By Lin Ping, China

In July 2020, I was elected as a leader, and took responsibility for the work of several churches. Sister Liu Jing had just been elected as a leader in one of those churches. I’d worked with her before, and knew her fairly well. She was mature, steady, looked at things from all angles, and had a burden in her duty. She’d always helped me with fellowship on God’s words when I ran into problems or difficulties. I felt like she was pretty reliable, so I felt that I didn’t have to worry as much about her church and could put more of my energy into the others. So, after briefing Liu Jing on how to handle various items of the work, I didn’t concern myself much with her work. During this period, I saw she had a path in her work and was getting results in various items of her work, and this put my mind even more at ease. I figured that even if I wasn’t checking up on things, she’d be able to quickly resolve any difficulties or problems she encountered. So for three straight months I didn’t check or follow up in detail on the work she was responsible for, and even recommended her as a candidate for an election for a higher leadership position.

Then in December, I got a letter from my leader saying that some brothers and sisters had evaluated Liu Jing as not doing real work. She asked me to follow up and look into her work, and said that, for the time being, she wasn’t a suitable candidate for the election. I was really taken aback to see this, “She’s not doing real work? How could this be? If this is the case, how has her church been getting results in its work for the past few months? Sister Wu Xinming, her partner, has just recently trained as a leader, so she won’t be too familiar with the work. Hasn’t Liu Jing been shouldering all the work for that church? Are the leaders saying she doesn’t do real work just going by what those evaluations said without really getting a clear picture? I’d worked with Liu Jing before and knew her pretty well. Recently, some brothers and sisters were arrested in her church. She is busy dealing with the aftermath, and probably doesn’t have time for other things. Even if it does seem she isn’t doing real work, that is understandable. I cannot be wrong about her.” I took a look at the evaluations from the brothers and sisters and found they’d written about ways Liu Jing hadn’t done real work in her duty before. I was thinking, “What is with them? They’re just seizing on Liu Jing’s past transgressions instead of seeing whether she has changed. The work in the church that she’s in charge of has been effective these past few months. She is able to do some real work.” I explained the situation to the leader quickly and suggested letting her continue to run in the election.

A few days later, seeing I wasn’t taking the matter of Liu Jing not doing actual work seriously and was still defending her, the leader reminded me, “We must look at things in accordance with God’s words. Everyone has corrupt disposition; until we gain the truth and are perfected, no one is reliable—we will all do things our own way, and on the basis of our corrupt disposition. Without supervision, anyone can do things that resist God and harm the work of the church. So when it comes to church work, we can’t have complete trust in anyone. Only by actually inquiring about and supervising the work can we discover and resolve problems in time. This is taking responsibility for the church’s work.” I said I’d do it, but I was thinking, “Supervision is warranted, but I shouldn’t be suspicious of everything. Who doesn’t want to pursue the truth and do a duty well? God’s house isn’t like the nonbelieving world. Brothers and sisters should trust each other, and not watch each other like hawks. I’ve told you that there is context to Liu Jing not doing some of her work, but you don’t believe that. I’ll properly look into things to show you she’s not that kind of person.” So, I went to look into her work. I soon found out that her previous partner, Xinming, had mainly taken on most of their work. Since Xinming was recently reassigned, the results in various items of their church’s work had started slipping. Also, I’d told Liu Jing to dismiss an unsuitable team leader surnamed Chen, and this still hadn’t been done. She also couldn’t work in harmony with the watering deacon and didn’t pay any heed to the work of watering newcomers. Seeing what Liu Jing had done to the church’s work, I felt quite guilty. The leader had reminded me to follow up and oversee her work, but I hadn’t done so because I’d had too much trust in her. I’d figured that since she was in place, she should be given the right to work freely. I never thought it would turn out this way. I thought back on our interactions before—she doesn’t seem to be the sort of person who’s all talk, but doesn’t do real work. Were there special circumstances holding her up? Just as I was puzzling over this, Liu Jing said, “Some brothers and sisters in our church were arrested recently. Dealing with the aftermath has been hectic and I haven’t had time for everything.” I breathed a sigh of relief when I heard this. It was just as I said—Liu Jing wasn’t the sort of person who doesn’t do real work. Managing all those post-arrest affairs had taken a lot of her time and energy. Some work hadn’t been done well, but it was understandable. No one does a duty perfectly. So, I fellowshipped with her on the harms and consequences of not doing real work, and I told her to dismiss Chen right away. She agreed to this. But some time passed, and I heard that Chen still hadn’t been dismissed. I went quickly to find out the situation of Liu Jing’s duty. Her partner told me, “Every time you assign us work, Liu Jing fully agrees to it, but I don’t see her implement any of it. I’ve just taken on a leadership role, so I’m not familiar with the specifics of the work, and she hasn’t helped me. When facing problems or difficulties, I’ve had to feel my way through by leaning on God.” I was stunned to hear this from the sister. How could it be that Liu Jing hadn’t done a single bit of real work? She hadn’t been like that before. I’d gathered with her during this time—why hadn’t I noticed her issues? I’d had too much trust in her, and hadn’t been supervising or looking into her work. This led to an unfit team leader in the church staying in his position way too long, and no one had been overseeing the watering of newcomers. This had delayed the church’s work and others’ life entry. I’d truly done evil. When I saw Liu Jing after that, she said some brothers and sisters had pruned her during the last two days because she hadn’t done real work. She felt really remorseful. She cried, saying she’d been irresponsible and had been muddling through her duty, and that she had no humanity. I figured she’d realized how serious her problems were, and she’d surely change after that, so I should give her another chance to repent, not dismiss her for now, and offer her more support going forward. Soon after, I pointed out her problems and told her to correct her deviations right away, as well as to dismiss that team leader that needed to be dismissed. She was full of promises, but though she did dismiss Chen later on, overall the work still didn’t yield results. Later, others mentioned to me that they’d discovered some serious problems with Liu Jing. After some brothers and sisters were arrested, she hadn’t protected church property right away, and hadn’t cooperated proactively on various items of work, which meant nothing was accomplished in the work. What was most infuriating was that she hadn’t promptly dealt with evil people being disruptive in the church, but had been busy with her personal affairs, throwing church work into chaos. I saw that Liu Jing wasn’t doing any real work whatsoever and wasn’t truly repentant at all. I felt so guilty. I’d never imagined things would turn out like that. I’d played a part in her evil and had committed transgressions before God. I also hated myself for being too trusting, and for not following up on her work sooner. That had been so harmful to the church’s work. I went to talk to Liu Jing right away and exposed each of her behaviors, and I dismissed her in the end.

Then the leader reproached me, “Why did you trust her so much? You entrusted her with such important work without supervising or inquiring about it. How could you be so assured?” She also read some of God’s words for me: “False leaders never inquire about supervisors who are not doing actual work, or who are not tending to their proper work. They think they just need to choose a supervisor and that’s the end of the matter, and that afterward the supervisor can handle all work matters themselves. So false leaders just hold gatherings every so often, and do not supervise the work or ask how it’s going, and act like hands-off bosses. If someone reports a problem with a supervisor, a false leader will say, ‘It’s just a minor problem, it’s fine. You can handle it yourselves. Don’t ask me.’ The person who reported the issue says, ‘That supervisor is a lazy glutton. They only focus on food and entertainment, and they are bone idle. They don’t want to suffer even a little bit of hardship in their duty, and they always slack off deceitfully and make up excuses to avoid their work and shirk their responsibilities. They aren’t suited to be a supervisor.’ The false leader will answer, ‘They were great when they were selected as supervisor. What you’re saying isn’t true, or even if it is, it’s just a temporary manifestation.’ The false leader won’t try and find out more about the supervisor’s situation, instead they will judge and pass a verdict on the matter based on their past impressions of that supervisor. Regardless of who reports problems with the supervisor, the false leader will ignore them. The supervisor isn’t doing actual work, and the work of the church has nearly come to a standstill, but the false leader doesn’t care, it’s like they’re not even involved. … false leaders have a fatal flaw: They are quick to trust people based on their own imaginings. And this is caused by not understanding the truth, is it not? How does God’s word reveal the essence of corrupt humankind? Why should they trust in people when God doesn’t? False leaders are too arrogant and self-righteous, are they not? What they think is, ‘I couldn’t have misjudged this person, there shouldn’t be any problems with this person that I’ve judged to be suitable; they are definitely not someone who indulges in eating, drinking and entertainment, or who likes comfort and hates hard work. They are absolutely dependable and trustworthy. They will not change; if they did, that would mean I was wrong about them, wouldn’t it?’ What kind of logic is this? Are they some kind of expert? Do they have x-ray vision? Do they have that special skill? You could live with a person for one or two years, but would you be able to see who they really are without a suitable environment to lay their nature essence utterly bare? If they were not revealed by God, you could live side-by-side with them for three, or even five, years, and would still struggle to see just what kind of nature essence they have. And how much more is that true when you rarely see them, are rarely with them? False leaders blithely trust a person based on a fleeting impression or someone else’s positive appraisal of them, and dare to entrust the work of the church to such a person. In this, are they not being extremely blind? Are they not acting recklessly? And when they work like this, are the false leaders not being extremely irresponsible?” (The Word, Vol. 5. The Responsibilities of Leaders and Workers. The Responsibilities of Leaders and Workers (3)). Having read God’s words, the leader said, “We can’t truly see through to a person’s essence, so we need to inspect and follow up on their work regularly. Then we can find deviations and issues in their work and change and resolve them in time. Liu Jing was about to bring the church’s work to a complete standstill after doing work for just a few months. These are the consequences of your being too conceited, of blindly putting too much trust in her and not following up or checking on her work. That is doing evil!” With the exposure of God’s words and the leader’s fellowship, I felt fear after the fact, and I was upset and guilty. I hated myself for not looking at things based on God’s words, but blindly trusting her, which harmed the church’s work. Thinking back on how I’d treated Liu Jing, it wasn’t that I couldn’t discover her issues, it was that every time I did, I stuck to my guns. I went by my previous knowledge about her to blindly determine that she was a responsible person with a burden for her duty who deserved to be trusted. Both the disclosure of the facts and the exposure of God’s words finally showed me that behaving well and doing some real work for a period of time doesn’t mean someone will always be that way. None of us have yet gained the truth, our life dispositions haven’t changed, we’re controlled by our corrupt nature, we may still muddle through and deceive God, and we’ll just do as we please sometimes, so we’re not worthy of trust. You can’t really understand a person without a long period of interaction and observation, and, even then, you still might not entirely know them. You also have to understand the truth to see through a person’s essence. I’d just worked alongside Liu Jing for a short time, so I thought I knew her really well and wouldn’t misjudge her. I trusted her so much that I didn’t follow up or check on her work. The leader had reminded me repeatedly, but I still blindly trusted my own judgment—I was so arrogant, so conceited, and had really taken no responsibility for the work. I was very regretful when I realized this, and I didn’t want to keep being that way.

Later, I reflected on myself—why had I trusted Liu Jing so much without following up on her work? What was the root of this? One day, I read this in God’s words: “It’s safe to say most people consider the phrase ‘Neither doubt those you employ nor employ those you doubt’ as the truth, and they are misled and bound by it. They are disturbed and influenced by it when selecting or using people, and even let it dictate their actions. As a result, many leaders and workers always have difficulties and misgivings whenever they check up on church work and promote and use people. Ultimately, all they can do is comfort themselves with the words ‘Neither doubt those you employ nor employ those you doubt.’ Whenever they inspect or inquire about the work, they think, ‘“Neither doubt those you employ nor employ those you doubt.” I should trust my brothers and sisters, and after all, the Holy Spirit scrutinizes people, so I shouldn’t always doubt and supervise others.’ They have been influenced by this phrase, haven’t they? What are the consequences brought about by the influence of this phrase? First of all, if someone subscribes to this idea of ‘Neither doubt those you employ nor employ those you doubt,’ will they inspect and guide others’ work? Will they supervise and follow up on people’s work? If this person trusts everyone they use and never inspects or guides them in their work, and never supervises them, are they doing their duty loyally? Can they carry out the work of the church in a competent manner and complete God’s commission? Are they being loyal to God’s commission? Second, this is not merely a failure to keep to God’s word and your duties, this is taking Satan’s schemes and philosophy for worldly dealings as if they were the truth, and following and practicing them. You are obeying Satan and living by a satanic philosophy, aren’t you? You are not a person who submits to God, much less a person who abides by God’s words. You are a complete scoundrel. Putting God’s words aside, and instead taking a satanic phrase and practicing it as the truth, is betraying the truth and God! You work in God’s house, yet the principles for your actions are satanic logic and philosophy for worldly dealings, what kind of person are you? This is someone who betrays God and someone who gravely shames God. What is the essence of this act? Openly condemning God and openly denying the truth. Isn’t that the essence of it? (It is.) In addition to not following God’s will, you are allowing one of Satan’s devilish sayings and satanic philosophies for worldly dealings to run rampant in the church. In doing this, you become Satan’s accomplice, assist Satan in carrying out its activities within the church, and disturb and disrupt church work. The essence of this problem is very serious, isn’t it?” (The Word, Vol. 4. Exposing Antichrists. Excursus One: What the Truth Is). God’s words exposed my state. I was living by the satanic philosophy of “Neither doubt those you employ nor employ those you doubt,” thinking that since I felt a person was okay, and they were still in place, I had to trust them. That’s why I had so much trust in Liu Jing and I didn’t follow up or get to know her work. Even when her problems came to light and the leader reminded me to check on her work, I still thought nothing of it. I thought following up and supervising her work meant a lack of trust, and even though I’d found out she wasn’t doing real work, when I’d heard her crying, talking about her real difficulties and expressing regret, I’d decided to believe her rather than dismiss her, allowing her to harm the church’s work and bring great losses to brothers’ and sisters’ life entry. As a leader, not only had I failed to protect the church’s work, but I’d acted as a shield for a false leader. I’d become a stumbling block and an obstacle in the path to the church’s work. These were the consequences of me treating people based on the satanic fallacy of “Neither doubt those you employ nor employ those you doubt.” Discerning it now based on God’s words, I saw how truly absurd this perspective was. It was entirely contradictory to God’s words and what He requires. God’s requirement that leaders supervise and follow up on work is determined based on corrupt mankind’s essence. Because man has a corrupt disposition, before we’ve gained the truth or changed our life dispositions, we’re unreliable and can’t be trusted. Even people with good humanity may go their own way and disrupt and disturb the church’s work, because they don’t know the truth, aren’t principled in their actions, and have corrupt dispositions. No one can deny this fact. God requires that leaders and workers supervise work because God understands people’s essence. Supervising and checking up on work is helpful for our duties, and it benefits the church’s work. But that satanic idea, “Don’t doubt those you employ,” gets us to blindly trust others, thinking that handing a job over means we can let that person do whatever they want, and that checking up on and supervising their work represents a lack of trust. If we stick to this perspective while doing our duty, and we don’t follow up on or supervise work in time, it can only delay and harm the church’s work. I did my duty without viewing things on the basis of God’s words, or practicing what He requires, but instead believing in and upholding satanic philosophies and abiding by Satan’s fallacies as if they were the truth. This was denying the truth and betraying God. It was also acting as Satan’s accomplice and disrupting and disturbing the church’s work. I got more afraid as I thought about it. I saw I was lacking principles in my duty, and that I wasn’t going by God’s words or demands. I was unwittingly doing evil. The consequences of not doing my duty based on the truth principles were truly frightening!

One day, I read two passages of God’s words: “Do you believe the view ‘Neither doubt those you employ nor employ those you doubt’ is correct? Is this phrase the truth? Why would he use this phrase in the work of God’s house and in doing his duty? What is the problem here? ‘Neither doubt those you employ nor employ those you doubt’ are clearly the words of the nonbelievers, words that come from Satan—so why does he treat them as the truth? Why can’t he tell if these words are right or wrong? These are patently the words of man, the words of corrupt humankind, they are simply not the truth, they are utterly at odds with the words of God, and should not serve as the criterion for people’s actions, comportment, and worship of God. So how should this phrase be approached? If you are truly capable of discernment, what kind of truth principle should you use in its place to serve as your principle of practice? It should be to ‘perform your duty with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ To act with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind is to be constrained by no one; it is to be of a single heart and mind, and no more. This is your responsibility and your duty, and you should perform it well, as doing this is perfectly natural and justified. Whatever problems you encounter, you should act according to the principles. Handle them however you ought to; if pruning is called for, so be it, and if dismissal is called for, so be it. In short, act based on God’s words and on the truth. Isn’t this the principle?” (The Word, Vol. 4. Exposing Antichrists. Excursus One: What the Truth Is). “No matter what important work a leader or worker does, and what the nature of this work is, their number one priority is to understand and grasp how work is going on. They must be there in person to follow up on things and ask questions, getting their information first-hand. They must not simply rely on hearsay or listen to other people’s reports. Instead, they must observe with their own eyes the situation of the personnel and how work is progressing, and understand what difficulties there are, whether any areas are at odds with requirements of the Above, whether there are violations of principles, whether there exist any disturbances or disruptions, whether there is a lack of necessary equipment or related instructional materials regarding professional work—they must stay on top of all of this. No matter how many reports they listen to, or how much they glean from hearsay, neither of these beats paying a personal visit; it is more accurate and reliable for them to see things with their own eyes. Once they are familiar with all aspects of the situation, they will have a good idea of what’s going on. They especially must have a clear and accurate grasp of who is of good caliber and worthy of cultivation, as only this allows them to accurately cultivate and use people, which is crucial if leaders and workers are to do their work well. Leaders and workers should have a path and principles by which to cultivate and train people of good caliber. Furthermore, they should have a grasp and understanding of the various kinds of problems and difficulties that exist in church work, and know how to solve them, and they should also have their own ideas and suggestions for how work is to progress, or its future prospects. If they are able to speak with clarity about such things with their eyes closed, without any doubt or misgivings, then the work will be much easier to carry out. And by working in this way, a leader will be fulfilling their responsibilities, will they not? They must be well aware of how to resolve the abovementioned issues in the work, and they must often ponder these things. When they encounter difficulties, they must fellowship and discuss these things with everyone, seeking the truth in order to resolve the issues. By doing real work with both feet planted firmly on the ground in this way, there will be no difficulties that cannot be solved” (The Word, Vol. 5. The Responsibilities of Leaders and Workers. The Responsibilities of Leaders and Workers (4)). God’s words gave me the path of practice for doing real work. We have to fulfill our responsibilities with our whole heart, and our whole mind. No matter who is being used, whether we know them or not, a leader with a true burden and true sense of responsibility will constantly follow up and get to know the progress of work, immediately resolve issues as they’re discovered, and reassign the unsuitable personnel in a timely manner. They will also cooperate harmoniously with everyone, and seek the truth together to resolve any difficulties or problems that are encountered. This ensures various items of the church work have orderly and proper progress. Thinking over God’s words, I saw why I still clung to the satanic fallacy, “Don’t doubt those you employ,” even though I knew I had to be responsible in my duty. It was because I was holding on to an absurd viewpoint, thinking that supervising someone’s work was a lack of trust, that it was constraining them and denying them freedom, like being a supervisor out in the world. I saw now that when God’s house requires that leaders and workers supervise and implement work, it is not to constrain anyone or distrust them. Rather, this is done to find problems and reverse deviations quickly. It’s also to help brothers and sisters do their duties well and to protect the interests of the church. One of the major responsibilities of a leader and worker is to supervise and follow up on work, understand and grasp each person’s approach to work, find deviations and problems, and rectify and resolve them expediently. This minimizes losses due to mistakes arising from irresponsibility in people’s duties. That’s taking responsibility for brothers’ and sisters’ life entry and the church’s work. After that, I went to inspect each church leader’s work in detail, and no matter whether they were familiar to me, I earnestly looked into the progress of the various works they were responsible for. Through that actual check-up, I found a leader surnamed Xia who wasn’t doing real work or resolving real problems. He also had a malicious humanity, attacking and excluding others; these were deeds of a truly deplorable nature, and we dismissed him right away. We found out about lots of other evil deeds he’d done later through the exposure and reports of brothers and sisters, and in the end, he still didn’t repent after a lot of fellowship exposing him. We ultimately determined he was an antichrist and expelled him from the church. Seeing these results, I looked back with fear. Without going through all that with Liu Jing, which changed my mistaken viewpoint of “Don’t doubt those you employ,” I wouldn’t have thought to supervise or follow up on Xia’s work. Then that antichrist would have kept harming brothers and sisters in the church. The consequences of that would have been unthinkable. Putting this into practice showed me the importance of supervising and checking up on work. I felt that I had finally done some real work and felt at ease in my heart.

This experience showed me that doing duty without viewing people and things in accordance with God’s words or practicing the truth, and instead upholding satanic logic and ideas, is resisting God and disrupting and disturbing the work of the church. We have to follow God’s requirements on following up and supervising work to do a duty well and protect the church’s work. The judgment and exposure of God’s words turned my fallacious view around. Thank God!