By Cecily, Japan

At the beginning of 2022, I was responsible for the work of several churches. One day, a few of us were discussing work together when Brother Michael mentioned that a church had elected Sister Clara as a leader. As soon as I heard that name, my heart skipped a beat, and I thought, “When she was a leader before, she couldn’t cooperate harmoniously with the brothers and sisters, and she was always vying for fame and gain, even excluding those with different views, causing some harm to the brothers and sisters, and eventually, she was dismissed for walking the path of an antichrist. Could she have come to recognize her past transgressions? If she hasn’t repented, it wouldn’t be appropriate for her to be elected as a leader again.” But then I thought, “This church is mainly Michael’s responsibility. If I raise my concerns, will he think I’m trying to make things difficult for him? That would make it difficult to cooperate in the future. Never mind, I don’t really know Clara that well anyway, and wouldn’t Michael know better than I do whether she truly knows herself? I’d better not bring it up.” Out of fear of offending others, I chose to remain silent. Some other brothers and sisters in our team also said, “Although people’s opinions of Clara are somewhat middling, we can let her train for a while and see how things go, and if she’s not suitable, we can dismiss her.” I saw that everyone thought Clara was suitable and that I was the only one with a different opinion, so I didn’t want to say anything, thinking, “I’m not familiar with Clara’s current situation. If she’s truly repented, will everyone think I’m being too quick to judge and that I have poor humanity? Forget it, I’d better not say anything.”

One evening, a sister asked me, “Has Clara recognized her transgressions? Does she meet the conditions to be a leader? I don’t know what principles you’re using to judge her.” The barrage of questions caught me off guard, but I knew there was definitely God’s intention. The sister continued, “When she was a leader before, Clara vied for fame and gain, seriously disrupting and disturbing the church’s work, and during gatherings, her fellowship didn’t show any self-reflection. I’m worried that now she’s been elected as a leader again, she’ll fall back into her old habits, which would harm the church’s work. Shouldn’t we take a closer look at her behavior?” Hearing the sister’s concerns made me feel uneasy. The truth was, I had the same concerns, but I was afraid Michael would think I was trying to make things difficult for him, and since the other brothers and sisters had all been in agreement, I didn’t want to offend anyone, so I went along with everyone else. I was being so perfunctory and irresponsible on a matter as important as selecting a leader! This thought made me feel deeply guilty. That night, I tossed and turned and just couldn’t sleep. The next morning, I spoke to a few of the brothers and sisters in our team about the matter. After hearing this, Michael looked into the situation in more detail by seeking out somebody in the know. In the end, everyone agreed that Clara hadn’t recognized her transgressions, and since she didn’t accept the truth, she wasn’t suited to be a leader, and so Clara was dismissed. Afterward, I felt an even stronger sense of indebtedness and guilt, thinking, “On this matter of Clara being a leader, I clearly had a different opinion but didn’t express it and just went along with everyone else. I was truly irresponsible!” I read some of God’s words: “Some people are people pleasers, who do not report or expose others when they see them do bad things. They are obliging and easily swayed. They obey false leaders and antichrists who disturb the work of the church, do not offend anyone, and always compromise, leaning neither to the right nor left. On the surface, they seem as though they have humanity—they do not go too far, and they have a little conscience and reason—but the majority of the time, they keep quiet and do not express their ideas. What do you make of such people? Are they not smooth and deceitful? This is just how deceitful people are. When something happens, they may not speak up or express any view lightly, but always stay silent. This does not mean that they are reasonable; on the contrary, it shows that they are quite well disguised, that they have things hidden, that their shrewdness runs deep” (The Word, Vol. 3. The Discourses of Christ of the Last Days. In Giving One’s Heart to God, One Can Obtain the Truth). “There must be a standard for having good humanity. It does not involve taking the path of moderation, not sticking to principles, endeavoring not to offend anyone, currying favor everywhere you go, being smooth and slick with everyone you meet, and making everyone speak well of you. This is not the standard. So, what is the standard? It is being able to submit to God and the truth. It is approaching one’s duty and all manner of people, events, and things with principles and a sense of responsibility. This is plain for all to see; everyone is clear about this in their heart. Moreover, God scrutinizes people’s hearts and knows their situation, each and every one; no matter who they are, no one can fool God. Some people always boast that they possess good humanity, that they never speak ill of others, never harm anyone else’s interests, and they claim never to have coveted other people’s property. When there is a dispute over interests, they even prefer to suffer loss than take advantage of others, and everyone else thinks they are good people. However, when performing their duties in God’s house, they are wily and slippery, always scheming for themselves. Never do they think of the interests of God’s house, never do they treat as urgent the things God treats as urgent or think as God thinks, and never can they set aside their own interests so as to perform their duties. They never forsake their own interests. Even when they see evil people committing evil, they do not expose them; they have no principles whatsoever. What kind of humanity is this? It is not good humanity” (The Word, Vol. 3. The Discourses of Christ of the Last Days. In Giving One’s Heart to God, One Can Obtain the Truth). I was so ashamed when I viewed myself in light of God’s words. God says that the standard of good humanity is having a sincere heart toward God and others, being responsible in doing things, and having the courage to stop the church’s work from being damaged by standing up and speaking out when one sees the work being harmed. This is true humanity and honest behavior. If one sees a problem but doesn’t express an opinion, remains silent, and offends no one, then they may appear reasonable, but in reality, this is someone who is full of schemes, slippery, and deceitful. Reflecting on myself regarding the matter of Clara, I clearly had concerns in my heart, worrying that she hadn’t reflected on or recognized her past transgressions, and that now she’s been elected again, she was likely to fall back into her old habits, which would be detrimental to the church’s work and the brothers and sisters’ life entry, but I was afraid of offending people and being misunderstood by my co-workers. I was also worried that if my opinion was wrong, everyone would say I was too quick to judge and had poor humanity, so I didn’t say anything. To establish a good image of myself in people’s hearts, and to maintain harmonious relations with my co-workers, I chose to remain silent and be a people pleaser, regardless of whether the church’s work would suffer. My humanity is truly deceitful and despicable! I’d put on such a good facade, that the brothers and sisters around me didn’t know my true thoughts, even thinking that I was easy to get along with, never in conflict with others, and that I had a good humanity. But God scrutinizes all that is in my heart. I wasn’t upholding the church’s work and always chose to maintain my relationships with others instead. In what way was I practicing the truth or doing my duty? I was so detestable to God!

Later, I read another passage of God’s words: “If you do not have a normal relationship with God, then no matter what you do to maintain your relationships with other people, no matter how hard you work or how much energy you put in, it will all belong to a human philosophy for worldly dealings. You will be protecting your position among people and attaining their praise through human perspectives and human philosophies, rather than establishing normal interpersonal relationships according to the word of God. If you do not focus on your relationships with people, and maintain a normal relationship with God instead, if you are willing to give your heart to God and learn to submit to Him, then your interpersonal relationships will naturally become normal. These relationships will then not be built upon the flesh, but upon the foundation of God’s love. You will have almost no fleshly interactions with other people, but on a spiritual level, there will be fellowship and mutual love, comfort, and provision between you. All of this is done upon the foundation of a desire to satisfy God—these relationships are not maintained through human philosophies for worldly dealings, they are formed naturally when one carries a burden for God. They do not require any artificial, human effort from you, you need only to practice according to the principles of God’s words” (The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. It Is Very Important to Establish a Normal Relationship With God). From God’s words, I understood that to have normal relationships with people, a person must first establish a normal relationship with God. A person needs to give their heart to God, not maintain their fleshly relationships with others based on Satan’s philosophies for worldly dealings, nor consider their status or image in the hearts of others; they must do their duty with an honest heart, and act according to the truth principles in all things. In this way, a person’s relationships with brothers and sisters will naturally become normal. Relationships maintained by relying on philosophies for worldly dealings are not normal relationships, and they are detested by God. Such relationships usually don’t last long. Reflecting on the matter with Clara, I irresponsibly followed the crowd, living by the satanic philosophies of “Keeping silent on the faults of good friends makes for a long and good friendship,” and “Speak good words in harmony with others’ feelings and reason, as being frank annoys others.” I believed that by interacting with people in this way, I could avoid conflict and maintain relationships. I thought this could lead to harmonious cooperation. But in reality, the exact opposite was true. In living by these philosophies for worldly dealings, I became increasingly slippery and deceitful. When things happened, my priority was to protect my reputation and status, and to maintain my relationships with others. While this may maintain harmony temporarily, there is no sincerity in this type of cooperation, and it fails to achieve mutual support and restraint. The church had arranged for us to cooperate in our duties together with the hope that we would supervise one another and keep each other in check on significant matters. But I had been irresponsible, acting as a people pleaser, seeing problems but not bringing them up, and thus causing harm to the church’s work. I had been so irresponsible!

Later, I continued to seek, asking myself, “What exactly is true harmonious cooperation?” A sister sent me a couple of passages of God’s words: “If you want to fulfill your duties well and satisfy God’s intentions, then you must learn to work in harmony with others first. When cooperating with your brothers and sisters, you should consider the following: ‘What is harmony? Is my speech in harmony with them? Are my thoughts in harmony with them? Is the way I do things in harmony with them?’ Consider how to cooperate in harmony. At times, harmony means forbearance and tolerance, but it also means standing your ground and upholding principles. Harmony does not mean compromising on principles to smooth things over, or trying to be ‘a people pleaser,’ or sticking to the path of moderation—and it certainly does not mean ingratiating yourself to someone. These are principles. Once you have grasped these principles, you will, without realizing it, speak and act in accordance with God’s intentions, and live out the reality of the truth, and in this way it is easy to achieve unity” (The Word, Vol. 3. The Discourses of Christ of the Last Days. On Harmonious Cooperation). “Some will say: ‘You say I’m unable to cooperate with anyone—well, I do have a partner! They cooperate well with me: They go where I go, do what I do; they go wherever I have them go, do whatever I have them do, however I’d have them do it.’ Is that what cooperation means? No. That’s called being a footman. A footman does your bidding—is that cooperation? Clearly, they are a lackey, without ideas or views, much less opinions of their own. And beyond that, their thinking is that of a people-pleaser. They’re not meticulous in anything they do, but perfunctorily go through the motions, and they don’t uphold the interests of God’s house. What purpose could cooperation like that serve? Whoever they’re partnered with, they just do their bidding, ever a lackey. They heed whatever others say and do whatever others have them do. That’s not cooperation. What is cooperation? You have to be able to discuss things with each other, and express your views and opinions; you must complement and supervise each other, and seek from each other, make inquiries of each other, and prompt each other. That’s what it is to cooperate in harmony. Say, for instance, you handled something according to your own will, and someone said, ‘You did it wrong, entirely against the principles. Why did you handle it however you wanted, without seeking the truth?’ To this, you say, ‘That’s right—I’m glad you alerted me! If you hadn’t, it would have spelled disaster!’ That’s what prompting each other is. What is it, then, to supervise each other? Everyone has a corrupt disposition, and may be perfunctory in doing their duty, safeguarding only their own status and pride, not the interests of God’s house. Such states are there in every person. If you learn that someone has a problem, you should take the initiative to fellowship with them, reminding them to do their duty according to the principles, while letting it stand as a warning to yourself. That’s mutual supervision. What function does mutual supervision serve? It’s meant to safeguard the interests of God’s house, and also to keep people from taking the wrong road. Cooperation has another function, apart from prompting each other and supervising each other: making inquiries of each other” (The Word, Vol. 4. Exposing Antichrists. Item Eight: They Would Have Others Submit Only to Them, Not the Truth or God (Part One)). God’s words exposed my true situation. Often when cooperating with brothers and sisters, I was like a puppet, not expressing my own views, and not playing any supervisory role at all. True cooperation involves mutual reminders and supervision. Because we all have many corrupt dispositions, we are liable to follow our own will and act arbitrarily in our duties. If we can provide mutual guidance, help, or pruning in our cooperation with one another, we can avoid causing harm to the work and going down the wrong path. Moreover, since we don’t fully understand the truth, and we all have many shortcomings and deficiencies, many issues can’t be considered comprehensively; sometimes reminders from partners or co-workers can correct deviations in time and reduce errors in the work. Mutual supervision and reminders are indeed very important! But I had always thought harmonious cooperation meant getting along peacefully and believed that pointing out others’ shortcomings or giving suggestions would offend people. My perspective on things was truly distorted! In fact, harmonious cooperation isn’t about everyone getting along and nobody getting offended, nor is it about glossing over things and being a people pleaser. It’s about sticking to principles, standing firm, and possessing a sense of justice. When seeing our partnered brothers and sisters violate principles, we should remind, help, or prune them. This isn’t to make things difficult for others or vent personal grievances, but to do our duties according to principles and it is an act of justice done to uphold the church’s work. Because of my fallacious views, I saw problems but didn’t bring them up, turning a blind eye to them. How was this harmonious cooperation with my brothers and sisters? This was simply living by philosophies for worldly dealings and being irresponsible in my duties. Such cooperation failed to play any supervisory role at all. With this in mind, I began to feel some self-loathing.

Later, I read another passage of God’s words and gained some understanding of God’s requirements. Almighty God says: “When your path of practice is correct, and you move in the right direction, your future will be beautiful and bright. In this way, you will live with your heart at peace, your spirit will be nourished, and you will feel fulfilled and gratified. If you cannot break free from the constraints of the flesh, if you are constantly constrained by feelings, personal interests, and satanic philosophies, speak and act in a secretive manner, and always hide in the shadows, then you are living under Satan’s power. However, if you understand the truth, break free from the constraints of the flesh, and practice the truth, you will gradually come to possess human likeness. You will be frank and straightforward in your words and deeds, and you will be able to reveal your opinions, ideas, and the mistakes you have made, allowing everyone to see them clearly. In the end, people will recognize you as a transparent person. What is a transparent person? It is someone who speaks with exceptional honesty, whose words everyone believes to be true. Even if they unintentionally lie or say something wrong, people are able to forgive them, knowing that it was unintentional. If they realize they have lied or said something wrong, they apologize and correct themselves. This is a transparent person. Such a person is liked and trusted by everyone. You need to reach this level to gain God’s trust and the trust of others. This is not a simple task—it is the highest level of dignity that a person can possess. A person like this has self-respect” (The Word, Vol. 3. The Discourses of Christ of the Last Days. Only an Honest Person Can Live Out True Human Likeness). God wants us to speak and act justly and honorably, to openly share our thoughts and ideas with others, to discuss matters together, and to be honest people. Such people are loved by God and live with dignity. When we discussed matters next time, I consciously brought forth my thoughts and views to openly fellowship with the brothers and sisters I was cooperating with. I no longer hid or concealed things or tried to be a people pleaser. Even if my thoughts weren’t fully formed, I would still put them forward. If my views were wrong, I would set aside my pride and accept others’ opinions. Practicing this way brought peace and assurance to my heart.

One day, we were discussing whether to accept a sister named Anne back into the church. Anne had an arrogant disposition and had consistently refused to accept the truth. The leaders had fellowshipped with her many times, but she had never reflected on or tried to know herself. Instead, she had made things even worse by judging the leaders in front of the brothers and sisters, disrupting and disturbing church life. She was eventually isolated to reflect on herself. After that, she continued to do her duties, and recently, she had been pretty effective in preaching the gospel. Several co-workers agreed to accept Anne back into the church, but I was hesitant, thinking, “Although Anne has had some success in preaching the gospel, her disposition is pretty malicious, and she’s not someone who accepts the truth. She hasn’t truly recognized her previous evil deeds, nor have there been any visible signs of repentance. Accepting her back into the church just because of her momentary success in preaching the gospel doesn’t seem appropriate.” But then I thought, “Several co-workers have already agreed, and if I’m the only one who disagrees, what will everyone think? Will they think that I always have different opinions and that I’m too difficult to get along with? Since everyone else agrees, maybe I shouldn’t say anything.” But then I suddenly thought of the situation with Clara, where I irresponsibly went with the crowd and didn’t have the courage to stand by the truth principles, resulting in delays to the church’s work. I felt a bit scared, so I quickly prayed to God, saying, “God, everyone’s agreed to accept Anne back into the church, but I still feel uneasy about it. I don’t want to make a hasty decision without clarity this time. I want to act according to the truth principles. Please enlighten and guide me.” After praying, I looked up the principles for accepting people back into the church, and the principles stated: Those who are consistently arrogant, conceited, and sow discord are beyond saving. Evil people will always be evil and cannot truly repent. Those who return to the church must absolutely not disturb the church and must be able to get along with the majority. Only such people are suitable to be accepted back into the church. Those who are harmful and unhelpful to the church must not be accepted back. Comparing this with Anne’s behavior, I thought about how her disposition was quite arrogant, how she consistently refused to accept the truth, and no matter how the brothers and sisters fellowshipped with her, she didn’t reflect or repent. Even though she’d had some momentary success in preaching the gospel, she wasn’t someone who accepted the truth, and if anything were to touch on her interests, she was liable to fall back into her old habits and continue to disturb the church’s work. It wasn’t suitable to accept such a person back into the church. After this, I expressed my views and several co-workers agreed with my opinion, and in the end, Anne wasn’t accepted back into the church. Seeing this outcome, I felt at peace and reassured doing my duty this way.

This experience helped me understand just how important it is to have an honest heart in one’s duty. Having an honest attitude in one’s duty and practicing the truth without being afraid to offend others protects the church’s work.