manifestations belong to the practice of vying for status? What manifestations of vying for status belong to the problem of the disruption and disturbance of God’s work and the normal order of the church? No matter which issue or category we fellowship on, it must pertain to what is said in item twelve, about “the various people, events, and things that disrupt and disturb God’s work and the normal order of the church.” It must reach the level of disruption and disturbance, and it must pertain to this nature—only then is it worth fellowship and dissection. What manifestations of vying for status are associated with this nature of disrupting and disturbing the work of the house of God? Most common is people vying with church leaders for status, which is chiefly manifested in them seizing on certain things about leaders and their errors in order to denigrate and condemn them, and purposefully exposing their revelations of corruption and the failings and shortcomings in their humanity and caliber, particularly when it comes to deviations and mistakes they have made in their work or when handling people. This is the most commonly seen and most blatant manifestation of vying with church leaders for status. In addition, these people do not care about how well church leaders do their work, whether or not they act according to the principles, or whether or not there are issues with their humanity, and are simply defiant toward these leaders. Why are they defiant? Because they also want to be a church leader—this is their ambition, their desire, and so they are defiant. No matter how church leaders work or handle problems, these people always seize on things about them, judge and condemn them, and even go so far as to blow things out of proportion, distort facts, and exaggerate things to the greatest extent possible. They do not use the standards that the house of God requires of leaders and workers to measure whether these leaders act according to the principles, whether they are right people, whether they are people who pursue the truth, and whether they have conscience and reason. They do not evaluate leaders according to these principles. Instead, based on their own intentions and aims, they constantly nitpick and invent complaints, finding things to hold against leaders or workers, spreading rumors behind their backs about them doing things that aren’t in line with the truth, or exposing their shortcomings. They might say, for example, that: “Leader So-and-so once made a mistake and was pruned by the Above, and none of you knew about it. See, they’re so good at putting on an act!” They do not consider and care about whether this leader or worker is a target for cultivation by God’s house, or whether they are an up-to-standard leader or worker, they just keep on judging them, twisting the facts, and making petty moves against them behind their back. And to what end do they do these things? It is to vie for status, is it not? There is an aim to everything they say and do. They are not considering the church’s work, and their evaluation of leaders and workers is not based on the words of God or the truth, much less the work arrangements of God’s house or the principles that God requires of man, but on their own intentions and aims. They counter everything leaders or workers say, and then offer their own “insights.” Regardless of how much of what leaders and workers say is in line with the truth, they do not accept it in the slightest. They rebuff whatever the leaders and workers say, and put forth their own differing opinions. In particular, when a leader or worker opens up and lays themselves bare, talking about their self-knowledge, they feel even more pleased, and think they have found their chance. What chance? The chance to denigrate this leader or worker, to let everyone know that this leader or worker has poor caliber, that they can be weak, that they are also a corrupt human, that they also often make mistakes in the things they do, and that they are no better than anyone else. This is their chance to find something to hold against that leader or worker, their opportunity to incite everyone to condemn, overthrow, and bring down that leader or worker. And the motivation for all of these behaviors and actions is none other than vying for status. If the principles of elections and the principles of cultivating and using people in God’s house are followed, under normal circumstances, such individuals will never be elected as leaders or workers. This is something they have seen through and understood clearly, so they resort to any means to attack and condemn the leaders and workers. No matter who becomes a leader or a worker, they are simply defiant toward them, and always nitpick and make irresponsible, critical comments about them. Even if there’s nothing wrong with the actions or words of these leaders and workers, they always manage to find some fault with them—in fact, the problems they pick out are not ones of principle but are purely trivial issues. So, why do they dwell on these trivial issues? Why are they able to judge and condemn leaders and workers so openly over such things? They have only one goal, and that is to vie for power and status. No matter how God’s house fellowships about the various manifestations of false leaders and antichrists, they never link these manifestations to themselves but exclusively connect them to leaders and workers at all levels. Once they find a match, they think, “Now I have evidence; I’ve finally found something to use as leverage against them and gotten a good opportunity.” Then they become even more unrestrained in exposing, judging, making critical assessments, and condemning everything that these leaders and workers do. Some of the issues they raise might seem a bit problematic on the surface, but when measured against the principles, they are not significant. So why do they bring them up? It’s not for any other reason but to expose the leaders and workers, with the aim of condemning and defeating them. If the leaders and workers are beaten into negativity, beg for mercy, and bow down to them, if the brothers and sisters see that these leaders are always negative and weak, and that they often make mistakes when they act, and no longer elect them as leaders, if the brothers and sisters no longer listen as attentively when these leaders fellowship the truth, and if people no longer cooperate as actively and earnestly when these leaders are implementing work, then those vying for status will be pleased, and they will have an opportunity to take advantage of. This is the scenario they most wish to see and what they hope will happen most. What is their goal in doing all this? It’s not to help people understand the truth and discern false leaders and antichrists, nor to lead people before God. Instead, their aim is to defeat and bring down the leaders and workers so that everyone sees them as the most suitable candidate for serving as a leader. At this point, their goal will have been achieved, and they will just have to wait for the brothers and sisters to nominate them as a leader. Are there such people in the church? What are their dispositions like? These individuals are vicious in disposition, they do not love the truth at all, and they do not practice it either; they only desire to hold power. What about those who understand some of the truth and possess some discernment—would they be willing to let such people hold power? Would they be willing to fall under their power? (No.) Why not? If most people could clearly see the nature essence of such individuals, would they still elect them as leaders? (No.) They would not, unless everyone has just met and isn’t very familiar with each other. But once they become familiar and see clearly which individuals have poor caliber and are muddled, which are evil people with vicious and deceitful dispositions, which are eager to vie for status and walk the path of antichrists, which can pursue the truth and do their duties loyally, and so on, once they grasp the nature essence and categories of various people, then the election of leaders will be relatively accurate and in accordance with the principles.

Would most people prefer to elect as a leader someone who is always vying for status, or would they choose someone whose caliber and work capability are relatively average, but who is diligent and steadfast? When it’s not clear what character of these two individuals is like, what their nature essence is, or what path they are on, which one would most people prefer to elect as a leader? (The second, the one who is steadfast.) Most people would choose the second. The manifestations of those who are always vying for status are proof of their humanity and essence. Can’t most people see through and discern their manifestations? People will say, “This person always gives the church leader a hard time; his ambitions are set on attaining the status of a church leader, he wants to replace her as leader. Ever since that person was elected as a church leader, he has always targeted her and found her displeasing. He always talks back to her, and finds fault with whatever she does, seizing on anything he can, and he also passes judgment on her and exposes her shortcomings behind her back. Especially during gatherings or when fellowshipping about work, if she doesn’t express herself clearly for a moment, he interrupts, showing a great deal of impatience. He even scorns her, mocking, deriding, and laughing at her; he makes things difficult for her at every turn and traps her in embarrassing situations.” With these behaviors exposed to everyone, won’t most people be able to discern this individual? (Yes.) Then, is this conducive to his seizing the position of leader? Definitely not. Are these people who vie for status clever or foolish? Clearly, they are idiots, fools. There’s another serious issue: These individuals are devils, and their nature is unchangeable! Their desire for power and status is uncontrollable, even to the point where they lose their senses, which is not something that normal humanity possesses. This desire exceeds the bounds of the rationality and conscience of normal humanity, reaching a level of unscrupulousness. These people will act this way regardless of time, place, or context, without considering the consequences, let alone the impact of their actions. These are the most typical manifestations and approaches of those who vie for status. Whenever there’s a gathering or fellowship about work, as soon as everyone comes together, these individuals cause disturbances like annoying flies, spoiling church life and the normal order of fellowshipping the truth. Such behaviors and approaches have a nature of causing disruptions and disturbances to them. Shouldn’t such individuals be restricted? In severe cases, shouldn’t they be cleared out or expelled? (Yes.) Sometimes, relying solely on the strength of the church’s leaders to restrict evil people can be a somewhat feeble, isolated effort—if, after clearly seeing the severity of the disruptions and disturbances caused by evil people and thoroughly discerning their essence, the brothers and sisters can unite with the church’s leaders in stopping and restricting such evil individuals, won’t this be more effective? (Yes.) If someone says, “Restricting evil people is the responsibility of leaders and workers, it has nothing to do with us ordinary believers. We won’t bother with it! Evil people vie for status with the church leaders; they vie for status with those who have it. We don’t have status; they aren’t trying to take anything away from us. In any case, it doesn’t affect us. Let them vie as they wish. If the church leaders have the ability, they should restrict them; if not, they should leave them be. What does this have to do with us?” Is this viewpoint good? (No.) Why is it not good? (They don’t uphold the normal order of the church.) To put it in more apt terms, what does the normal order of the church refer to? Isn’t it referring to normal church life? (Yes.) This involves normal and orderly church life—it involves the orderly eating and drinking of God’s words, which means that people can pray-read and fellowship God’s word, and share personal experiences, in a church life where the Holy Spirit works, God is present, and God guides, and at the same time, also receive enlightenment and guidance from the Holy Spirit and gain light. This is what God’s chosen people should enjoy in church life. If some people destroy this normal order, then they should be stopped and restricted according to the principles, and should not be tolerated. This is not only the responsibility and obligation of leaders and workers but also the responsibility and obligation of all who understand the truth and possess discernment. Of course, it would be best if the church’s leaders could spearhead this work, fellowshipping with the brothers and sisters about the nature of these individuals’ actions, what type of people these individuals are based on their manifestations, and how the brothers and sisters should discern and see through to such individuals. If these evil people are not restricted and the brothers and sisters are all disturbed, misled, and beguiled by them, and the church’s leaders end up getting isolated instead of those evil people, then this church will become paralyzed and inevitably descend into chaos. Can normal church life continue under such circumstances? If it cannot continue, will the church’s gatherings still be fruitful? Will God’s chosen people still gain something from such gatherings? If God’s chosen people gain nothing from them, then are such gatherings blessed by God or detested by Him? Of course, they are detested by God. Gatherings without the Holy Spirit’s work and without God’s blessing can no longer be considered church life but rather become the meetings of a social group. Does anyone like a disorderly church life? Is it edifying or beneficial for anyone? (No.) If, during this period, you have not gained anything in terms of your life entry from any gathering, then this time has been of no value or meaning to you; you have squandered this time. Doesn’t this mean that your life entry has suffered a loss? (Yes.) If, during a gathering, there are evil people vying for status, and disputing and arguing with a church leader, and people consequently end up feeling anxious, with the whole gathering becoming suffused with a foul atmosphere, and filled with Satan’s wicked energy, and if, besides debating topics such as who is right and who is wrong, no one comes before God to pray and seek the truth, and no one acts according to the principles, then after this kind of gathering, will your faith in God have increased or diminished? Will you have understood and gained more when it comes to the truth, or will your mind have been upset by the disputes, without you having gained anything at all? Sometimes you might think, “I don’t understand why people believe in God. What is the point of believing in God? How can these people behave this way? Are they still believers in God?” Because of a single disturbance by Satans and devils, people’s hearts become upset and muddied; they feel that believing in God is pointless, and do not know the value of believing in God, and their minds become scattered. If everyone can be vigilant, and particularly sensitive and sharp regarding such matters, rather than being numb and slow, then when evil people frequently say or do things in church life for the sake of vying for status, most people will quickly realize there’s a problem that needs to be resolved. They will be able to swiftly discern who is manipulating these situations, and what their disposition essence is, they will quickly realize the seriousness of the issue, and be able to stop and restrict the evil ones in a short period of time, cleansing them away from the church, and preventing them from continuing to disturb and constrain people within the church. Would this not be beneficial and edifying for most people? (Yes.)

If you encounter situations where evil people are vying for status, how will you handle them? What’s the majority view? (We’ll stop this behavior.) Just stop it? How will you stop it? Will you forbid them from speaking, or say, “We don’t like what you say, so speak less in future gatherings!” Will that work? Will they listen to you? (No.) So, what should you do? You need to thoroughly expose and dissect their intentions, motivations, and nature essence according to God’s word, so that the brothers and sisters can discern and be alert to such people and the nature of their actions, rather than being a people pleaser, and just waiting for the church’s leaders and workers to expose the evil people before you take a stance and say, “They should no longer be allowed at gatherings.” Is it good to be a people pleaser? (No, it’s not.) When faced with such situations, don’t the majority of people prefer to dodge and steer clear of these matters, rather than clash with those evil people, so that they can avoid offending them and making it awkward to interact with them later on? Don’t most people adhere to the principle for worldly dealings of being a people pleaser? (Yes.) Then that’s a problem. Suppose eighty percent of people in a church are people pleasers, and when they see such evil individuals vie for status, superiority, and positions as leaders in church life, no one stands up to stop or restrict them, with the majority holding the following view: “The less trouble, the better. I can’t afford to provoke them, so can’t I just avoid them? I’ll just steer clear of them and that will be the end of it. Let them vie; when the time comes, God will punish them. What does it have to do with me!” Under these circumstances, can church life still be fruitful? Most people are lazy and dependent; once the church’s leaders are elected, they consider their work done, and they just wait for the church’s leaders to do everything. If you ask them whether books of God’s words have been distributed in their church, whether there have been any disruptions or disturbances to church life, or whether anyone always spouts words and doctrines or vies with leaders for status, they say, “The church’s leaders know all about these things. I don’t know about them and don’t need to bother with them. The leaders will take care of them when the time comes.” They don’t concern themselves with or inquire about anything, they are not informed about anything, and they neither know nor care about any of the people, events, or things that are involved in church life, which they should know about. When it comes to what these evil people who appear in the church say and do when they are vying for status, as well as the disturbances and impacts they cause to church life, they are utterly indifferent to this, and they do not inquire into or ask about these things. After it’s all over, if you ask them if they have gained any discernment, if they can discern evil people and what the manifestations of evil people are, they cannot say anything besides, “Ask the church’s leaders; they know everything.” Is such a person not a slave? They are a slave, they are cowardly and useless, and living out a vile existence. Situations where evil people are vying for status require discernment, handling, and resolution. This is not solely the responsibility of the church leaders; God’s chosen people all share this responsibility. Most leaders understand a few more truths than the average person, are alert to these issues, and can see the aims and essence of these people’s actions. At the same time, most people should also practically learn lessons and grow in discernment, and unite in accord with those in the church who have a sense of justice, and understand and pursue the truth, to take appropriate actions against these evil individuals who disturb and disrupt church life. They should isolate or clear them out, rather than standing idly by, and merely listening to a bit of fellowship, broadening their horizons a little, and having some awareness of the matter in their hearts when facing these issues, and then considering their work done. This is because church life is not something that only concerns the church leaders, and living a good church life and maintaining the normal order of church life is not just the responsibility of the church leaders—it requires the collective effort of everyone standing up to maintain it.

People who vie for status—the type mentioned in the fifth issue—often appear within church life. Their most obvious manifestation is their vying for status with church leaders, followed by vying for status with those who possess good caliber and comprehend the truth with relative purity, those who have spiritual understanding, and those who understand the truth principles among the brothers and sisters, often challenging these individuals. These people frequently fellowship some pure understandings and light in church life, sharing some personal experiences that are valuable and convey practical understanding; this greatly helps and edifies the brothers and sisters. After hearing their fellowship, the brothers and sisters have a path, knowing how to practice and experience God’s word and how to solve their own problems. They feel very grateful for God’s guidance, and at the same time, they admire and esteem those who have a pure comprehension of the truth and practical experiences. Thus, they tend to regard these individuals highly and draw closer to them. The emergence of these positive things that please God in church life is what those who vie for status least want to see. Whenever they see someone fellowshipping practical experiences, they feel uneasy and jealous, becoming especially awkward. In their awkwardness, they display a demeanor of defiance, disdain, and dissatisfaction, often calculating in their hearts how to make those who have practical experiences and understand the truth look foolish, as well as how to make the brothers and sisters see their flaws and shortcomings, no longer holding them in high regard or drawing close to them. Therefore, those who vie for status are bound to say some things and carry out some actions. They attack and exclude those who share experiential testimonies and those whose frequent fellowship of the truth provides for and aids the life entry of the brothers and sisters. They often seize leverage over the positive characters and expose their shortcomings, with the aim of distancing God’s chosen people from all who often fellowship the truth and share experiential testimonies. In summary, those who vie for status are negative characters who infiltrate the church and play the role of Satan’s lackeys.

A sister, who had committed errors in her intimate relations before believing in God, repented after becoming a believer and never made such mistakes again. She felt particularly remorseful about her past transgressions and thus opened up and fellowshipped with the brothers and sisters. What is the purpose and principle of opening up and fellowshipping? It is to foster mutual understanding and eliminate internal barriers between the brothers and sisters. Most brothers and sisters, after understanding the truth, can open up and fellowship their own revelations of corruption and past transgressions, while also expressing gratitude and praise for God’s salvation. Is such opening up and fellowshipping appropriate? (Yes.) After understanding the truth, most brothers and sisters are able to open up and fellowship in this way; does this constitute a problem? (No.) It is very normal for people to have committed some mistakes in terms of their intimate relations or in other respects before coming to believe in God. Some people can speak about these mistakes, while some conceal and disguise themselves, and no matter how others practice opening up and laying themselves bare, they say nothing themselves. They believe that these mistakes are the skeletons in their closet, which they can’t let anyone know about, lest their reputation, face, and standing be lost. However, some people comprehend things differently; they believe that since they have come to believe in God and have accepted God’s salvation, they ought to open up and fellowship now about their past wrongdoings and the mistaken paths they’ve walked, and bring them out for dissection, and that these are just things that they have gone through as Satan-corrupted humans. Now, they are able to open up, lay themselves bare, and fellowship. Whether it’s to summarize the past or to put an end to it, the fact that these people can do this proves what their attitude toward practicing the truth is: They are willing to practice the truth, and they have the resolve to practice it. How exactly one practices depends on their comprehension and resolve. However, opening up and laying oneself bare is definitely not a mistake, and even less is it a sin. It should not be used as leverage against someone, and even less should it become evidence that another person uses to attack them. The majority of people can treat this matter correctly, that is, their comprehension of it is pure and in accordance with the truth principles. However, evil individuals harbor the wrong intentions; they insist on seizing on things about people to ridicule them, toy with them, and judge them. Such evil deeds are quite obvious. Those who are able to lay themselves bare, open up, and fellowship their corruption and the wrong paths they have taken, possess hearts that hunger and thirst for righteousness in their approach to the truth and to the words of God. Consequently, as they read God’s words, they unconsciously gain some practical understandings and insights. These practical understandings and insights help them find the path to practice in the face of difficulties and the myriad situations that occur in their lives, leading to some genuine experiential understanding of the truth. Fellowshipping these genuine experiential understandings is edifying and helpful to others; the brothers and sisters will look upon these individuals with admiration and respect, saying, “Your practical experiences are truly wonderful. After hearing about them, I can empathize deeply. I see that your way of practice is correct and blessed by God. I too am willing to let go of my own notions and prejudices and drop my encumbrances; I want to practice the truth in a simple manner and receive God’s enlightenment and guidance like you. This path is the right one.” Aren’t these manifestations quite normal? Is it not very proper for such a relationship to arise among the brothers and sisters? This is a type of interpersonal relationship that differs from the type found among those who do not believe in God; it is one that is approved of by God and that He wishes to see. Only when such a normal relationship exists among the brothers and sisters can church life be normal. However, there will always be some evil people or some with malicious intent, who stand up to attack, denigrate, and exclude those with practical experiences, those who thirst and hunger for righteousness, and those who admire and esteem people with experience. Why do they attack these individuals? Their purpose is nothing else but to vie for a certain status within the church. Because they do not love the truth nor pursue it, they masquerade as pursuers of the truth by fabricating false experiences to mislead everyone and gain their high regard. This is using Satan’s methods of misleading and controlling people to achieve their desired status and power. Such incidents occur frequently in churches everywhere and are visible to all. If you find that some brothers and sisters possess some of the truth reality, can fellowship genuine experiential understanding of God’s words during gatherings, and have gained the praise of many, yet for some reason are attacked, retaliated against, and plunged into suffering by some, then you should be alert, and discern what kinds of people engage in this behavior. Why are those who pursue the truth often attacked and excluded? What is really going on here? This definitely indicates a problem.

In church life, close attention should be paid to those who frequently find fault with leaders and workers. Additionally, some people often mock, deride, or attack those who relatively pursue the truth and yearn for God’s words. These negative characters should also be closely monitored and watched to see what their next actions will be. If someone can expose the shortcomings of church leaders or attack individuals who have the truth reality without any just cause while partaking in church life, there definitely is an issue and a reason behind it; it is certainly not without cause. The brothers and sisters should pay serious attention to such individuals because this is no small matter. Sometimes, after having just heard a testimony of practical experience and feeling full enjoyment in one’s heart, or after having just gained a bit of light and understanding, one can nevertheless be thrown into confusion by a few misleading words spoken by evil people, thus losing everything one had just gained. Just when one has started to build a bit of faith, they get disturbed by evil people and return to their original status; just when they start to develop a bit of thirst for the truth and God’s word, along with a bit of resolve to practice the truth, they are disturbed by the evil people, losing heart and motivation, and then want to quickly leave this place of conflict. Are these consequences serious? They are very serious. Thus, in the church, if there is someone who always starts disputes over something that does not conform to their wishes, argues over who is in the right, debates right from wrong, and even contests who is superior or inferior, then such individuals should raise red flags. See what role they play in the church, what consequences they bring about, and through this, you can see through to what their nature essence is.

In church life, there’s another kind of manifestation of vying for status that involves disrupting and disturbing church life and the work of the church. For instance, sometimes when the brothers and sisters are fellowshipping a problem together, everyone’s fellowship has some light; the more they fellowship, the clearer and more lucid the truth principles become, and the path to practice becomes quickly understood. However, someone might suddenly introduce a “brilliant idea,” a suggestion of theirs, breaking the flow of the fellowship and shifting the topic elsewhere, leaving the fellowship of the main subject unfinished. On the surface, it doesn’t seem like they are causing a disturbance, much less that they are restricting others from fellowshipping the truth, but they did not choose the appropriate time to introduce this topic. By inserting a new issue for fellowship and discussion at a critical moment when the truth is being fellowshipped to solve a problem, the previous issue gets cut off before being fully resolved. Isn’t this abandoning the task at the halfway mark? Does this not delay solving the problem? Not only has the problem not been fixed, but people’s understanding of the truth has been delayed. Are people with reason liable to do this? Is it going too far to say that such things disrupt and disturb church life? I don’t think it is, at all. To disturb a gathering like this when it is fellowshipping the truth to solve a problem—is this not deliberately disrupting and disturbing church life? If someone always sticks their oar in at critical moments when the truth is being fellowshipped to solve a problem, if they always try to cut things short, then this is not a problem of not having reason; it is deliberately disturbing the gathering while the truth is being fellowshipped to solve a problem, it is the evil deed of disrupting and disturbing church life, pure and simple—only antichrists and evil people do this, only people who hate the truth do this. No matter what the context or circumstances, people like this always have to come out with their “brilliant ideas,” they always want eyes on them, to be the focus of attention. No matter how crucial and important the topic that people are fellowshipping is, they always have to stick their oar in to divert people’s attention and spout high-sounding ideas, wanting to appear unique. Just what kind of stunt are they trying to pull? Are they not vying for status? They want to control the situation. They don’t want people to have a greater understanding and greater clarity into the truth; what they care about most is making everyone pay attention to, listen to, and obey them, and everyone doing as they say. This is clearly vying for status. For some people, no matter what work they do, when you ask them to fellowship about specific ideas and plans for implementing something, and the specific steps for carrying them out in detail, they can’t come up with anything. Yet, they are fond of spouting high-sounding ideas, appearing unconventional, and doing something novel and dazzling. No matter what the situation at hand is, as soon as a novel idea strikes them, they present it as if inspired, rashly proposing it for others to accept and agree with, without thoughtful consideration. But when they are eventually asked to discuss specific paths for practice, they become speechless. They lack the competence, but still wish to show off, always aiming to be seen. They are unwilling to play second fiddle; they do not want to be just another ordinary follower. They always fear that others will look down on them, and they always want to assert their presence. So they always spout high-sounding ideas to be seen. What’s the deal with always doing this? When an idea pops into their mind, they blindly deem it good and worthy of practicing without consideration or before the idea has matured. When they rashly present this idea, other people don’t understand it and naturally raise some questions. Unable to answer, they still insist their opinion is correct and that everyone should accept it. What kind of disposition is this? What consequences will their baseless persistence in their own views bring about? Is it beneficial or disturbing to the church’s work? Is it beneficial or harmful to God’s chosen people? They are able to say this without any sense of responsibility—what is their purpose? It’s just to assert their presence. They are afraid that others won’t know they have such “brilliant ideas,” won’t know that they have caliber, intelligence, and abilities; they strive for this recognition, to make the majority of people hold them in high regard. What happens in the end? They rashly make suggestions, and others initially think they really have some abilities, something genuine. But as time goes by, it becomes apparent that they are just blockheads, lacking real knowledge or skill yet always wanting to have the final say. This is vying for status. Without real ability, they still want to call the shots; they always spout high-sounding ideas without presenting any concrete plans, lacking a specific path of practice. What would the consequences be if such people were really entrusted with tasks? It would surely lead to delays. Why do they always seek to vie for status, to hold power, when they can’t accomplish anything? They are just blockheads who are a few bricks short of a full load; to put it in more elegant terms, they are entirely lacking in reason. Among nonbelievers, there are too many of such people, all talk and no action. Most people can discern a bit about this kind of person. If someone is always spouting high-sounding ideas and wanting to appear innovative, one should be cautious so as not to be taken in by them. If there truly is someone with insightful ideas who can also present a concrete plan, it’s only acceptable if it’s feasible; if they only spout high-sounding ideas without presenting concrete plans, then one should treat them with caution. Fellowship should be carried out to determine whether there’s a viable path for their ideas or not. If the majority feel their idea is feasible and has a path of practice, then it should be tried for a period to see what the results are like before making a decision.

No matter what aspect of truth the church fellowships about or what problem it resolves, all kinds of people will show themselves. After interacting for a long time, one can see who truly loves and can accept the truth, and who are those that disrupt and disturb, not attending to proper tasks. Do you think that those who like to spout high-sounding ideas and present novel ideas can accept the truth and embark on the right track of believing in God? I think it’s not easy for them to do this. What role do these people play in church life? What are the consequences of them often spouting high-sounding ideas and not attending to proper tasks? It disrupts and disturbs church life, as most people can see, and if this continues, it will delay God’s chosen people from pursuing the truth and entering into reality. Although those who like to spout high-sounding ideas are not necessarily evil people, the consequences of their actions are very detrimental to the life entry of God’s chosen people, and, at the same time, their actions also delay and affect the work of the church. So, how should this problem be resolved? How should people who like to spout high-sounding ideas and present novel ideas be handled appropriately? The first method is this: If they like to spout high-sounding ideas and always have opinions, let them speak first, and then exercise discernment. No matter who, everyone is free to speak and express opinions; no one should restrict this. Anyone who truly has ideas and wise insights should be allowed to speak up and make them clear, to let everyone see, and then fellowship and discuss to see if it is correct, if it conforms to the truth principles, and if there is any part that can be adopted. If it’s worth learning from and some benefit can be drawn from it, that’s good; if, after fellowship and discussion, it’s determined that what they say has no value and is not advisable, then it should be abandoned. By practicing like this, everyone will grow in discernment; whenever something comes up, they will all know how to ponder on this matter, and they will understand various people better. Such practice is beneficial for God’s chosen people and will not bring disturbance to the work of the church; this way of practicing is correct. The second method is this: When what is said is of no value, and no benefit will be gained from it even if it is fellowshipped on and discussed, such suggestions should be directly rejected, and there is no need for any fellowship or discussion. If a person keeps raising such worthless issues and “brilliant ideas,” making God’s chosen people fed up and unwilling to listen to them, shouldn’t such a person be restricted? It would be best to advise them to show greater reason, to refrain from saying things that shouldn’t be said to avoid affecting others. If this person lacks reason and insists on continuing in this manner, causing disturbance to church life and making everyone particularly annoyed, even to the point of anger, then they are an evil person who disturbs church life. They must be handled according to the principles of God’s house for cleansing the church—clear them out of the church; this is appropriate. Tell Me, what kind of people are most of those who like to spout high-sounding ideas? Are they the type who pursue the truth? Are they sincerely expending themselves for God? Certainly not. Then, what purpose and intention do they have in causing such disturbances to church life? This requires discernment. If everyone already has enough understanding of such people, knowing they lack intellect, caliber, and reason—that they are simply blockheads—the most appropriate way to handle them when they express their “brilliant ideas” is to stop and restrict them, making them keep quiet. If they insist on speaking, on causing disturbances to church life, then they should be cleared out of the church to prevent further trouble. Some say, “Isn’t this ruining their chances of being saved?” This is wrong to say. Could God save such people? Can people with such dispositions accept the truth? Can they achieve salvation without accepting the truth at all? Isn’t it extremely foolish and ignorant to not even be able to see through such matters? Regardless, those who often cause disturbances to church life are evil people, and God does not save them. Keeping someone whom God does not save in the church, isn’t that deliberately harming God’s chosen people? Is someone who pities such evil people truly loving? I think not; theirs is a false love. The truth is that they intend to harm God’s chosen people. Therefore, God’s chosen ones must be vigilant against any who defend evil people, not to be misled by their devilish talk. Some who like to spout high-sounding ideas, although they do not seem like evil people and don’t commit obviously evil acts, can cause disturbances to church life by always spouting their high-sounding ideas; at the very least, these people are muddled. What do you think, can muddled people be saved? Certainly not. If muddled people constantly disturb church life, they should also be cleared out of the church. Muddled people do not accept the truth, are incorrigibly unrepentant, and their end is the same as that of evil people. Whether evil or muddled, if they often disrupt and disturb church life, do not heed advice, and speak uncontrollably like a broken car unable to stop, isn’t this a sign of abnormal reason? What would be the consequences if such muddled people continue to disturb the church in this manner over the long term? Furthermore, can they truly repent? Does God save such muddled people with abnormal reason? Once these questions are thoroughly apprehended, it will be clear how to properly handle such individuals. Muddled people certainly do not love the truth, and the truth is beyond their reach. Muddled people cannot understand human language; it can be said that muddled people lack normal humanity and are half-insane—in actuality, they’re simply useless. Can muddled people render service well? It can be definitely said they are not even able to render service in a way that is up to standard because their reason is unsound; they are people who understand neither heads nor tails. If someone wishes to show love to muddled people, let them support the muddled people. The attitude of God’s house toward muddled people is that they must be cleared out. Anyone who does not accept the truth at all, anyone who is not sincerely doing their duty, always doing it in a perfunctory manner, should be restricted if they often cause disturbances to church life. If some of them feel remorseful and are willing to repent, they should be given the chance. Those whose essence cannot be seen through should be temporarily kept in the church, allowing God’s chosen people to supervise them, observe them, and grow in discernment. If there are those who consistently disrupt and disturb and, despite being pruned, remain incorrigibly unrepentant, continuing to vie for fame and gain, to attack and exclude positive characters—especially attacking those who pursue the truth and can share experiential testimonies, and those who sincerely expend themselves for God and do their duties—then these individuals are evil people and antichrists, they are disbelievers. For such people, it’s not just about stopping and restricting them; they should be promptly cleared out of the church to prevent future troubles. This way of practice is entirely in accord with God’s intentions.

These are more or less the various manifestations of vying for status, from minor ones to serious ones. The minor manifestations mainly refer to mocking leaders and workers with harsh words, nitpicking, and attacking the proactiveness of leaders and workers, with the goal of destroying them and discrediting them. The most serious manifestations are directly opposing leaders and workers in an open manner, finding things to use against them and judging, condemning, attacking, and excluding them, and then isolating them, and forcing them to admit fault and resign in order to seize their status. These are the most serious issues of disrupting and disturbing that occur in church life. Those who openly clamor against leaders or workers and vie with them for status are those who disturb the work of the church and resist God, they are evil people and antichrists, and they must not only be stopped and restricted—if the situation is serious and it is necessary to clear out or expel them, then they should be dealt with according to the principles. There is also another manifestation of vying for status: excluding and attacking people who pursue the truth more in the church. Because people who pursue the truth have a pure comprehension, and they have experience and true knowledge of God’s words, and they often fellowship the truth to solve problems among the brothers and sisters, and thus edify God’s chosen people, and gradually gain prestige in the church, these evil people and antichrists are envious and defiant toward them, and they exclude and attack them. Any behavior that consists of attacking or excluding people who pursue the truth directly constitutes disruption and disturbance to church life. Some people may not take aim at church leaders directly, but they have a particular antipathy and disdain for people in the church who understand the truth and have practical experiences. They also exclude and oppress such people, often mocking and deriding them, even laying traps for them and scheming against them, and so on. Although problems such as these are less serious than vying with church leaders for status in terms of their nature and circumstances, they also constitute disruptions and disturbances to church life, and should be stopped and restricted. If the majority of brothers and sisters in the church are affected, and frequently plunged into negativity and weakness—if the problems lead to these sorts of consequences, then they amount to disruptions and disturbances. The kind of evil person who creates disruptions and disturbances should not merely be restricted, they should be sent to Group B for isolation and reflection, or else cleared out. Those who engage in actions which have a nature of causing disruptions and disturbances to them are people who habitually commit evil. A distinction should be made between evil people who frequently commit evil and those who occasionally commit evil in terms of how they are treated. Those who commit multifarious evils are antichrists; those who occasionally commit evil are of poor humanity. If two people occasionally argue or engage in disputes because of their incompatible personalities, or because they have different views when doing things, or because they have different ways of speaking, but church life is not affected, then there is not a nature of causing disruptions and disturbances to this; it is different from evil people disrupting and disturbing church life. All the things that have a nature of causing disruptions and disturbances to church life to them, which we’ve been talking about, are manifestations of evildoing by evil people. When evil people commit evil, it is habitual. What evil people hate most is people who pursue the truth. When they see that someone who pursues the truth is able to share their own experiential testimony, and thus gains the particular admiration of others, they become envious, hateful, and their eyes burn with rage. Whoever reflects on and knows themselves, whoever shares their practical experiences, and whoever bears testimony to God, meets with the mocking, denigration, oppression, exclusion, judgment, and even persecution of these evil people. They habitually act in this way. They allow no one to be better than them, they can’t bear to see people who are better than them. When they see someone who is better than them, they get jealous, angry, incensed, and think about harming and tormenting them. Such people have already caused severe disruption and disturbance to the church life and the order of the church, and leaders and workers should join hands with the brothers and sisters in exposing, stopping, and restricting such individuals. If it isn’t possible to restrict them, and they do not repent or change course after the truth has been fellowshipped to them, then they are someone evil, and evil people should be measured and treated according to the principles of God’s house for cleansing the church. If, through fellowship, the leaders and workers reach a consensus, and determine that this amounts to someone evil disturbing the church, then the matter should be handled according to the truth principles: The person should be cleared out from the church. There should be no further tolerance of such evil people disturbing church life. If it is clear to the leaders and workers that this amounts to someone evil causing a disturbance, and yet they still feign ignorance and tolerate the evil person doing evil and causing the disturbance, then they are failing in their responsibilities toward the brothers and sisters, and are being disloyal to God and to God’s commission.

Some people may seem fine when observed by their appearance, but in fact, their IQ is like that of a blockhead. They speak and act without understanding what is proper, lacking the rationality of normal humanity. Such people also like to vie for status and reputation, fight to have the final say, and compete for others’ high regard. In church life they often propose seemingly valid but actually fallacious views and arguments in order to garner attention and high regard from the majority of other people, disturbing people’s thoughts, disturbing their correct comprehension and knowledge of God’s words, and disturbing their positive understanding of everything. When others are fellowshipping on God’s words and on their pure understandings, these people often pop up like jesters to assert their own presence, and to hog everyone’s attention, always wanting to show the brothers and sisters that they know a trick or two, and that they are erudite, and highly knowledgeable and learned, and so forth. Although they don’t yet have clear goals in terms of which leader to target, or which leader’s position to vie for, their desires and ambitions are so great that their words and actions have caused disturbances to church life, so they should also be restricted according to the severity of the situation and of its nature. It would be best to first fellowship the truth with them to correctly guide them, and provide a direction for their comportment, enabling them to turn themselves around, and to understand how to live church life normally, how to interact with others, how to stay in their proper place, and how to be rational. If it is down to their young age, lack of insight, and youthful hubris, and if they have repented after repeated fellowshipping, realizing that their previous actions were wrong, shameful, disgusted everyone, and brought trouble on everyone, and they have expressed their apologies and remorse for this, then there is no need to hold it against them—they can just be helped with love. However, if their wrong actions that disturbed everyone were not due to youthful hubris or a lack of understanding of the truth, but rather were driven by ulterior motives, and they continue with their behavior despite repeated discouragement; and if, furthermore, they have been pruned, and the brothers and sisters have fellowshipped with them on the seriousness of this issue—they have been offered fellowship and help from both negative and positive aspects—yet they still cannot recognize their own nature essence, cannot see the disturbance these actions cause to others and their severe consequences, and continue to create disturbances and disruptions by carrying out these same actions whenever they get the chance, then in this case, sterner measures are warranted. If, given ample opportunities to repent, they do not reflect on or try to know themselves at all, and no matter how the truth is fellowshipped with them, they do not understand, nor do they know how to act rationally and in accordance with principles, but instead, they stubbornly cling to their own way of doing things, then there is a problem with these people. At the very least, from a rational standpoint, they lack the reason of a normal person. This is looking at it on the surface. If, looking at it in terms of essence, no matter how they are fellowshipped with, they cannot recognize the seriousness of the issue, nor can they find their proper place, nor can they accept fellowshipping and help, or try to practice according to the path fellowshipped by the brothers and sisters—if they cannot even achieve these things, then their problem is not just a lack of reason, but a problem with their humanity. Though they appear to be unintentionally causing disruptions and disturbances, these deeds are definitely not without intent, but rather, they are done with purpose and motives. Putting aside what these individuals’ motives or purpose might be, if what they say and do severely disrupts and disturbs the life entry of the brothers and sisters, and church life, leading many people to not gain anything from living church life, to the point where others are unwilling to gather just because they are present, or whenever they speak, people are turned off and want to leave, then the nature of this problem becomes serious. How should such people be handled? If they still persist in doing these things despite being offered fellowship and help on numerous occasions, and being given opportunities to repent, then it is their nature essence that is problematic. They are not people who genuinely believe in God and can accept the truth, but instead have some other agenda. Looking at their nature essence, the disruptions and disturbances they cause to church life are definitely not unintentional, but rather, these people have a purpose and motives. If such people are given further opportunities, is that fair to God’s chosen people who are living church life normally? (No.) The problem with such individuals has already been revealed to this extent; if they are still given chances awaiting their repentance, with the result that they end up committing even more evil, leading more people into negativity, weakness, and having no way out, then who will compensate for this loss? Therefore, if these individuals have been offered fellowship and loving help, or action has been taken to stop and restrict them, yet they still do not change their old ways, and persist in their original behavior, then they should be handled according to the principles: In mild cases, they should be isolated; in severe cases, they should be cleared out of the church. How does this principle sound? Is it about mercilessly beating someone down, without giving them a chance to repent? Or arbitrarily making a decision without exercising any discernment and without clearly understanding what their nature essence truly is? (No.) If, despite being offered fellowship and help, and being given opportunities to repent, these people’s ways and disposition have not changed at all, and neither do they repent, remaining as they were before—with the only difference being that what they previously did openly and visibly they now do in secret and furtively, but the disturbance and disruption remain the same—then the church can no longer keep them. Such people are not members of God’s house; they are not God’s sheep. Their presence in God’s house is solely to cause disturbances and disruptions, and they are Satan’s lackey, not a brother or sister. If you always treat them as a brother or sister, continually supporting and helping them, and fellowshipping the truth with them, and it ends up wasting much effort without bearing any fruit, isn’t that foolish? It’s more than foolish; it’s stupid, utterly stupid!

Looking at the nature of the problems, the various manifestations and the types of people, events, and things involved in vying for status can basically be categorized into these three types. Vying for status is a common issue in church life, appearing across different groups of people and in various aspects of church life. As for those who vie for status, in mild cases they should be offered ample fellowshipping of the truth to support and help them so that they can understand the truth, and given the chance to repent. If the case is serious, they should be closely monitored, and as soon as it is discovered that they speak or act with the aim of achieving a certain motive or goal, they should be immediately stopped and restricted. If the case is even more serious, they should be dealt with and handled according to the church’s principles for clearing out and expelling people. This is the responsibility that leaders and workers should fulfill when these people, events, and things involved in vying for status appear in church life. Of course, it also requires all the brothers and sisters to step up and cooperate with the leaders and workers in this work, jointly restricting the various behaviors and actions of evil people that cause disruption and disturbance, ensuring that there is no more disruption or disturbance by evil people in church life, striving to ensure that every occasion of church life is enlightened by the Holy Spirit, filled with peace and joy and the presence of God, and has God’s blessing and guidance, and to ensure that each gathering is a time of enjoyment and gain. This is the best kind of church life, the one that God wishes to see. Undertaking this work is relatively complex for leaders and workers, as it involves interpersonal relationships, and it involves people’s face and interests, and it also involves people’s level of understanding of the truth, making it somewhat more challenging. However, when problems arise, do not avoid them, and do not downplay major issues as smaller ones and ultimately let them go unresolved; nor should they be dealt with using philosophies for worldly dealings, by turning a blind eye to them. Even more so, do not be a people pleaser, but rather, treat the various types of people who vie for status according to the truth principles. Is this fellowship clear? (Yes.) Then this concludes our fellowship on issue five.

VI . Engaging in Improper Relationships

The sixth issue that disrupts and disturbs God’s work and the normal order of the church is engaging in improper relationships. As long as people come into contact and can gather together, there will be communal life, and various relationships will emerge from this. So, which of these relationships are proper, and which are improper? Let’s first talk about what constitutes proper relationships, and then fellowship about the improper ones. When brothers and sisters meet and greet each other, they may say such things as, “How have you been recently? Are you in good health? Is your child starting high school next year? How is your spouse’s business doing?” Does such mutual greeting count as a proper relationship? (Yes.) Why do you say that? Because when two people who haven’t seen each other for a long time happen to come together, saying a few words of greeting is the most basic etiquette, as well as the most fundamental show of concern and greeting. These are all words, actions, and relevant topics that people bring up within the bounds of normal humanity. Judging from their conversation up till now, it’s apparent that their relationship is quite proper. Their dialogue is based both on etiquette and normal humanity, and from these two points, it can be determined that the relationship between the two people conversing is proper, representing a normal interpersonal relationship. If two people are very familiar with each other, yet when they meet, they both scowl and do not speak to each other, and when they look at each other, their eyes burn with hostility, is this relationship normal? (No, it’s not.) Why is it not normal? How exactly should it be defined? When two people meet but neither greets the other or even says “hi,” much less engages in normal conversation and dialogue, it’s obvious that their manifestations do not reflect what is expected of normal humanity. Their relationship is not a normal interpersonal relationship; it’s somewhat twisted, yet it still doesn’t constitute an improper relationship, there’s still some distance from that. In general, if the relationship between people is established on the basis of normal humanity, where individuals can interact and associate normally and according to principles, and help, support, and provide for each other, this is all indicative of proper relationships among people. It means handling matters in a business-like manner, not engaging in transactions, devoid of entangled interests, even more so devoid of hatred, and the actions are not driven by fleshly desires. All these fall within the scope of proper relationships. Is this range not quite broad? Normal interpersonal relationships involve dialogue and communication within the realm of normal humanity, interacting and associating with others, and working together based on the conscience and reason of normal humanity. At a higher level, it involves interacting and associating according to the truth principles. This is a general definition of proper interpersonal relationships between people. Greeting each other upon meeting is the most normal form of interaction. Being able to greet and converse normally without putting on airs, not assuming affection where there is none, not acting superior, speaking without oppressing others or elevating oneself, speaking and communicating normally—this is how those who possess normal humanity should speak and communicate, and it’s the basic way of interacting within normal interpersonal relationships. God’s chosen people should, at the very least, possess conscience and reason, and interact, associate, and work together with others according to the principles and standards that God requires of people. This is the best approach. This is able to satisfy God. So, what are the truth principles required by God? That people be understanding of others when they are weak and negative, being considerate of their pain and difficulties, and then inquire about these things, offer help and support, and read them God’s words to help them solve their problems, enabling them to understand God’s intentions and stop being weak, and bringing them before God. Isn’t this way of practicing in line with the principles? Practicing in this way is in line with the truth principles. Naturally, relationships of this kind are even more so in line with the truth principles. When people are deliberately causing disturbances and disruptions, or deliberately doing their duty in a perfunctory way, if you see this and are able to point these things out to them, reprimand them, and help them according to the principles, then this is in line with the truth principles. If you turn a blind eye, or condone their behavior and cover for them, and even go so far as to say nice things to praise and applaud them, these ways of interacting with people, dealing with issues, and handling problems, are clearly at odds with the truth principles, and have no basis in the words of God. So, these ways of interacting with people and dealing with issues are clearly improper, and this really is not easy to discover if they are not dissected and discerned according to God’s words. People who do not understand the truth are not likely to recognize these issues, and even if they acknowledge that these are problems, it’s not easy for them to solve them. We have often said that corrupt humankind all lives by Satan’s disposition, and these manifestations are evidence of that. Now, do you see it clearly?

Today’s main focus in our fellowship is to expose the manifestations of four types of improper relationships that cause disruptions and disturbances to church life. Who are the ones engaging in improper relationships within the church? What exactly constitutes an improper relationship? Which issues are involved in engaging in improper relationships? Because our main topic of fellowship involves various people, events, and things that disrupt and disturb God’s work and the normal order of the church, this discussion of improper relationships is limited to those that cause disruptions and disturbances to church life. We are not indiscriminately lumping all types of improper relationships together, and matters outside of church life are not our concern. You must comprehend this matter purely, without deviation. So, within the context of engaging in improper relationships, which issues, and which relationships between people are improper? Which improper relationships cause disruptions and disturbances to church life and to the majority of people? Are these issues worth fellowshipping? (Yes.) These are matters that must be clearly addressed in our fellowship.

A. Improper Relationships Between the Sexes

In church life, the most common, easily understood, and readily identified type of improper relationship is which one? (Relationships between the sexes.) This is the first aspect that comes to mind when people think of improper relationships. Some people, whenever they are in a group, always flirt with the opposite sex; they make suggestive gestures and expressions, speak in a particularly expressive manner, and like showing off. To use an inappropriate term, it’s flaunting one’s sexuality. They like to appear witty, humorous, romantic, gentlemanly, heroic, charismatic, and learned, among other qualities, in front of the opposite sex; they especially enjoy showing off. Why do they show off? It’s not for vying for status, but to attract the opposite sex. The more members of the opposite sex pay attention to them, casting admiring, revering, and adoring glances their way, the more excited and energized they become. As they spend more time participating in church life and come into contact with more people, they target a few individuals, flirting and exchanging looks with some of the opposite sex, often speaking in a provocative manner, even with a hint of sexual harassment. Is this kind of relationship between people proper? (No.) This constitutes engaging in improper relationships. Such individuals even use gathering times to show off, speaking so as to appear particularly witty and charming in front of the person they like or are interested in, making suggestive gestures and glances, wearing a triumphant and excited expression, even prancing around, all with what aim? It is to seduce the opposite sex into an improper relationship. Despite the disgust felt by many brothers and sisters toward this, and despite numerous warnings from those around them, they still don’t stop and persist in their reckless seduction. If such improper relationships involve only two people flirting with each other outside of church life and do not impact church life or the work of the church, then the matter can be set aside for the moment. However, if those who engage in improper relationships habitually engage in such behaviors within church life and cause disturbances to others, they should be warned and restricted. If they remain incorrigible despite repeated admonishments and have already seriously disturbed church life, they should be cleared out from the church through a vote by God’s chosen people. Is this approach appropriate? (Yes.) If it’s just young people dating normally, they should also be discreet during gatherings so as not to affect others. The church is a place for worshiping God, pray-reading God’s words, and living church life; personal affections should not be brought into church life to disturb others. If it causes disturbances to others, affects the mood of others during gatherings, impacts others’ reading of God’s words and their understanding and knowledge of God’s words, making more people distracted and disturbed, then such a relationship is defined as an improper relationship. Even legitimate dating, if it causes disturbance to others, will be defined as an improper relationship, let alone seducing the opposite sex outside of dating. Therefore, if someone engages in improper relationships within church life, they should not be tacitly allowed or indulged but should be met with warnings, restrictions, and even clearing out according to principles. This is work that leaders and workers should carry out. If it’s discovered that someone engages in improper relationships and has caused disturbances to most people in the church, with their presence leading others to be distracted and ensnared by lustful thoughts, even leading to the breakup of families and causing some new believers to lose interest in gatherings, reading God’s words, or even in faith itself, instead becoming more enamored with the person they adore, wishing to elope with them and live out their days together, and abandon their faith—if the severity of the situation has escalated to this degree, yet the leaders and workers do not take it seriously, thinking that it’s just human lust at play, that it’s nothing major and is something that ordinary people all do, not recognizing the seriousness of the problem or much less realizing how far the problem can develop, but rather ignoring it, being particularly numb and dull in their response to such matters, ultimately causing adverse effects to the majority in the church—then the nature of these incidents constitutes serious disruptions and disturbances. Why do I say it constitutes serious disruptions and disturbances? Because these incidents disrupt and damage the normal order of church life. Therefore, once such individuals emerge in the church, they should be restricted, however few or numerous they are, ensuring each case is addressed, and if the situation is severe, they must be isolated. If isolation does not yield results, and they continue to seduce the opposite sex, disturb church life, and damage the normal order of the church, then they should be cleared out from the church according to principles. Is this approach appropriate? (Yes.) The impact of such matters on church life and on the work of the church is extremely detrimental; they are akin to a plague, and must be eradicated.

Everyone who is inclined toward seducing the opposite sex does so wherever they go, tirelessly engaging in such behaviors. Their targets for seduction and harassment are often young and attractive individuals, but sometimes they also involve middle-aged people—anyone they find appealing, they proactively seek opportunities to seduce. If they intend to seduce others, some people can’t resist the enticement and will be taken in, which easily leads to improper relationships. Because people’s stature is too small and they lack genuine faith in God, as well as understanding of the truth, how could they overcome these temptations and resist such enticements? People’s stature is too small; they are especially weak and powerless when faced with these temptations and enticements. It is difficult for them to remain unaffected. There was a male leader who would attempt to seduce any beautiful woman he saw; sometimes, seducing just one was not enough—he might seduce three or four women, making all of them captivated by him to the extent that they would lose their appetite and couldn’t sleep, and even lose the desire to do their duties. Such was the “charm” of this man. If he had just interacted with people normally, without deliberately trying to seduce them, his influence wouldn’t have been so extensive. It was only when he intentionally put on performances and seduced others that more and more people fell for it, increasing the number of those who were seduced into having improper relationships with him. People became powerless to resist and fell into these temptations. This was the “charm” of lust; what he did created temptations, enticements, and disturbances for both parties. One man seducing several women at once—was his heart vexed or what? Which woman to attend to first, which one to satisfy first—wouldn’t he be mentally exhausted? (Yes.) If it was so exhausting, why did he continue to behave like this? This is wickedness; this was the sort of creature he was, this was his nature. Once the victims are seduced and fall into temptation, is it easy for them to escape from the temptation? Once caught in temptation, it will be difficult to escape. Eating, sleeping, walking, performing duties—no matter what they do, their minds are filled with thoughts of this person, their hearts are consumed by this person. Such disturbances are extremely severe! What follows is constant thinking about how to please this person, how to throw themselves at them, how to win them over, how to monopolize them, how to compete and fight with other rivals. Aren’t these the consequences of being disturbed? Is it easy to escape from such a state? (It’s not easy.) The consequences become severe. At this time, can one’s heart still be quiet before God? When they read God’s words, can they still absorb them? Can they still have light? During gatherings, will they still be in the mood to contemplate and fellowship the words of God, and to listen to others share God’s words? They will not; their hearts will be filled with lust, with the object of their adoration, devoid of any serious matters—even God will be gone from their hearts. What follows is pondering over how to experience love, how to be romantic, and so on, and the desire to believe in God is completely lost. Are these consequences good? Is this what people wish to see? (No.) Are the consequences of being seduced and falling into temptation something that people can prevent? Can people control these consequences? Can it be up to them to decide? Can they reach the level of being able to stop when they wish to in their hearts? No one can achieve this. This is the consequence of the disturbances caused by such improper relationships on people. When God is absent from one’s heart, and one no longer wishes to read God’s words, what are the consequences? Is there still hope for salvation? The hope for salvation becomes nil. Everything is lost; those meager doctrines previously understood, the determination and resolve to expend oneself for God, and the desire to gain God’s salvation are all cast away—these are the consequences. People distance themselves from God and reject Him in their hearts, and they are also rejected by God. This consequence is not something anyone who believes in and follows God wishes to see, nor is it a fact that any follower of God can accept. However, once people fall into such temptations and are caught in the vortex of improper relationships, they find it difficult to extricate themselves and are even more so unable to control themselves. Therefore, such improper relationships should be restricted. In severe cases, for those who consistently disturb and harass the opposite sex, they should be promptly and swiftly cleansed away from the church, so they do not disturb church life and, even more so, to prevent more people from being ensnared in temptation. Is this approach reasonable? (Yes.)

In the twelfth item of the responsibilities of leaders and workers, leaders and workers must exert their utmost effort in each task to ensure that God’s chosen people can lead a normal church life, safeguarding the brothers and sisters from any interferences or disturbances in church life. This means protecting all the brothers and sisters who can lead a normal church life. What exactly should be protected? The brothers and sisters should be protected so that they may come before God in quietude during gatherings and peacefully pray-read and share God’s words; at the same time, the brothers and sisters should be able to pray to God in unity of heart and mind, seek God’s intentions, seek enlightenment and illumination from God, gain God’s presence, and receive God’s blessings and guidance. This is the greatest and most important interest of all the brothers and sisters, and it is essential to everyone; it concerns whether they can be saved and whether they can have a good destination. Therefore, it is necessary to rigorously restrict, isolate, or clear out those who engage in improper relationships within the church; in particular, those who engage in relationships between the sexes must be strictly supervised. What does supervision mean? If it’s just a minor case, they should be exposed and pruned, and promptly stopped and restricted, and prevented from affecting others. If it’s a severe case, it is necessary to act decisively and without hesitation; they should be cleared out of the church as soon as possible to prevent them from disturbing more people. If they wish to cause disturbances, let them do so outside in the world, disturbing whoever they wish; suffice it to say that all brothers and sisters in church life pursuing the truth should not be disturbed by them. This is the primary principle and goal for the work of leaders and workers in respect of this twelfth responsibility.

B. Homosexual Relationships

Regarding the issue of improper relationships, what we mainly fellowshipped on just now was engaging in improper relationships between the sexes. Where it involves seducing, enticing, showing off, and teasing the opposite sex; actively approaching and trying to get close to them; and often intentionally or unintentionally seeking to sit near them at gatherings; but in addition, not just seducing one person, but moving on to another if the first attempt fails, so that many members of the opposite sex in the church are harassed, then this issue has become serious. This covers improper relationships between the sexes. Besides relationships with the opposite sex, there are also some improper relationships among people of the same sex. If two people of the same sex are on particularly friendly terms, have known each other for a long time and are quite close, then it is proper for them to often interact. However, once it escalates to engaging in lustful relationships of the flesh, such relationships should also be classified as improper. If, between two people of the same sex, bodily contact is frequent, even to the extent that they commonly use language of a provocative nature with each other, and the two of them may often be seen with their arms around each other or displaying more evident behaviors and manifestations, then over time, it becomes apparent to everyone: “It is not that these two are helping each other or compatible in personality; they are not interacting within the realm of normal humanity. This is homosexuality!” Now, most people understand that homosexuality is an improper relationship, even more serious in nature and improper than that between different sexes. If such relationships exist within the church, they could spread like a plague, leading some into this kind of temptation and enticement. Some people say they have engaged in homosexuality in the past but didn’t do so willingly. Putting aside whether they are truly homosexuals or what their sexual orientation is, if they can fall into such temptation under enticement—leaving aside for now whether they did so willingly or passively—then first and foremost, they were disturbed by it. Judging from their claim that they didn’t do it willingly, they were victims. Therefore, if homosexuals seduce and entice others of the same sex, those who are enticed, although not necessarily homosexuals themselves, can become homosexuals after being enticed by one. Isn’t this a dangerous situation? Why say that such people are homosexuals? Heterosexual individuals seducing many people falls under the category of promiscuity, which constitutes an improper relationship. So when two people of the same sex who have a close relationship and get along well hold hands, and embrace each other, which is all normal, how can that escalate to them being defined as homosexuals? It is the sexual relationship between them—once this level of relationship occurs, it becomes homosexual. When they place their arms over each other’s shoulders, cling to each other’s necks, or hold each other by the waist, this is not normal bodily contact between individuals of the same sex; rather, it is bodily contact driven by lust, differing in nature and thus falling into the category of improper relationships. For most people in the church, is seeing such homosexuals edifying or not? (No, it is not edifying.) Do most people feel disturbed after seeing this? If you were uninformed about the situation and they put their arm around your neck or waist, or even kissed you on the face, would you feel disturbed? (Yes.) After feeling disturbed, would your heart feel at ease, or uneasy? (I would feel disgusted.) So then, would there be a sense of having sinned? If you don’t understand exactly what the essence of this type of issue is, and you’re just touched or physically contacted by someone of the same sex without giving it much thought afterward, then there isn’t much of a problem. However, if you think about it, and keep on thinking, and then you can’t let go of this person, similar to how one might pine for the opposite sex, regardless of whether or not you resist in your subjective consciousness, then the emergence of such thoughts within you indicates that you’ve already been disturbed, doesn’t it? Therefore, the nature of homosexual relationships, this type of improper relationship, is much more serious. Some people fail to see the difference between promiscuity among heterosexuals and homosexuality, and treat these two issues as equal. In fact, the problem of homosexuality is far more serious than the issue of promiscuity among heterosexuals.

If individuals who engage in homosexual relationships appear within the church and are not restricted, they pose a threat to and cause disturbances for everyone. What kind of disturbances? From the outside, most people cannot detect any problems with their humanity when interacting with them, but prolonged interaction muddies their thoughts and darkens their hearts. They lose enthusiasm for believing in God, and without encountering any particular problems, they become unwilling to believe in God, lose interest in reading God’s words, feel increasingly distant from God in their hearts, and entertain evil thoughts of giving up their faith. Therefore, such improper homosexual relationships within the church should not only be stopped and restricted; those who engage in them should also be promptly cleansed away from the church. This is absolute. Once such individuals are discovered, regardless of the duties they do or their status, they must be promptly cleansed away from the church, with no tolerance! This is the church’s regulation. Why is this regulation in place? It is based on solid grounds. God created humans as male and female; after creating Adam, his partner was Eve, not another Adam. Taking such an action against those who engage in homosexual relationships is based on God’s words, and it is absolutely accurate. Some might say, “Why not give these people a chance to repent? They are young; shouldn’t they be allowed to commit some ridiculous acts?” No! Other ridiculous acts might be treated differently depending on the circumstances and nature, but this particular ridiculous act is absolutely not just any ridiculous act; it absolutely cannot be tolerated, and anyone committing such an act within the church must be promptly cleansed away! If an entire church were composed of homosexuals, then all would be cleansed away. Such a church is not wanted, not even one! This is the principle. Some say, “Some people are involved in a homosexual relationship with just one person, but they haven’t seduced others or started disturbing anyone else. Should such individuals be handled and cleared out?” If they truly are homosexual, letting them stay in the church is akin to placing a ticking time bomb among God’s chosen people—it’s bound to go off sooner or later. Even if they hadn’t disturbed, seduced, or harassed any same-sex individuals, that doesn’t mean they wouldn’t in the future. It might be that they haven’t yet found someone they fancy, someone they like, or the timing isn’t right, and everyone still lacks mutual familiarity and understanding. But once the timing is right and suitable for such people, they will make their move. Therefore, such individuals must absolutely never be tolerated or allowed to remain within the church, as they are unnatural and non-human. The church does not want such people. Handling those engaged in such improper relationships in this manner is not wrong or excessive. However, some say, “Some homosexuals appear to be quite good; they haven’t done anything bad, abide by laws and regulations, show respect to the elderly and love to the young, always do good deeds, some even have gifts and skills, and some are particularly charitable and helpful in the church. We should let them stay in the church.” Is this thought correct? (No.) Regardless of whether your thoughts are right or wrong, you must be able to see through the nature of homosexuals. The church’s principle of practice for individuals engaged in homosexual relationships is to clear them out. This is an administrative decree which none may violate; everyone must practice according to this principle.

The manifestations of these two types of improper relationships about which we just fellowshipped are the easiest for people to discern, see through, and classify. Regarding those engaged in such improper relationships, for one thing, leaders and workers must fulfill their responsibilities by using such measures as stopping, restricting, isolating, and clearing out to handle them. For another, brothers and sisters should also discern and stay away from those engaged in these two types of improper relationships, so as to avoid being enticed and falling into temptation, which could affect their faith in God and their pursuit of the truth to attain salvation. Once ensnared in temptation, it’s difficult to extricate oneself. Most people should be able to discern these two types of people. Do not act like how people behave in society, pretending not to see who flirts with whom, lacking a correct viewpoint or stance toward those engaging in promiscuity, able to interact normally with such individuals as long as one’s own interests are not involved, speaking as one typically would, as if nothing is amiss. Do such people have principles in how they treat others? Not at all. All nonbelievers live by philosophies for worldly dealings, striving not to offend anyone to protect themselves, but God’s house is absolutely different from nonbelieving society. In God’s house, the truth holds power. God requires people to treat others based on the truth principles. God’s chosen people are all accepting and equipping themselves with truth, and using it to discern and treat others, not only to maintain church life and protect the brothers and sisters but, more importantly, to protect themselves from the suffering of temptation and avoid being lured into temptation. The earlier you can discern and distance yourself from such individuals, the more you will be able to distance yourself from temptation and be protected. This is how you should treat individuals engaged in improper relationships; this is in accordance with the truth principles and in alignment with God’s intentions.

C. Improper Relationships of Vested Interests

Another type of improper relationship is that of vested interests. People do things like flattering, elevating, praising, and ingratiating themselves with each other for the sake of interests. Bringing such crooked conduct and a wicked atmosphere into church life severely impacts others quietly reading God’s words or listening to shared experiences. Once a relationship of vested interests is established, the individuals involved will often say or do things that go against their desires, for their own benefit. For example, if someone sees that another person could benefit their business or interests in some way, they might choose that person as a leader, nominate them for a specific duty, or agree with whatever that person says, claiming that it’s correct regardless of whether it aligns with the truth, to curry favor. In order to curry favor with them, they do many things that don’t align with principles and go against the truth, which disturb God’s chosen people in discerning people, events, and things and entering into the truth. They describe what is wrong and distorted as right, describe human notions and imaginings as being in line with God’s intentions, and so on, thus disturbing people’s thoughts and the correct direction and goal of their pursuit. All of these behaviors stem from their maintenance of a relationship of vested interests. To protect and maintain their own interests, they can speak against their conscience and act against principles. What they say and do causes disturbances and destruction to church life, eventually leading more people to be unable to fellowship God’s words, pray-read God’s words, or share personal experiences in a normal and orderly manner, resulting in losses to people’s life entry. When people fellowship their personal experiential understandings, they often encounter interference from people’s relationships of vested interests; some are verbal interferences, some are behavioral, and others pertain to goals and directions. People are often interrupted when fellowshipping the truth and pray-reading God’s words, frequently led off-topic, and are often affected to varying degrees. Therefore, those who engage in improper relationships of vested interests and related behaviors should be restricted. Church leaders faced with these issues should not turn a blind eye, and they certainly shouldn’t indulge such evildoing, condoning the occurrence of such matters within church life. Instead, they should be vigilant and perceptive, and promptly stop and restrict them.

Engaging in improper relationships of vested interests is a common occurrence in the church. For instance, if someone plans to run for election as the next church leader, they might draw in a group of people and divulge their ideas to them. These people aren’t foolish; they hint: “If we elect you, what benefits will you provide us?” Thus, a relationship based on vested interests is formed among them. To maintain their vested interests, they often take the same stance on issues during gatherings. Without others being aware or knowing the background, they always talk about how good one person is, how what another person does is permitted and blessed by God, who has made offerings and how much they offered, and who has made what contributions to God’s house, often singing each other’s praises and commending each other. In church life, they often release these things in the service of the consensus they reached earlier and to uphold their mutual interests. For example, someone might say, “If you elect me as the leader, once I claim my position, I’ll make you a group leader.” Aren’t they all looking for personal gain? To realize their interests, don’t they have to say certain things, or do certain actions? Thus, they display a variety of manifestations during gatherings, all aimed at upholding the consensus they reached earlier and the interests involved. Before achieving their goal, most of what they do is driven by interests. So, aren’t the intentions and purposes behind what they say and do quite improper? Isn’t the relationship established among them an improper one? Shouldn’t such improper relationships within the church be restricted? Some say, “How can we restrict it if it’s not discovered?” Such matters, unless not done at all, once undertaken, can be discovered and will be exposed. If people fellowship the truth and their personal understandings and experiences properly, without mixing in anything unrelated to the truth, everyone can perceive this. If there are adulterations, people can also discern this. Therefore, in the church, various transactional relationships that arise for the maintenance of mutual interests should also be restricted; at the very least, those involved should be warned and fellowshipped with, letting them recognize their own issues and understand the serious consequences of engaging in such activities, while also enabling the brothers and sisters to discern the nature of these matters. What impact does this kind of activity have on most people? It leads people to think that there’s not much difference between the church and society, both being places where everyone exploits each other and people engage in transactions for their own benefits. This behavior is not just a moderate disturbance but forms a serious disturbance to church life. Tell Me, is someone who constantly draws people in to win their votes for an election, using unusual means to manipulate the election and gain the position of a leader, a good person? Clearly, leaders elected this way are not good people. Can the brothers and sisters who have fallen into their hands expect any good? If someone becomes a leader through unusual means, rather than being elected based on principles, such a leader is definitely not a good person. If they are allowed to lead, that is equivalent to blatantly handing the brothers and sisters over to an evil person, to an antichrist, with most people effectively being delivered into Satan’s hands; in such a scenario, the fruits of their church life will be self-evident. This is a type of improper relationship tied to interests. Whether among groups or individuals, once relationships between people involve interests, they will lean more toward personal benefits in their actions rather than act according to principles to uphold the interests of God’s house. Such relationships are not founded on the conscience and reason of normal humanity but are contrary to both conscience and reason, and even more so to the truth principles. What they say, do, and demonstrate, along with their intentions, purposes, motivations, origins, and so on, are all driven by interests; thus, these relationships may be defined as improper. Because the formation of such relationships disturbs God’s chosen people in living church life, making it difficult for most people to read God’s words and fellowship the truth in quietude before God, such improper relationships should be restricted within the church. For cases that are severe and constitute the behavior of evil people, warnings should be issued, and if those involved do not repent no matter what, they should be cleared out of the church.

D. Hatred Between Individuals

Improper interpersonal relationships have various manifestations. Another one of them is personal hatred. For instance, friction or disputes may arise within families between mothers-in-law and daughters-in-law, between sisters-in-law, or between brothers, or they may arise between neighbors. Sometimes this even develops into hatred, and, like adversaries, these people are then not able to collaborate or work together, to the extent that they cannot even face each other, and argue and fight whenever they do. When they see each other at gatherings, their hearts are also filled with hatred, and they are unable to quiet themselves before God to enjoy God’s word and reflect on and come to know themselves, and they certainly aren’t able to let go of their prejudices and hatred to have a normal gathering. Instead, whenever they meet, they get into quarrels and skirmishes, they expose each other’s shortcomings and attack one another, and even swear at each other, having a profoundly negative impact on God’s chosen people. Such people are disbelievers, they are nonbelievers. For those who sincerely believe in God and love the truth, no matter what happens, or with whom they have disputes, or whom they harbor prejudices toward, they are able to seek the truth, reflect on and know themselves, and solve issues according to the truth principles. If they have done something wrong and owe someone, they can proactively apologize and admit their mistakes; they absolutely won’t resort to causing arguments or trouble at gatherings. It is entirely beneath the decorum of saints to engage in disputes and cause uproars in the church; such behavior severely disgraces God. People who act this way lack humanity, conscience, and reason to a large degree; they are absolutely not genuine believers in God. This issue is relatively more common among new believers. Because new believers do not understand the truth, and their corrupt dispositions have not been purified, it is easy for them to engage in disputes over many things, and to even let their hotheadedness burst forth and get themselves into fights. If these corrupt dispositions are not resolved, people will harbor hatred in their hearts, and even when living church life, they will still engage in endless disputes with this hotheadedness and hatred. This affects church life, impacting God’s chosen ones eating and drinking God’s word, praising God, and sharing their experiential understandings of God’s words. It also directly affects the life entry of God’s chosen people. Some new believers easily fall into disputes over disagreements on minor issues. For example, before a gathering starts, some may want to sing one hymn while others prefer a different one—even such a trivial matter can easily lead to disputes. Similarly, differing opinions on a matter can sometimes quickly turn into debates, and even offending someone due to a lack of consideration in speech can spark arguments. These kinds of incidents are common among new believers. When disputes arise during gatherings, they naturally disturb church life. Does this not also disturb God’s chosen people? Those prone to arguing and debating right from wrong are the ones who most easily disturb church life. They care only about satisfying their own vanity and face without considering the interests of God’s chosen people. By acting this way, do they not cause disturbances to church life? (Yes.) The church is a place where the brothers and sisters gather to eat, drink, and enjoy the words of God; it is a place for submitting to and worshiping God. It is absolutely not a place for venting personal grievances, and certainly not for quarreling or arguing over right and wrong. When such people cause disturbances in this way, what consequences does this lead to? It directly results in a lack of enjoyment during gatherings; it leads to God’s chosen people being unable to obtain life edification, and even leaves most people unable to find peace, suffering indescribably. Over time, some become passive and weak, even reluctant to attend gatherings. This situation is common in most churches and is something all of God’s chosen people have experienced. So how should the issue of frequent arguments and fights at gatherings be resolved? Several passages of God’s words that are relevant to the issue should be selected and read together multiple times during gatherings; then, everyone should fellowship on the truth, sharing their understanding. This approach can yield some results. Not only can those who are prone to arguing recognize their transgressions and feel remorse, but even onlookers can reflect on whether they have revealed their corrupt dispositions in similar situations and whether they are capable of arguing with others—in this way, the onlookers can also come to know themselves. Regardless of whether one gets involved in disputes or not, after reading several passages of God’s words several times, they can recognize their own corrupt dispositions and see that living by corrupt dispositions does indeed mean lacking conscience and reason, and not having the least bit of humanity. The effects of living church life this way aren’t bad, are they? Although there may be disputes at the start of a gathering, if afterward everyone can read God’s words, quiet themselves before God to reflect on themselves, solve problems with the truth, and truly repent—if these results can be achieved—then this is normal church life. Therefore, whatever happens during gatherings isn’t necessarily bad; as long as everyone comes together in heart and mind to seek the truth, and reads several relevant passages of God’s words together a few times, even if the problems can’t be completely resolved, people will be able to see through them somewhat and have some discernment—everyone will benefit from this. Would you say such a church life is hard to come by? This is turning a bad thing into a good one, it’s somewhat of a blessing in disguise. However, this should not lead people to advocate for the idea that disputes and debates are desirable in church life; this absolutely cannot be advocated for. Disputes and debates can easily lead to outbursts of hotheadedness and conflict, which is bad for everyone and causes personal distress for those involved. Therefore, seeking the truth to resolve issues is the best approach, and understanding the truth can effectively prevent similar incidents in the future. Wise individuals should adopt a patient and tolerant attitude when friction and clashes arise. Since they also have corrupt dispositions and can easily hurt others, when they reveal their corrupt dispositions, they should promptly pray to God and seek the truth to resolve issues. This way, by the time of gathering, personal resentment and hatred have all dissipated, leading to a sense of liberation in their hearts and making it easier to get along amicably with the brothers and sisters, thus fostering harmonious cooperation. Whenever anyone sees a brother or sister reveal their corrupt disposition, they should offer help with love, not judge, condemn, or reject them. It might happen that problems aren’t solved after one or two attempts at help, but patience and tolerance are still required. As long as they don’t disturb church life or deliberately commit evil, they should be treated with patience and tolerance to the end—there will come a day when they come to their senses. If someone is of evil humanity and refuses any help, not accepting the truth no matter how it’s fellowshipped, then they are not sincerely believing in God, and it’s necessary to keep a distance from such individuals. If they repeatedly disturb church life, they should be treated and handled according to principles. If they are not evil people but merely often reveal their corrupt disposition, hating themselves but feeling powerless to do otherwise in the moment, then such individuals should be assisted with love; help them understand the truth and discern and recognize their revelations of corruption—in this way, their revelations of corruption will gradually decrease. If the brothers and sisters are only occasionally affected by these people, they may be excused; as long as there are no major problems with their humanity, and they are not deceitful or evil people, then they should be supported and helped through fellowship of the truth. If they can accept the truth, they should be treated with love. However, if they refuse to repent and negatively impact church life for a long period of time, church leaders should issue warnings and impose restrictions. If they persistently refuse to accept the truth, such individuals are evil people. Evil people cannot get along with anyone, they are rotten apples and demons. Keeping them in the church will only cause disruptions and disturbances. Therefore, those who refuse to change despite repeated admonishments should be handled as evil people and cleared out from the church. Anyone who often disturbs church life and the life entry of God’s chosen people is a disbeliever and an evil person, and they must be cleared out from the church. Regardless of who the person is or how they have acted in the past, if they often disturb the work of the church and church life, refuse being pruned, and always defend themselves with flawed reasoning, they must be cleared out from the church. This approach is entirely for the sake of maintaining the normal progression of church work and protecting the interests of God’s chosen people, fully aligning with the truth principles and God’s intentions. The life entry of God’s chosen people and the work of the church should not be affected by the disputes and unreasonable troublemaking of a few evil individuals—it’s not worth it and is also unfair to God’s chosen people.

If evil people often cause disturbances in the church, leading to ineffective church life, the best solution is to categorize people and split up gatherings into different groups: Those who love the truth and sincerely do their duties gather together; those who want to pursue the truth but do not do their duties gather together; and those who love to cause disruptions and disturbances, gossip about others, and judge and condemn others gather together. This way, the church can be primarily split up into three groups of people—dividing everyone by kind, you could say—thus ensuring these groups do not interfere with each other during gatherings. People with bad humanity, no matter how recklessly they commit misdeeds, will not affect others but only harm themselves. Some people have a vicious disposition. If someone says something that hurts or offends them, they will hate that person, and think of ways to attack and retaliate against them. No matter how the truth is fellowshipped to them, or how they are pruned, they do not accept it. They would sooner die than repent, and continue to disturb church life. This proves that they are evil people. We cannot keep tolerating these sorts of evil people. They should be cleared out of the church according to the truth principles. This is the only way to thoroughly resolve this problem. No matter what mistakes they have made or bad things they have done, those people with vicious dispositions will not allow anyone to expose them or prune them. Should someone expose and offend them, they will become enraged, retaliate, and never let the issue drop. They have no patience and tolerance for other people, and do not exercise forbearance toward them. What principle is their conduct based on? “I would rather betray than be betrayed.” In other words, they do not tolerate being offended by anyone. Is this not the logic of evil people? This is exactly the logic of evil people. No one is allowed to offend them. To them, it is unacceptable for anyone to trigger them in even the slightest way, and they hate anyone who does so. They will keep going after that person and never let the matter go—that is how evil people are. You should isolate or clear out evil people as soon as you discover that they have the essence of evil people, before they can do any great evil. This will minimize the damage they do; it is the wise choice. If leaders and workers wait until an evil person causes some kind of disaster to handle them, they are being passive. That would prove that the leaders and workers are very foolish, and have no principles to their actions. There are some leaders and workers who are just this foolish and ignorant. They insist on waiting until they have conclusive evidence before handling evil people because they think that is the only way their minds will be at ease. But in fact, you do not need conclusive evidence to be sure someone is evil. You can tell by their everyday words and actions. Once you are sure they are evil, you can start by restricting or isolating them. This will ensure that neither the church’s work nor the life entry of God’s chosen people are harmed. Some leaders and workers cannot discern who is evil, nor can they handle evil people in a timely manner. As a result, the work of the church and church life are impacted, and the life entry of God’s chosen people is hindered. This is very foolish. This is how false leaders carry out work. For one thing, they lack discernment, and for another, they are people pleasers who fear offending others. When serving as leaders, such people, firstly, cannot do real work; and secondly, they harm God’s chosen people. They can’t even solve the problem of disturbances caused by evil people promptly, nor can they protect the brothers and sisters; such people are not fit to be leaders and workers. Tell Me, if a person is identified as evil, is there still a need to fellowship the truth to help them? (No.) There’s no need to give them a chance. Some people have too much “love,” always giving evil ones a chance to repent, but can this achieve any effect? Does this conform to the principles of God’s words? Have you seen any evil person who can truly repent? No one has ever seen that. Hoping for evil people to repent is like pitying poisonous snakes; it is to pity wild beasts. This is because based on the essence of evil people, it can be determined that evil people will never love positive things, will never accept the truth, and will never repent. You will not find the word “repentance” in their dictionary. No matter how you fellowship the truth to them, they will not put aside their own motives and interests, and will find various reasons and excuses to justify themselves, and no one can persuade them. If they suffer a loss, it’s unbearable for them, and they will endlessly pester others about it. How can such people, who are not willing to suffer any loss, truly repent? Extremely selfish people are those who prioritize their own interests above all; they are evil people, and they will never repent. If you have already thoroughly perceived that such a person is evil and you still give them a chance to repent, isn’t that foolish? This is equivalent to warming a frozen snake in your bosom, only to be bitten by it later. Only a fool would do such a stupid thing. In the church, God’s chosen ones hating evil people is a normal phenomenon, because evil people lack humanity and always do immoral things. Hating evil people is the correct mindset. It is part of what people should possess in their normal humanity.

Tell Me, what kind of person is someone who has no love at all for the brothers and sisters? Why do they not even have a bit of a normal interpersonal relationship with the brothers and sisters? This kind of person, no matter who they interact with, only links these interactions to interests and transactions; if there are no interests or transactions involved, they will not bother with people. Isn’t this kind of person evil? Some people do not pursue the truth and live only based on feelings; whoever treats them well, they draw close to, and whoever helps them, they think of as good. Such people also do not have normal interpersonal relationships. They live solely based on feelings, so can they treat the brothers and sisters fairly and justly? This is absolutely unattainable. Therefore, anyone who does not have a normal interpersonal relationship with the brothers and sisters, or with those who sincerely believe in God, is someone without conscience and reason, is someone without normal humanity, and is definitely not someone who loves the truth. These individuals are no different from the petty riffraff among the nonbelievers; they interact with whoever is beneficial to them and ignore those who are not. Moreover, when they see someone pursuing the truth or someone who can share experiential testimonies—someone whom everyone admires and likes—they become jealous and hateful and try everything to gather ammunition with which to judge and condemn these people who pursue the truth. Isn’t this what evil people do? Such people lack conscience and reason—they are worse than beasts. They cannot treat people correctly, cannot get along with others normally, cannot build normal interpersonal relationships with God’s chosen people, and can even hate those who pursue the truth. Such people must feel very solitary and lonely in their hearts, always blaming others and the world. What joy or meaning do they have in living? These people are vicious in disposition, and no matter who they interact with, they can develop hatred over trivial matters, condemning and retaliating against them, bringing disasters upon them. Such evil individuals are out-and-out devils, bringing disaster to the church with each day they remain. If they stay for a long time, the disasters will be unending. Only by clearing them out of the church can disasters be averted. Additionally, there are those who appear civilized on the outside but have a special fondness for benefits. Thus, their belief in God is also for the pursuit of benefits. If they haven’t taken some undue advantage in a while, their faces become clouded with gloom, as if someone owes them a great deal of money. Anyone who sees their resentful and despondent faces is immediately emotionally affected. What effect do you think such a face would bring if it appeared in church life? Most of God’s chosen people would definitely feel uncomfortable seeing it, and their reading of God’s words and fellowship of the truth would be disturbed and affected to varying degrees. Especially for those who have not rooted themselves in the true way, often seeing this perpetually gloomy face in church life would too easily affect them! The church should have more people with cheerful personalities, who speak simply and openly, and more people whose hearts are filled with peace and joy, and whose spirits are free and liberated. This would make church life enjoyable. Those sourpusses who are perpetually gloomy should pray to God at home and adjust their mindset before coming to gatherings. This way, they will be in a good mood, and they will gain something from the gathering. Additionally, this will also benefit others; at the very least, they won’t be disturbed. To ensure that God’s chosen people can live a normal church life, leaders and workers should learn to fellowship the truth to solve problems. If someone comes to a gathering with a gloomy face, the leaders and workers should step forward and ask, “Do you need help?” This is called proactively helping others out of love. If leaders and workers see someone with a problem and ignore it, avoiding and steering clear of those “sourpusses” without fellowshipping the truth to brighten their day, then they are not doing actual work. To do church work effectively, leaders and workers must first of all learn to be the confidants of God’s chosen people, akin to what nonbelievers would call a caring government official. Some people are unwilling to play such a role, always preferring to be a bystander—how can they lead God’s chosen people to live a good church life this way? In fact, whether someone has problems in their heart can to some extent be seen from their facial expression. If someone’s face is always gloomy, it surely means their heart is dark without a speck of light. If they’re immersed in disputes over right and wrong all day long, could their face still bear a smile? The faces of these people are always covered with dark clouds, without a moment of sunshine, and this also affects their performance of duty. If leaders and workers are slow to address and resolve this issue, causing the brothers and sisters to suffer constant disturbance and unspeakable misery, it proves that the leaders and workers are incapable of performing actual work, unable to solve problems with the truth, and are utterly worthless. If leaders and workers understand the truth and can identify problems of the brothers and sisters, and can provide timely support and help, not only being able to help solve people’s problems, but also being able to help people understand the truth principles and fulfill their duties, then their performance of duty and handling of matters will be efficient, and church work will not be affected. If leaders and workers cannot promptly identify and solve problems, this affects the church’s work. If leaders and workers cannot identify and handle problems, causing damage to the church’s work and hindering the life entry of God’s chosen people, haven’t they failed God and His chosen people? Don’t they lack principles in handling matters? Handling problems promptly and without hesitation after seeing through to their essence—this is called fulfilling responsibilities and being loyal, and this is doing one’s duty in a way that is up to standard.

The topic of today’s fellowship is the sixth issue—engaging in improper relationships. The problems of this type that emerge in church life are basically these: improper relationships between the sexes, same-sex relationships, relationships of vested interests, and hatred between individuals. Whether it’s relationships based on fleshly lust, fleshly interests, or sentimental entanglements of the flesh, they all fall within the category of improper relationships because they exceed the scope of conscience and reason of normal humanity. The existence of these improper relationships can perturb people to a certain degree. More seriously, they can disturb people’s life entry, their pursuit of the truth, and their pursuit of knowing God. These various kinds of improper relationships do not originate from conscience or reason, and they run counter to normal humanity. It is difficult for people to accept and practice the truth when they live within these abnormal relationships, and this also disturbs them in living the church life and pursuing life growth, as well as the order of church life. This is detrimental to the life entry of God’s chosen people and can also harm the work of the church. Because of all this, it is imperative for leaders and workers to promptly identify and handle these issues.

Regarding improper relationships, we have already enumerated different situations and categorized them. Can you provide some examples to practice discernment? What is the purpose of learning discernment? It is to enable you to discern and define the essence of people, events, and things, so as to make accurate judgments, and then treat them according to principles. This is the ultimate result. Has anyone said, “You talk all day about these matters of right and wrong, these everyday matters—we aren’t willing to listen to them anymore; we don’t even want to come to gatherings anymore. Shouldn’t You be fellowshipping on the truth? Why always talk about these situations”? Have you noticed such people? What kind of people are they? (People who lack spiritual understanding.) We fellowship in this way, and yet they still can’t understand the truth—they do not meet the intelligence of a normal person; such people are completely useless. Should someone whose intelligence doesn’t meet that of a human still be made to listen to sermons? Perhaps they would propose: “Gatherings are always about fellowshipping the truth, always talking about stuff like practicing the truth—I’m tired of listening to this. I’m not willing to come to gatherings anymore.” If they truly hold such a view, then they are someone who is averse to the truth. For such people, God’s house does not insist on their attendance; quickly send them away. If they themselves are unwilling to come to gatherings, and aren’t receptive to what is discussed at them, we do not insist—we aren’t looking to trouble them. People like this, even if they believe in God for a lifetime, will not understand the truth and will not enter into reality; it’s a waste of effort. If they like listening to theological knowledge, then let them go and study theological knowledge; one day, when they do not obtain the truth as life, they will regret it.

May 29, 2021