By Han Chen, China

In June 2022, the leader assigned me to supervise text-based work. I recalled a team whose work results had been consistently poor. From the state written about by a text-based worker named Xiao Li, I saw that she was heavily focused on reputation and status. Every time she asked a question, the sisters in the team had to respond immediately, otherwise, she would give off a bad attitude and burst out in hotheadedness at the drop of a hat. I thought, “Is their lack of harmonious cooperation affecting their work? I need to find the root of this problem quickly.”

During the gathering, I asked everyone about their states. The team leader, Li Mei, shared her thoughts on how she couldn’t cooperate harmoniously with Xiao Li and she even wanted to quit. Xiao Li then said that she had been hotheaded and bad-tempered since childhood, and that she couldn’t help but burst into hotheadedness whenever she heard something displeasing. She also mentioned that one time Luo Lan pointed out her lack of burden in doing her duty, saying she was always unhurried, stretching out her morning devotionals until eleven and only then starting work, and she absolutely refused to accept this, thinking, “Isn’t Li Mei the same? Why doesn’t Luo Lan say anything about her?” She felt that Luo Lan treated people unfairly and was targeting her, which is why she spoke hotheadedly. Through eating and drinking God’s words, she had come to realize her poor humanity, and felt that it was right for others to have isolated and excluded her, and for them to have called her an evil person. Regardless of how others had treated her, she said she should accept it from God and know herself, and not hold prejudices against her sisters. Li Mei became emotional and said, “Some things Xiao Li said are not true. We didn’t isolate or exclude her, nor did we call her an evil person.” Xiao Li carried on speaking through tears, saying that when she heard about an antichrist being expelled from the church, she was deeply impacted. This antichrist had sowed discord and oppressed people, and she felt that her nature was far worse than that of this antichrist, and she felt that if she carried on like this, it would be very dangerous, so she was willing to repent. All of this confused me quite a bit, and I wondered, “Is Xiao Li genuinely knowing herself? What is normal open fellowship about one’s own corruption, and what constitutes belittling and attacking others under the guise of fellowshipping on self-knowledge? From Xiao Li’s fellowship, why does it sound like Li Mei and Luo Lan were ganging up and excluding her?” At the time, I didn’t think much about it, thinking, “Xiao Li is young, a bit willful, and her corrupt disposition is quite serious, but from seeing her cry and know herself, she seems to be someone who accepts the truth. Change requires a process, so she should be given more leeway. Besides, a lack of harmonious cooperation isn’t just the fault of one person; after all, it takes two to tango, and this is likely because both parties don’t know themselves and live by their corrupt dispositions.” With this in mind, I found some of God’s words on harmonious cooperation to read, and reminded them not to fixate on people or things, but to reflect on and know themselves according to God’s words and learn from each other. I also drew on my own experiences to fellowship with Xiao Li on the dangerous consequences of acting out of hotheadedness. After my fellowship, Xiao Li said, “There are no deep grudges between me and the sisters. I’m willing to cooperate harmoniously with the sisters and put my heart into my duty. I’m really hotheaded and have a seriously arrogant disposition, but I’m willing to pray to God and seek a solution.” Li Mei seemed somewhat resigned, saying, “I really don’t know how to experience this environment, and I don’t know how to reflect and know myself.” She also said that to solve the problem of disharmonious cooperation, we must first understand the whole story. Hearing this, I felt that the problem had not really been solved. I silently sought from God in prayer, saying inwardly, “God, what is Your intention in this matter? What is the root cause of this problem? How should it be solved in line with the truth principles?”

That evening, I was resting in a room with Li Mei and Luo Lan. But I couldn’t sleep, and kept thinking about what Li Mei reminded me during the gathering: To solve the problem of disharmonious cooperation, we must clearly understand the truth of the matter, and get to the bottom of the whole story. I realized that during my fellowship in the gathering, I just told the sisters to know themselves and to not fixate on people or things, but I didn’t get a clear picture of the whole story, so the problem hadn’t been solved. I thought of God’s words: “Everything that happens under the sun, all that you can feel, all that you can see, all that you can hear—everything happens with God’s permission. After you accept this matter from God, measure it against God’s words, and find out what kind of person whoever did this thing is and what the essence of this matter is, irrespective of whether what they said or did hurt you, whether your heart and soul have been dealt a blow or whether your character has been trampled on. First look at whether the person is an evil person or an ordinary corrupt person, first discerning them for what they are according to God’s words, and then discerning and treating this matter according to God’s words. Are these not the right steps to take? (Yes.) First accept this matter from God, and view the people involved in this matter according to His words, to determine whether they are ordinary brothers and sisters, evil people, antichrists, disbelievers, evil spirits, filthy demons, or spies from the great red dragon, and whether what they did was a general display of corruption, or an evil deed that was deliberately intended to disturb and disrupt. All of this should be determined by comparing it against God’s words. Measuring things by God’s words is the most accurate and objective way” (The Word, Vol. 6. On the Pursuit of the Truth. What It Means to Pursue the Truth (9)). God’s words brightened my heart. All the things that were happening in the team were permitted by God. I needed to view people and matters according to God’s words, starting by seeing what kind of person the other party is, whether they were a brother or sister with corrupt dispositions who could accept the truth, or whether they were evil people or disbelievers who didn’t accept the truth at all. If they are true brothers and sisters, we should help them with love, but if they are evil people or disbelievers, we must expose, dismiss, or isolate them in a timely manner. So I wondered, “What kind of person is Xiao Li really? How should I handle her?” So I asked two sisters about Xiao Li’s consistent behavior.

From Li Mei and Luo Lan, I learned that Xiao Li was quite arrogant, willful, and hotheaded, that she was very concerned with reputation and status, and that whenever she talked to the sisters, they must respond quickly, and that if they were slow or did not respond, Xiao Li immediately got annoyed and harangued the sisters, saying, “If you think I’m bothering you, just say it, and I’ll never ask you again!” This made the sisters feel very constrained. After that, no matter what Xiao Li asked, the sisters would respond quickly whether they understood or not, for fear of making Xiao Li unhappy and causing her to burst out in hotheadedness. Once, Li Mei pointed out some issues in Xiao Li’s work, but Xiao Li didn’t accept it at all. She said Li Mei’s demands were too high and didn’t allow her to reveal corruption. Li Mei said Xiao Li’s hotheadedness constrained others, causing Xiao Li to immediately raise her voice and start crying about how difficult it was to get along with people like Li Mei, saying that she felt as if Li Mei’s words were almost choking her. The whole gathering was disrupted by this. After the matter, Xiao Li admitted in front of everyone that she was like an antichrist, who does not accept being pruned. Another time, Luo Lan talked about her own corruption in being a people pleaser during the gathering, saying she saw Xiao Li didn’t accept the truth, but she didn’t point this out because she wanted to maintain their relationship. After hearing this, Xiao Li cried and made a scene, saying, “Go ahead and report me to the leader, see if I get dismissed or cleared out. Whenever my ego is hurt, I just can’t control myself, I’m on the verge of collapse!” After saying this, she moved her computer to another room and performed her devotionals alone for two days, and ignored the sisters. Later in a gathering, Xiao Li tearfully talked about her understanding of herself, and apologized to Li Mei and Luo Lan. But afterward, she would still burst out in hotheadedness and fixate on people and things.

Hearing about all of Xiao Li’s behaviors, I realized the severity of the issue. Xiao Li’s problem was not just her arrogant and willful disposition. Didn’t she resemble those evil people who are unreasonable and willfully troublesome that God exposes? I read God’s words: “People who are unreasonable and willfully troublesome think only of their own interests when they act, doing whatever pleases them. Their words are nothing but preposterous arguments and heresies, and they are impervious to reason. Their vicious disposition is overflowing. No one dares associate with them, and no one is willing to fellowship about the truth with them, for fear of inviting disaster upon themselves. Other people are on tenterhooks whenever they speak their minds to them, afraid that if they say one word that is not to their liking or not in line with their wishes, they will seize upon it and make outrageous accusations. Are such people not evil? Are they not living demons? All those with a vicious disposition and unsound reason are living demons. And when someone interacts with a living demon, they may bring disaster upon themselves with just a moment’s carelessness. Would it not spell big trouble if such living demons were present in the church? (It would.) After these living demons have thrown their tantrums and vented about their anger, they may speak like a human for a while and apologize, but they will not change afterward. Who knows when their mood will sour and they will throw another tantrum, spouting their preposterous arguments. The target of their tantrum and venting is different each time, as is the source and background of their venting. That is, anything can set them off, anything can make them feel dissatisfied, and anything can make them react with tantrums and unruly behavior. How terrible! How troublesome! These deranged evil people might lose their minds at any time; no one knows what they are capable of doing. I have the greatest hatred for such people. Every one of them should be cleansed away—they must all be cleared out. I do not wish to engage with them. They are muddled in thought and brutish in disposition, they are filled with preposterous arguments and devilish words, and when things befall them, they vent about them in an impetuous way. Some of them cry when they vent, others yell, others stomp their feet, and there are even some who shake their heads and wave their limbs about. They are simply beasts, not humans. … Despite being obviously aware of their own numerous issues, they never seek the truth to resolve them, nor do they discuss knowing themselves in their fellowship with others. When their own problems are mentioned, they deflect and make false counter-accusations, pushing all problems and responsibilities onto others, and even complain that the reason for their behavior is because others mistreat them. It’s as if their tantrums and senseless troublemaking are caused by others, as if it’s everyone else who’s at fault, they merely have no other choice but to act this way, and they’re legitimately defending themselves. Whenever they are dissatisfied, they start venting their resentment and spouting nonsense, insisting on their preposterous arguments as if everyone else is wrong, as if they’re the only good people and everyone else is a villain. No matter how much they throw tantrums or spout preposterous arguments, they demand to be spoken well of. Even when they do wrong, they forbid others from exposing or criticizing them. If you point out even a slight issue of theirs, they’ll entangle you in endless disputes, and you can forget about living peaceably then. What kind of person is this? This is someone who is unreasonable and willfully troublesome, and those who do so are evil people” (The Word, Vol. 5. The Responsibilities of Leaders and Workers. The Responsibilities of Leaders and Workers (26)). From God’s words, I understood that when people with humanity and reason are faced with unpleasant matters or when others point out their problems, though they may not accept it in the moment, later they can accept it from God and submit, and seek the truth to solve their problems. But those who are unreasonably troublesome, who have a vicious disposition, and lack humanity and reason, get angry and throw tantrums over minor displeasures, venting their discontent. They do not accept being pruned at all. Instead, they use various fallacies to counterattack and even take revenge. Comparing this with Xiao Li’s behavior, I saw that Xiao Li was such a person. She always wanted others to revolve around her, and became hotheaded, grilled, and scolded others at the slightest displeasure, constraining the sisters. They were afraid of saying or doing the wrong thing that would annoy her. When the team leader Li Mei pointed out her problems, she did not accept it, and even argued that Li Mei’s demands were too high and that she wasn’t allowing her to reveal corruption. She was tangling up right and wrong and disturbing church life. In gatherings, Li Mei and Luo Lan drew on God’s words to reflect on their own corruption, and although these things touched on Xiao Li’s issues, what they said were facts. Reasonable people should handle things correctly, but Xiao Li threw crying fits and kept making a scene because these things touched on her reputation. She said that the sisters excluded her, and even said that they should quickly report her, and dismiss or clear her out, causing the sisters to feel constrained by her, and to not dare to open up and fellowship their states in gatherings, and where they were unable to focus on their duties. After each tantrum, Xiao Li would talk about knowing herself and apologize to the sisters, and it seemed like she could accept the truth. But whenever something unpleasant or reputation-threatening happened, she would burst out in hotheadedness and vent her discontent, argue back, and refuse to change despite repeated fellowship. It was clear that Xiao Li did not accept the truth at all. She was causing harm to the sisters and disturbing church life without repenting at all. Instead, she would strike back, saying it was the sisters’ unfair treatment of her and their exclusion which caused her to be hotheaded, as if her hotheadedness was triggered by others, and not her own problem. She was truly unreasonably troublesome and beyond reason! In the past, I had thought that Xiao Li was just young, willful, and arrogant, that she had a seriously corrupt disposition, and that her tearful self-reflection made it seem like she could accept the truth and change with more loving fellowship and help. But through the exposure of God’s words, I realized that Xiao Li was unreasonably troublesome, had a vicious disposition, and that she did not accept the truth and was averse to the truth. This wasn’t just ordinary corruption. Although she hadn’t committed any great evil yet, such a person was like a ticking time bomb that could go off anytime, and keeping her in the team would only delay work and disturb church life. She had to be exposed and dismissed quickly. It’s exactly as what God exposes about such unreasonably troublesome people: “Although these people may not commit acts of major evil, they do not accept the truth one bit. Looking at their nature essence, not only do they lack conscience and reason, but they are also unreasonable, willfully troublesome, and impervious to reason. Can such people achieve God’s salvation? Absolutely not! Those who do not accept the truth at all are disbelievers, they are servants of Satan. … Cleansing those who are unreasonable, willfully troublesome, and impervious to reason away from the church is absolutely correct. It fundamentally cuts off their harassment toward the church and God’s chosen people. This is the responsibility of leaders and workers” (The Word, Vol. 5. The Responsibilities of Leaders and Workers. The Responsibilities of Leaders and Workers (26)). If Xiao Li still didn’t repent and continued to be disruptive after her dismissal, she should be cleared out from the church. I didn’t discern people’s essence according to God’s words but viewed them according to my notions and imaginings. I had been so muddle-headed!

Later, I thought to myself, “Apart from being unable to discern people’s essence according to the truth in handling Xiao Li, I was also unable to discern what it means to open up and lay oneself bare in a normal way, and what constitutes using one’s fellowship as a pretext to show off while attacking others. I was completely misled by Xiao Li’s display of tears and self-knowledge.” I then read God’s words regarding this issue: “When evil people fellowship about problems and dissect them, they always have an intent and a purpose, and it’s always aimed at somebody. They are not dissecting or knowing themselves, nor opening up and laying themselves bare to resolve their own problems—rather, they are seizing the opportunity to expose, dissect, and attack others. They often take advantage of fellowshipping their self-knowledge to dissect and condemn others, and by means of fellowshipping God’s words and the truth, they expose, belittle, and vilify people. … Why, when fellowshipping on the truth, do these evil people not expose or dissect themselves, and always target and expose others instead? Could it really be that they do not reveal corruption, or that they do not have corrupt dispositions? Certainly not. Why, then, do they insist on targeting others for exposure and dissection? What are they trying to achieve, exactly? This question calls for deep thought. One is doing as they should if they expose the evil deeds of evil people that disturb the church. But instead these people are exposing and tormenting good people, under the pretext of fellowshipping about the truth. What is their intent and purpose? Are they furious because they see that God saves good people? That is what it really is. God does not save evil people, so evil people hate God and good people—this is all quite natural. Evil people do not accept or pursue the truth; they cannot be saved themselves, yet they torment those good people who pursue the truth and can be saved. What is the problem here? If these people had knowledge of themselves and the truth, they could open up and fellowship, yet they are always targeting and provoking others—they always have a tendency to attack others—and they are always setting up those who pursue the truth as their imagined enemies. These are the hallmarks of evil people. Those capable of such evil are the authentic devils and Satans, quintessential antichrists, who should be restricted, and if they do a great deal of evil, they must be handled promptly—expel them from the church. All those who strike at and exclude good people are rotten apples. Why do I call them rotten apples? Because they are likely to provoke unnecessary disputes and conflict in the church, causing the state of affairs there to grow graver and graver. They target one person one day and another the next, and they are always taking aim at others, at those who love and pursue the truth. This is liable to disturb church life and have repercussions on the normal eating and drinking of God’s words by God’s chosen people, as well as on their normal fellowshipping on the truth” (The Word, Vol. 5. The Responsibilities of Leaders and Workers. The Responsibilities of Leaders and Workers (15)). “To live out normal humanity, how should one open up and lay themselves bare? By opening up about the revelations of their corrupt disposition, allowing others to see through to the reality of their heart, and then, based on God’s words, dissecting and knowing the essence of the problem, and hating and detesting themselves from the bottom of their heart. When they lay themselves bare, they should not attempt to justify themselves or try to explain them away, but instead, they should simply practice the truth and be an honest person” (The Word, Vol. 3. The Discourses of Christ of the Last Days. On Harmonious Cooperation). Reflecting on God’s words, I understood that normally opening up and laying oneself bare means that, through the exposure of God’s words, one has a genuine understanding of their own corruption and the essence of their issues, is able to dissect their corrupt disposition, and others can feel in their words their hatred of themselves. Such fellowship helps people understand the truth and benefits them. But some people use the pretext of opening up and fellowshipping in gatherings but have no genuine understanding of themselves, and instead they expose others’ problems, distort facts, and attack others, causing disputes, making relationships complex and tense, making people unable to get along normally, and disturbing church life. Such people are bad apples. I thought back on Xiao Li’s behavior in the gathering. She appeared to know her own poor humanity and hotheadedness, but she didn’t dissect her corruption, didn’t reflect on the issues pointed out by the sisters at all, and had no genuine understanding of her arrogant and vicious disposition. Instead, she said her outbursts of hotheadedness had been caused by others excluding and isolating her. Her fellowship had a tendency to induce others, trying to make others see that she wasn’t the only one that had corruption but that the sisters also had problems, misleading others into thinking that Luo Lan and Li Mei were ganging up to exclude and isolate her, portraying herself as the victim. In fact, Luo Lan and Li Mei had not excluded her at all, rather, they were looking out for her. Even their pruning and pointing out her issues were to help her know herself. But Xiao Li did not understand at all, and in order to protect her reputation and status, she distorted facts, attacked others, and stirred up trouble, causing the sisters to be disturbed and unable to focus on their duties. Before, I hadn’t discerned Xiao Li’s means of attacking others or her wicked disposition. When I saw her cry and come to know herself and express willingness to repent, I thought she could accept the truth and that I should rely on love to fellowship with her and help her. Only then did I see that my perspective was not in line with the truth.

I read another passage of God’s word exposing antichrists, which gave me some discernment on false self-knowledge. God says: “If such individuals commit a wrongdoing, then shed tears after being pruned and criticized by the brothers and sisters, claiming on the surface to be indebted to God, and promising future repentance, do you dare believe them? (No.) Why not? The most compelling evidence is that they habitually lie! Even if they outwardly repent, weep bitterly, beat their chests, and swear, do not believe them, because they are shedding crocodile tears, tears to trick people. The sad and remorseful words they utter are not heartfelt; they are expedient tactics designed to gain people’s trust through fraudulent means. In front of people, they weep bitterly, admit fault, swear, and make their position known. However, those who have a good relationship with them in private, those whom they relatively trust, report a different story. While publicly admitting fault and swearing to change their ways may seem genuine on the surface, what they say behind the scenes proves that what they said before was not true but false, designed to pull the wool over more people’s eyes. What will they say behind the scenes? Will they acknowledge that what they said before was false? No, they won’t. They will spread negativity, present arguments, and justify themselves. This justification and arguing confirms that their admissions, repentance, and oaths were all false, meant to trick people. Can such individuals be trusted? Isn’t this habitual lying? They can even fabricate confessions, falsely shed tears and pledge to change their ways, and even their swearing is a lie. Isn’t this a demonic nature?” (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 genuine repentance is not merely about making a show of crying and talking about knowing oneself, but about being able to dissect and understand one’s own corrupt disposition, having a real hatred of oneself and rejecting one’s evil ways, and afterward having testimony of practicing the truth. Although Xiao Li cried and said that she valued reputation and status, and that she was an evil person, when faced with issues, she still erupted in hotheadedness and fixated on people and things finding various twisted arguments to justify herself, showing no genuine repentance. Her understanding was false and made under duress. She was afraid that the brothers and sisters would discern her as an evil person and that she would be cleared out from the church, losing her chance at salvation, leaving her no choice but to cry and know herself before the brothers and sisters in an attempt to gain their sympathy. Her knowledge was hypocritical, misleading, and deceptive.

Later, I read more of God’s words: “How should someone who pursues the truth view people? Their views on people and things, and their comportment and actions, must all be according to God’s words, with the truth as their criterion. So, how do you regard each and every person according to God’s words? Look at whether they are possessed of a conscience and reason, at whether they’re a good person or an evil one. In your contact with them, you may see that though they have their share of little defects and deficiencies, they are quite good in their humanity. They are tolerant and patient in their interactions with people, and when someone is negative and weak, they are loving to them and can provide for them and help them. That is their attitude toward others. What, then, is their attitude toward God? In their attitude toward God, it is even more measurable whether they have humanity. It may be that with all God does, they are submissive, and seeking, and longing, and in the course of performing their duty and interacting with others—when they take action—they have a God-fearing heart. It’s not that they’re daredevils, acting outrageously, and it’s not that they’d do anything and say anything. When something happens that involves God or His work, they’re very cautious. Once you’ve ascertained that they have these displays, how, based on the things that pour forth from their humanity, are you to measure whether that person is good or bad? Measure that based on God’s words, and measure it based on whether they have a conscience and reason, and on their attitude toward the truth and toward God” (The Word, Vol. 6. On the Pursuit of the Truth. What It Means to Pursue the Truth (3)). I saw that the way God measures whether a person is good or evil is mainly based on the person’s humanity and their attitude toward the truth, whether their humanity is kind, whether they can be tolerant and patient when others’ words or actions affect them, whether they are submissive to and fearful of God, and whether they can seek God’s intentions and truth principles when facing issues. It’s not about how much they appear to know themselves in their speech, but rather how they actually live out their life. But I didn’t judge people or situations based on God’s words, and mistakenly believed that if someone cried and appeared to know themselves, then they could accept the truth and had genuine repentance. I treated unreasonably troublesome evil people as true brothers and sisters, and wanted to rely on love to help and support them. I was truly blind and utterly muddled! I thought that the lack of harmonious cooperation between people was caused by both parties not knowing themselves and fixating on people and things, and that just knowing and reflecting on one’s own problems would resolve this. These were just my own notions and imaginings. If the other party is an evil person or a disbeliever, then such people do not accept the truth at all and will not know themselves, so how can there be harmonious cooperation with such people? Having both sides reflect on and know themselves is just glossing over the issue, and can only make things worse, cause disturbance to church life, and harm the lives of the brothers and sisters. Realizing this, I quickly reported Xiao Li’s consistent behavior to the leaders, and the leaders subsequently agreed that according to the principles, she needed to be exposed and dismissed. After Xiao Li was dismissed, the team’s church life returned to normal, and the brothers and sisters were able to focus on their duties, resulting in some improvement in the efficiency and effectiveness of their work. After this experience, I truly realized that judging people and situations according to God’s words is the only path to practice!