By Jeffrey, Australia

For more than a year, God has fellowshipped on the truths of discerning false leaders. At meetings, I often fellowshipped on my own understanding and knowledge about it, but in real life, I couldn’t discern false leaders. When I saw the slightest manifestation of a leader not doing real work, I blindly labeled and condemned them as a false leader. As a result, not only did I fail to protect the church’s work, I nearly caused a disruption to the work. This failure taught me a lesson which gave me some discernment of false leaders.

I handled general affairs in the church. I was responsible for managing certain items and tools at the church. In the course of my duty, I found that brothers and sisters treated the items inappropriately. This made management difficult. I went to the leader, Sister Megan, and reported these issues to her. I also reminded her that she could raise these issues with the others and fellowship about them at meetings. Once she understood, she agreed to do it. After that, I waited for Megan to come to a meeting, but despite waiting for a long time, I never saw her at any meeting and she never followed up on it, so I became fixated on the leader. I thought, “It’s been a long time. Why hasn’t she followed up on this task? I’ve told her about this problem more than once, but it has never been resolved. God has been fellowshipping on aspects of the truth which pertain to discerning false leaders. If you don’t follow up on and resolve problems, you are a false leader. I have to report this issue to your superiors. That way, the leaders above you will feel that I have a sense of justice. They might even think highly of me!” But at the time, I just thought about it and did not act. Later, the rental contract for the place where we stored our books of God’s words was going to expire in just over a month, so the books needed to be moved to another place as soon as possible. Because there were so many books and each box was heavy, it would be hard for me to move them by myself, and it would take a long time. I was a little anxious, so I asked the leader if she could find a few people to help. The leader always said she was looking for people, but for the longest time, no one came. Finally, two brothers came and helped me with one trip, but then left in a hurry. This situation made me very frustrated. I thought, “Why couldn’t the leader find more people to help? Why doesn’t she follow up on this work? Why doesn’t she come here and see how much work I have to do?” The more I thought, the angrier I got, and I didn’t want to report problems to the leader anymore because it seemed pointless. During that time, I didn’t want to see the leader, and I didn’t want to talk to her when I did see her. I thought, “If you don’t want to look for anyone, fine. I’ll finish it by myself. At any rate, I will remember this behavior of yours, and when the time comes, I’ll report it to your superiors.” I then thought of a passage of God’s words about discerning false leaders: “Regarding the problems and difficulties that arise in church work, it is also the case that false leaders simply pay them no mind or just spout a little doctrine and parrot a few slogans to brush them off. For all items of work, one will never see them coming to the workplace themselves to try to understand and follow up on the work. One will not see them fellowshipping on the truth to resolve problems there, and less still will one see them there directing and supervising the work personally, preventing flaws and deviations from occurring in it. This is the most obvious manifestation of the perfunctory way in which false leaders work” (The Word, Vol. 5. The Responsibilities of Leaders and Workers. The Responsibilities of Leaders and Workers (4)). I thought, “My leader’s behavior is the same as God’s words describe. If she won’t investigate or resolve the problems in my work, isn’t she a false leader?” But I also thought about how I didn’t communicate with the leader about the problems I saw, nor did I ask several people who understood the truth to verify it, so perhaps I couldn’t call her a false leader so rashly. I thought, “How about I seek more of the truth principles in this area first, then discuss it with several brothers and sisters who understand the truth before I make a decision?” But her behavior was just like God’s words described, so what more was there to seek? I wasn’t sure if my view was right and I didn’t want to wrongly accuse her, so I was conflicted on what to do. My mind was filled with images of how the leader hadn’t resolved my problem. So just like that, I didn’t seek the truth anymore, didn’t consider the background of God’s fellowship, and inaccurately understood God’s words. I used a single phrase, a single instance of behavior, as proof to accuse Megan and believe she was a false leader. Afterward, I heard some other sisters who handled general affairs say that Megan did not follow up on their work very often either, and that their work was sometimes delayed. When I heard this, I felt even more certain, “Megan does no real work and doesn’t follow up on work, so doesn’t that reveal her as a false leader? Recently at meetings, we have fellowshipped on aspects of the truth pertaining to discerning false leaders. I can’t believe I met one. I need to have a sense of justice, uphold the church’s work, and expose this false leader.” But when I wanted to report these problems to Megan’s superiors, I felt uneasy. I still hadn’t discussed the issue with her, nor had I sought or discussed it with those who understood the truth, so wasn’t this too blind and arbitrary? But this was when I heard that Megan’s superiors had come to talk with her, and had asked all the team leaders about her performance of her duty. When I heard this, I couldn’t keep calm, “Who knew Megan’s superiors had already found out there was a problem with her? Now it is almost certain that she is a false leader.” I thought, “I have to report Megan’s problems to her superiors right away. I don’t need to do any more seeking. Otherwise, after Megan’s superiors finish their investigation and dismiss her, when they bring up who had discernment of her, who discovered her problems, and who had a sense of justice and reported her, my name will not be mentioned. Then how can I show I had discernment? I can’t wait anymore!” I eagerly made an appointment with Megan’s superior, Brother Sean, and reported her problems to him. I said, “As a leader, Megan doesn’t follow up on my work, nor does she inquire about my problems at work. Every time I tell her about a problem, she doesn’t solve it.” I also showed him a passage of God’s words about discerning false leaders. I said the behavior of false leaders revealed in God’s words was the same as hers, and that I thought she was a false leader. When I finished, he said, “We’ve already looked into it, and Megan does have some problems. There is some work she hasn’t properly followed up, and she muddles through her duty. She needs to be pruned, and helped to reflect on herself and learn from this. But we also found out that for the past few months, Megan has mostly been overseeing watering work because there are many newcomers who have joined the church recently. Some religious pastors have been causing serious disturbances, and these newcomers urgently need watering so that they put down roots in the true way. This is the most important and critical work right now. Megan has been putting all of her energy into this work. General affairs aren’t quite as urgent. As long as it doesn’t hinder things, it’s not a big problem if she’s a little slow following up for now. Because all this work has come at the same time and we are short on staff, she has to prioritize, so general affairs have to be put on the back burner at the moment. This is the reason Megan hasn’t been following up on your work in time, but she only decided to practice like this after discussing it with her partners. Besides, Megan used to just be in charge of a single job before. She is a new leader, so it’s hard for her to be responsible for so many jobs. There are some things she can’t follow up on, so she needs our help and communication.” Sean even shared the principles regarding this. Only after reading the principles did I realize that more important work has to be prioritized first. At the moment, watering work was the priority. They could do other work only as long as watering work wasn’t affected. If the watering work was affected, wouldn’t that be sacrificing the important for the unimportant? Although Megan didn’t follow up on some work properly, it was because she was prioritizing more important work, not failing to do real work. But I never tried to understand why she didn’t follow up on work, or why she didn’t resolve the problems I raised. Instead, I developed a prejudice against her, became fixated on her, thought she didn’t do real work, and immediately labeled her as a false leader. Wasn’t I being too arbitrary? At this point, Sean asked me, “If we dismissed Megan right now, could the church find someone to replace her right away? Could the work continue?” I thought about it and felt that it was still suitable for Megan to continue as a leader. After talking with Sean, I felt very sad. Originally, I thought I had a strong sense of justice, and even found words of God which applied to the situation, and reported Megan only after seeking the truth. But it turned out that I didn’t understand the truth, and my discernment was in error. Where had I gone wrong?

As I sought, I read a passage of God’s words: “The characterization of someone as a false leader or false worker must be based on sufficient facts. It must not be based on one or two incidents or transgressions, much less can temporary revelation of corruption be used as a basis for it. The only accurate standards by which to characterize someone are whether they can do real work and use the truth to resolve problems, as well as whether they are a right person, whether they are someone who loves the truth and can submit to God, and whether they possess the work and enlightenment of the Holy Spirit. Someone can only be correctly characterized as a false leader or false worker based on these factors. These factors are the standards and principles for evaluating and determining whether someone is a false leader or false worker” (The Word, Vol. 5. The Responsibilities of Leaders and Workers. The Responsibilities of Leaders and Workers (20)). From God’s words, I understood that to discern a false leader, we mainly need to look at whether they can do real work and whether they accept the truth. It wasn’t at all like I imagined, that leaders are required to resolve every single problem in my duty, and if they do, they are true leaders, but if they don’t, they are false leaders who don’t do real work. This view is false and not in line with the truth. To determine whether a leader is a false leader, what matters most is whether they can promptly follow up, understand, and grasp the progress and status of each task within the scope of their responsibility; whether they can promptly discover and inquire about the problems, difficulties and deviations brothers and sisters encounter in their duties; and whether they work with them to seek the truth principles to resolve these issues. Based on this, we can judge whether a leader is doing real work. Also, it depends on whether they can accept the truth and are the right person. If leaders have questions they don’t understand, they can seek upwards. When others make suggestions or point out shortcomings, leaders should be able to obey, seek the truth, and reflect on themselves. When they experience pruning, setbacks, and failure, they should be able to learn from it and change afterward. This means they are people who accept the truth. Also, when a leader is responsible for multiple tasks, they don’t need to do it all by themselves. Their main role is to check up on each task, so the work of the church proceeds normally. Someone who does this is a qualified leader. False leaders always outwardly appear to be busy, but only do superficial or unimportant work. They never do the most important work on time; they blindly run around and busy themselves, but are inefficient. Because they don’t understand the truth principles, they can’t recognize or see the problems in their work clearly, and they don’t know how to plan or arrange things. They are only able to spout doctrines and empty words which do not offer paths of practice or resolve real problems brothers and sisters encounter in their duties. In addition, false leaders don’t seek the truth when they encounter things, don’t accept the guidance and help of others, and ultimately hinder many tasks from proceeding smoothly, and even cause them to stagnate. This is a serious dereliction of duty; this is what a false leader is. I understood from God’s word that discerning whether someone is a false leader requires one to look at multiple aspects and make a thorough investigation. If we only look at a person’s temporary behavior and corruption, disregard the background and reasons, whether they have repented and changed, and arbitrarily characterize them, it is all too easy to incorrectly accuse people. Everyone has corruption and shortcomings, but as long as they can know themselves, repent, and make changes, the church will give them an opportunity to continue practicing. After applying the truth principles to Megan’s behavior, I saw that she had been following up on the most important tasks, and when she had a problem, she discussed it with others and found a solution. Overall, she was doing real work and producing results in her duty. It was just that all this work had come at the same time, so she hadn’t found a balance yet, and some things had fallen through the cracks. This was a shortcoming in her duty, and she needed reminders and help. Once I realized these things, I finally saw that I hadn’t understood the truth principles and couldn’t treat people fairly. I saw my leader had problems, but didn’t communicate with her about them; I failed to consider all aspects, and blindly characterized her as a false leader. I had no fear of God in my heart at all.

After this, I saw a passage of God’s words: “When someone is elected to be a leader by the brothers and sisters, or is promoted by the house of God to do a certain piece of work or perform a certain duty, this does not mean that they have a special status or position, or that the truths they understand are deeper and more numerous than those of other people—much less that this person is able to submit to God, and will not betray Him. Certainly, it does not mean, either, that they know God, and are someone who fears God. They have attained none of this, in fact. The promotion and cultivation is merely promotion and cultivation in the straightforward sense, and is not equivalent to them having been predestined and approved of by God. Their promotion and cultivation simply means they have been promoted, and await cultivation. And the ultimate outcome of this cultivation depends on whether this person pursues the truth, and on whether they are capable of choosing the path of pursuing the truth. Thus, when someone in the church is promoted and cultivated to be a leader, they are merely promoted and cultivated in the straightforward sense; it does not mean that they are already an up-to-standard leader, or a competent one, that they are already capable of undertaking the work of a leader, and can do real work—that is not the case. Most people cannot see through to these things, and based on their own imaginings they look up to those who have been promoted. This is a mistake. No matter how many years they have believed in God for, do those who are promoted really possess the truth reality? Not necessarily. Are they able to implement the work arrangements of the house of God? Not necessarily. Do they have a sense of responsibility? Are they loyal? Are they able to submit? When they encounter an issue, are they able to seek the truth? All of this is unknown. Do these people have God-fearing hearts? And just how great are their God-fearing hearts? Are they able to avoid following their own will when they do things? Are they able to seek God? During the time that they perform the work of leaders, are they able to frequently come before God to seek the intentions of God? Are they able to lead people into the truth reality? They are certainly incapable of such things. They haven’t received training and they haven’t had enough experiences, so they are incapable of these things. This is why promoting and cultivating someone doesn’t mean they already understand the truth, nor is it saying that they are already capable of doing their duty in a way that is up to standard. So what is the aim and significance of promoting and cultivating someone? It is that this person is promoted, as an individual, in order for them to practice, and in order for them to be specially watered and trained, thus enabling them to understand the truth principles, and the principles, means, and methods of doing different things and solving various problems, as well as how to handle and deal with the various types of environments and people they encounter in accordance with God’s intentions, and in a way that protects the interests of the house of God. Judging based on these points, are the talented people promoted and cultivated by the house of God adequately capable of undertaking their work and doing their duty well during the promotion and cultivation period or prior to promotion and cultivation? Of course not. Thus, it is unavoidable that, during the cultivation period, these people will experience pruning, judgment and chastisement, exposure and even dismissal; this is normal, this is training and cultivation” (The Word, Vol. 5. The Responsibilities of Leaders and Workers. The Responsibilities of Leaders and Workers (5)). From God’s words, I understood that if someone is chosen as a leader or worker, it doesn’t mean they understand the truth and will be completely competent at doing their work. It also doesn’t mean they understand everything and can do every task perfectly. They only have some caliber and work ability, and can accept and pursue the truth, so the church gives them a chance to be cultivated and trained. By constantly discovering and solving problems in their work, they will ultimately understand some truth and learn to act with principle. But during this period, leaders and workers are still in the practice stage, so deviations, deficiencies, and shortcomings in their work are inevitable, and we should treat the matter correctly. When we have problems or difficulties, we should seek, fellowship, and solve things alongside our leaders. Only in this way can the work be effective. If we demand too much of leaders and workers, if we push all of the problems we find onto them to resolve, then label them as false leaders when they are slow to find solutions, it is unprincipled and not in line with God’s intentions. By reading God’s words, I saw that my treatment of leaders and workers wasn’t based on truth principles, but rather my own notions and imagination. My requirements for leaders were too high and demanding. When I saw my leader didn’t follow up on my work properly and didn’t resolve my problems and difficulties quickly, I labeled her as a false leader. I didn’t consider the background of the issue or her work as a whole, nor whether she could accept the truth and turn things around. I blindly condemned her as a false leader based on the incomplete information that I saw. This wasn’t a sense of justice, it was a disturbance, and it violated the truth principles. I didn’t understand the truth and was unprincipled in my treatment of leaders and workers. More seriously, I had no fear of God in my heart. When I saw the slightest problem with my leader, I made a big deal out of it, carelessly condemned her, and wouldn’t let it go. I didn’t treat her based on her nature essence or the actual background of the situation, instead I had hurt her. At this thought, I was suddenly gripped by fear. I realized that the nature of this problem was serious. If Sean hadn’t known the situation, and had just listened to me and dismissed Megan, the church’s work would have been affected, so wouldn’t I have been doing evil? That would have been a major transgression! If something like this happened to me again, I couldn’t rely on my imagination to evaluate others. I had to seek the truth principles more, treat people fairly according to God’s requirements, and do things in a principled manner.

Afterward, Megan came to me and talked about her recent state and work problems. She said she wanted to change, and she learned about the problems and difficulties in my work, and we worked together to fellowship with the brothers and sisters on each team. I realized she wasn’t someone who didn’t accept the truth. Although there were oversights in her work and areas she didn’t follow up on, once she knew there was a problem, she could make changes quickly. I saw that she actually wasn’t a false leader who didn’t do real work.

At first, I thought I had some understanding of this issue—I didn’t understand the truth and couldn’t discern false leaders, which caused me to make a mistake. But one time at a meeting, I heard my brothers and sisters say that sometimes mistakes aren’t simply due to a lack of discernment or lack of understanding of the truth. We also have to look at whether our actions were adulterated by intents or corrupt dispositions. I read a passage of God’s words that say: “Do not regard your transgressions as the mere mistakes of an immature or foolish person; do not use the excuse that you did not practice the truth because your poor caliber had made it impossible to do so. Moreover, do not simply regard the transgressions you have committed as the acts of someone who did not know any better. If you are good at forgiving yourself and treating yourself with generosity, then I say you are a coward who will never gain the truth, nor will your transgressions ever cease to haunt you; they will keep you from ever meeting the demands of the truth, and cause you to forever remain a loyal companion of Satan” (The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. Transgressions Will Lead Man to Hell). After reading God’s words, I understood that when a situation arises, we can’t just treat it as a simple matter and be done with it. We need to seek the truth and come to know our own corrupt disposition. Only then can there be genuine change and growth in our life. If we always treat our transgressions as fleeting mistakes, feel they don’t matter, say we’ll pay more attention next time, and always forgive our own transgressions, then we will never understand our own problems, never gain the truth, and ultimately, as our transgressions mount and we make no changes at all, God will spurn and eliminate us. Through what God’s words revealed, I began to reflect on precisely what my thoughts were when this situation came upon me, what intents adulterated me, or what corrupt dispositions I displayed. Through reflection, I found that when I saw the leader’s problems, I wasn’t actually sure if I saw things correctly and I wanted to read more of God’s words. But when I heard that Megan didn’t follow up on the work of other people who handled general affairs, and that her superiors were looking into her performance, I believed there was a strong possibility that she was a false leader, and felt I needed to quickly report to Megan’s superiors so that my brothers and sisters would see that I had a sense of justice and was discerning. So, without understanding the truth principles or continuing to seek, and without knowing any background or reasons, I blindly characterized Megan as a false leader based on a piece of information I had heard. I thought I saw things accurately and that there shouldn’t be any problems. But now I realized I had been reckless, and had the wrong intent. I reflected on myself, “Why did I report my leader without understanding the truth principles? What is the source of this problem?” I read this in God’s words: “There are many people who follow their own ideas no matter what they do, and consider things in highly simplistic terms, and do not seek the truth, either. There is a total absence of principle, and in their hearts they give no thought to how to act according to what God asks, or in a way that satisfies God, and they know only to mulishly follow their own will. God has no place in such people’s hearts. Some people say, ‘I only pray to God when I encounter difficulty, but still it doesn’t feel like this has any effect—so generally when things happen to me now I don’t pray to God, because praying to God is of no use.’ God is utterly absent from the hearts of such people. They do not seek the truth no matter what they are doing at ordinary times; they only follow their own ideas. So are there principles to their actions? Definitely not. They see everything in simple terms. Even when people fellowship the truth principles to them, they are not able to accept them, because there have never been any principles to their actions, God has no place in their hearts, and there is no one but them in their hearts. They feel their intentions are good, that they are not committing evil, that they cannot be considered in violation of the truth, they think that acting according to their own intentions should be practicing the truth, that acting thus is submitting to God. In fact, they are not truly seeking or praying to God in this matter, but acting on impulse, according to their own zealous intentions, they are not performing their duty as God asks, they do not have a heart of submission to God, they are absent of this wish. This is the greatest mistake in people’s practice. If you believe in God yet He is not in your heart, are you not trying to deceive God? And what effect can such faith in God have? Just what can you gain? And what is the point of such faith in God?” (The Word, Vol. 3. The Discourses of Christ of the Last Days. Part Three). Through the exposure of God’s words, I saw that when things happened, I rarely sought the truth or practiced in accordance with the principles. Instead, I followed my own ideas. In my heart, there was neither a place for God nor a fear of Him. When something happens, those who fear God first seek the truth principles and what God’s words say about the matter, then view people and things based on God’s words and the truth. Since I was unable to discern false leaders, I should have sought the truth, clearly understood what false leaders are, their manifestations, and how to determine who is a false leader, but instead I just made arbitrary judgements based on my own imagination. I thought that if a leader did not follow up on my work or solve my problems, that made them a false one. Although I read and pondered God’s words during that period of time, I didn’t understand them. When I saw a line of God’s words about false leaders that literally matched Megan’s behavior, I concluded that she was a false leader, and thought I saw the situation very accurately. In actuality, I was taking things out of context and blindly applying rules. And I felt uneasy throughout this process. I wanted to seek more and communicate with Megan before I reported her, but I felt her behavior was already so obvious that I didn’t bother to seek any further, and simply acted on my own ideas. I was so arrogant and self-righteous! I also saw that I had bad humanity. I wasn’t truly considerate of God’s intentions, nor did I safeguard the church’s work. When I saw problems in my leader’s work, I didn’t point them out to her; instead, I looked for an opportunity to report her to her superiors, so that I could show off my discernment. I could see how despicable I was, and it was a heart-wrenching realization. I never imagined this was the kind of person I was. I clearly didn’t understand the truth principles, yet I was so arrogant and unreasonable. I was delighted with myself after reporting my leader because I felt I had seen things that no one else had discerned, and understood the truth principles. But I actually understood nothing; all I understood were words and doctrines, and I blindly applied the rules. I arbitrarily reported someone without principle. Wasn’t this disturbing the church’s work? I wasn’t accruing good deeds, I was doing evil!

Later, I read God’s words and learned the principles by which to treat leaders and workers. Almighty God says: “People must not have any high expectations or unrealistic demands of those who are promoted and cultivated; that would be unreasonable, and unfair to them. You can supervise their work. If you discover problems or things that violate principles in the course of their work, you can raise the issue and seek the truth to resolve these matters. What you should not do is judge, condemn, attack, or exclude them, because they are just in the cultivation period, and should not be viewed as people who have been made perfect, much less as people who are blameless, or as people who are possessed of the truth reality. Like you, they are merely in a period of training. The difference is that they undertake more work and responsibilities than ordinary people. They have a responsibility and an obligation to do more work; they must pay a greater price, suffer more hardship, exert more mental effort, solve more problems, tolerate more censure from people, and of course they must also make a greater effort, and—compared with ordinary people doing their duties—they must have a bit less sleep, enjoy a bit less fine food, and not engage in so much gossip. This is what’s special about them; apart from this, they are the same as anyone else. … So what is the most reasonable way to treat them? To regard them as ordinary people and, when you need to seek someone out regarding a problem, to fellowship with them and learn from each other’s strengths and complement each other. In addition, it is everyone’s responsibility to keep an eye on whether leaders and workers are doing real work, whether they can use the truth to solve problems; these are the standards and principles for measuring whether a leader or worker is up to standard. If a leader or worker is capable of dealing with and solving general problems, then they are competent. But if they can’t even handle and fix ordinary problems, they are not fit to be a leader or worker, and must be quickly removed from their position. Someone else must be chosen, and the work of the house of God must not be delayed. Delaying the work of the house of God is hurting oneself and others, it is good for no one” (The Word, Vol. 5. The Responsibilities of Leaders and Workers. The Responsibilities of Leaders and Workers (5)). After reading God’s words, I understood how to treat leaders and workers. The leaders the church elects do not fully understand the truth, are not perfectly qualified, and don’t understand every aspect of the work or know how to do it well. They are also in a period of practice, and may display corruption, deviation, or make mistakes. We should treat people fairly and not demand too much from them; we should not be unreasonable by asking them to do everything perfectly without any deviations or oversights. Instead, we must be understanding and tolerant, and cooperate harmoniously with them to do the church’s work well. This is what it means to be considerate of God’s intentions, and treating leaders and workers in this way is in line with the principles. Also, we have a responsibility to monitor the work of leaders. We should accept and obey when our leaders’ actions accord with the truth, but when their actions do not conform to the truth principles, we should raise issues, fellowship on it, and help them in a timely manner, so that they can realize the deviations in their duties and correct them quickly. This is beneficial to their life entry and to the church’s work. If the principles confirm that someone is a false leader who does no real work, then they should be exposed and reported. When I realized this, my heart brightened, and I knew how to treat leaders and workers in the future.

Although this time I had erroneously discerned and reported my leader, I learned some truth principles about discerning false leaders. I also learned how I should treat leaders and workers, gained some knowledge of my own corrupt disposition, and learned some lessons. Thanks be to God!