By Lin Jing, China

In March 2023, I was responsible for the sermon work in the church. At that time, I worked alone, so the workload was quite heavy. One day, the leaders arranged for Li Qing to cooperate with me on this duty. When I heard this, I was so happy. After being cultivated for a while, Li Qing gradually became able to work independently. My burden lightened considerably, and I couldn’t have felt more joyful. I thought to myself, “Working like this won’t be so exhausting, and I’ll have more time to study principles. The quality of the sermons will also improve.” While I was still celebrating, unexpectedly, a few days later, Li Jin, our leader, scheduled a gathering with Li Qing. I was startled, thinking, “What is she doing meeting with Li Qing? There’s been a real shortage of waterers recently and there hasn’t been a supervisor. The leaders have mentioned the need to transfer members from other teams. Given that Li Qing is good at watering newcomers, is Li Jin planning to reassign her to that duty? I’ve worked so hard to cultivate Li Qing to work independently, so if she’s transferred, wouldn’t all my time and effort in cultivating her have been for nothing? If she leaves, all the work will fall on me again, and I’ll have to scout and cultivate someone new. In that case, some valuable sermons might not be screened and submitted in time, so how could the work be effective then?” Thinking of all this, I felt very resistant. “I need to write a letter to the leaders about this and see if it’s possible to keep Li Qing from being reassigned,” I thought. In the letter, I repeatedly emphasized that Li Qing was well-suited for text-based duties, hinting that the leaders should keep her in our team. I also told the leaders, “You can’t blindly transfer team members. Such an arrangement doesn’t align with principles.” Afterward, I pondered this matter further, thinking, “There’s currently a shortage of personnel in the watering work, and there’s a lack of a supervisor. Maybe the leaders noticed that the text-based work is still proceeding normally and made this arrangement based on their evaluation of the overall work. Right now there aren’t enough waterers to support the newcomers, and if I keep refusing to let Li Qing go, won’t I look like I’m lacking in humanity?” With this in mind, I was no longer so resistant. Later, the leaders did transfer Li Qing to do watering duties, and I felt a bit disappointed.

After Li Qing left, I had to tightly schedule my tasks as before, and I was kept busy resolving difficulties and issues the text-based team members encountered in their work, replying to letters, and screening sermons. I saw that with Li Qing gone, the work started piling up immediately. The sermons that were supposed to be evaluated weren’t screened or submitted in time, so I became worried that the effectiveness of the work would decline, which might make the leaders think I lacked a sense of burden for the work. These thoughts stirred up my feelings of resistance, “Over the past year or so, I’ve cooperated with several brothers and sisters. Some of them were promoted, while others were reassigned to other duties, and in the end, I’m always the only one left. They come and go, but I just stay right here, alone, as stable as a poker player. I’ve become a cultivating specialist. So much work is being piled onto me alone, why don’t the leaders consider the difficulties I’m facing? None of those who I’ve cultivated have ended up sharing in my workload. Even if I cultivate someone else, what if they get transferred too? It would all be for nothing!” After all this, I was in no hurry to scout or cultivate anyone. Even when I came across someone with potential, I wasn’t eager to put in the effort to cultivate them. During that time, I knew a text-based worker named Dong Fei. She was able to grasp some principles, had a decent sense of burden for her duty, and was someone who could be cultivated. If she were promoted to team leader, she would probably progress even faster. But I thought, “If I promote and cultivate her, and she improves her skills, the leaders might recognize her as a talented person and then promote her further. Won’t all the effort I put into cultivating her be for nothing then? I don’t want to do something that requires so much effort but doesn’t benefit me.” With that thought, I decided not to mention promoting Dong Fei to the leaders. Later, when the leaders wrote to ask about the work of cultivating people, I made excuses, saying that the workload was so heavy that I couldn’t manage it all. Because of me, the work of cultivating people was put aside. I realized that my state wasn’t right, and that staying in this state would delay the work, so I came before God in prayer, asking Him to enlighten me to recognize my problem and to help me get out of this wrong state.

One day, I read these words of God: “If someone of good caliber is transferred from under an antichrist to do another duty, in their heart the antichrist doggedly resists and rejects it—they want to call it quits, and have no enthusiasm for being a leader or group head. What problem is this? Why do they have no obedience toward the arrangements of the church? They think the transfer of their ‘right-hand man’ will impact the results and progress of their work, and that their status and reputation will be consequently affected, which will force them to work harder and suffer more to guarantee results—which is the last thing they want to do. They have grown used to comfort, and don’t want to work harder or suffer more, so they don’t want to let the person go. If the house of God insists on the transfer, they complain a lot and even want to throw up their own work. Is this not selfish and vile? God’s chosen people should be centrally allocated by the house of God. This has nothing to do with any leader, group head, or individual. Everyone must act according to principle; this is the rule of God’s house. Antichrists do not act according to the principles of God’s house, they constantly scheme for the sake of their own status and interests, and make brothers and sisters of good caliber serve them in order to consolidate their power and status. Is this not selfish and vile? Outwardly, keeping people of good caliber by their side and not allowing them to be transferred by the house of God appears as if they are thinking of church work, but in fact they are only thinking of their own power and status, and not about the work of the church at all. They are afraid that they will do the church work poorly, be replaced, and lose their status. Antichrists give no thought to the wider work of God’s house, think only of their own status, protect their own status with no compunction for the cost to the interests of the house of God, and defend their own status and interests to the detriment of the church’s work. This is selfish and vile. When faced with such a situation, at the very least one must think with their conscience: ‘These people are all of the house of God, they are not my personal property. I, too, am a member of the house of God. What right do I have to stop the house of God from transferring people? I should consider the overall interests of the house of God, instead of just concentrating on the work within the scope of my own responsibilities.’ Such are the thoughts that should be found in people who are possessed of conscience and reason, and the reason that should be possessed by those who believe in God. God’s house engages in the work of the whole and the churches are engaged in the work of parts. Therefore, when God’s house has a special need from the church, what’s most important for leaders and workers is to obey the arrangements of God’s house. False leaders and antichrists are not possessed of such conscience and reason. They are all quite selfish, they only think of themselves, and they do not think of the work of the church. They only consider the benefits before their very eyes, they do not consider the wider work of God’s house, and so they are absolutely incapable of obeying the arrangements of God’s house. They are extremely selfish and vile! In the house of God, they are even bold enough to be obstructive, and even dare to dig their heels in; these are the people most lacking in humanity, they are evil people. That is the kind of people the antichrists are. They always treat the church’s work, and the brothers and sisters, and even all the assets of God’s house that fall within their scope of responsibility, as their own private property. They believe that it is up to them how these things are distributed, transferred, and used, and that the house of God is not allowed to intervene. Once they are in their hands, it is as if they are in the possession of Satan, no one is allowed to touch them. They’re the big shots, the head honchos, and whoever goes to their territory has to obey their orders and arrangements in a well-behaved and pliant manner, and take cues from their expressions. This is the manifestation of the selfishness and vileness within antichrists’ character. They give no consideration to the work of the house of God, they do not follow principle in the slightest, and only think of their own interests and status—which are all hallmarks of the selfishness and vileness of antichrists” (The Word, Vol. 4. Exposing Antichrists. Excursus Four: Summarizing the Character of Antichrists and Their Disposition Essence (Part One)). When I read phrases from God’s exposure such as “the big shots,” “the head honchos,” and “as if they are in the possession of Satan,” I felt like my heart had been pierced. Antichrists only consider their own personal gains and losses in their work, and they never consider God’s intentions. When they see people within their scope of responsibility having been cultivated and that this benefits their own flesh, reputation, and status, they want to keep these people close to them, and they treat them as their own private property. No one is allowed to transfer these people without their permission, even if it’s for the need of work. If God’s house transfers people from their scope of responsibility based on principles, they will try to stand in the way of this. They would rather delay the overall work of the church than put their own reputation and status at risk. Such people are like “the big shots” and “the head honchos” that God mentions—they are selfish, despicable, and have no humanity. My behaviors were just like those of the antichrists that God exposes. I wanted to cultivate text-based workers not for the sake of the church’s work or to satisfy God, but to satisfy my own selfish desires. Having someone share the workload would make things easier for me, and if the effectiveness of the work improved, it would make others think highly of me. So, when the people I cultivated were transferred, I couldn’t accept it at all. I felt that those I’d worked so hard to cultivate should take on their share of the work, and that the leaders couldn’t just transfer them without my consent. Even though I reluctantly agreed to Li Qing’s transfer, when the effectiveness of the work declined, I started complaining that the leader shouldn’t have transferred her, and I even took my frustration out on the work. Although I knew clearly that Dong Fei could be promoted and cultivated, I feared that once she was cultivated, the leaders would transfer her too, leaving me without a capable assistant once again. So, I didn’t tell the leaders that Dong Fei was someone worth cultivating, and I kept her within my scope of responsibility to continue serving my reputation and status. The church reassigns and makes arrangements for people based on the needs of the work. For example, Li Qing was reassigned because the newcomers lacked people to water them. By reassigning Li Qing, she could take on this responsibility, and water and support the newcomers in time. The leaders made this arrangement out of consideration for the overall work of the church, and it was in line with principles. But I didn’t consider any of this. I only cared about the benefits before my very eyes. As long as the work was not exhausting for me and I could still make a name for myself in front of others, it’d be fine, and I wouldn’t care about anything else. I’d been truly selfish and despicable! In reality, cultivating talented people is done for the overall work of God’s house. When an area of work is short-staffed, those with special skills should be assigned to the appropriate duty based on their special skills and the needs of the work, allowing the church’s work to progress in a well-organized and orderly manner. People with conscience and reason would consider the interests of God’s house and promote those with good caliber, diligently instructing and cultivating them, so they could be of use to the work of God’s house. But I didn’t consider the work of the church. It was as if the brothers and sisters were my people as long as they joined the team within my scope of responsibility, that they were for me to use, and that no one had the right to transfer them. I treated these brothers and sisters as my own private property. Was I not behaving just as God exposes the way “the big shots” and “the head honchos” behave? Pondering on these things, I felt a little scared.

I then recalled another passage of God’s words, so I looked it up to read. God says: “God is doing the work of His 6,000-year management plan, and all of His painstaking effort goes into it. If someone opposes God, deliberately harms the interests of God’s house, and deliberately pursues their personal interests and their personal prestige and status at the expense of harming the interests of God’s house, and doesn’t hesitate to tear down the church’s work, causing the work of God’s house to be obstructed and destroyed, and even doing tremendous material and financial damage to God’s house, do you think that such people should be forgiven? (No, they shouldn’t.) You all say that they cannot be forgiven, so is God angry with such people? For sure, He is. … If you keep saying that you follow God, pursue salvation, accept God’s scrutiny and guidance, and accept and submit to God’s judgment and chastisement, but all the while you are saying these words, you are nevertheless disrupting, disturbing, and destroying the church’s various work, and because of your disturbance, disruption, and destruction, because of your negligence or dereliction of duty, or because of your selfish desires and for the sake of pursuing your own interests, the interests of God’s house, the church’s interests, and a multitude of other aspects have been harmed, even to the point that the work of God’s house has been seriously disturbed and destroyed, how, then, should God weigh up your outcome in your book of life? How should you be labeled? In all fairness, you should be punished. This is called getting your just deserts” (The Word, Vol. 4. Exposing Antichrists. Item Nine (Part One)). I felt like I was being judged by God with His stern words face to face, and I sensed that God’s disposition does not brook offense. God’s house requires the cultivation of talented people to ensure that various items of the work can progress more effectively. But I cultivated people only to make my own work easier and to gain recognition. When the people I cultivated were transferred, I began to complain, grumbling about the leaders for not considering my difficulties, and I even vented my frustration on the duty by refusing to cultivate anyone else. I knew very well that Dong Fei was fit to be cultivated, and it would be beneficial for both her life growth and the work of the church. However, I was worried that if I cultivated her, she might be transferred as well. So, I suppressed her development and chose not to cultivate her. By intentionally hindering the church’s work of cultivating talented people, I was sacrificing the church’s interests to satisfy my own, which was blatant defiance against God. If I continued on like this, I would surely be eliminated by God. Realizing this filled me with fear, and I knelt before God to confess and repent.

Later, I read these words of God: “When selfishness and schemes for your own profit appear in you, and you realize it, you should pray to God and seek the truth in order to address this. The first thing you should be aware of is that in essence, acting in this way is a violation of the truth principles, it is harmful to the work of the church, it is selfish and despicable behavior, it is not what people of conscience and reason ought to be doing. You should put aside your own interests and selfishness, and should think of the work of the church—this is in line with God’s intentions. After praying and reflecting on yourself, if you truly realize that acting thus is selfish and despicable, putting aside your own selfishness will be easy. When you put aside your selfishness and schemes for profit, you will feel grounded, you will be at peace, joyous, and will feel that a person of conscience and reason should think of the church’s work, that they should not fixate on their personal interests, which would be so selfish, despicable, and devoid of conscience or reason. Acting selflessly, thinking of the work of the church, and doing things exclusively to satisfy God is just and honorable, and will bring value to your existence. Living this way on earth, you are being open and honest, you are living out normal humanity, and the true image of man, and not only do you have a clear conscience, but are also worthy of all the things bestowed upon you by God. The more you live like this, the more grounded you will feel, the more peaceful and joyous you will be, and the brighter you will feel. As such, will you not have set foot upon the right track of faith in God?” (The Word, Vol. 3. The Discourses of Christ of the Last Days. In Giving One’s Heart to God, One Can Obtain the Truth). God says that when we reveal selfishness and seek to satisfy our own interests, we must seek the truth and rebel against ourselves. Acting this way, we are upstanding, just, and living straightforwardly and honestly. After reading God’s words, I felt enlightened and found a path for practice. I remembered when Sister Li Qing was transferred, I reacted with complaints and negativity and played tricks to suppress a talented person. Acting this way was too despicable and sordid! If faced with matters that affect my own interests again, I should not consider only myself. Instead, I should practice according to God’s words, learning to let go of my own interests and providing the church with talented people. Through summarizing later, I realized that my work was piling up and good sermons were unable to be selected and submitted in time—this was related to my inability to prioritize tasks effectively. I needed to organize the work in my hands more reasonably and effectively, placing important tasks first and allowing less urgent ones to wait. This way, the work wouldn’t be delayed. Recognizing all this, I discussed with the leaders about promoting Dong Fei to team leader. The leaders agreed that Dong Fei was suitable to be cultivated, so I put effort into mentoring her. When I rebelled against the flesh and practiced the truth, I felt a sense of peace and ease in my heart, and I was in an exceptionally good mood.

In September 2023, Chen Jing began training in doing the text-based duty. Initially, she was unfamiliar with the work and felt it was extraordinarily difficult, so she didn’t want to do this duty. I arranged to fellowship with her face to face. After some time of training, gradually, she was willing to do this duty diligently. Seeing this result made me very happy. Unexpectedly, just a few days later, due to a shortage of people for the watering work, the leaders noticed that Chen Jing had previously watered newcomers and planned to reassign her to do the watering duty. When I heard this news, I was startled, thinking, “Chen Jing is a text-based team member that we’ve worked hard to cultivate. If she’s transferred, I’ll have to scout someone else to cultivate again. If I can’t find anyone, the effectiveness of the work will surely decline.” I started to have some complaints about the leaders. Then, I suddenly realized that my state was not right, and I recalled God’s words: “When required by the work of God’s house, no matter who they are, everyone should submit to the coordination and arrangements of God’s house, and absolutely should not be controlled by any individual leader or worker as if they belong to them or are subject to their decisions. The obedience of God’s chosen people to the centralized arrangements of the house of God is perfectly natural and justified, and these arrangements may not be defied by anyone, unless an individual leader or worker makes an arbitrary transfer that is not in accordance with principle, in which case this arrangement may be disobeyed. If a normal transfer is made in accordance with the principles, then all of God’s chosen people should obey, and no leader or worker has the right or any reason to try to control anyone. Would you say there is any work that is not the work of the house of God? Is there any work that does not involve the expansion of God’s kingdom gospel? It is all the work of God’s house, each work is equal, and there is no ‘yours’ and ‘mine.’ If the transfer is in line with principle and based on the requirements of church work, then these people should go where they are needed most” (The Word, Vol. 4. Exposing Antichrists. Excursus Four: Summarizing the Character of Antichrists and Their Disposition Essence (Part One)). From God’s words, I understood that the brothers and sisters belong to God’s house and are not owned by anyone. As long as a transfer aligns with principles, no one has the right to interfere, and we must all submit to it. I reflected on how I had previously suppressed Dong Fei for my own interests. I felt uneasy every time I thought of it. At that time, the need for waterers to support newcomers was urgent, and Chen Jing had some experience in this area. I realized that the leaders’ arrangement was based on the needs of the work. I couldn’t focus solely on my own interests; I needed to actively cooperate with the church’s work and ensure that Chen Jing would do her duty where she was most needed. Afterward, she was transferred to the watering duty. Before she left, she recommended two sisters suitable for the text-based duty. After some time of cultivation, they were both able to take on some work, and the text-based work wasn’t delayed by the transfer of any team members. When I no longer lived according to my selfish and despicable satanic nature, but instead practiced according to God’s words, I felt a deep sense of peace and ease in my heart.