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 Seven)

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

The Principles for Handling Those Who Engage in Improper Relationships

Regarding the various people, events, and things that disrupt and disturb God’s work and the normal order of the church, we have divided them into eleven issues in total. Previously, we fellowshipped on the sixth issue—engaging in improper relationships. What does this mainly refer to? Recklessly seducing others and engaging in relationships of lustful desire. What was fellowshipped in regard to this aspect? When such people appear in the church, how should they be dealt with? What solutions are there? Should we turn a blind eye and let it go unchecked, or should we resolve the problem according to the truth principles? Should we avoid it or influence those involved out of love? Should we fellowship the truth to them or warn them and clear them out? What is the most appropriate way to handle it? (Warn and restrict those involved. If they cannot be restricted, clear them out.) How should they be restricted? Is this easy to do? When such matters occur, it is generally not so easy to restrict those involved. Some people notice such a situation and feel it is inappropriate, but they’re embarrassed to speak up. Some people may hint at it indirectly, but those involved don’t necessarily listen. How is the humanity of all the people who can recklessly seduce others? Are they dignified and upright people? Are they people with the decorum of saints? Are they people with dignity and a sense of shame? (No.) If someone just reminds them with words or fellowships the truth normally to them, can it solve the problem? It cannot. When such a matter occurs, it means it has actually been brewing in their hearts for a long time. At that point, is it easy to control? Can helping and attempting to lovingly influence them solve the problem? (No.) So, what is the best solution? It is to clear out such people, to isolate them from those who sincerely believe in God and do their duties, and to not let them continue to disturb and harm others.

Currently, in some churches, incidents of men and women seducing each other are cropping up incessantly. These people, as long as they have the opportunity, seduce each other, behaving particularly wantonly and without any sense of shame. I heard about a man who seduced multiple women; he was not engaging in serious courtship but just recklessly seducing and clinging to any woman he met. Some people say, “They are just interacting normally; that’s just their way of interacting.” Most people find that way of interacting unedifying, revolting, and disgusting. Isn’t this a problem? Can this prove that such relationships are improper? If two people dating not only affects their own performance of their duties but also that of others, they should be restricted. They shall not be allowed to date within church life, especially not in a full-time duty church, because this affects others’ performance of duty and is detrimental to church work. When they can keep their mind on their duties, they can return to the full-time duty church to do their duties. Some people do not engage in serious dating but rather seduce and cling to others recklessly, toying with lustful desires, disturbing church life, affecting people’s moods, and disturbing others. This situation constitutes a disturbance of the church’s work and should be resolved and handled according to the principles; these people should be isolated and cleared out in a timely manner. Is this problem easy to handle? No one should be allowed to disturb and disrupt church life and the church’s work, and such issues should be handled according to principles. Some people say, “In situations where there will be no one to take up their duties if they are dealt with, they cannot be dealt with; they should be allowed to just carry on and seduce others as they wish. However they seduce others, it should be permitted.” Does God’s house have such a rule? Was there such a principle in the last gathering’s fellowship on how to deal with such people? (No.) When encountering such situations, the church leaders and supervisors become confused and do not know how to handle them, allowing these people to recklessly seduce others in the church, which makes most people feel uncomfortable and leaves them unedified, being repulsed in their hearts but not daring to speak out and having to endure it. The leaders and supervisors believe that the church’s work and God’s house cannot do without these people, that if these reckless seducers are sent away, there will be fewer hands to do the work. Is this logic correct? (No.) How is it incorrect? (These people cannot do the work; they have no mind for it.) That hits the nail on the head. What kind of people do you think are capable of recklessly seducing others? They have no restraint whatsoever; they are disbelievers, nonbelievers. It’s not only that they do not love the truth, are averse to the truth, have little faith, are young, and have a shallow foundation—that’s not all it is. Are all nonbelievers who don’t believe in God capable of recklessly seducing others? Are they all capable of engaging in licentious activities? Only a portion of them; a minority still value integrity and dignity, care about their reputation, and have a baseline for their conduct. These so-called believers in God are no better than nonbelievers, so is it excessive to call them nonbelievers and disbelievers? (No.) Although these people can perform some labor in God’s house, in terms of their nature, they are disbelievers and nonbelievers. They have no principles in anything they do and conduct themselves with no baseline, no dignity, and no sense of shame. Nonbelievers even espouse the idea that “People need their pride just as a tree needs its bark”; yet these people don’t even want to preserve their pride, so can they want the truth? Can they sincerely expend for God? Can they act according to the principles in their duty? Absolutely not! They are purely laboring. People who labor possess no truth whatsoever; their labor disrupts and disturbs, and does not meet the standard of doing duty. Although outwardly they seem to be doing their duty, no matter how you fellowship the principles with them, they simply do not listen. They do whatever they want, not acting according to the principles. When these people listen to sermons, their demeanor and expressions expose their essence as disbelievers. Others sit upright, listening seriously and attentively, but how do these people listen? Some rest against a table, stretching and yawning frequently, not sitting properly, looking nothing like a human. What kind of people are those who look nothing like humans? They are not humans at all; they merely wear the trappings of humans. How do you feel when you see a group of these “reptiles” coming to listen to sermons? Doesn’t it make you uncomfortable? (Yes.) This group looks disgusting, and seeing them makes Me not want to speak. I speak to humans, not to reptiles. Can the states of people who listen to sermons like this improve as they do their duty? Can their faith in God grow and can they understand the truth more clearly the more they do their duty? Absolutely not! No matter how they do their duty, their stature and faith do not grow. They do everything wantonly and without restraint, living within the lusts of the flesh and corrupt dispositions without any awareness, self-reproach, or discipline—they are non-humans! For such people, without even considering the other bad things they have done or their actions that have violated the principles and harmed the interests of God’s house, solely engaging in improper relationships is enough for them to be cleared out. This is a very simple matter, yet church leaders and supervisors just scratch their heads, not knowing how to handle it. This matter is very easy to handle; it has been fellowshipped on before. It should be handled according to the principles, and those who ought to be cleared out should be cleared out. Don’t overthink it; the work of God’s house will carry on just fine without them. Tell Me, what should someone do if they find dog poop or excrement somewhere? They should clean it up immediately; if not cleaned up in time, flies and mosquitoes will come right away, and people cannot have peace in such a place. What do I mean by all this? (To solve the problem of engaging in improper relationships in the church, the first step is to cleanse away those vile disbelievers.) Yes, that’s exactly what I mean. If there are people of the “stinking dog poop” variety in the church, they will surely attract some “stinking flies.” By cleansing away the stinking dog poop, these flies will naturally disappear. Isn’t this a solution? Is this solution reasonable? (Yes.) When dealing with such issues, some church leaders always have concerns, saying, “If we cleanse away those who recklessly seduce others, won’t there be fewer people to do the work?” Is this a problem? (No.) Why not? How should this concern be resolved? Even if their concern made sense, thinking that if the demands on people were too strict and those who could do the work were cleansed away, there would be no one to do this portion of the work, wouldn’t it be easy to find some other capable people to replace them? (Yes.) And even if replacements could not be found immediately, the work could be done later when suitable people were found without affecting the work of God’s house. God’s house does not support these people who do not do proper work. If they can repent and attend to proper tasks, they can continue to do the work, but if they do not repent, then they should be disqualified from performing their duty. Isn’t this justified and reasonable? God’s house would rather support laborers than support disbelievers and nonbelievers. Is this principle correct? (Yes.) In what way is it correct? Even if a laborer does not pursue the truth, they are still willing to labor, and they can exert effort in a well-behaved and obedient manner in God’s house. Even though they are just toiling, they are loyal, and at the very least they are not bad people. These are the kinds of people that God’s house retains. If a person is bad and vile, always engaging in crooked and nefarious practices, and if they cannot even labor well and are not up to standard as a laborer, then such people are nonbelievers, and God’s house does not keep them. Therefore, it is not because they are laborers that God’s house does not keep them, but because their labor is not even up to standard, because even their labor is transactional. It is because they always want to do evil and cause disturbances, always trying to engage in crooked and nefarious practices in the church, upsetting the order of the church’s work and affecting most people’s performance of duty. They corrupt the atmosphere of the church and disgrace God’s name—nothing could be more appropriate than cleansing them away. Wherever there are people of the “stinking dog poop” variety, they should be cleansed away immediately. Understood? (Yes.)

XI. Manipulating and Sabotaging Elections

Today, we will continue fellowshipping on the twelfth responsibility of leaders and workers: “Promptly and accurately identify the various people, events, and things that disrupt and disturb God’s work and the normal order of the church; stop and restrict them, and turn things around; additionally, fellowship the truth so that God’s chosen people develop discernment through such things and learn from them.” What is the eleventh issue of this twelfth responsibility? (Manipulating and sabotaging elections.) We have done some fellowshipping on manipulating and sabotaging elections before when fellowshipping on and exposing the various manifestations of antichrists, haven’t we? (Yes.) The work arrangements of God’s house include rules for church elections. Elections can be held once a year, and there can also be elections held under certain special circumstances. All churches should select leaders and workers at all levels according to the principles set by God’s house. The rules for elections include election principles, the criteria for selecting people, the methods and approaches of elections, and various matters of attention that the brothers and sisters need to be aware of during elections. Of course, before each election, leaders and workers at all levels should fellowship on all aspects of the election principles to ensure that God’s chosen people can clearly understand them. This way, the results of the election will be better. We will not fellowship on the details of elections today; the main topic of today’s fellowship is some manifestations of manipulating and sabotaging elections.

A. The Manifestations of Manipulating and Sabotaging Elections

Church elections must strictly follow the election principles set by God’s house to select the candidates most suitable for being leaders and workers. If the election principles are violated and other election methods are used, this is the doing of false leaders and antichrists. God’s house must outlaw such violations and investigate and deal with the main individuals who manipulated the elections. During church elections, various people will be revealed, and people’s various mentalities will be exposed. Some people pull lots of shady maneuvers behind the scenes to get themselves elected as leaders or to get people who are beneficial to them elected. For example, some people fear that those who pursue the truth will be elected as leaders and threaten their status, and so they make every effort to pass judgment on these people behind their backs about the weaknesses they’ve shown and mistakes they’ve made, condemning them as arrogant and self-righteous with the disposition of antichrists, and so on, all in an attempt to make them lose the election. Others, in order to get elected as leaders, buy nice things to bribe people during the election period or make promises with pleasant-sounding words, and also use various means to incite and instigate others on whom to vote for or against. No matter what means and methods they use, they’re all for the sake of manipulating elections and swaying election results. Despite the church repeatedly fellowshipping on the principles of elections—such as selecting those with good humanity, who pursue the truth, and who can lead the brothers and sisters to do their duties normally, read God’s words normally, enter the truth reality, and other such principles—these people just do not listen and want to pull shady maneuvers. What does it mean to pull shady maneuvers? It means they always want to cheat. They never openly evaluate who is good and who is not, always wanting to pull shady maneuvers and engage in cunning schemes and machinations behind the scenes. They even plot behind the scenes about whom to elect and whom not to elect, trying to get everyone to reach a consensus. Aren’t these shady maneuvers? Isn’t this cheating? (Yes.) Is this safeguarding elections in an open and aboveboard manner according to the truth principles? No, it isn’t—they are using human schemes and methods in an audacious attempt to manipulate elections. What is their purpose in manipulating elections? They want to control election results, they want to be elected themselves, and if they cannot be elected then they want to decide who is elected, so they pull shady maneuvers behind the scenes. They do not show consideration for the work of the church or the life entry of the brothers and sisters. They do not think about the interests of God’s house or the brothers and sisters; they only consider their personal interests. When elections take place, their own intentions and desires are their top priority. So why do they want to manipulate elections? If someone truly wanted to bring the brothers and sisters before God and into the truth reality, would they act this way? Would they have such ambitions? Would they display such behavior? No, they wouldn’t. Only those with ulterior motives, ambitions and desires who want to manipulate the church’s elections would act this way. Within the church, they draw in some people who get along rather well with them, who share their views, and who have the same motives and aims, and also ensnare some people who are usually weak, don’t pursue the truth much, and are muddled, ignorant, and easily swayed and manipulated, forming a force to disturb the church’s election work. Their purpose in opposing the church is to get themselves elected, to get themselves to have the final say in the election results. They want to elect their predetermined people, those who are beneficial to them. If these people get elected, then their plot has succeeded. Would the result of such an election be correct or incorrect? (Incorrect.) It would definitely be incorrect. Those elected through an election rigged by evil people would certainly be beneficial to the evil people. Why would they be beneficial to these evil people? Because the evil people could then act willfully and recklessly, and run amok in the church without anyone daring to expose or restrict them. They would not be cleared out, while those who pursue the truth would be excluded and suppressed by them, and the church would become the domain of the evil ones. Clearly, the end result of an election manipulated by evil people is definitely incorrect; it certainly goes against popular opinion and violates the principles. The church leaders and the brothers and sisters should be aware and vigilant of all the behaviors and actions of these people during elections. They should not be muddleheaded about this. Once signs of manipulation and sabotage of an election are discovered, measures should be taken promptly to restrict those involved, and if these people cannot be restricted, they should be isolated. These people are particularly audacious, unrestrained, and difficult to control. To sabotage elections and manipulate the results, they will surely pull shady maneuvers behind the scenes, saying and doing many things. What should be done about this? The matter is easy to handle. If church leaders discover the problem, they should expose it and publicize it, having the brothers and sisters fellowship on the severity and consequences of this matter, and on just what the nature of such actions is. Finally, they should take certain measures. What measures should be taken? Whoever is always pulling shady maneuvers behind the scenes and attempting to manipulate and sabotage elections should be dealt with unceremoniously and be barred from participating in elections. What does this mean? It means their vote does not count. No matter how many people are involved in manipulating and sabotaging an election, their votes should all be nullified, and they should not be allowed to participate in the election. Regardless of who it is that gets misled and disturbed, as long as they have followed the ways of those manipulating the election and colluded with evil people to deliberately damage the election, God’s chosen people should stand up to expose them and revoke their right to participate in elections. Is this a good approach? (Yes.) This is done entirely to safeguard the work of the church. Don’t these people refuse to accept restrictions? Don’t they refuse to accept the election principles of God’s house? Don’t they want to have the final say? If they have the final say, it is Satan who is having the final say. God’s house and the church are places where the truth reigns; Satan cannot be allowed to call the shots. Since these people want to pull shady maneuvers and deliberately manipulate and sabotage this election, it’s simple—their votes are nullified. No matter who they vote for, it’s no use; none of their opinions are valid, and even if they insist on running in the election, that won’t work. God’s house has administrative decrees and regulations, and their right to participate in this election has been stripped and canceled. If they still disturb the next election, then their right to participate in elections will be thoroughly revoked, and they will absolutely no longer be allowed to participate. This is how those who always pull shady maneuvers to manipulate and sabotage elections should be handled.

Whenever there is a church election, there are always some evil people who start to grow restless: Some pull shady maneuvers behind the scenes in an attempt to manipulate and sabotage the election, while some are eager to compete openly with others for the leadership position, arguing until they turn red in the face, even being on the brink of acting impetuously, resorting to violence, and coming to blows, leaving the brothers and sisters unsure of whom to listen to or elect. During the election, they do not fellowship on the truth, nor do they discuss how they would carry out the church’s work, what paths there would be in the work, or what work ideas and plans they would propose if elected leader. Instead, they make sure to expose the shortcomings of other candidates and attack them, while also drawing in one group of people to form opposition against another group, creating a divisive situation in the church. What does such an election become? It becomes something that divides the church. Before the election results are even out, the church has already been divided. Is this a phenomenon that should emerge during a church election? Is it a normal phenomenon? No, it’s not. If you want to be a leader and believe you have some abilities and a sense of burden and are qualified for this work, you can participate in the election according to the principles of God’s house. Of course, you can also state your strengths and merits and fellowship on your understandings and experiences, so that the brothers and sisters can be convinced and trust you to take on the work of church leadership. However, you should not achieve your goal of being elected by attacking others, as this can easily mislead people and bring about negative consequences. Brothers and sisters of small stature and with no discernment can easily be misled by you and will not know whom to choose, and the church can also be thrown into chaos and plagued by division. Wouldn’t that be giving Satan an opening to exploit? In short, participating in an election without following the principles, and always having ambitions and desires and using despicable means to achieve one’s goal of being elected are all of the nature of manipulating and sabotaging elections and are improper election behavior. Of course, some people have proper behaviors that should be distinguished from this. For example, if a candidate fellowships on how to do various items of church work well, such as gospel work, text-based work, and general affairs work, or how to improve church life, resolve the difficulties of God’s chosen people in their life entry, and so on, this is all proper. Expressing one’s viewpoints and understandings properly, sharing one’s thinking and plans regarding church work, and so on—these are all part of normal speech and behavior, and they align with the election principles set by the church. Apart from these, any improper behaviors displayed during election periods that are particularly obvious should draw people’s attention. People need to be vigilant toward these and discern them—do not be careless.

Some people often mention being busy with work, having many issues with their family, or an unsuitable environment as excuses for not doing their duties and not participating in church life. However, when the time comes to elect church leaders, these difficulties suddenly cease to exist, and they meticulously dress themselves up for the occasion and come to participate in the election. They haven’t shown up for a long time, but upon hearing the great news of the church election, they rush over eagerly. What are they coming for? They are coming for the election, for the position of church leader, for this “official position.” Such people are particularly shrewd in their actions. Fearing that others will suspect they want to become a church leader, they avoid mentioning the election and only focus on fellowshipping their understandings and experiences to gain people’s admiration. They also publicly eat and drink God’s words, lead everyone to fellowship on God’s words, and share their own experiential testimony. In actuality, they generally rarely participate in church life and seldom fellowship the truth, nor are they able to speak about any experiential understandings. However, as the election approaches, they become very different. They actively participate in church life and are eager to pray, sing hymns, and fellowship, appearing especially driven and proactive and standing out prominently. After gatherings, they look for opportunities to chat about family matters with the brothers and sisters and build connections. When they see a church leader, they say, “You aren’t looking too good these days. I have some dates at home; let me bring you some.” When they see a certain sister, they say, “I heard your family is having financial difficulties. Do you need any help? I can give you some clothes.” They are particularly active at every gathering, very different from before. In the past, they would occasionally show up just to check in, and no matter who called them to a gathering, they would excuse themselves by saying they were busy. But during the election period, they suddenly pop up and participate in every gathering without missing one. At each gathering, the brothers and sisters fellowship about matters and principles related to the election, and of course, they also get involved. During this period, they make every effort to build good relationships with the brothers and sisters, striving to draw in a portion of them. They even make multiple offerings in front of the brothers and sisters, causing most people to feel astonished, thinking, “They have believed in God for so long, but we have never seen them make offerings before. Why are they so generous this time? Have they really changed for the better and turned themselves around?” Some foolish and ignorant people who cannot assess matters think that this person has indeed changed for the better, that they had misjudged this person before, and they unknowingly develop a favorable impression of them in their hearts, thinking, “This person’s family is well-off; they have connections and access to ways of getting things done. If they become a church leader, they can get many things done for the church. Wouldn’t this provide help to our church in preaching the gospel and hosting some brothers and sisters who are being hunted and have difficulties? If they can remain this active, it would be great, but I’m not sure whether they can keep it up or whether they’d be willing to be our church leader.” Haven’t some people been misled and fooled? Everything this person has been doing is starting to bear fruit, isn’t it? The pieces are falling into place and results are soon to come. Isn’t this what they want? (Yes.) Additionally, they give two articles of clothing to one person, a basket of vegetables to another, and some health supplements to yet another person, making sure everyone is cared for. This makes people think, “If this person became a church leader, wouldn’t they make a great shepherd? Aren’t they someone that most people want to rely on?” Isn’t the timing now ripe? Won’t the brothers and sisters easily choose someone like this? This person is educated, articulate, and has a certain status in society. If the church faces arrests, they can shield the brothers and sisters. If any of the brothers’ and sisters’ families have difficulties, they can extend a helping hand, and they can also assist with church work when more hands are needed. However, there is one thing that most people are uncertain about: “They didn’t use to pursue the truth, and seldom attended gatherings for a long time. But now, when it’s time for an election, they hastily attend a few gatherings. If they are elected as a leader, will they understand the truth? If they don’t understand the truth and can only protect these people or provide some benefits to them, can they help people understand the truth? Can they bring people before God? This is questionable.” Some have doubts in their hearts, while others have already been influenced and bought over by this person’s benefits. Isn’t this situation very dangerous? A single vote could make the difference in them being elected. Regardless of the final election result, are the actions and behaviors of such people proper? (No.) At the most opportune moments, they give alms, make offerings, and assist the brothers and sisters in resolving some real difficulties. When some brothers and sisters move house, they provide transportation, and when some of the brothers’ and sisters’ families are short of money, they lend them some. When some lack a phone, they buy them one, and when some don’t have a computer, they give them their own. … They do these things at the most opportune moments, the most critical junctures. What kind of behavior is this? Isn’t doing these things with the intention of competing for leadership, with unmentionable secrets and purposes, manipulating and sabotaging elections? (Yes.) They don’t come earlier or later, but rather show up precisely at the time of the leadership election. Aren’t they harboring unmentionable secrets? This couldn’t be more obvious; they must be harboring unmentionable secrets. It’s not that they had a sudden pang of conscience and want to do some good deeds; their goal is to run for church leadership, to become the person in charge of the church, to manipulate the church and God’s chosen people. Do they want to manipulate these people so that they can truly do things for them? (No.) So what do they want to do? They want to control God’s chosen people, control the church, and carve out a position in the church where they can act as an official and call the shots. Don’t these unusual methods and practices count as manipulating and sabotaging elections? (Yes.)

During church elections, some people who fear they won’t get enough votes cast a vote for themselves. Doesn’t this sound ludicrous and strange? What is the nature of someone casting a vote for themselves? Is it a manifestation of lacking confidence, of shamelessness, or of excessive ambition? It’s all of these. They fear not being elected, so they have no other choice but to vote for themselves—this is a lack of confidence. They don’t have what it takes but still want to be a leader; fearing others won’t vote for them, they vote for themselves. Isn’t this shamelessness? Furthermore, their excessive ambition clouds their judgment to the point where they toss pride out the window and become devoid of integrity and dignity: “If you don’t vote for me, I won’t have it; I must be a church leader. If I can’t become a leader, I won’t believe in God anymore!” They insist on being a leader, on acting as an official, only feeling at ease and content in life when they have status—what tremendous ambitions and desires they have! They cherish status too much, believing in God just to become a leader. What’s so great about being a leader? If they didn’t value the benefits of status and didn’t enjoy all the preferential treatment it brings, would they still covet this position? Would they still vote for themselves? Would their ambitions and desires still be so great? Would they still cherish status so much? No, they wouldn’t. Such people always want to tamper with and put effort into elections, resorting to any underhanded deeds. Even though they themselves feel that acting in such a way is disgraceful, not open or aboveboard, and somewhat degrading, after some consideration, they think, “Whatever, what’s important is getting elected as leader!” This is shamelessness. They even want to imitate the debate methods used in the elections of democratic countries, where candidates expose each other’s faults, pass judgment on and attack each other, and engage in verbal spats, applying these tactics to the church’s elections—isn’t this a grievous error? Isn’t this the wrong arena for such tactics? If you come to the church to engage in these crooked and nefarious actions and try to manipulate and sabotage elections, I tell you, you’ve chosen the wrong place to do so! This is God’s house, not society; everyone who manipulates and sabotages elections will be condemned, to a person. In the church, no matter what reasons, excuses, or methods are used in an attempt to manipulate and sabotage elections, they are untenable, and this constitutes an evil deed—it is forever an evil deed! All who attempt to manipulate and sabotage elections are condemned. Such people are not recognized as members of God’s house or as brothers and sisters, and are instead labeled as servants of Satan. What kind of things do servants of Satan do? They specialize in doing all manner of things that disrupt and disturb God’s work and the normal order of the church. Those who manipulate and sabotage elections are playing these negative roles, doing the things that servants of Satan do. Whatever work the church undertakes, these people rise up to sabotage and destroy it, disregarding the work arrangements and regulations of God’s house, disregarding God’s administrative decrees, and even more so disregarding God. They attempt to do whatever they want in God’s house, manipulating various church affairs, and even more so manipulating church members, going so far as to manipulate and sabotage church elections. Through what means do they attempt to manipulate church personnel? They look for opportunities to manipulate and sabotage church elections. Once an election has been manipulated and sabotaged by these servants of Satan, the election has failed. If these servants of Satan have their way and become church leaders, is the election result correct or incorrect? It’s incorrect, of course. A do-over election should be held through fellowshipping the truth and summarizing lessons learned.

B. The Principles for Handling the Evil People Who Manipulate the Church Elections

When a case of evil people manipulating elections occurs, it is necessary to conduct a do-over election. How should this be practiced? (The election results should be overturned and another election should be held.) This is one way. The inside information about how this election was manipulated by evil people should be made open and public so that everyone knows what the election process was like and how the results were produced. After this inside information becomes known, the election results should be negated, and a do-over election should be held. Such an election must not be approved by a majority of God’s chosen people; and it doesn’t matter who was elected—the results cannot be accepted. Under normal circumstances, through fellowshipping on the truth and exposing the inside story, the election results can be denied, and a do-over election can be held. But sometimes, in certain special circumstances, even if a small portion of people find out that the election results were manipulated by servants of Satan and that the elected person absolutely cannot do the work and is just a puppet, because the majority in the church are misled by the evil people and still stand on the side of the servants of Satan while only a minority have some discernment and know the inside information—and no one believes this minority or listens to them when they speak up—they are isolated and powerless, and fundamentally lack the strength to reverse the situation. In such circumstances, you may want to expose the inside story about the manipulation of the election, but it’s not easy to understand the situation clearly. In that case, besides reporting it to the upper-level leaders and workers, what else can you do? If you continue to live church life, you will be excluded. Attending gatherings at another church doesn’t seem appropriate, as the people there cannot just host a stranger at random. This truly puts you in a dilemma! You see that the elected church leader has bad humanity, is a devil, and isn’t someone who should have been elected, so you get angry just seeing them. Going to gatherings makes you feel uncomfortable, but not going is not an option. If you don’t go, and cut off your relationship with the church, you will lose your church life, which is not something you can do. So is there a good solution to this problem? This requires wisdom. What would be the consequence if you rashly expose them? Those people might band together to suppress you, drive you away, or if things really didn’t go well, they might even clear you out, making you a victim of injustice. This is the most likely consequence. So what is the best solution? (Join forces with some brothers and sisters who have discernment and collect all the evidence of these people’s evil deeds of covertly manipulating the election. Report it to the upper-level leaders and workers, and also quickly fellowship the truth with the misled brothers and sisters to bring them back.) Is this considered a good solution? Is it okay to do such things hastily? What is the consequence of being hasty? (It makes it easy to inadvertently alert the enemy.) When you encounter matters like this, are you afraid or nervous? Should you be afraid or nervous? (No.) Theoretically, you shouldn’t be afraid—this is what your rationality tells you. But how is it for people in reality? What’s most crucial is whether people understand the truth. If people don’t understand the truth and only have their resolve, they will still be afraid inside. When you are afraid, is it easy to achieve results no matter what you do or how you do it? (No.) When you are afraid, what kind of state are you in? You fear these people’s power, fear that they will find out you have discerned them and are guarded against them, and fear that they will suppress and exclude you when they see you are not on their side, ultimately clearing you out of the church. You will have these concerns in your heart. When you have such concerns, can you have wisdom, courage, and the means to interact with these people, solve the problems they caused, or unmask their evil deeds so that the brothers and sisters have discernment and are not misled? What is the most appropriate way to act? When you are afraid, are you not in a weak condition? First of all, you are weak and passive. For one thing, you lack strong faith in God, and for another, you think, “So, these evil people have succeeded. How is it that I’m the only one discerning this matter now? Do others have any discernment? If I tell others about the true situation, will they believe me? If they don’t believe me, will they expose me? If they all band together to deal with me, and I am alone and powerless, will those evil people find all sorts of excuses to clear me out?” Will you not have such concerns? When you have these concerns, how can you deal with those people? How can you interact with them in the most fitting and wisest way? At this time, do you not have no direction or path to follow? To put it precisely, when you are at your most afraid and weakest, you are simply unable to contend with them or to interact with them and handle the problems they caused. So what is the best approach for you at this time? Is it to take the initiative and strike first, confronting them and exposing their evil deeds to protect yourself? Is this method appropriate? (No.) Why is it not appropriate? Because you haven’t thought through how to act, you cannot see through to their essence, and you don’t know how to expose them, let alone whether those who are misled can accept the truth and reverse course. You don’t know any of these various things, and you are unclear on what the most beneficial and effective solution for you is. Even though you have yet to reach a certain level of negativity, your current condition is at least one of weakness and dread, and internally you have many concerns. Whether these concerns are legitimate or caused by your weakness and dread, in short, these are facts. When these facts arise, the best solution is to learn to wait and do nothing. What does it mean to do nothing? It means not hastening to expose the true situation about the election to those who’ve been deluded, and not rushing to oppose the newly elected church leaders or the group of people who manipulated and sabotaged the election. Do not expose them; at this time, you must learn to wait. Some people say, “Waiting is so passive; how long do I have to wait?” It doesn’t require waiting for too long. While you wait, come before God to pray, read God’s words, and seek the truth. In such circumstances, when you are at your most afraid and weakest, your prayers are the most genuine and sincere. You need God to guide and protect you; you need to rely on God. As you pray, your dread will diminish little by little until it’s gone. When your dread is gone, won’t you also be less weak? (Yes.) You will have fewer and fewer concerns, too. These dreads, weaknesses, and concerns do not disappear out of thin air; rather, during this process of change, you will gradually come to understand certain things. What things will you come to understand? For one thing, you will know how to deal with these people, whom to expose first, and how to speak and act in a way that benefits the work of God’s house. Additionally, you will know the nature of these people’s behavior. How do you come to understand these things? It is by seeking the truth during your waiting process that you gradually come to understand them. When you see this clearly, you will naturally ponder how you ought to apply wisdom, whom it is appropriate to talk to, and how to speak in a way that moves them, that lets them know the facts about evil people manipulating the election, and that enables them to reverse course, to discern the true faces of those who manipulated and sabotaged the election, and to discern what kind of people the so-called elected leaders actually are. You will have this kind of wisdom, and your actions will also be methodical. So how do these positive gains come about? They are all bestowed upon you by God during your waiting process. Some of them come about because of the work and the enlightenment of the Holy Spirit, and some are what God lets you see and understand in His words. God’s words say not to fight battles unprepared. What does this mean? It means that whether you are fighting against Satan or exposing the evil deeds of Satan’s servants, however you do battle with Satan, you must be strong yourself, understand the truth principles, and be able to see through the essence and evil deeds of Satan and the evil people and then expose them. Only by doing so will you achieve good results in the end. Once you understand these things, won’t your dreads, weaknesses, and concerns become less intense and less apparent? You will no longer feel so afraid. These things you feel will gradually change; you will find that you are not as weak as you were when the situation first arose. Instead, you will feel somewhat stronger and more self-assured than before, and you will know what to do. At this point, pray to God again and ask Him to prepare the right opportunity, and then take action. Report the situation to the upper-level leaders and workers while also fellowship with those who have good humanity and sincerely believe in God but were deluded and misled because they did not understand the truth, exposing the inside information about evil people manipulating the election to them. Once you’ve won over one or two of these people, your dread will basically disappear. You will realize that all of this cannot be done by relying on human strength, much less by relying on impetuousness; you cannot rely on momentary impulse or anger, or on a temporary, so-called sense of justice—these are all useless. God will prepare the right time for you and will enlighten you on what to say, and based on what you understand, He will guide you step by step, giving you a path to follow. From at first being weak and fearful to seeking and understanding the principles and the path—during this period, you can still interact with these evil people normally. During normal interactions, people’s minds are not vacant; they have their own thoughts. While you are seeking and praying, you observe these people. What do you observe? You look at just what kind of path they are taking and what their essence truly is. If what they say is correct and aligns with the principles of the church’s work, you can listen to them; if what they say disrupts and disturbs the church’s work, you can find an excuse to not listen or to stall for time, using a wise way of interacting with them “amicably” without alerting them. While “amicably” interacting with them, you collect evidence of their evil deeds, discerning them based on their various actions and fallacies that violate the truth principles and further confirming that these people are servants of Satan. Practicing in this way allows you to not be constrained by them while also fulfilling your responsibility and duty—this is what a wise person does. Only those with humanity, wisdom, and a love for the truth can walk the right path. For people without wisdom who act recklessly and crudely, always relying on impetuousness and impulse no matter what they are doing or what circumstances they are facing, their actions often lead to poor results. Such people not only disrupt and disturb the work of the church but also bring a lot of unnecessary troubles and vexations upon themselves. Wise people, meanwhile, are different. In whatever they do, they wait, observe, and seek, waiting for the right time, for God’s arrangements and orchestration. During the waiting period, they are able to seek God’s intentions, eat and drink God’s words with purpose, more accurately grasp the principles of the truth, and act according to God’s intentions. They use God’s words and the truth to fight a good fight and testify for God, rather than battling with people or engaging in verbal spats out of impetuousness.

When it comes to evil people manipulating and sabotaging elections, what’s most important is not whether you can see through these people or how you plan to expose them; it is to report the situation upward in a timely manner. You should use wisdom to contend with them, wait for God’s timing, seek God’s intentions, and seek the truth principles, while not holding up your duty. What is the ultimate result of doing this? You fulfill your responsibility and duty. By reporting the situation upward and seeking a solution, not only is the problem resolved, but you also gain insight, increase your discernment and wisdom, grow in stature, and strengthen your faith in God. People gain so much from experiencing a confrontation with Satan and it is greatly advantageous to them. Conversely, suppose someone acts out of impetuousness and impulse, getting into an intense fight with these people and arguing with them face-to-face, saying, “You are manipulating and sabotaging the election. Although you wield great power, I won’t yield to you, and I’m not afraid of you!” The result of this approach is being kicked out of the church, leaving them to cry and suffer at home for months; but still they do not understand God’s intentions: “Why did I end up in this mess? Do You not want me, God? Do You not care about me?” For months, they miss out on new sermons and hymns, are unaware of what work the church is undertaking, are unable to do their duties, and become completely isolated, falling utterly into darkness. Every day, aside from crying, all they do is worry. They don’t learn to pray to God or eat and drink His relevant words in this environment, much less do they learn to seek the truth principles in complex situations; they do not grow in wisdom at all. After crying for a few months, finally, one day, someone brings them back to the church and asks them to share their experience during this period, but they only tearfully complain: “I’ve been so wronged! I didn’t disturb the church. I’m not an evil person; I was framed by evil people.” When asked, “What lessons did you learn during this time? Did you gain anything?” they reply, “What could I gain? They isolated me, took away the books of God’s words and hymnals, and I couldn’t listen to any sermons. All I could do was talk about faith and occasionally sing a few hymns I remembered. I didn’t gain anything. Thankfully, God prepared a time to bring me back; otherwise, I was planning to go out and do business to earn money, since there was no hope for salvation anyway. God didn’t want me anymore, and I couldn’t continue believing. My heart was completely darkened.” In the end, they add, “God’s sheep will never be abandoned by God,” drawing this conclusion. Experiencing such a significant and special event and gaining so little—isn’t this a bit pathetic? Isn’t it inappropriate? Faced with such a major situation, they did not learn any lessons and did not increase their wisdom or faith; although they still believe in God in their heart, they were tormented by Satans, devils, and antichrists to the point they almost stopped believing. Can they still testify for God? Isn’t this person a useless coward? What use is crying at home? Even if they cry until they go blind, will it help? Can it solve the problem with the antichrists? The evil people have succeeded, and in the end, all this person has is the saying, “God’s sheep will never be abandoned by God,” without gaining anything else. They don’t have wisdom, they don’t have a course of action, and they don’t know to seek God according to the path given by God, to come before God to take up God’s words and the truth to fight against Satan. That bit of doctrine they typically spout does them no good; when it comes to facing such matters, apart from crying, all they do is feel wronged and complain—this is a useless coward. Useless cowards often have several manifestations, which are also their major characteristics. First, they cry. Second, they feel wronged. Third, they complain in their hearts. In their hearts, they also say, “Where are You, God? Why don’t You care about me? I have been terribly harmed by Satan, I can’t go on living. Please save me quickly!” God says, “You are a useless coward, a waste wrapped in human skin. If you believe in God, what are you afraid of? What is there to fear about Satan?” No matter what conspiracies and schemes Satan uses when it acts, we are not afraid. We have God, we have the truth. God will give us wisdom. God is sovereign over everything; everything is under God’s orchestration. What are you afraid of? Crying just shows you are cowardly and inept; you are a piece of trash, a waste of air! Crying means you are compromising with Satan and begging for mercy from Satan. Does God like such useless cowards? (No.) God sees you as a useless coward, a dolt, a piece of trash, with no testimony and no wisdom at all. What became of the truth you understood? Haven’t you heard enough about the manifestations of antichrists and Satan that God exposes? Don’t you understand or see through these things? Don’t you know that they are Satans? If you know they are Satans, what are you afraid of? Why don’t you fear and dread God? Are you not afraid of offending God by fearing Satan? Isn’t that an act of wickedness? When such situations occur, you are afraid and have no solution, no wisdom or countermeasures at all. What have you gained from listening to sermons all these years? Has it all been in vain? Can such useless cowards stand firm in their testimony? (No.) When it comes to situations where Satans and evil people manipulate and sabotage elections, whether you are alone and powerless or do indeed have a few brothers and sisters who are of one mind with you, do not rush into action. First, learn to wait. Second, learn to seek. During the period of waiting and seeking, do not abandon your duty. What does waiting mean? It means waiting for God to prepare the right time and opportunity. And what should you seek? Seek the principles and path you should practice in believing in and following God; seek how to act so as to be in alignment with God’s intentions, and how to act so as to fight against Satan and the forces of antichrists, ultimately overcoming Satan’s forces to become an overcomer. If you are alone, you must pray to God more, wait, and seek. If there are two or three other people who are of one mind with you, you can fellowship, pray, wait, and seek together. When God has prepared a suitable time, ask God for strength and wisdom, so that everything you do and every word you say is appropriate. In doing so, for one thing, you fulfill your duty as a created being, and for another, you can also strongly and effectively expose Satan, thoroughly exposing and foiling the conspiracies of Satan’s servants and the antichrists. Is this appropriate? These methods, ways, paths, and principles have been told to you, so how you apply them depends on you. Is this path clear enough? (Yes.) Then, when you encounter such matters, practice according to this principle. This is easy to achieve.

During each church election, both leaders and workers, as well as God’s chosen people, have the responsibility and obligation to safeguard the election work. Leaders and workers must take on the work of fellowshipping the truth and election principles; God’s chosen people should bring up any issues they have, and then the truth should be fellowshipped to resolve these issues. Only in this way can it be ensured that the election goes smoothly. For one thing, leaders and workers should strictly adhere to the election principles of God’s house and carry out the work of each election in God’s house based on these principles. For another, they must also guard against evil people and antichrists manipulating and sabotaging elections. These individuals are servants of Satan, they are Satan’s cohort. Leaders and workers must strictly guard against them and be cautious with them, remaining vigilant toward their attempts during elections to manipulate things behind the scenes and engage in some shady, furtive actions to secretly rig the process. If it turns out that the election really was manipulated by evil people, resulting in the exclusion of the rightful electee and most people being misled so that the wrong individual—one not fit for the position—was elected leader, if such a situation occurs, then there is still a solution. The true situation of the elected person should be exposed. If most people agree, a do-over election can be held. An election manipulated by Satan and evil people is not the result of an election conducted normally by the church based on the truth principles. This is not a positive thing, and sooner or later, it will be laid bare, exposed, and nullified. Believing in this, if you encounter such situations, how should you act? You should be ready anytime and anywhere to fight against Satan, not stand by idly. If you are a wimp, a muddleheaded person, or a useless coward, you might compromise with them and collude with them, or be so beaten down by them that you become negative and unable to recover. Some people simply stand by idly, saying, “I can’t become a church leader anyway. Whoever serves, it’s all the same. Whoever has the ability can go ahead and serve! If an antichrist wants to serve, it has nothing to do with me, and as long as they don’t clear me out, it’s fine.” Those who say this are nothing good. They cannot imagine what the consequences would be if an antichrist served as the leader, nor the impact it would have on their belief in God and their salvation. Only people who understand the truth can see this for what it is. They will say: “If an antichrist becomes the church leader, it is God’s chosen people who will suffer. In particular, those who pursue the truth, those who have a sense of justice, and those who readily do their duty will all be suppressed and excluded. Only those muddleheaded people and people pleasers will be in favor, and they will have been caged and brought under the control of the antichrist’s power.” But those who do not pursue the truth never consider these things. They think: “One believes in God in order to be saved. Everyone walks their own path. Even if an antichrist becomes the leader, it won’t have an impact on me. As long as I don’t do bad things, they cannot suppress me or exclude me, or clear me out of the church.” Is this the correct point of view? (No.) If none of God’s chosen people is concerned about church elections, once they allow an antichrist to take power, what will the consequences be? Will it really be as simple as people imagine? What kind of changes will church life undergo? This directly relates to God’s chosen people’s life entry. If an antichrist holds power in a church, what will happen? The truth will no longer hold power in that church, and nor will God’s words—rather, disbelievers and Satan will hold power there. Although God’s words may yet be read at gatherings, the antichrist controls the right to speak. Can the antichrist fellowship about the truth clearly? Can the antichrist allow God’s chosen people to fellowship about the truth freely and without restraint? That is impossible. Once an antichrist holds power, there will be more and more disruptions and disturbances, the results of church life will increasingly diminish, and God’s chosen people will not reap much when they gather, which will cause difficulties for the life entry of God’s chosen people. The problems of God’s chosen people will also multiply and fail to be resolved, and some who are able to practice the truth will be perturbed as well; the atmosphere of church life will be entirely changed, as though dark clouds have come to blot out the sun. Will there still be enjoyment in church life then? It will definitely be compromised, in no small way. In the church, those who pursue the truth are a minority to begin with. If this minority is suppressed and excluded, it can be said that there will be no more church life. If people cannot see through to this consequence, they will not pay attention to or care about elections. If the majority of people do not regard elections earnestly, do not adhere to principles, treat elections so negatively, and take their cues from false leaders and antichrists, once evil people or those who do not love the truth become church leaders, most of God’s chosen people will suffer losses to their life entry. Therefore, the results of church elections directly affect the life growth of God’s chosen people and the future of the church. God’s chosen people should perceive this clearly and absolutely must not adopt a negative attitude. Some muddled people cannot see through this matter; they always rely on their own imaginings, thinking, “Everyone in the church is a sincere believer, so anyone can be elected; as long as they are a brother or sister, anyone can be leader.” They view church elections too simplistically, leading to many negative, erroneous ideas and viewpoints. If false leaders and antichrists are truly elected as leaders and workers, the church’s work will be damaged, and the life entry of God’s chosen people will inevitably be harmed. At that time, people will realize how important it is to hold elections according to principles.

There are some people pleasers in every church. These people pleasers have no discernment about evil people manipulating and sabotaging elections. Even if they do have a little discernment, they ignore it. Their attitude toward any issues that arise in church elections is “Let things drift if they do not affect one personally.” They think that it doesn’t matter who becomes the leader, that it has nothing to do with them. As long as they can happily go about their daily life, they’re fine. What do you think of people like this? Are they people who love the truth? (No.) What kind of people are they? These are people pleasers, and they can also be called disbelievers. These people do not pursue the truth; they only seek to live an easy life, coveting fleshly comfort. They are too selfish and too slick. Are there many such people in society? No matter which political party is in power, no matter who is in office, they are well liked, they can handle their social relations very successfully, and they live comfortably; no matter what political movement arises, they don’t get caught up in it. What kind of people are these? These are the most deceitful, the slickest people, known as “slippery eels” and “old snakes.” They live by Satan’s philosophies, without a shred of principle. Whoever is in power, they cater to them, flatter them, sing their merits. They do nothing but defend their superiors, and never offend them. However much evil their superiors do, they neither oppose nor support it, but keep their thoughts hidden deep inside. They are well liked no matter who is in power. Satan and the devil kings like this sort of person. Why do the devil kings like this sort of person? Because they do not spoil the devil kings’ affairs and do not pose any threat to them. This sort of person is unprincipled and has no baseline for their comportment, and lacks integrity and dignity; they just follow the trends of society and bow down before the devil kings, adapting to their tastes. Are there not also such people in the church? Can such people be overcomers? Are they good soldiers of Christ? Are they witnesses to God? When evil people and antichrists rear their heads and disturb the work of the church, can such people stand up and wage war against them, exposing, discerning, and renouncing them, putting an end to their evil deeds and bearing witness for God? They most certainly cannot. These slippery eels are not those whom God will perfect or those whom He will save. They never bear witness for God or uphold the interests of His house. As God sees them, these people are not those who follow or submit to Him, but those who blindly stir up trouble, members of Satan’s gang—it is they whom He will eliminate when His work is through. God does not treasure such wretches. They have neither the truth nor life; they are beasts and devils; they are unworthy of God’s salvation and of enjoying His love. So, God discards and eliminates such people with ease, and the church should promptly clear them out as disbelievers. They do not have a true heart for God, so will God provide them with real sustenance? Will He enlighten and help them? He will not. When disruptions and disturbances occur during church elections, and the election results are controlled and influenced by evil people, these people absolutely will not stand on God’s side to protect the interests of God’s house. They absolutely will not adhere to the truth principles to fight against evil people and antichrists, and to fight against Satan’s forces to the end. They absolutely will not do this, they lack the courage. Therefore, those who can testify for God should discern these people and should not fellowship the truths they understand or their discernment of Satan with these people. Even if you do fellowship these things with them, it will be useless; they will not stand on the side of the truth. When selecting co-workers and partners, you should exclude such people and not choose them. Why should you not choose them? Because they are slippery eels; they will not stand on God’s side, will not stand on the side of the truth, and will not unite with you in heart and mind to fight against Satan. If you confide your heartfelt words to them, you are foolish and will become a laughingstock for Satan. Do not fellowship the truth or offer exhortations to such people, and do not place any hope in them, because God does not save these people at all. They are not people who are of one heart and mind with God; they are spectators watching the battle rage from a distance; they are slippery eels. These types of people infiltrate God’s house just to watch the excitement and blindly stir up trouble. They have no sense of justice and no sense of responsibility; they don’t even have sympathy for good people harmed by evil people. Calling such people devils and Satans is most appropriate. If someone with a sense of justice exposes evil people, they won’t even cheer or support them. So, never trust these people; they are slippery eels, chameleons, old snakes. They are not sincere believers in God but are servants of Satan. These people can never be saved, and God does not want them; this is God’s clear desire. Most churches probably have such people. Look around in your church to see who they are. When things happen, never fellowship the truth with them, and don’t let them know what’s really going on with you. Be wary of such people and don’t engage with them. Look for those who truly believe in God and have a sense of justice—when they see the interests of God’s house being harmed, the work of the church and the order of church life being disturbed or manipulated, they become anxious and angry; they deeply hate these evil people who disturb the church; they want to stand up and expose the evil people and are eager to find people who understand the truth to unite and fight against the evil demons. Fellowship with such people and join hands with them to fight against Satan. These people are the overcomers, the good soldiers of Christ; only these people have a share in Christ’s kingdom. Those people pleasers, old snakes, chameleons, and those who are numb and dull-witted have all been revealed; they are objects to be eliminated. They are not brothers and sisters, not people of God’s house, but disbelievers and opportunists unworthy of trust. This is the way to deal with these people: If they can do evil, cleanse them away; if they are not evil people and do not follow evil people to disturb the church, they can provisionally stay in the church while you await their repentance. For one thing, observe and grasp these people’s dispositions, humanity, and their views and attitudes toward various matters, and exercise discernment, figuring out the essence of such people. At the same time, when evil people manipulate and sabotage elections, be vigilant of these people pleasers standing on the side of evil people, acting as their lackeys and accomplices. In short, for all improper behaviors of evil people manipulating and sabotaging elections, it is necessary to exercise discernment according to God’s words; when you see their essence clearly, you will know how to handle them appropriately according to principles.

Just now, we fellowshipped about some phenomena of manipulating and sabotaging elections and some people’s actions. Although not every aspect was covered, the principles for solving these issues were basically fellowshipped. Once you discover people manipulating and sabotaging elections within the church, you should stand up and restrict them. Do not be compliant or act like people pleasers. If anyone always tries to manipulate and sabotage elections, as soon as this tendency appears, the brothers and sisters should collectively stand up to stop and expose them. If they are doing it in confusion, not knowing this counts as manipulating and sabotaging elections, you can explain to them: “What you are doing is manipulating and sabotaging elections. Do not play the role of Satan’s servant. This is an election of church leaders, not an election of mayors or township chiefs. God’s house has its own regulations and has its principles for doing this work. Human intentions should not be mixed in; we should strictly follow the truth principles for this work. If your caliber is poor and you cannot understand the truth principles, or if you are old and muddled, lacking the intelligence required to participate in elections, then you can abstain and simply wait for the result, but by no means should you manipulate or sabotage the election, or cause disruptions and disturbances; these are evil deeds, and God detests it. Such evil deeds are forever condemned; never be such a person or follow this path. If you are indeed human, do not engage in manipulating and sabotaging elections, because once it becomes a fact, you will be labeled a servant of Satan and will be cleared out of the church.” If people who manipulate and sabotage elections are discovered, those among them with poor caliber who do not understand what has actually happened can be fellowshipped with love, supported, provided for, and helped. But what about those who, despite being fully aware of the truth principles, still knowingly manipulated and sabotaged the election, even ignoring admonitions against this? There is a solution for them too: They are not allowed to participate in elections anymore; strip them of their election rights. In short, all acts of manipulating and sabotaging elections must be uniformly discerned, stopped, and restricted to reverse the situation. Such behaviors and actions must not be allowed to exist in the church, to prevent wrong election results and the work of the church being disturbed and damaged.

A Summary of the Various People, Events, and Things That Cause Disruptions and Disturbances

The twelfth responsibility of leaders and workers involves the various people, events, and things that disrupt and disturb God’s work and the normal order of the church. We have divided these into eleven issues for fellowship. Problems or incidents of disruptions and disturbances listed in each issue involve people’s performance of duty and their genuine faith in God. Why are they divided so meticulously? Why do I bring each issue up for fellowship and dissection? Judging from each issue’s title, the humanity of the people doing these things is not good. Except for the first issue—often going off topic when fellowshipping the truth, which is not considered severe—all the others are quite severe in nature. These manifestations all have a nature of causing disruptions and disturbances to them, and they all constitute disruptions and disturbances to the church’s work, which is why we bring them up for fellowship and dissection one by one. When these issues arise in church life or in the process of doing one’s duty, people should be particularly alert and discern them and see through them. When people see such events occur that cause disruption and disturbance, they should stand up to stop and restrict them. Regarding the first issue, “often going off topic when fellowshipping the truth,” people sometimes do this unintentionally, and the circumstances involved and the nature of it are not too serious; but if they frequently go off-topic and speak incoherently, causing annoyance to their listeners, and thus no good results are achieved in church life, then this leads to consequences of disrupting and disturbing the church’s work. The remaining issues don’t even need to be mentioned; any one of them is enough to constitute disruptions and disturbances to the church’s work and the order of church life. Therefore, it is necessary to fellowship, analyze, and dissect each of these issues in detail. When malicious incidents occur, if you have discernment and knowledge of the evil deeds that disturb the church, you should stand up to stop and restrict them. In a broader sense, this is doing the duty of a created being; in a narrower sense, at the very least, it is fulfilling the duty and responsibility of a member of the church. Isn’t this what you should be able to do? (Yes.) What are the consequences if you can’t do this? How should we define not being able to do it? At the very least, it means you are a muddler; furthermore, you are a useless coward, afraid of Satan. Additionally, when Satans and devils appear to disturb God’s work and the normal order of the church, you remain indifferent and powerless, showing no response, and lacking the faith and courage to stand up to battle against Satan and bear testimony for God. In that case, you are a useless person, unworthy of being a follower of God.

The twelfth responsibility of leaders and workers lists various kinds of incidents in the church that disrupt and disturb God’s work. Each incident involves the attitudes of leaders and workers, as well as ordinary brothers and sisters, toward God. It also involves each person’s attitude toward their duty and responsibilities, as well as their stance and view toward these negative events and things that disturb the work of God’s house. Of course, it also involves whether a person who has believed in God and heard sermons for many years has enough stature and faith to battle against Satan and bear testimony for God when these negative events and things crop up. Does this touch upon key issues? It touches upon a person’s stance and the path they walk, as well as their attitude toward God, toward the truth, and toward their duty. Therefore, after hearing these words, you should understand that these are God’s requirements for people. Do not treat them as doctrines, rules, or regulations to execute and implement, but rather ponder them more so as to understand the truth, and then practice and enter into them, thus meeting God’s requirements. When evil people disrupt and disturb the church’s work, do not stand by idly, do not shirk your responsibilities with various excuses, saying that you have believed in God for only a short time, have a small stature, or are still young, etc. When God examines the work, when He orchestrates environments to see your attitude, He does not look at your age, how many years you have believed in Him, or what price you once paid and what merits you have achieved; God wants your attitude in the moment. If you have usually never pondered or sought about these matters, and you pass through every matter in a muddled state without retaining anything, without seeking the truth, without learning your lesson, or taking seriously the various environments God has orchestrated, if you flee when you see evil people causing disturbances and disruptions, and never report this to God’s house or show your attitude, then although you did not participate in the evildoing, your behavior in this matter has already revealed your stance and viewpoint—you are a bystander, standing up for Satan. God scrutinizes everything, and you cannot deceive Him. Therefore, when these negative matters take place, when you discover various people, events, and things that disrupt and disturb the church’s work and the normal order of church life, it clearly reveals your attitude toward God. It may be that you’ve believed in God for only a short time, you’re rather young, and your stature is small, but if when these things happen you act according to principles, and you try to stop, restrict, or even expose the evil people, taking risks and disregarding your own safety to stand up and protect the interests of God’s house—if you have this heart, then your attitude toward God, as well as your determination to bear witness to God and fight against Satan, will become a testimony seen by people and God. People’s evil deeds, their fooling and concealment from God, their shirking of responsibilities, their yielding and compromise to Satan when it does evil—God will see all of these, and these evil deeds will one day be settled and receive a verdict. But likewise, when people stand up against Satan’s disruptions and disturbances to speak for God’s house and for the brothers and sisters, and fight against Satan to protect the interests of God’s house, seeking the truth with the aspiration of bearing witness to God, even if they sometimes feel powerless and alone, lacking wisdom, having only a shallow understanding of the truth, or want to fellowship about the truth but can’t express themselves clearly, leading some to ridicule and look down upon them, in God’s eyes He sees their sincerity, and He considers these actions and behaviors as good deeds. Evil deeds will one day receive a verdict and have their conclusion before God, and so will good deeds—but the final conclusion for each of these two kinds of behavior will be completely different. Evil deeds will receive their due retribution, and good deeds will be repaid with good treatments. God has long since determined this for every person, just waiting for the various manifestations of people during the period of God’s work to become established facts before rewarding good and punishing evil.

The twelfth responsibility of leaders and workers lists eleven issues regarding people, events, and things that disrupt and disturb the work of the church. Are these eleven issues important? Do they reveal people clearly? When you fellowship over each issue, you should put more effort into it so as to understand the truth clearly. This involves how people uphold justice and positive things, and how they uphold God’s testimony; it also involves how people stand up to fight Satan, expose and uncover Satan’s face, and stop and restrict Satan’s evil deeds—these are the two aspects involved. When Satan disrupts and disturbs the work of the church, do you play a role? What role do you play? Have you done what God requires of you? Have you fulfilled the obligations and responsibilities that a follower of God should fulfill? When these issues arise, do you compromise, smooth things over, and take the middle ground as a people pleaser, or do you stand up to stop and restrict Satan’s evil deeds, working in one accord with more true brothers and sisters to protect the interests of God’s house? What do you protect? Do you protect the interests of evil people, Satan’s interests, or do you protect the interests of God’s house? If anything that disrupts or disturbs the work of the church happens, and you do nothing, only acting as a people pleaser and preserving yourself, ensuring that you can handle your interpersonal relationships successfully and remain unharmed, without ever feeling concerned or anxious about the work of the church being disturbed, without having any hatred or anger toward the evil deeds of evil people, without having any burden for the interests of God’s house and all the brothers and sisters, without any sense of indebtedness toward God, and without feeling any self-reproach, then you are in danger. If, in God’s view, you are a people pleaser through and through, passively observing whatever happens with folded arms and evading it, and not fulfilling any of your responsibilities or obligations whatsoever, then you are truly in danger and liable to be eliminated by God. If God has a thought where not even the intention of letting you labor remains, and He is fed up with you, then, at this point, you’re destined to be eliminated, which is incredibly dangerous! When God says that He doesn’t want to see people like you anymore, and that He doesn’t value people like you doing any duty or laboring in God’s house, then you may be eliminated by the church one day, one moment in the not-too-distant future, which will change your fate. That is because your relationship with God is no longer normal or you’ve distanced yourself from God and betrayed Him and this has led to a result. Can you see this fact? When you realize this fact, regardless of whether you can accept it, all the beautiful hopes in your heart will vanish in an instant.

When people first believe in God, they all have a fervent heart. Although they can’t see their future destination or prospects, they always feel a kind of reliance on God. They always aspire to beautiful and positive things. Where does this strength come from? People don’t know; they can’t figure it out: “People are all the same, all living in the same air and under the same sun. So, why is it that nonbelievers lack these things in their hearts while we have them?” Isn’t this a mystery? This strength comes from God. It is an all-too precious thing; it’s not something people are born with. If everyone had it from birth, they would be the same; among humankind there would be no distinctions of high or low, noble or base, and there would be no difference between those who believe in God and those who don’t. What they don’t have, you can possess; you can have the most precious thing that exists among humanity. Why is it called the most precious thing? Precisely because of this hope and expectation, you can keep your mind set on doing your duties in God’s house. This is the most fundamental condition for a person to be able to attain salvation. It’s because of this expectation that you have an opportunity, and a little bit of a resolve of being willing to expend for God, to do your duty as a created being and to be a good person, a saved person. The benefits this brings are just so great. So, where does this thing come from? It comes from God; it’s given by God. However, when God doesn’t want someone anymore, this thing is taken away. They no longer long for or expect beautiful things; they don’t place their hopes in them anymore. Their heart darkens and begins to sink. They lose the enthusiasm to pursue anything beautiful or positive, as well as the promises of God. They’ve become just like a nonbeliever. Once this thing is lost, can they remain in God’s house and continue to believe in God and follow Him? Hasn’t their path of faith in God come to an end? When you lose this prerequisite of having the resolve to pursue, you turn into a walking corpse. What does being a “walking corpse” mean? It means you can no longer understand God’s words. When you have this prerequisite, you can understand God’s words, have hope, your faith can be inspired, and this prerequisite can give you the motivation to pursue the truth. However, when you lose this fundamental prerequisite, this motivation disappears. You have no enthusiasm or interest in listening to God’s words. Promises and expectations don’t interest or motivate you anymore. For you, God’s words have become a high-level theory. You don’t strive toward them, and God no longer enlightens you. You can’t gain any truth from God’s words. Hasn’t this path of faith in God come to an end for you? When it reaches this point, God has already spurned you; can you still make God change His mind? It won’t be easy. When God has determined that He doesn’t want a certain person anymore, this is what they feel inside. When this thing is stripped away, your attitude toward various matters such as believing in God, doing your duties, and being saved will be completely different from before. Reflecting on your once passionate pursuit, you will find it inexplicable, incomprehensible, and unbelievable. When you find it unbelievable, comparing how you are now to your previous self, your inner state will have undergone a qualitative change; you will be a completely different person, you won’t be the same person as you were before. Why will this happen? It won’t be because the environment has changed; it won’t be because you’ve grown older and become more scheming; it won’t be because you’ve gained more experiences and life insights, altering your thoughts and viewpoints. Instead, it will be because God has changed His mind, His thoughts have changed, and His attitude and expectations toward you have changed. So, you’ve become a different person in spite of yourself. Looking at it now, if a person loses what God gives to them but which they consider to be the tiniest, most insignificant thing, at this point, that person will be trapped in suffering with no happiness to speak of. So, don’t ever get to that point. If you do, you might feel as if a weight has been lifted from your shoulders, set free, relaxed, that you don’t have to believe in God or do your duties anymore, and that you can live freely and dissolutely like nonbelievers, like a bird out of its cage. But that is just temporary comfort, joy, and self-indulgence. As you continue forward, look at the road ahead—will you still be this happy? No, you won’t be. Tough times await you ahead! When you live under the Creator’s dominion, regardless of how the Creator orchestrates things for you, what He does to you and how He does it, how many trials and tribulations He brings, how much suffering you endure, or even if incomprehension, misunderstandings, and other things arise, at the very least, you’ll feel you are in God’s hands, God is your reliance, and your heart is at peace. But when God doesn’t want you anymore, and you aren’t able to perceive how God treats you anymore, and you lose this reliance, it’s like the whole world comes crashing down around you. It’s like when you were a child, and you only thought, “Mom is the most lovable, Mom cares for me and loves me the most, Mom can’t die.” You couldn’t bear it when you heard that your mother was sick. You thought that if your mother really died, the sky would collapse, and you would have no way to go on living. The same reasoning applies to believing in God. The greatest peace and joy in a person’s belief in God come from relying on God, believing that one’s destiny is in the hands of the Creator. A person’s sense of steadiness comes from having this genuine trust and reliance. When you feel that this trust and reliance is gone, and your heart feels empty, like a freshly-dug hole, hasn’t your sky collapsed? Do you have the strength to go on living when you lose your reliance? Such people are like walking corpses, just stuffing their faces while they wait for their end.

Now, some people consistently exhibit poor behavior, and continuously do evil and disrupt, disturb, and damage the work of the church while doing their duties, even to the point of causing great losses to the interests of God’s house. They have never shown sincerity or loyalty to God, let alone any submission. Thus, God has never acknowledged them. They are evil people who have infiltrated God’s house with the intention of gaining blessings. God allows them to enter so that God’s chosen people can learn lessons and grow in discernment. Although they also belong to those who are called, they have not been chosen because of the behavior they consistently show. What is their condition like? You can inquire; none of their lives are going well. The quality of life for those who rely on God and receive His provision anytime, anywhere is radically different from those who don’t receive God’s provision and help and always fall into the bottomless pit when they face situations. Those who do not receive God’s provision have no peace or joy, all day they experience fear, unease, restlessness, and worry. What kind of days do they spend? Is it easy spending one’s days in the bottomless pit? No, it isn’t easy. Setting this bottomless pit aside, even if you spend a few days in a row of negativity, you’ll suffer immensely. Therefore, cherish the present time, and don’t miss this great opportunity. It’s an honor to do your duty in God’s six-thousand-year management work. This is an honor for every person. It is not a matter of humiliation; the key is how you treat and repay this honor you received from God. God has elevated you; don’t fail to appreciate His kindness. You should know to repay God’s grace. How should you repay it? God doesn’t want your money or your life, and He doesn’t desire any inherited treasures passed down through your family. What does God want? God desires your sincerity and loyalty. How does this sincerity and loyalty manifest? It’s in your commitment to doing your utmost to bring forth a sincere heart and act according to God’s words, no matter what He says. What are God’s words? They are the truth. Once you acknowledge and accept the truth, how should you apply it? You should practice according to the truth principles. Do exactly as God says. Don’t just pay lip service to practicing the truth and then act according to your own will when faced with situations, later making excuses and speaking disguised and duplicitous words, lacking sincerity and loyalty—God is not willing to see this. The most precious thing in a person is sincerity. How should a sincere person behave? They should do exactly as God requires, persistently following God’s words. Even if they overdo it as if they were following regulations, so that others may consider them somewhat foolish, they shouldn’t care. They should still adhere to God’s words. What God wants is this sincerity from people. If you’re always scheming and slippery, and are never willing to appear foolish in the eyes of others, to suffer even the slightest loss to your own interests, then you are unable to practice the truth because you lack sincerity. People who lack sincerity and still try to be deceitful are overly shrewd, and God does not like them. When they practice God’s words, they pick and choose, practicing only what benefits them and avoiding what doesn’t. They usually speak pleasantly, spouting nothing but grand-sounding ideas, but when problems arise, they hide, vanishing without a trace, and only reappear after others have solved the problems. What sort of wretch is such a person? When something is profitable to them, they take initiative and step forward, they are more proactive than anyone else. However, when their personal interests are at stake, they step back and become negative. They lose all their pleasant-sounding words, their stance, and their viewpoints. God does not like this type of person. He would rather have someone who appears foolish in the eyes of others than someone who is cunning like this.

XII. Discussing Politics

We’ve finished fellowshipping about the eleven issues contained within the twelfth responsibility of leaders and workers. In addition to the eleven issues, let’s add one more. Even though it’s not commonly seen in church life, it needs to be brought up here, making it the twelfth issue—discussing politics. Is discussing political topics appropriate in church life? (No.) Church life is for reading God’s word, worshiping God, and sharing one’s understanding of God and experiential knowledge of God’s words. During this time, however, some people talk at length about politics, such as political situations, political figures, the political landscape, political viewpoints, and political stances. Is this appropriate? When discussing topics about God holding sovereignty over all things and humankind, some people mechanically apply the idea that political figures are also in God’s hands, saying that certain political figures also believe in and follow God, and even write spiritual notes and whatnot. Isn’t this confusing others? There are even some people who say, “We Christians should support this politician because they are not only a believer, but also protect the interests of us believers. They are on the same page as us, and we should support and elect them.” In church life, they even promote this political figure extensively. Is this appropriate? Do Christians participate in politics? (No.) What can you do in order to avoid participating? First, regardless of which party you support, or what your political views are, don’t bring them into church life for discussion. Of course, it is even more crucial that debates between people holding different political views shouldn’t appear in church life either. For example, if you and someone else have different views and support different political figures, you may wish to discuss it when you see each other; this is permissible, but you absolutely may not do so in gatherings. You two can send private messages, you can meet up and talk, or you can even argue until your faces turn red, and no one will interfere; this is the right of a citizen under a democratic system. But during church life, you’re not just a citizen of a country; more importantly, you’re a member of The Church of Almighty God. In this setting, that’s your identity. Don’t bring political topics or topics concerning political figures into the church. What you discuss only represents your personal stance and viewpoints, not the church’s. The church is not interested in politics, nor in any political systems, figures, leaders, or groups, because these matters do not involve the truth and are irrelevant to believing in God. Any topics concerning politics should not be brought up in church life. Some say, “So is it okay for everyone to meet up and discuss this outside of church life?” It’s best not to. If you want to join a discussion among nonbelievers with differing political views, that’s up to you; that’s your freedom, and God’s house won’t interfere. But as long as church members come together, or during formal gathering times, don’t bring up these political views or arguments as main topics, and don’t falsely pretend your political views have anything to do with God’s words, the truth, or God’s sovereignty. Your political views are wholly unrelated to the truth, there is not even the remotest connection between them, so don’t pretend otherwise!

Some people want to talk politics but have no one to discuss this topic with at home, so the conversation can never happen. Seeing that the brothers and sisters are all adults, they believe they’ve found an outlet to discuss politics and vent their political views. They are excited about having found this good opportunity, wanting to talk about political views, current events, and the international situation. When discussing these, they start with, “All these are under God’s sovereignty. Humankind’s politics and these politicians are also under God’s sovereignty. They are ordained by God.” After this preamble, they begin to discuss politics and current events at length, and conclude with, “Politics can’t escape God’s sovereignty; it all has God’s goodwill.” If people can’t see through these matters, they shouldn’t speak carelessly on them. To fellowship the truth is to fellowship the truth; don’t discuss politics or political figures. Discussing politics isn’t fellowshipping the truth, it is misleading people. If you want to talk politics, find a group of people who love politics and go talk with them yourself; you’ll be able to talk to your heart’s content. What are you aiming at by always talking about these topics in the church? Are you intentionally trying to make people admire you and choose you as a leader? This is having ulterior motives! People who love to talk politics are people who aren’t engaging in their proper tasks and certainly aren’t pursuing the truth. Never discuss political topics in church gatherings. Some people say, “If we can’t talk about the democratic elections, political systems, and policies of free countries, then what about the politics and scandals of upper officials in the country of the great red dragon, such as how much gold a corrupt official has taken, and how many mistresses he keeps? Can we discuss these things?” Don’t these topics disgust you? Why do you care so much about these disgusting things? Why is it that I feel caring and reading about these matters is disgusting? Some people are especially interested in these things, not finding them disgusting at all. They are willing to read about these things online, doing so whenever they have the time. Their hearts feel comfortable, secure, and full when they read about these things. How come they don’t feel this full reading God’s word? Isn’t this a bit vile? Isn’t this neglecting proper tasks? During such great times, even taking a stroll in the yard, breathing some fresh air, and admiring the view would brighten your mood. But some refuse to do these things; instead, whenever they have some free time they just stare at the computer, checking for news, gathering gossip—which corrupt official was found to keep how many mistresses, how much of which corrupt official’s assets were seized from their home, which higher-up of the great red dragon took down whom, or who assassinated whom. These are the things they typically concern themselves with. They feel full of knowledge after collecting this information, which they then unload on everyone at gatherings. Isn’t this spreading poison? Isn’t it all too normal for those devils to commit misdeeds? Some people say, “It is normal for them to commit misdeeds, but you couldn’t even imagine some of the terrible things they do.” What’s the use of imagining them? Were you given a brain so that you can imagine what wicked things they do? Isn’t this neglecting your proper tasks? Do you think knowing some unimaginable wickedness makes you superior? What can you gain from this? Won’t it just make you feel even more disgusted? These people who neglect their proper tasks always care about these lewd, vile matters of the political scene. Aren’t they simple-minded? Why always worry about their matters instead of just living your own life? Isn’t this foolish? Isn’t this having nothing better to do? Some people say, “Believers are persecuted by the great red dragon. They must hate the great red dragon. Surely believers would be interested in the scandals, corruption, abuse, and promiscuity of the great red dragon’s upper officials, as well as the shady things they get up to. Shouldn’t believers clap their hands in joy when these scandals are exposed?” Do you believe in and follow God to obtain these things? Talking about political matters in the church, especially the exposed scandals of upper officials of the great red dragon, is most disgusting. You absolutely mustn’t discuss it! And don’t talk to Me about it either; it disgusts Me! I’m telling you, don’t talk about it and don’t even read about it, or else sooner or later there will come a day when you’ll regret having read those things. When you regret it, you’ll know how it feels; there’s no end to how disgusting these things can get. Hearing and reading about these things too much brings no benefit. Why do I say it brings no benefit? Because inundating your mind with these disgusting matters will leave you with no desire to hear God’s words. Although these topics involve politics, those matters are even more disgusting. If you want to talk about these things, go talk your heart out to some nonbelievers, say whatever you want to them, but no matter what don’t talk about them in church life or among the brothers and sisters. Some people say, “Talking about the sordid and wicked deeds of the upper officials of the great red dragon helps the brothers and sisters grow in discernment and lets them vent their anger.” What’s the use of venting? Is venting bearing witness? Is it your obligation or duty? Talking about those things is useless, with no value at all. No matter how much you expose the great red dragon’s wicked deeds, God won’t remember it. In contrast, if you talk about how you experienced the great red dragon’s persecution, how you broke free from and overcame its intimidation and threats, and how you relied on God and stood firm in your witness in such an environment, God accepts this. But talking about politics has nothing to do with life entry, and God doesn’t accept it. Some people say, “I expose the corruption of the officials of the great red dragon, how they spend tens of thousands of yuan on a single meal, or how much they spend on luxury hotels; is this okay?” What does any of that possibly have to do with you? Isn’t that just how this world and this society are? Who are you standing up for? This isn’t bearing witness for God, nor is it exposing the great red dragon’s substance, nor is it a manifestation of rebelling against the great red dragon. Don’t confuse people or be hypocritical; none of this is practicing the truth. The graft of corrupt officials and politicians doesn’t concern us, nor is it something we need to expose. Don’t concern yourself with these matters. These things have existed in Satan’s regime throughout history, and what they do has nothing to do whatsoever with our experiencing God’s work or bearing witness for God. So, no matter what, don’t mix those topics into the topic of “rebelling against the great red dragon and exposing it to bear witness for God,” and don’t bring these strange, disgusting, and wicked matters into church life or among the brothers and sisters for discussion. If you really want to discuss politics, do so with nonbelievers. However you discuss it privately with those who have such hobbies and interests is fine. That’s your personal hobby and interest; it’s your freedom and right, and no one interferes. But during gathering times and before the brothers and sisters, don’t discuss these matters. Even if someone is willing to listen, don’t talk about them, as it affects church life and affects God’s chosen people’s understanding of the truth.

No matter if they concern politics or the scandals of politicians’ private lives, don’t bring these topics into church life for discussion. If someone isn’t interested in the content of gatherings in church life and always likes to discuss these matters, speaking about them at every gathering, what should the brothers and sisters do? They should restrict such people, saying, “This is gathering time, don’t talk about those trashy things. If you want to talk about them, go home and do it there!” What if they can’t be restricted and still speak about them? Throw them out, and tell them to come back when they stop. There’s also another way that’s even more effective: As soon as they open their mouths to talk politics, the brothers and sisters stand up and go to another room, leaving them to talk alone. In short, people who love to talk politics certainly do exist. Such people neglect proper tasks, don’t pursue the truth, don’t contemplate how to do their duties well, don’t contemplate what difficulties are present in the church’s work or faced by the brothers and sisters, and don’t contemplate what real problems of their own need resolution—they don’t contemplate these proper matters. Instead, they only contemplate those vile, crooked matters, and are particularly enthusiastic about them. Especially now, with information being widespread and accessible from all sorts of channels—this allows these people to satisfy their hobbies and interests. We don’t interfere with their hobbies and interests, but God’s house has a regulation that discussing political topics at gatherings is catalogued under the problem of disrupting and disturbing the work of the church. Thus, these topics are strictly forbidden during church life and when brothers and sisters come together. Some people say, “These topics are forbidden, but what about our various political views, which party we like or dislike, who we vote or don’t vote for—does the church interfere with these?” Let’s make it clear: Vote for whoever you want, like whoever you want—the church doesn’t interfere with these matters, it’s your freedom. Isn’t this non-interference quite lenient already? You’ve fully enjoyed your obligations and human rights as a citizen; isn’t that respect enough? This is already fine enough; and yet you still want to speak freely and to your heart’s content in the church? That goes against the rules. If you encounter such people, find a way to restrict them. First, fellowship clearly with them, saying, “Are you new to the faith? Is this your first time at a gathering, and you don’t know the rules of God’s house? Then I must tell you: This place is a gathering place, and this time is a time for gathering. Whatever political views or ideas you have, you absolutely must not spread them in the church, and don’t discuss them at gatherings. We don’t want to hear it, nor are we obligated to listen to you speak about these things. You chose the wrong place. After the gathering, when you leave this place, you can say whatever you want; no one interferes. That’s your freedom.” If they understand and remember what you said, and don’t talk about it next time, then that’s okay, and they’ve shown themselves to have some reason. But if after fellowshipping they continue to speak like this, always sharing political views at every gathering, should they be restricted from speaking? (Yes.) Whether or not they’re involved in politics, as long as someone talks about political topics, this should be categorized along with forming cliques, vying for status, venting negativity, and other such behaviors as the various people, events, and things that disrupt and disturb the work of God’s house. Such people cannot be shown any courtesy; they must be stopped and restricted. Of course, people who talk politics aren’t necessarily evil or good; they may simply like these issues and topics. But we can be sure that these people don’t really pursue the truth. In short, the principle for dealing with these people has already been clearly fellowshipped: Tell them the regulations of God’s house. If after explaining them clearly they continue to talk about political topics and don’t heed warnings, then isolate them. They can continue living church life only after repenting. If they never repent, then don’t let them come to gatherings. Dealing with this matter should be that simple. Don’t make a simple matter complex, this benefits no one.

July 24, 2021