By Xinche, China

In July 2024, I was a supervisor of text-based work in the church. Because a leader had been arrested, my partner and I faced environmental risks, so we had to stay at home and follow up on the work through letters. At the beginning, I was still able to actively follow up on the work and write letters to discuss the problems in the team. I was also able to find God’s words to resolve whatever states team members had, and when there was work that needed to be implemented, I hurried to implement it. Although I was a bit busy, my heart didn’t feel that tired. As my workload increased, and several groups all had problems that needed resolving, I thought to myself, “If every task involves follow-ups and detailed communication, then how much thought and mental effort will that take? Besides, wouldn’t it be too much to follow up on all the details of so much work?” I thought about how the members in one group had been doing text-based duties for many years, had mastered some principles, and had achieved some results in their duties. I felt that I didn’t need to worry so much about that group, and so after that, I didn’t pay much attention to their work. Sometimes I did think about looking into in detail whether they had any difficulties in doing their duties, but then I thought, “It takes a lot of effort and thought to understand these details. Forget it. These people have pretty good professional skills and have some work experience, so let them do it themselves.” After that, I didn’t look into or follow up on the work of that group in detail again. After a time, I saw that this group had not submitted any sermons for several days, so I quickly wrote to them to find out what was going on. The group leader reported that the quality of the sermons they had received recently was poor and not many could be submitted. Seeing that the results of the work were poor, her state was a bit despondent. I briefly fellowshipped with the group leader, asking her to take on a burden and lead everyone in summarizing the deviations. Afterward, I originally wanted to look into the work of this group in more detail, but then I thought, “I still have some work to do. It will take a lot of thought and effort to understand and solve these problems. The group leader knows some principles, and the leaders also summarized the problems in the sermons we submitted. The path they discussed was very clear, so I can let them study and get involved on their own.” In this way, I was satisfied with just forwarding letters from the leaders to the group, and didn’t lead them in summarizing problems and deviations. I didn’t ask about the details of the work, such as how they were studying and whether they could apply what they had learned.

Not long after, a letter from the leaders came that said that the sermon team was making slow progress and the sermons they were submitting were of poor quality. They asked me to urgently find out the reason. When I read this letter, I felt self-reproach in my heart. I had delayed the progress of the work because I wasn’t willing to put in more effort and was irresponsible in doing my duty. I felt guilty and indebted. Afterward, I read two passages of God’s words, and through reflection, I gained some understanding of my behavior of not doing real work. God says: “The chief characteristic of the work of false leaders is blathering on about doctrine and parroting slogans. After issuing their orders, they simply wash their hands of the matter. They don’t ask questions about the work’s subsequent development; they do not ask whether any problems, deviations, or difficulties have arisen. They consider their job finished as soon as they assign the work. … Not following up on the work, not doing anything more once it has been assigned, washing your hands of it—this is the way false leaders do things. Not following up on or providing direction regarding the work, not inquiring about or resolving issues that arise, and not grasping the progress or efficiency of the work—these are also manifestations of false leaders” (The Word, Vol. 5. The Responsibilities of Leaders and Workers. The Responsibilities of Leaders and Workers (4)). “False leaders are unable to do real work—whatever they do has a strong start but peters out in the end. The role they play is that of an opener of ceremonies: They chant slogans and preach doctrines, and when they have assigned the work to others and arranged who will be responsible for it, they are finished with it. They are akin to the blaring loudspeakers one finds in rural areas of China—this is the extent of the role they play. They do only a bit of preliminary work; for the rest of the work, they are nowhere to be seen. As for specific questions such as how each item of work is going, whether it is in line with the principles, and whether it is effective—they do not know the answers. They never engage deeply with the grassroots and visit the workplace to understand and get a grasp on the progress and particulars of each item of work. Therefore, false leaders may not set out to cause disruptions and disturbances, or do various evils during their tenure as leaders, but, as a matter of fact, they paralyze the work, delay the progress of each item of the church’s work, and make it impossible for God’s chosen people to do their duties well and gain life entry. Working this way, how could they possibly lead God’s chosen people onto the right track of faith in God? This shows that false leaders do not do any real work. They fail to follow up on the work they should be responsible for or to provide guidance and supervision for it in order to ensure that the church’s work progresses normally; they fail to perform the intended functions of leaders and workers, and they fail to fulfill their loyalty or responsibilities. This confirms that false leaders are not loyal in how they do their duties, that they are just perfunctory; they deceive both God’s chosen people and God Himself, and they affect and hinder the carrying out of His will. This fact is visible to all” (The Word, Vol. 5. The Responsibilities of Leaders and Workers. The Responsibilities of Leaders and Workers (4)). When I read these words of God that exposed false leaders, I felt very judged. When doing their duty, false leaders indulge in their flesh, are perfunctory, and start tasks without finishing them properly. When they implement work, they are satisfied with just passing on orders and issuing instructions, they don’t supervise or follow up on the details of the work, and they don’t understand or grasp the problems in the work. Even when they do discover problems, they don’t resolve them promptly, severely delaying the progress of the work. Although I wasn’t a leader, was my behavior not exactly the same as this? I was constantly afraid of putting in effort and getting exhausted in my duty, and I didn’t have any sense of responsibility at all. I used the pretext of being busy to avoid following up on the team’s work. When I saw that the sermon work in one group was not yielding results, I just went through the motions in asking about the work and fellowshipped with the group leader briefly about her state, asking her to lead the group members in summarizing deviations and problems. Even when I later discovered that the group members were still living in difficulties, I didn’t want to put in more effort or pay more of a price to resolve this. I just forwarded them letters from leaders and asked them to study and get involved by themselves without actually resolving the problems in the work. I saw that in my duty, I was being just as irresponsible as a false leader, and that I was just going through the motions without doing actual work. I didn’t resolve the actual difficulties in my duty, which meant that nobody gained a path forward in their duties, and the work ground to a standstill. These were all consequences of me not doing actual work. I thought about how God’s intention for me doing the duty of a supervisor was so that I would follow up on, supervise, and involve myself in the details of the team’s work, and that I’d look into and grasp the states of the team members, discover the deviations and problems in their duties, and be able to fellowship the truth to resolve these things promptly, allowing the work to progress normally. However, I didn’t fulfill my responsibilities. In my duty, I was satisfied with merely passing on orders, and I thought that just so long as the work was implemented, then all was well. I also thought that because the members of that group had all been doing text-based duties for many years and had mastered some principles, I didn’t need to expend any more thought or effort. I pushed all the work onto them as if this were a matter of course and became a hands-off boss. Thinking about it, although they had some experience in their duties, everyone has deviations and deficiencies, and may sometimes live in corrupt dispositions, so I should have been constantly looking into their attitudes toward their duties, getting to grips with the problems and difficulties in the work, and resolving these things promptly. These were my responsibilities. However, all I ever considered was how to reduce the suffering of my flesh. I didn’t show any consideration for God’s intention at all! Although I expended less mental effort, and my flesh was not as tired, I delayed the progress of the work by showing consideration for the flesh and by being perfunctory, and I had transgressed before God. When I thought this, I felt deeply regretful, and indebted to God.

Afterward, I reflected on myself. In my duty, why was I unwilling to put in more effort, and why was I constantly being perfunctory and irresponsible? I read the words of God: “There is another type of false leader, which we have often talked about while fellowshipping on the topic of ‘the responsibilities of leaders and workers.’ This type has some caliber, they’re not unintelligent, in their work, they have ways and methods, and plans for solving problems, and when they are given a piece of work, they can implement it close to the expected standards. They are able to discover any problems that arise in the work and can also resolve some of them; when they hear the problems some people report, or they observe the behavior, manifestations, speech and actions of some people, they have a reaction in their heart, and they have their own opinion and an attitude. Of course, if these people pursue the truth and have a sense of burden, then all these problems can be resolved. However, problems unexpectedly go unresolved in work that’s under the responsibility of the type of person we’re fellowshipping on today. Why is that? It’s because these people don’t do real work. They love ease and hate hard work, they are just making perfunctory efforts on the surface, they like being idle and enjoying the benefits of status, they like ordering people around, and they just move their mouths a bit and give some suggestions and then consider their work done. They don’t take any of the real work of the church or the critical work God entrusts to them to heart—they don’t have this sense of burden, and even if God’s house repeatedly emphasizes these things, they still don’t take them to heart. For example, they don’t want to intervene in or inquire about the film production work or text-based work of God’s house, nor do they wish to look into how these types of work are progressing and what results they’re achieving. They just make some indirect inquiries, and once they know that people are busy with this work and doing this work, they don’t concern themselves with it any further. Even when they know perfectly well that there are problems in the work, they still don’t want to fellowship on and resolve them, nor do they make inquiries about or look into how people are doing their duties. Why don’t they make inquiries or look into these things? They think that if they look into them, then there will be lots of problems waiting for them to resolve, and that will be too worrisome. Life will be far too exhausting if they always have to be solving problems! If they worry too much, food will no longer taste good to them, and they won’t be able to sleep well, their flesh will feel tired, and then life will become miserable. That’s why, when they see a problem, they evade it and ignore it if they can. What is the problem with this type of person? (They’re too lazy.) Tell Me, who has a serious problem: lazy people, or people with poor caliber? (Lazy people.) Why do lazy people have a serious problem? (People of poor caliber cannot be leaders or workers, but they can be somewhat effective when they do a duty that is within their abilities. However, people who are lazy can’t do anything; even if they do have caliber, it has no effect.) Lazy people can’t do anything. To summarize it in two words, they are useless people; they have a second-class disability. No matter how good the caliber of lazy people is, it is nothing more than window dressing; even though they have good caliber, it is of no use. They are too lazy—they know what they are supposed to do, but they don’t do it, and even if they know something is a problem, they do not seek the truth to resolve it, and though they know what hardships they should suffer in order for the work to be effective, they are unwilling to endure these worthwhile hardships—so they cannot gain any truths, and they cannot do any real work. They do not wish to endure the hardships people are supposed to; they only know to indulge in comfort, enjoy times of joy and leisure, and enjoy a free and relaxed life. Are they not useless? People who cannot endure hardship don’t deserve to live. Those who always wish to live the life of a parasite are people without conscience or reason; they are beasts, and such people are unfit even to perform labor. Because they cannot endure hardship, even when they do perform labor, they are not able to do it well, and if they wish to gain the truth, there is even less hope of that. Someone who cannot suffer and does not love the truth is a useless person; they are unqualified even to perform labor. They are a beast, without a shred of humanity. Such people must be eliminated; only this accords with God’s intentions” (The Word, Vol. 5. The Responsibilities of Leaders and Workers. The Responsibilities of Leaders and Workers (8)). “Satan’s philosophy and logic have become people’s lives. No matter what people pursue, they do so for themselves—and so they live only for themselves. ‘Every man for himself and the devil take the hindmost’—this is the life philosophy of man, and it also represents human nature. These words have already become the nature of corrupt mankind and they are the true portrait of corrupt mankind’s satanic nature. This satanic nature has already become the basis for corrupt mankind’s existence. For several thousand years, corrupt mankind has lived by this venom of Satan, right up to the present day” (The Word, Vol. 3. The Discourses of Christ of the Last Days. How to Walk the Path of Peter). Thinking about it, the reason that I was unwilling to expend more mental energy and was irresponsible in my duty was that, just like a false leader, I was too lazy and indulged in comfort too much. God says: “No matter how good the caliber of lazy people is, it is nothing more than window dressing,” and “they are unqualified even to perform labor. They are a beast, without a shred of humanity,” and “must be eliminated.” I saw just how much God hates false leaders. No matter how good the caliber of a false leader is, because their humanity is not up to scratch, and they are too lazy, are irresponsible in their duty, and don’t supervise or follow up on the details of the work, then they are unqualified even to perform labor, and they will incur God’s hatred and loathing. In reading these words, I felt as if God were judging me face to face, and every line pierced my heart. I thought about how before I’d found God, I often heard people say, “Every man for himself and the devil take the hindmost,” “Savoring wine and enjoying music, how much time does life truly offer?” and “Carpe diem, and pay no heed to rights and wrongs.” I had been conditioned and poisoned by these absurd ideas instilled in me by Satan, and so I liked pursuing fleshly enjoyment and leading a free and comfortable life. I felt that only with good fleshly enjoyment could a person have a free and easy life. I lived by these satanic views on existence, and as soon as I had a lot to do in my duty, I started to consider and plan for my flesh, and I wouldn’t even do things that were within my abilities. I was well aware that the progress of the work was slow, and that the members of that group had run into difficulties in their duties, but I didn’t want to pay a price to resolve these issues. All I thought about was how I could work and suffer less. My nature was truly selfish and despicable, and I had no humanity at all! I thought about how God became flesh and came to the earth to work and save people. He never spouts slogans, but instead practically expresses the truth to provide for people in accordance with what they lack. Whatever difficulties and problems we humans have, Christ tirelessly and patiently fellowships on them with us, practically resolving various problems and difficulties in our duties. I saw that Christ is very diligent and responsible in how He acts. Then I looked back at myself again. In my duties, I was perfunctory whenever possible, and I tried to suffer as little as I could. I was so lazy and decadent, and I lived without any integrity or dignity at all. If I did not repent, ultimately, I would be spurned and eliminated by God, and I would ruin my chance for salvation, and the time God’s work comes to an end would also be the time when I would be punished. When I thought this, I felt extremely upset and guilty. I prayed to God, “God, I constantly show consideration for my flesh in my duty, and I don’t want to put in more effort. I just spout slogans and don’t do any actual work. I have brought damage upon my duty and left regrets in my wake. I have incurred Your loathing. God, I am willing to repent to You. Moving forward, I am willing to rebel against my flesh and steadfastly resolve all the actual problems in the team, doing my duty well to satisfy You.”

Later, I read more of God’s words: “God has given you caliber and many superior conditions, allowing you to see clearly this matter and be competent for this work. However, you do not have the right attitude, you lack loyalty and sincerity, and you do not want to try your best to do it well. This greatly disappoints God. So, when faced with many things, if you are lazy, always feel bothered and do not want to do them, and you inwardly grumble, ‘Why am I being asked to do it and not someone else?’ then this is a foolish thought. When a duty falls to you, it is not an unfortunate event, it is an honor, and you should gladly accept it. This work won’t tire you out or kill you. On the contrary, if you handle this work properly and do it well with your utmost effort, you will feel at peace and at ease in your heart, and you won’t have disappointed God. When you come before God, you can be confident and stand tall” (The Word, Vol. 7. On the Pursuit of the Truth. How to Pursue the Truth (11)). “We won’t talk about completing a great mission, duty, or responsibility, but at the very least, you should accomplish something. For instance, in the church, some people put all their efforts into the work of spreading the gospel, dedicating the energy of their entire lives, paying a great price, and gaining many people. Because of this, they feel that their lives have not been lived in vain, and that they hold value and comfort. When facing illness or death, when summing up their entire lives and thinking back on everything they ever did, on the path they walked, they find solace in their hearts. They experience no accusations or regrets. Some people spare no effort while leading in the church or being responsible for a certain aspect of work. They unleash their maximum potential, giving all of their strength, expending all their energy and paying the price for the work they do. Through their watering, leadership, help, and support, they help many people in the midst of their own weaknesses and negativity to become strong and stand firm, not to withdraw themselves, but instead to return to the presence of God and even finally bear witness to Him. Furthermore, during the period of their leadership, they accomplish many significant tasks, clearing out more than a few evil people, protecting many of God’s chosen people, and recovering a number of significant losses. All of these achievements take place during their leadership. Looking back at the path they walked, recalling the work they did and the price they paid over the years, they feel no regrets or accusations. They feel no remorse about doing these things and believe that they have lived a life of value, and they have steadiness and comfort in their hearts. How wonderful is that! Isn’t this the fruit that they’ve gained? (Yes.) This sense of steadiness and comfort, this lack of regrets, they are the result and the harvest of pursuing positive things and the truth. Let’s not hold people to high standards. Let’s consider a situation where a person is faced with a task they should do or are willing to do in their lifetime. After finding their place, they stand firmly in their position, hold their position, expend all their heart’s blood and all their energy, and accomplish and finish what they should work on and complete. When they finally stand before God to give an account, they feel relatively satisfied, without accusations or regrets in their heart. They feel comforted and that they have gained something, that they have lived a valuable life” (The Word, Vol. 6. On the Pursuit of the Truth. How to Pursue the Truth (6)). As I pondered God’s words, I understood God’s intention. God bestowed gifts and caliber on me, and gave me the opportunity to be a supervisor in the hope that I would pay a price in my duty, be earnest and responsible in my actions, and do my duty well with all my heart. Only in this way could my life have meaning. If in my duty I am constantly lazy and indulge in comfort, then although my flesh will not suffer too much, I will damage the work. This is something that incurs God’s loathing. Now God’s work has reached its final critical moment. If I continue to show consideration for the flesh and do not spend my time and energy on my duty, then when God’s work is finished, I will be left with eternal regrets. I had to turn around my attitude toward my duty; be earnest and responsible in my actions, and give my heart to them; when I discover any problems, rely on God and seek the truth to resolve them; and do some real work in a down-to-earth way. Afterward, I actually found out about and investigated the reason for the poor quality of the sermons. It was primarily because the brothers and sisters did not properly grasp the principles of screening sermons, and couldn’t apply what they had learned. I screened some sermons and studied principles with them in response to these problems, and fellowshipped on and corrected problems and deviations promptly when we discovered them. We achieved some results in our duties. Although it took more time and energy, and my flesh suffered a little more, my heart felt peaceful and at ease. At the same time, by studying the principles with the team members, I also understood them better. These were all results achieved through actual participation in the work.

Afterward, I followed up on the other team’s work while paying attention to the work of the sermon team. I discussed the principles implemented by the leaders with my brothers and sisters in detail, one by one, and discussed and resolved any deviations we found in the work in a timely manner. Once, the leaders pointed out that the sermon team only focused on the quantity of sermons to be submitted, not their quality. This meant that although they submitted a lot of sermons, their quality was poor. After reading this letter, I thought to myself, “I still have some work to implement at the moment. Writing to the sermon team to communicate this would take more time and energy, and my flesh would suffer more. Why don’t I just briefly communicate with them, incorporating the leaders’ letter, and ask them to pay more attention in the future?” However, afterward, I read the words of God: “Whenever you want to be slack and just go through the motions, whenever you want to act in a slippery way and be lazy, and whenever you get distracted or would rather be enjoying yourself, you should consider: ‘In behaving like this, am I being untrustworthy? Is this putting my heart into doing my duty? Am I being disloyal by doing this? In doing this, am I failing to live up to the commission God has entrusted to me?’ This is how you should self-reflect. If you come to find out that you are always perfunctory in your duty, that you are disloyal, and that you have hurt God, what should you do? You should say, ‘In the moment I sensed that there was something wrong here, but I didn’t treat it as a problem; I just glossed over it carelessly. I didn’t realize until now that I really had been perfunctory, that I had not lived up to my responsibility. I truly am lacking in conscience and reason!’ You have found the problem and come to know a bit about yourself—so now, you must turn yourself around! Your attitude toward performing your duty was wrong. You were careless with it, as with an extra job, and you did not put your heart into it. If you are perfunctory like this again, you must pray to God and let Him discipline and chasten you. You must have such a will in performing your duty. Only then can you truly repent. You may turn yourself around only when your conscience is clear and your attitude toward performing your duty is transformed” (The Word, Vol. 3. The Discourses of Christ of the Last Days. Only in the Frequent Reading of God’s Words and Contemplation of the Truth Is There a Way Ahead). As I pondered God’s words, I thought about how in the past I had been too lazy in doing my duty, and had been unwilling to suffer or put in a lot of mental effort, which had delayed the work. Now, I had to turn around my attitude toward my duty, and couldn’t constantly indulge in comfort like I had in the past. I had to pray to God to rebel against the flesh, and fulfill the responsibilities I should fulfill. After that, I wrote a letter to fellowship about the deviations in the team’s work and pointed out a path forward in detail. After a time, the deviations in the team were turned around, and the performance of their duties improved compared to before. Although there were still many items of work, I had turned around my attitude to my duty, and was prioritizing my work properly, actually participating, supervising, and following up on the details of the team’s work. When difficulties came upon us, I led the team members to seek the truth and resolve them, and slowly the work started to improve. Although my flesh paid more of a price and suffered a little more, my heart felt peaceful and at ease.

Through this experience, I have reflected on myself and gained some understanding of my own nature of indulging in comfort and laziness. In the future, I must focus on supervising and following up on the details of the team’s work, doing my duty well to satisfy God.