By Qianbei, South Korea

Last October we finished producing a video. We put a lot of work into it, and devoted lots of time and energy, but surprisingly, the leader found lots of issues when we showed it to him. He said the framing wasn’t done well, that it wasn’t better than the previous videos and had to be redone. I was pretty taken aback by this. I’d never imagined there would be such major issues. Didn’t redoing it mean that all our effort and resources had been wasted? It seemed like a huge loss.

I was kind of at a loss. I didn’t know how to get through that or what lesson I needed to learn. I was thinking that the video had gone through several rounds of editing and the leader had seen it, but never mentioned those issues. I felt like I was lacking caliber, so it was normal that I’d overlook those problems. But I kept thinking about it and it felt off. Were such major problems only because I lacked caliber? What was the root of these issues in my duty? Then I remembered something the leader said before, that he’d just looked at the video for its concepts and continuity, but that didn’t mean there weren’t issues. He told us to keep an eye out for the details during production and fix any problems we found. But that’s not what I did. I figured that since the leader had seen the video, it should be fine, so during production I didn’t carefully review it or really give it thought. I was really casual about it. Then when problems cropped up, I said the leader had reviewed it before. I was fobbing off responsibility. That was so unreasonable of me. Then I thought that there was definitely a lesson in that for me, so I prayed and sought, asking God to guide me to know myself.

A few days later, the sister I worked with asked me to review a completed video with her. I spoke up about some problems I noticed in my review, but she said when the leader watched it he said he liked the concept and we should finish it right away. I had some suggestions for changing it, but I was reluctant to mention them after hearing the leader said it was really good. I was afraid that if we made those changes and I turned out to be wrong, I’d be getting in the way. But I saw there really were some issues in it, so I asked another brother to watch it, and he agreed with me. I felt like I should probably bring it up again. But then I thought that if I did and the edits I suggested were problematic, the leader might ask about it, then it would be my responsibility and I’d be dealt with. I thought about it for a while, and felt like we may as well ask the leader. If he said it was fine, it wouldn’t need more editing. That would save trouble and we wouldn’t be stuck on it. So I suggested to my partner that we ask the leader to put our minds at ease. I felt like something wasn’t right as soon as the words left my mouth. I was so familiar with it: I had one response to hearing a different opinion—ask the leader and get him to decide. If the leader gave his approval, we didn’t need to worry about it and we could move on, but otherwise, if he said there were problems, we made more edits. That was what we did every time. In fact, it wasn’t that we weren’t familiar with the principles and requirements for videos. We could act on the principles of the truth on those sorts of problems, and the leader was clear that his review was just a broader look at it, but we needed to check out and fix any smaller issues. That was the duty I should do, and it was my job. Why wasn’t I putting my heart into it? In the face of issues or differences of opinion, I wasn’t seeking the truth with brothers and sisters to reach agreement and being responsible, but I was handing it off to the leader, not doing my duty. Then I remembered some of God’s words. “There are some who are always passive in performing their duty, always sitting and waiting and relying on others. What sort of attitude is that? It is irresponsibility. … You preach only the letters and words of doctrine and say only pleasant-sounding things, but you do not do any practical work. If you do not wish to perform your duty, you should accept responsibility and resign. Do not hold your position and not do anything there, compromising the work of God’s house. Is doing so not inflicting harm on God’s chosen people and compromising the work of His house? In the way you talk, you seem to understand all manner of doctrine, but when asked to perform a duty, you are careless and perfunctory, not conscientious in the least. Is that what it is to expend oneself sincerely for God? You have no sincerity for God, yet you feign it. Are you capable of deceiving Him? In the way you usually talk, there seems to be such great confidence; you would like to be the pillar of God’s house and its rock. But when you perform a duty, you are not even as useful as a matchstick. Is this not open-eyed deception of God on your part? Do you know what comes of trying to deceive God? His detesting you and casting you out! All people are revealed in performing their duties—just set a person to a duty, and it will not take long before it is revealed whether they are an honest person or a deceiver and whether or not they are a lover of the truth. Those who love the truth can perform their duties sincerely and can uphold the work of God’s house; those who do not love the truth do not uphold the work of God’s house in the least, and they are irresponsible in performing their duties. This is visible to those with eyes to see. No one who performs their duty poorly is a lover of the truth or an honest person; they are all targets of revelation and being cast out” (The Word, Vol. 3. The Discourses of Christ of the Last Days. Only by Being Honest Can One Live Out a True Human Likeness). God says we need to have responsibility in our duty and do practical work. That’s the only way to do it well. If we don’t put our heart into our duty, but just muddle through it, without being serious about problems or taking responsibility, but just doing superficial work, we can’t do our duty well and God won’t be satisfied. In God’s eyes, such people are useless and not worthy of a duty. I saw I was just like what God described. When I ran into problems, if I thought about it, praying and seeking principles with the others, we’d reach agreement and find a solution. But I thought that was a hassle and didn’t want to make the effort or explore things with everyone. So I went straight to the leader, thinking that it would be less of a hassle if he just made a decision, that would save trouble. Otherwise we’d just be talking for ages and still might not find an answer. So we handed plenty of problems over to our leader. As the team leader, I wasn’t taking on my responsibilities or paying the price I should have. And in our work discussions, sometimes I noticed issues or had some of the Holy Spirit’s guidance, but once I explained it, if a brother or sister expressed a different opinion, I just clammed up. I was afraid the others would say I was arrogant, and even more afraid that I’d have to take responsibility for any problems. I felt like I’d shared my opinion, so they could consider it on their own, and if we couldn’t reach a consensus, we could ask the leader. That way, if a problem cropped up, at least it wouldn’t all come back on me. I wasn’t seeking how to act according to principles of the truth or God’s house’s requirements, much less thinking of what would benefit God’s house. I didn’t want to pay the slightest price. I was being irresponsible. It looked like I was seeing and raising issues, but I wasn’t resolving them. I was always waiting for others to have the final say, and I wouldn’t make decisions. I was playing tricks, being selfish, not upholding the interests of God’s house. When I realized that, I saw I’d been really obtuse and numb. God set up so many situations for me but I never sought the truth or learned a lesson. I was always just skating by in my duty, not taking it responsibly. That was a dangerous way to do my duty. Now I found a problem and my partner had different ideas. If I didn’t seek principles of the truth with her to reach agreement or seek a solution, but just ran to ask the leader, that was clearly muddling through. Then I thought that I had to change my state, that I couldn’t keep taking the middle road and being irresponsible. So I suggested to my partner that we create another version and compare the two of them, then have the leader review the one we think is better. Brothers and sisters felt that sounded good. After putting it into practice, I really felt at ease.

Later I read this passage of God’s words. “Is someone who fears taking on responsibility cowardly, or is there a problem with their disposition? You must be able to tell the difference. The fact is that this is not an issue of cowardice: If that person were after wealth or doing something in their own interest, how could they be so brave? They would take on any risk. But when they do things for the church, for God’s house, they take on no risk at all. Such people are selfish and vile, the most treacherous of all. Anyone who does not take on responsibility is not the least bit sincere to God, to say nothing of their loyalty. What sort of person dares to take on responsibility? Someone who takes the lead and goes bravely forth at the crucial moment in the work of God’s house, who is not afraid to bear a heavy responsibility, to endure great hardship, when they see the work that is most important and crucial. That is someone loyal to God, a good soldier of Christ. Is it the case that everyone who fears taking on responsibility in their duty does so because they do not understand the truth? No; it is a problem in their humanity. They have no sense of justice or responsibility. They are selfish and vile people, not true-hearted believers in God. They do not accept the truth in the least, and for this, they cannot be saved. To believe in God and gain the truth, one must pay many costs, and to put the truth into practice, one must also undergo some hardship, forsaking and abandoning some things. So, can one who fears taking on responsibility gain the truth? They cannot, because they are afraid of putting the truth into practice, of incurring a loss to their interests; they are afraid of being humiliated, of disparagement, and of judgment. They do not dare to practice the truth, so they cannot gain it, and no matter how many years they believe in God, they cannot attain God’s salvation. Those who can perform a duty in God’s house must be people whose burden is the work of the church, who take responsibility, who uphold the principles of the truth, who suffer and pay the price. To be lacking in these areas is to be unfit to perform a duty and not to possess the conditions for the performance of duty. There are many people who are afraid of taking on responsibility in performing a duty. Their fear manifests in three main ways. The first is that they choose duties that do not require taking on responsibility. If a church leader arranges for them to perform a duty, they first ask whether they must take on responsibility for it: If so, they do not accept it; if it does not require them to be responsible for it, they accept it reluctantly, but still must see whether the work is tiring or bothersome, and despite their reluctant acceptance of the duty, they are unmotivated to perform it well, preferring still to be careless and perfunctory. Leisure, not labor, and no bodily hardship—this is their principle. The second is that when a difficulty befalls them or they encounter a problem, their first resort is to report it to a leader and have him handle and resolve it, in hope that they may keep their ease. They do not care how the leader handles the issue and pay this no mind—so long as they are not responsible themselves, then all is well to them. Is such performance of duty loyal to God? This is called passing the buck, dereliction of duty, goofing off. It is all talk, they are not doing anything real. They say to themselves, ‘If this thing is mine to handle, what if I end up making a mistake? Won’t it then be I who gets handled? Won’t the responsibility for it fall first to me?’ This is what they worry about. But do you believe that God can look into all things? Everyone makes mistakes. If a person whose intention is correct lacks experience and has not handled some sort of matter before, but they have done their best, that is visible to God. You must believe that God scrutinizes all things and the heart of man. If one does not even believe this, are they not a nonbeliever? What significance could there be in such a person performing a duty? There is one more way in which a person’s fear of taking on responsibility manifests. When they perform their duty, some people do just a bit of superficial, simple work, work that does not entail taking on responsibility. Work that entails difficulties and taking on responsibility, they dump onto others, and should something go wrong, they shift the blame onto those people and keep their own noses clean. … Whoever fears taking on responsibility in performing their duty does not even rise to the level of a loyal service-doer. They are unfit to perform a duty” (The Word, Vol. 4. Exposing Antichrists. They Would Have Others Obey Only Them, Not the Truth or God (Part One)). Pondering this, I felt like this was God speaking to me face-to-face. He was describing my exact state. In the duty God’s house entrusted me with, I wasn’t working on principles of the truth or leaning on God to do my best, but I was running from problems and from responsibility, putting things on the leader’s shoulders so he could deal with them. I’d do whatever the leader said, thinking that if it wasn’t done well it wasn’t my problem, so I wouldn’t be dealt with. I thought that was a smart way to do things. But in God’s words, I saw that was divesting myself of responsibility, neglecting my duty, being crafty. I was being cunning and deceitful toward God in my duty. I always left myself an out to avoid responsibility. I wasn’t being genuine or paying a true price, or trying to do everything I possibly could. I was just skating by and being dishonest, not giving loyal service. I wasn’t worthy of a duty. Whenever we made a video, as long as the leader said it was okay, I didn’t seriously review it or really think it over. Even if others had suggestions during its production, I didn’t pay much mind to them. I’d just give it a quick look and say it was okay. I was really irresponsible. As a result, lots of finished videos had problems and had to be sent back for revisions. Sometimes the team didn’t have consensus on a video and I saw the problem, but didn’t say anything decisive, instead I brought it to the leader for him to decide. Sometimes we really didn’t have a grasp on a problem and we needed the leader’s guidance to help us turn it around. But some of them were totally within my grasp, and I just found a loophole, not doing something I was capable of. I didn’t pay the price I should have or given the thought to it I should have, but took the easy way out. I wasn’t seeking principles of the truth or really considering issues I saw. I wasn’t trying to summarize or learn lessons from failures, either. I got used to doing things this way. I was even thinking that everyone made mistakes in their duty. I did overlook some problems because I lacked caliber. Putting aside whether I could see problems or not, I didn’t even feel genuine responsibility. I was being careless and irresponsible so I could protect myself, putting responsibility on the leader when problems cropped up. I was making everything someone else’s problem. Now I see, it wasn’t a matter of caliber, but a problem with my humanity.

Then I read a passage of God’s words. “If you protect yourself whenever something befalls you and leave yourself an escape route, a back door, are you putting the truth into practice? This is not practicing the truth, it is being sneaky. You are performing your duty in the house of God now. What is the first principle of performing duty? It is that you must first perform duty with your whole heart, sparing no effort, so that you can protect the interests of God’s house. This is a principle of the truth, one that you should put into practice. Protecting oneself by leaving themselves an escape route, a back door, is the principle of practice followed by unbelievers, it is their highest philosophy. Considering oneself first in all things and placing one’s own interests before all else, not thinking of others, having no connection with the interests of God’s house and the interests of others, thinking of one’s own interests first and then thinking of their escape route—is that not what an unbeliever is? This is precisely what an unbeliever is. This sort of person is not fit to perform duty” (The Word, Vol. 4. Exposing Antichrists. They Would Have Others Obey Only Them, Not the Truth or God (Part One)). God’s words were really poignant for me. I’d never imagined that I’d be doing a duty with a nonbeliever’s perspective, and to God I looked like an unbeliever. I always considered my own interests first in the face of problems, afraid any problems would just come back on me. So I appeared to do my duty, but I never put my all into it or sought the principles of the truth. I really didn’t consider the church’s interests. And I was happy to just do some labor in my duty, going through the motions every day. Isn’t that just like an unbeliever working for a boss? When my partner and I had different opinions, why did I put it all on the leader for him to decide? I didn’t want to take responsibility, so even though I saw real issues, I gave it to him to decide, and I even felt like that was alright. Then I saw that not taking responsibility had become natural for me. I was really cunning and selfish and totally unreliable. I was playing games with God, being crafty, without any sort of genuineness. I’d locked myself outside the doors of God’s house, putting myself in the ranks of unbelievers. I really wasn’t worthy of a duty. I read another passage of God’s words later. God’s words say, “Some people don’t take any responsibility when they perform their duty, they are always careless and perfunctory. Although they can see the problem, they are unwilling to offend people, nor do they wish to seek a resolution or put up with the inconvenience, and so they just rush through things, with the result that the work has to be redone. Since you are performing this duty, you should take responsibility for it. Why do you not take it seriously? Why are you perfunctory and careless? And are you remiss in your responsibilities when you perform your duty in this way? No matter who takes primary responsibility, everyone else is responsible for keeping an eye on things, everyone must have this burden and this sense of responsibility—but none of you pay any attention, you really are perfunctory, you have no loyalty, you are remiss in your duties! It’s not that you can’t see the problem, but that you are not willing to take responsibility—nor, when you do see the problem, do you wish to pay any heed to this matter, you settle for ‘good enough.’ Is being careless and perfunctory in this way not an attempt to deceive God? If, when I worked and fellowshiped about the truth to you, I were to leave well enough alone, then as befits each of your calibers and pursuits, what could you gain from that? If I had the same attitude as you, you could gain nothing. Why do I say this? Part of it is that you do nothing earnestly, and part is that you are of quite poor caliber, quite numb. It is because I see all of you numb and without love for the truth, and not pursuing the truth, along with your poor calibers, that I must speak in detail. I must spell everything out, and break things down and fragment them in My speech, and speak of things from every angle, in every which way. Only then do you understand a bit. If I were perfunctory with you, and spoke a bit on whatever topic, whenever I felt like it, neither putting thought into it nor taking pains, without My heart in it, not speaking when I did not feel like it, what could you gain? With calibers like yours, you would not understand the truth. You would gain none of it, much less attain salvation. So, I cannot do that, but must speak in detail, and give examples, for the states of each sort of person, the attitudes people have toward the truth, and each sort of corrupt disposition; only then will you comprehend what I’m saying, and understand what you hear. No matter what aspect of the truth is fellowshiped, I speak through various means, with styles of fellowship for adults and for children, and also in the form of rationales and stories, using theory and practice, and talking of experiences, in order that people may understand the truth and enter its reality. In this way, those who have caliber and are of a mind to do so will have a chance to understand and accept the truth and be saved. But your attitude toward your duty has always been one of carelessness and perfunctoriness, of dragging your feet, and you are unconcerned with how long a delay you cause. You do not reflect on how to seek the truth in order to solve problems, you give no thought to how to perform your duty properly in order to be able to testify to God. This is neglecting your duty. So your life grows very slowly, and you are not upset by how much time you have wasted. In fact, if you performed your duty conscientiously and responsibly, it wouldn’t even take five or six years before you were able to talk of your experiences and bear testimony to God, and the various church work would be carried out to great effect—but you are not willing to be mindful of God’s will, nor do you strive toward the truth. There are some things you do not know how to do, so I give you exact instructions. You do not have to think, you just have to listen and get on with it. That is the only bit of responsibility you must take on—but even that is beyond you. Where is your loyalty? It is nowhere to be seen! All you do is say pleasant-sounding things. In your hearts, you know what you should do, but you simply do not practice the truth. This is rebellion against God, and at root, it is a lack of love for the truth. You know full well in your hearts how to act in accordance with the truth—you just don’t put it into practice. This is a serious problem; you are staring at the truth without putting it into practice. You are not someone who obeys God at all. To perform a duty in God’s house, the least you must do is seek and practice the truth and act according to the principles. If you cannot practice the truth in your performance of your duty, then where can you practice it? And if you do not practice any of the truth, then you are a nonbeliever. What is your purpose, really, if you do not accept the truth—much less practice the truth—and simply muddle along in the house of God? Do you wish to make God’s house your retirement home, or an almshouse? If so, you are mistaken—God’s house does not take care of freeloaders, of wastrels. Anyone of poor humanity, who does not perform their duty gladly, who is unfit to perform a duty, must all be removed; all nonbelievers who do not accept the truth at all must be cast out. When they see a problem, they do not solve it, and when they know something is their responsibility, they do not give it their all. If you do not even carry out responsibilities that you are capable of, then what value or effect could performing your duty possibly have? Is it meaningful to believe in God in this way? Someone who understands the truth but cannot practice it, who cannot bear the hardships they ought to—such a person is unfit to perform a duty” (The Word, Vol. 3. The Discourses of Christ of the Last Days. Performing Duty Well Requires a Conscience, at the Very Least). I felt so ashamed after reading God’s words. God is perfectly genuine in His work and treatment of people. He uses all sorts of ways to fellowship with people to save us, giving us really detailed fellowship on various aspects of the truth. He gives us lots of examples to guide us in case we don’t understand, and is always fellowshiping truths to support us. God’s house was entrusting me with such an important duty, but I wasn’t taking responsibility. I was approaching it carelessly, slacking off wherever I could, even playing tricks with God. Where was my humanity? God is genuine with me, but I was only cheating Him. Before in God’s words I’d read about some people with poor humanity, but I didn’t compare that to myself. Then I saw that I did have poor humanity and no conscience. It looked like I was doing my duty every day and was paying a bit of a price, and I went through all the motions. But my heart wasn’t facing toward God. I wasn’t trying to do everything I could in my duty, to put my all into it, to be thoughtful and conscientious. I wasn’t doing a duty—I wasn’t even up to the standard of doing service. Those problems in the video weren’t by chance—God’s disposition was within it. It was His judgment of me. I knew it was entirely due to my irresponsibility, and I couldn’t make up for any losses or transgressions resulting from that. I could only pray to God, asking Him to give me a chance to repent, and I resolved to change my attitude in my duty from then on. I couldn’t keep being so careless.

Then I read a passage of God’s words. “When people have a corrupt disposition, they are often perfunctory and careless when they perform their duty. This is one of the most serious problems of all. If people are to perform their duty properly, they must first address this problem of perfunctoriness and carelessness. As long as they have such a perfunctory and careless attitude, they will not be able to perform their duty properly, which means that solving the problem of perfunctoriness and carelessness is extremely important. So how should they put this into practice? Firstly, they must solve the problem of their state of mind; they must approach their duty correctly, and do things with seriousness and a sense of responsibility, without being deceitful or perfunctory. One’s duty is performed for God, not any one person; if people are able to accept God’s scrutiny, they will have the correct state of mind. What’s more, after doing something, people must examine it, and reflect on it, and if they have any doubts in their heart, and after detailed inspection, they discover there really is a problem, then they must make changes; once these changes have been made, they will no longer have any doubts in their heart. When people have doubts, this proves there is a problem, and they must diligently examine what they have done, especially at key stages. This is a responsible attitude toward performing one’s duty. When one can be serious, responsible, dedicated, and hard-working, the work will be done properly. Sometimes you are in the wrong state of mind, and cannot find or discover a mistake that is clear as day. If you were in the right state of mind, then, with the enlightenment and guidance of the Holy Spirit, you would be able to identify the issue. If the Holy Spirit guided you and gave you such awareness, allowing you to sense that something is wrong, yet you were in the wrong state of mind, and were absent-minded and careless, would you be able to notice the mistake? You would not. What is seen from this? This shows that it is very important that people cooperate; their hearts are very important, and where they direct their thoughts and intentions is very important. God scrutinizes and can see what state of mind people are in as they perform their duty, and how much energy they exert. It is crucial that people put all their heart and strength into what they do. Cooperation is a crucial component. Only if people strive to have no regrets about the duties they have completed and the things they have done, and not to be in debt to God, will they be acting with all their heart and strength. If you consistently fail to put all your heart and strength into performing your duty, if you are perennially careless and perfunctory, and cause tremendous harm to the work, and fall far short of the effects required by God, then only one thing can happen to you: You will be cast out. And will there still be time for regrets, then? There will not. These things will become an eternal lament, a stain! To be perennially careless and perfunctory is a stain, it is a serious transgression—yes or no? (Yes.) You must strive to carry out your obligations, and everything you ought to do, with all your heart and strength, you must not be careless and perfunctory, or leave any regrets. If you can do that, the duty you perform shall be commemorated by God. Those things commemorated by God are good deeds. What, then, are the things that are not commemorated by God? (They are transgressions and evil deeds.) People might not accept that they are evil deeds if they were described thus presently, but, if a day comes when there are serious consequences to these things, and they become a negative influence, then you will sense that these things are not mere behavioral transgressions, but evil deeds. When you realize this, you will be regretful, and think to yourself: ‘I should have chosen an ounce of prevention! With a little more thought and effort at the start, this consequence could have been avoided.’ Nothing will wipe this eternal stain from your heart, and it would cause trouble if it should leave you in permanent debt. So today you must strive to put all your heart and strength into the commission given to you by God, to perform every duty with a clear conscience, without any regrets, and in a fashion that is commemorated by God. Whatever you do, do not be careless and perfunctory; once you have regrets, you will not be able to make up for them. If you commit a serious transgression, this will become an eternal stain, a permanent regret. Both of these paths should be seen clearly. Which is the one you should choose, in order to meet with God’s praise? Performing your duty with all your heart and strength, and preparing and accumulating good deeds, without any regrets. Do not let your transgressions accumulate, regret them, and fall into debt. What happens when a person has committed too many transgressions? They are accruing God’s anger at them in His presence! If you transgress ever more, and God’s wrath toward you grows ever greater, then, ultimately, you shall be punished” (The Discourses of Christ of the Last Days). Before, I admitted that I was being perfunctory in my duty, but I never realized the consequences that could have on me, or how God would see someone like that. It looks like they’re not doing anything terribly evil, but approaching a duty that way is something God hates. If I didn’t repent, I knew I’d ruin my chance at salvation. Reality showed me how serious my problem of muddling through my duty and being irresponsible was. It was because of my irresponsibility that the video had to undergo further editing and all our work was held up. That was a transgression. If I didn’t correct my state right away, but kept being careless and irresponsible, I could offend God and be eliminated at any point, then regrets would come too late. We found a path of practice from God’s words. First, we have to have the right mindset, accept God’s scrutiny, and accept responsibility. Then we have to carefully review things and not gloss over problems we see. After that, we put God’s words into practice. We summed up the reasons for our failures and diligently went over videos based on principles, reviewing every detail. We sought the principles together and worked out how to edit things. This fellowship and discussion with brothers and sisters helped us understand the principles better, and we realized that even though we’d reviewed some videos multiple times, this time with a little more attention, we discovered more little problems. That showed how serious our problem of skating through our duty had been in the past. Then we analyzed how we should edit these videos based on those principles, made all our edits of one heart and mind, and then gave them to the leader for review once we didn’t see any issues. Everyone felt so much better after we put that into practice. After editing those videos, we gave them to the leader to review. He said “These are pretty good, and I don’t see any issues. You did a good job this time.” When the leader said that, I couldn’t help but thank God from my heart. I knew it wasn’t that we’d done a good job, but it was God’s guidance. God leads and blesses us when He sees we’re even slightly willing to turn around and repent, and stop being so careless. This experience really showed me that you have to put your heart into a duty to feel at peace. Thank God!