By Su Fei, China

In 2023, I was elected to be a district leader. Because I was responsible for a lot of work and had a large workload, needing to frequently fellowship with the church leaders, deacons, and members of the various teams to implement the various items of work, summarize deviations, and solve problems, I was busy every day, going to bed very late. In addition, I was in poor health and felt weak and lacked energy, and sometimes I got heart palpitations and felt anxious. I worried that if I continued like this over the long term, my health wouldn’t be able to take it.

Later, I was mainly responsible for text-based work and watering work. Following up on the text-based work required my actual participation to solve the problems and difficulties that my brothers and sisters had in doing their duties, and I also had to give the leaders timely feedback on the work. In the watering work, in addition to cultivating waterers, we also needed to cultivate newcomers. Seeing that the watering work involved so many details, I thought to myself, “I’m busy enough just following up on these tasks. How on earth will I have time to cultivate newcomers? My time and energy are limited, and I can’t handle so many tasks at the same time! My health is not good to begin with. How will I be able to bear this? It should be fine to let the waterers take charge of it.” I then used being busy as an excuse to push the newcomers who needed cultivating onto the waterers. I didn’t pay much attention to the problems that the waterers reported, and just went through the motions of implementing the work. I looked forward to a time when I could do an easier duty and wouldn’t be so tired all day long. Ultimately, neither the text-based work nor the watering work achieved any results. However, I didn’t reflect on myself and summarize my deviations, and believed that it was because I didn’t have the caliber to be a leader. I even thought about taking the blame and resigning. However, then I also thought that if I resigned, the sister I was working with simply wouldn’t be able to handle the work alone. That would be too lacking in humanity on my part. Although I seemed to be doing my duty on the surface, I was actually highly unwilling. I just did my work every day because I had no other option, and my state got worse and worse. One day in June 2024, the upper leaders exposed and pruned me, saying that I didn’t do real work, and when faced with difficulties in the work, I just tried to understand them in a perfunctory manner and didn’t put any effort into solving them, and that the two items of work I had been responsible for had not borne any results at all. At that moment, I got scared. I had a clear realization that my attitude toward my duty was incurring God’s loathing, and if I didn’t seek the truth to resolve it immediately it would be very dangerous.

Later, I looked up God’s words relating to the problems my leaders had exposed and reflected on myself. I read a passage of God’s words: “What kind of manifestations and characteristics do those who are excessively lazy display? Firstly, in whatever they are doing, they act perfunctorily, dawdle about, go at a leisurely pace, and rest and procrastinate whenever possible. Secondly, they pay no mind to the church’s work. To them, whoever likes worrying about such things may do so. They will not. When they do worry about something, it’s for the sake of their own fame, gain, and status—all that matters for them is that they are able to enjoy the benefits of status. Thirdly, they shy away from hardship in their work; they cannot accept their work being even slightly tiring, becoming very resentful if it is, and they are unable to bear hardship or pay a price. Fourthly, they are unable to persevere in whatever work they do, always giving up halfway and unable to see things through. If they’re temporarily in a good mood, they might do some work for fun, but if something requires long-term commitment, and it keeps them busy, requires a lot of thought, and fatigues their flesh, over time they will begin to grumble. For instance, some leaders are in charge of church work, and they find it new and fresh at first. They are very motivated in their fellowship of the truth and when they see brothers and sisters have problems, they are able to help and resolve them. But, after persisting for a while, they start to find leadership work too exhausting, and they become negative—they wish to switch to an easier job, and are not willing to bear hardship. Such people lack perseverance. Fifthly, another characteristic that distinguishes lazy people is their unwillingness to do real work. As soon as their flesh suffers, they come up with excuses to evade and shirk their work, or pass it off to someone else. And when that person finishes the work, they shamelessly reap the rewards themselves. These are the five major characteristics of lazy people. You should check to see if there are such lazy people among the leaders and workers in the churches. If you find one, they should be dismissed immediately. Can lazy people do good work as leaders? No matter what kind of caliber they have or the quality of their humanity, if they are lazy, they will be unable to do their work well, and they will delay the work and important matters. The church’s work is multifaceted; each aspect of it entails many detailed tasks and requires fellowshipping about the truth to resolve problems in order to be done well. Therefore, leaders and workers must be diligent—they have to do a lot of talking and a lot of work every day to ensure the work’s effectiveness. If they speak or do too little, there will be no results. So, if a leader or worker is a lazy person, they are certainly a false leader and are incapable of doing real work. Lazy people do not do real work, much less go themselves to work sites, and they are not willing to resolve problems or involve themselves in any specific work. They do not have the slightest understanding or grasp of the problems in any work. They only have a superficial, vague idea in their heads from listening to what others have said, and they muddle through by just preaching a bit of doctrine. Are you able to discern this kind of leader? Are you able to tell that they are false leaders? (To a degree.) Lazy people are perfunctory in whatever duty they do. No matter the duty, they lack perseverance, work in fits and starts, and complain whenever they suffer some hardships, pouring out unending grievances. They hurl abuse at whoever criticizes or prunes them, like a shrew insulting people in the streets, always wanting to vent their anger at others, and not wanting to do their duty. What does it show that they do not want to do their duty? It shows that they do not bear a burden, are unwilling to take on responsibility, and are lazy people. They do not want to suffer hardships or pay the price. This especially applies to leaders and workers: If they do not bear a burden, can they fulfill the responsibilities of leaders and workers? Absolutely not” (The Word, Vol. 5. The Responsibilities of Leaders and Workers. The Responsibilities of Leaders and Workers (4)). What God exposed was exactly my state. While doing my duties, I constantly indulged in comfort, feared suffering and worry, and didn’t do real work. Despite being well aware of what I ought to be doing, I didn’t do it. I had no humanity at all. God says that such people are too lazy and constantly indulge in comfort. They are unworthy of being leaders or workers. They cannot even perform labor well and are destined for elimination. I finally realized that my unwillingness to do my duty as a leader was not a problem with my caliber. Instead, it was mainly because I was too lazy and I cherished the flesh too much. At the beginning, I was quite active in doing my leadership duties. Later, when I was doing specific work and my duty was busier and more tiring, and required me to dedicate more time and effort, I started to feel resistant and complained. I was constantly afraid of my flesh suffering, and that worrying too much would exhaust my body. I then started to slack off and act slippery, and pushed the work that I should have done onto my brothers and sisters. I didn’t pay any heed to the problems or difficulties that arose, and consequently, the two items of work I was responsible for never bore any results. Even though that was the case, I still felt at ease with it. When the leaders followed up on my work, not only did I fail to reflect on myself, I also kept complaining about my suffering and hardship, saying that my caliber was poor and I couldn’t solve these difficulties. I even wanted to take the blame and resign, so I could get an easier duty. I did my leadership duties but did not do the substantive work of a leader. How irresponsible I was! I thought about how good leaders and workers have a sense of responsibility toward their duties. When they do their duties, they are willing to pay a price and are not afraid of suffering or exhaustion; where necessary, they will go to the workplace and provide practical fellowship and resolutions to the problems that arise in each item of work. If they cannot solve the problem themselves, they can discuss it with their brothers and sisters or seek from the upper leaders. However, I was careless about my duty, showed consideration for the flesh, and indulged in the benefits of status. Wasn’t I a false leader?

I read more of God’s words: “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)). God exposes that lazy people are useless people. Even if they have caliber, this type of person indulges in comfort and cannot do any real work. In the end, they must be eliminated. Comparing myself with God’s words, I saw that I was a lazy and useless person, just like God had exposed. My caliber might be lacking, but I was still capable of doing some work. Although as a leader I was responsible for a lot of work and faced a lot of difficulties, if I bore a burden, had a sense of responsibility, and was willing to suffer and pay a price, the work could still have achieved some real results. However, I was too lazy and was unwilling to worry or suffer. When the text-based work and watering work ran into problems and required me to do specific work, I was afraid of the mental effort and so pushed it onto my brothers and sisters for them to do while I enjoyed my leisure. I had made an utter mess of doing my duty, had not done any real work, and even caused more trouble than help with my labor. If I continued like this, I would be completely degraded and destined for the scrap heap. God awakened my numb and intransigent heart through the pruning of the leaders. Otherwise, I still wouldn’t have reflected on myself, and would never have realized the disruption and disturbance that I had brought to the work of the church. When I understood this, I experienced God’s painstaking intention lying behind it: He wanted me to be able to reflect on and know myself and to repent. I also told myself silently, “I must do my duty well every single day that I am not dismissed. I cannot just admit my mistakes verbally; I have to take actions. In my duty, I must give my maximum effort, and cannot treat it like I did before.”

Later, I continued to reflect on my own problems: Why was I always unwilling to worry or suffer when doing my duty? What was the root cause lying behind this? I read the words of God: “You hope that your faith in God will not entail any challenges or tribulations, or the slightest hardship. You always pursue those things that are worthless, and you attach no value to life, instead putting your own extravagant thoughts before the truth. You are so worthless! You live like a pig—what difference is there between you, and pigs and dogs? Are those who do not pursue the truth, and instead love the flesh, not all beasts? Are those dead ones without spirits not all walking corpses? How many words have been spoken among you? Has only a little work been done among you? How much have I provided among you? So why have you not gained it? What do you have to complain of? Is it not the case that you have gained nothing because you are too in love with the flesh? And is it not because your thoughts are too extravagant? Is it not because you are too stupid? If you are incapable of gaining these blessings, can you blame God for not saving you?” (The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. The Experiences of Peter: His Knowledge of Chastisement and Judgment). “Until people have experienced God’s work and understood the truth, it is Satan’s nature that takes charge and dominates them from within. … 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). When I compared myself to what God’s words expose, I gained some understanding of the root cause of my indulgence in comfort. Although I had believed in God for many years, I still followed the rules of existence that Satan had instilled in people, like “Every man for himself and the devil take the hindmost,” “Life is short, so enjoy it while you can,” and “Treat yourself well while you’re alive.” These satanic poisons had become the basis of my existence, and my thoughts and ideas had been distorted. I believed that in life, people should treat themselves well, know how to enjoy life, and not overwork their flesh. I thought about how when I was working in the past, I liked working with freedom and no restraints. I would rather earn less money than do hard and tiring work, which I felt was too restrictive and too laborious. I believed that a person’s life is just a few decades long and passes by in the blink of an eye, and the most important thing is to be kind to yourself. After I started to believe in God and do my duty, I still lived by this mistaken view. I constantly indulged in comfort and cherished the flesh, was unwilling to worry or bear a burden in my duty, pushed away work that involved tiring out my flesh, and complained when I encountered difficulties. I constantly wanted to find an easier duty to do. That I was able to do the duty of a district leader was God exalting me, giving me more conditions and opportunities to enter into truth reality. Although I encountered many problems and difficulties in doing my duty, which could push me to rely on God and seek the truth to resolve problems and thus speed up my life progress, I didn’t know to cherish this, afraid that my body wouldn’t be able to stand up to the stress and worry. I did not work together with my brothers and sisters to resolve difficulties, and instead, pushed these difficulties onto my brothers and sisters, putting them under pressure. The newcomers’ problems could not be solved promptly, and the newcomers who should have been cultivated were not. As a leader, I bore no burden in my duty and treated it with no sense of responsibility at all. I only cared about enjoying my leisure. I played no role in promoting these important items of work, and even though I had made such a mess of doing my duty I still didn’t reproach myself or feel uncomfortable. I even wanted to take the blame and resign so I could better enjoy my leisure. In what way is this something that a person with humanity should do? Though my flesh suffered no worry or exhaustion, my life made no progress whatsoever, the work I was responsible for bore no results, the work of the church was gravely delayed, and I left transgressions and evil deeds in my wake. How could God not loathe my attitude toward my duty? Only then did I realize that all these years I had been living by these mistaken thoughts and ideas. I could not do my duty well, and did not suffer or pay a price to pursue the truth. Instead, I came to indulge in comfort and did not think about making progress, losing many opportunities to obtain the truth! Afterward, I was willing to focus on practicing the truth to resolve my corrupt disposition.

Later, I read more of God’s words: “Faced with all manner of troubles, difficult situations, and challenges, Noah did not shrink back. When some of his more difficult engineering tasks frequently failed and underwent damage, even though Noah felt upset and anxious in his heart, when he thought of God’s words, when he remembered every word that God commanded of him, and God’s elevation of him, then he often felt extremely motivated: ‘I cannot give up, I cannot discard what God commanded and entrusted me to do; this is God’s commission, and since I accepted it, since I heard the words spoken by God and the voice of God, and since I accepted this from God, then I should submit absolutely, which is what ought to be attained by a human being.’ So, no matter what kind of difficulties he faced, no matter what kind of mockery or slander he encountered, no matter how exhausted his body became, how tired, he did not forsake what had been entrusted to him by God, and constantly kept in mind every single word of what God had said and commanded. No matter how his environments changed, no matter how great the difficulty he faced, he trusted that none of this would go on forever, that God’s words alone would never pass away, and only that which God commanded to be done would surely be accomplished. Noah had in him true faith in God, and the submission that he ought to have, and he continued to build the ark that God had asked him to build. Day by day, year by year, Noah grew older, but his faith did not diminish, and there was no change in his attitude and determination to complete God’s commission. Though there were times when his body felt tired and exhausted, and he fell ill, and in his heart he was weak, his determination and perseverance toward completing God’s commission and submitting to God’s words did not lessen. During the years that Noah built the ark, Noah was practicing listening to and submitting to the words God had said, and he was also practicing an important truth of a created being and ordinary person needing to complete God’s commission” (The Word, Vol. 4. Exposing Antichrists. Excursus Three: How Noah and Abraham Obeyed God’s Words and Submitted to Him (Part Two)). When I compared myself with Noah’s attitude toward God’s commission, I felt so ashamed! Noah had a God-fearing heart and treated God’s commission with loyalty and submission. In those days, there was no modern industry, and everything from logging to building the ark had to be done by hand. Noah did everything himself, and his flesh was certainly exhausted from hard work. He also faced many difficulties, pressures, and illnesses, but Noah never considered his own flesh, and never gave up God’s commission because of the suffering and exhaustion of his flesh. Instead, he boldly faced up to his difficulties and persisted in building the ark for 120 years, ultimately completing God’s commission. There was a whole world of difference between the way I did my duties and Noah’s. Next, I had to rely on God to rebel against the flesh, and work with all my heart and mind in my primary duties, especially when I needed to suffer or pay a price. Whether my condition will get worse in the future is in God’s hands. God is sovereign over everything and controls people’s birth, aging, illness and death. If God does not permit my illness to become serious, then however tired my flesh gets, it will never collapse. Weren’t all my worries unnecessary? Therefore, I prayed to God, willing to repent, to emulate Noah’s attitude toward his duty, to treat my duty with a God-fearing heart, and to show consideration for the flesh or indulge in comfort no longer.

Since then, when I do my duty, I consciously do real work, and actually participate in work that I need to do. When faced with problems in the text-based work, I don’t run away anymore, but think about how to solve these difficulties, finding ways forward by discussing them with my brothers and sisters. I also follow up on and supervise the watering work, and actually go water the newcomers who are worth cultivating. I also promptly fellowship about and help resolve problems reported by the waterers. When I actually participate in these items of work, my flesh is certainly busier than before. However, when I dedicate my heart to my duty, however exhausted my flesh is, I don’t feel that tired. Sometimes, when I do feel tired, I take an appropriate rest, and then continue working. By practicing in this way, my heart is at ease, and my illness also gradually improves. I experienced that suffering in order to do your duty well will not wear out your body. Although the tasks I am currently responsible for have not shown much improvement, through my experiences during this period and the exposures in God’s words, I saw the consequences of indulging in comfort. I saw that satanic philosophies such as “Every man for himself and the devil take the hindmost,” “Life is short, so enjoy it while you can,” and “Treat yourself well while you’re alive” corrode people’s thoughts and corrupt them. They make people think only of the flesh and live in a selfish and degenerate way, with no goals or directions to pursue. In addition, I also gained some superficial understanding of the root cause of my indulgence in comfort and my nature essence, and turned around my attitude toward my duty. Thank God for His leadership!