By Zhou Zhou, China

I was born into a traditional Chinese family. Ever since I was young, my parents taught me to be a well-educated, sensible, and polite child, and to greet my elders respectfully when I saw them and not be discourteous, or else people would say I was ill-bred. After I started going to school, the teachers often told us that China has always been a country that emphasizes rituals and etiquette, and that people must have good manners in their interactions with others. I would often see moral stories such as the tale of Kong Rong giving up the larger pears in my textbooks, and these stories became deeply ingrained in my mind. I thought that a person ought to have proper etiquette and respect the old and care for the young; only then could they be a well-bred, good person. All along, I lived according to this traditional culture, showing respect and politeness to my elders and never offending them. Even if there was a time when I saw them do something wrong, I would never dare to point it out in front of their faces. After I began believing in God and doing my duty, in the church, I still lived by the traditional ideas of being well-educated and sensible, of respecting the old and caring for the young. Especially when it came to how I regarded the older brothers and sisters, I would never call out their names directly, always respectfully referring to them as “Mrs. So-and-so” or “Mr. So-and-so” so that people would think I was thoughtful and well-mannered. When I was partnered with some elderly brothers and sisters and saw that they had some problems in their duties, I didn’t dare to mention it to them. I thought to myself, “These brothers and sisters are all from my parents’ generation, and some of them are even old enough to be my grandfather or grandmother. If I point out their problems directly, won’t they say that I’m disrespectful and ill-bred?” Because of this, I hardly ever pointed out their problems. Even if I said something, I would have to search for the right words first and speak using a gentle tone so as not to hurt their pride. Because I always behaved in a refined, cultivated, and polite manner in front of the brothers and sisters, everyone thought I was mature and steady and that I had good humanity, and I thought that by doing this I was practicing the truth.

Later on, I took up the text-based duty in the church. One time, the leader said that the text-based work was short-staffed. She said that a brother named Wen Tao had done the text-based duty in the past and grasped some of the principles, so she wanted to arrange for him to come on board and asked me to fellowship with him. After I went to fellowship with Wen Tao, he was willing to cooperate, only saying that he was in poor health and couldn’t overwork himself. I told him that we could arrange his workload reasonably based on his health condition, and that way his health and energy would be well-maintained. He agreed to this. However, it had only been a couple days when the leader said that Wen Tao had written her a letter saying his health wasn’t good and that he wanted to spread the gospel instead of doing the text-based duty. The leader asked me to go fellowship with Wen Tao again. I thought to myself, “When he spreads the gospel, he usually has to run around a lot; wouldn’t he still have to suffer? Why is he willing to spread the gospel but not to do the text-based duty? Is he having some kind of difficulty? Or is it that he thinks doing the text-based duty won’t allow him to be in the limelight?” So I wanted to fellowship with him, but I was also worried about what he’d think of me if I brought this up to his face. Maybe he’d call me young and arrogant, saying, “You’re still new to believing in God yet you’re already pointing out my problems. You’re being discourteous and disrespectful!” Based on his age, Wen Tao could be considered my elder, and when I saw him, I would usually call him “Mr. Wen.” If I pointed out his problems to his face this time, wouldn’t that mean that I was poorly brought up and disrespectful? Thinking of this, I thought I ought to keep my mouth shut. The next day, when I met with Wen Tao, I just asked him some questions about his state, and whether he had any concerns about his duty, and then I fellowshipped with him based on my own experience. In the end, he agreed to continue doing the text-based duty.

Not long after, Wen Tao discussed his state during a gathering, and a sister pointed out his issues, saying, “Is there a difficulty that made you unwilling to do the text-based duty? Or was there a motive behind it? Was it because this duty is done away from the spotlight, or was it something else?” Thanks to this sister’s reminder, Wen Tao began to self-reflect, and he realized that his selectiveness about his duty was influenced by his desire for reputation and status. He thought spreading the gospel would put him in the spotlight, making brothers and sisters think highly of him wherever he went, whereas the text-based duty would not allow him to be in the limelight and nobody would know how much work he put in. Because of this, he wanted to spread the gospel, a duty that would place him in the spotlight. After this, Wen Tao ate and drank God’s words, reflecting on and trying to know himself, and he realized that in his pursuit of reputation and status, he was walking the path of Paul. He reversed the mistaken view with which he regarded his duties and wrote an experiential testimony article. Hearing about this, I reflected, thinking, “I also knew that there was a reason behind Wen Tao’s unwillingness to do the text-based duty, so why was I so slow to react and unwilling to point out his problems? What exactly is controlling me here?” Then, I read God’s words: “In the church, if someone is older or has believed in God for many years, you always want to give them face. You let them finish speaking, not interrupt them even if they are speaking nonsense, and even when they do something wrong and need to be pruned, you still try to save their face and avoid criticizing them in front of others, thinking that regardless of how unreasonable or terrible their actions may be, everyone still needs to forgive and tolerate them. You also often teach others: ‘We should give the elderly some face and not harm their dignity. We are their juniors.’ Where does this term ‘juniors’ come from? (Traditional culture.) It’s derived from traditional cultural thought. Additionally, a certain atmosphere has formed in the church whereby people, upon meeting older brothers and sisters, warmly refer to them as ‘Big Brother,’ ‘Big Sister,’ ‘Auntie,’ or ‘Older Brother,’ as if everyone is part of a big family; these older people are shown extra respect, which unconsciously leaves a good impression of the younger people in others’ minds. These elements of traditional culture are deeply rooted in the thoughts and bones of Chinese people, to the extent that they continuously spread and shape the atmosphere in church life. Because people are often restricted and controlled by these concepts, they not only personally endorse them, work hard to act and practice in this direction, but also approve of others doing the same, instructing them to follow along. Traditional culture is not the truth; this is certain. But is it enough for people to simply know it’s not the truth? That it is not the truth is one aspect; why should we dissect it? What is its root? Where does the essence of the problem lie? How can one let go of these things? Dissecting traditional culture is for the purpose of providing you with an all-new understanding of the theories, thoughts, and views of this aspect deep in your heart. How can this all-new understanding be achieved? First, you have to know that traditional culture originates from Satan. And how does Satan instill these elements of traditional culture into humans? Satan, in every era, uses some famous figures and great people to spread these thoughts, these so-called sayings and theories. Then, gradually, these ideas are systematized and concretized, coming ever closer to people’s lives, and eventually they become widespread among people; little by little these satanic thoughts, sayings, and theories are instilled into people’s minds. After being indoctrinated, people consider these thoughts and theories coming from Satan as the most positive things they should practice and adhere to. Satan then uses these things to imprison and control people’s minds. Generation after generation have been educated, conditioned, and controlled under such circumstances, all the way up until the present. All these generations have believed that traditional culture is right and good. Nobody dissects the origins or source of these so-called good and right things—this is what gives the problem its severity. Even some believers who have read the words of God for many years still think these are correct and positive things, to the extent that they believe these can replace the truth, can replace the words of God. Even more so, some think, ‘No matter how much of God’s words we read, living among people, the so-called traditional ideas and traditional elements of culture—like the Three Obediences and Four Virtues, as well as concepts like benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom, and trustworthiness—cannot be discarded. This is because they are passed down from our ancestors, who were sages. We can’t go against the teachings of our ancestors just because we believe in God, and we can’t alter or abandon the teachings of our ancestors and those ancient sages.’ Such thoughts and awareness exist in all people’s hearts. Unconsciously, they are all still controlled and bound by these elements of traditional culture. For example, when a child sees you’re in your twenties and calls you ‘uncle,’ you feel pleased and satisfied. If they directly call you by your name, you feel uncomfortable, thinking the child is impolite and should be upbraided, and your attitude changes. In actuality, whether they call you uncle or by your name, it doesn’t have any bearing on your integrity at all. So why are you unhappy when they don’t call you uncle? It’s because you are dominated and influenced by traditional culture; it has preemptively taken root in your mind and become your most basic standard for treating people, events, and things, and for evaluating and judging all things. When your standard is wrong, can the nature of your actions be correct? It most definitely cannot” (The Word, Vol. 4. Exposing Antichrists. Item Six). God’s words exposed my exact state. I’d been deeply influenced by traditional culture and ideas like respecting the old and caring for the young and being refined and cultivated. From a young age, my education at home and at school made me believe that only if I was well-mannered, well-educated, and sensible could I be considered a good person, and that those who addressed elders inappropriately and were disrespectful to them were ill-bred and unworthy of people’s respect. Whether I was interacting with nonbelievers or doing my duty in God’s house, I was always living by these traditional ideas, regarding them as laws for conducting myself and believing that acting this way meant I was practicing the truth. When interacting with brothers and sisters who were older than me, to give them a positive image of me as someone who was well-mannered, I would never call them by their names directly, instead respectfully referring to them as “Mr.” or “Mrs.” At times when I noticed some of their corrupt revelations, I should have been an honest person and brought this up with them to help them seek the truth to resolve it, but to avoid shattering the positive image of me that the brothers and sisters held in their hearts, I never dared to point those things out to them directly. I thought that doing this would show that I was poorly brought up and had no manners, and even if I said anything, I would beat around the bush and broach the topic tactfully, which was entirely ineffective. Just like last time, when I had fellowshipped with Wen Tao about this matter regarding his duties, I’d clearly seen his problem of rejecting his duty and should have pointed it out to him and helped him self-reflect and learn lessons, but to prevent him from thinking I was disrespectful and poorly raised, I refrained from bringing it up with him directly, only touching on it lightly by speaking of some words and doctrines and thinking that was enough to resolve the problem. In reality, it wasn’t helpful to him in the slightest; I was harming him by doing this! I finally saw clearly that respecting the old and caring for the young is not the truth and is not a principle of self-conduct, nor is it a basis for judging a person’s humanity.

After this, I read more of God’s words: “In what does God have man base his measurements of others? According to what does He have man view people and things? (His words.) He has man view people according to His words. Specifically, this means measuring whether a person has humanity according to His words. That’s part of it. Beyond that, it’s based in whether that person loves the truth, whether they have a God-fearing heart, and whether they can submit to the truth. Are these not the specifics of it? (They are.) So, in what does man base his measurements of another’s goodness? In whether they are cultivated and well regulated, in whether they smack their lips or tend to rummage around for morsels when they eat, in whether they wait for their elders to sit before seating themselves at meals. They use such things to measure others. Is using these things not using the standard for behavior as being well-educated and sensible? (It is.) Are such measurements accurate? Do they align with the truth? (They don’t.) It’s quite clear that they don’t align with the truth. What, then, ultimately comes of such measuring? The measurer believes that anyone who is well-educated and sensible is a good person, and if you have them fellowship about the truth, they’ll always be inculcating people with those domestic rules and teachings, and good behaviors. And what ultimately comes of their inculcating these things in people is that they will lead people into good behaviors, but those people’s corrupt essence will not change at all. This way of doing things is a far departure from the truth and God’s words. Such people are merely possessed of a few good behaviors. So, can the corrupt dispositions inside them be changed because of good behavior? Can they achieve submission and loyalty to God? Not by a long shot. Whom have these people turned into? Pharisees, who have only outward good behavior but fundamentally do not understand the truth, and who cannot submit to God. Is that not so? (It is.) Look at the Pharisees—by appearances, were they not impeccable? They kept the Sabbath; on the Sabbath, they did nothing. They were courteous in speech, quite well regulated and rule-abiding, quite cultivated, quite civilized and learned. Because they were good at disguise and did not fear God at all, but passed judgment on Him and condemned Him, they were cursed by Him in the end. God defined them as hypocritical Pharisees, who are all evildoers. Likewise, the sort of people who use the good behavior of being well-educated and sensible as the criterion for their comportment and action are evidently not people who pursue the truth. When they use this rule to measure others, and to comport themselves and act, they are, of course, not pursuing the truth; and when they make a judgment about someone or something, the standard and basis for that judgment do not align with the truth, but are in violation of it. The only thing they focus on is a person’s behavior, their ways, not their disposition and essence. Their basis is not God’s words, not the truth; instead, their measurements are based on this standard for behavior in traditional culture as being well-educated and sensible. The upshot of such measurement is that a person is good and in line with God’s intentions to them, so long as that person has such external good behaviors as being well-educated and sensible. When people adopt such classifications, they have obviously taken an opposing stance to the truth and God’s words. And the more use they make of this behavioral criterion to view people and things, and to comport themselves and act, what comes of it brings them all the further away from God’s words and the truth. Even then, they enjoy what they are doing and believe that they are pursuing the truth. In upholding a few of the good statements of traditional culture, they believe that they are upholding the truth and the true way. Yet however they adhere to those things, however they insist on them, they will ultimately not have any experience or appreciation of God’s words, the truth, nor will they submit to God in the least. Less still can this give rise to true fear of God. That is what happens when people uphold any and all such good behaviors as being well-educated and sensible. The more man focuses on good behavior, on living it out, on pursuing it, the further his remove from God’s words—and the further removed man is from the words of God, the less able he is to understand the truth. This is only to be expected” (The Word, Vol. 6. On the Pursuit of the Truth I. What It Means to Pursue the Truth (3)). On the surface, it seems that traditional culture helps us become well-educated, sensible, and noble people, but in reality, it teaches us how to disguise and package ourselves and how to use superficial false appearances to cheat people. Living according to this traditional culture, we can only show a temporary false appearance of good behavior and absolutely cannot resolve our corrupt dispositions. By living according to traditional culture, we can never live out true human likeness. As a believer in God, His requirement for us is: “To view people and things, and to comport oneself and act, wholly according to God’s words, with the truth as one’s criterion” (The Word, Vol. 6. On the Pursuit of the Truth I. What It Means to Pursue the Truth (2)). That is to say, people should speak and act with a God-fearing heart, protect the work of God’s house in their duties, purely open up and be an honest person when interacting with brothers and sisters, and help each other with life entry. This is the humanity and reason that people ought to possess. However, I didn’t conduct myself according to God’s demands, instead regarding the traditional culture that Satan instilled in us, such as being well-educated, sensible, refined, and cultivated, as truths to hold onto, using superficial good behavior to package myself. Especially when I was partnered with elderly brothers and sisters and clearly disliked them on the inside, I still pretended to be patient and loving toward them on the surface, using this to mislead people and make them see me in a good light. When I saw problems in the brothers and sisters’ duties, I didn’t point it out to them and help them, instead always considering their feelings and fearing that I’d hurt them by speaking up. I thought that acting like this meant I was respecting the brothers and sisters and exhibiting refinement, but in reality, I was just using this as a means to establish my good image as someone who was refined and cultivated. How could someone like me have any humanity? I was selfish and deceitful, no different than those hypocritical Pharisees who misled people. I was living according to this traditional culture and becoming increasingly disingenuous and deceitful, with no conscience or reason. I also came to understand that the practicing of the truth which God demands is not pretending to show good behavior on the surface, but rather being able to do everything according to the truth principles and no longer living by one’s corrupt disposition. Meanwhile, I mistakenly treated such traditional culture as respecting the old and caring for the young as the truth, thinking that I’d be practicing the truth as long as I held fast to these superficial good behaviors and pushing God’s words and demands to the back of my mind. Was I really a believer in God? No matter how well I stuck to these good behaviors, it wouldn’t mean I was practicing the truth, and it’d be impossible for me to receive God’s approval.

Later, I sought a path to practice from God’s words. I read God’s words: “What should the basis of people’s speech and actions be? God’s words. So, what are the requirements and standards God has for people’s speech and actions? (That they be constructive to people.) That is right. Most fundamentally, you must tell the truth, speak honestly, and benefit others. At the very least, your speech must edify people, and not trick, mislead, make fun of, satirize, deride, mock, constrict them, expose their weaknesses, or hurt them. This is the expression of normal humanity. It is humanity’s virtue. Has God told you how loudly to speak? Has He required that you use standard language? Has He required that you make use of flowery rhetoric or a lofty, refined linguistic style? (No.) There’s not a bit of any of those superficial, hypocritical, false, nugatory things. All God’s requirements are things of which normal humanity should be possessed, standards and principles for man’s language and behavior. It doesn’t matter where someone was born or what language they speak. In any case, the words you say—their verbiage and content—must be edifying to others. What does it mean, for them to be edifying? It means that others, having heard them, feel them to be true, and derive enrichment and help from them, and can understand the truth, and are no longer confused, nor susceptible to the misleading of others. So, God demands that people tell the truth, say what they think, and not trick, mislead, make fun of, satirize, deride, mock, or constrict others, or expose their weaknesses, or hurt them. Are these not the principles of speech? What does it mean to say one should not expose people’s weaknesses? It means not to get dirt on other people. Do not hold on to their past mistakes or shortcomings in order to judge or condemn them. This is the least you should do. On the proactive side, how is constructive speech expressed? It is mainly encouraging, orienting, guiding, exhorting, understanding, and comforting. Also, in some special instances, it becomes necessary to directly expose other people’s errors and prune them, so that they gain knowledge of the truth and desire to repent. Only then is the due effect achieved. This way of practicing is of great benefit to people. It is a real help to them, and it is constructive for them, is it not? … And what, in sum, is the principle behind speaking? It is this: Say what’s in your heart, and speak of your true experiences and what you really think. These words are the most beneficial to people, they provide for people, they help them, they are positive. Refuse to say those fake words, those words that do not benefit or edify people; this will avoid harming them or tripping them up, plunging them into negativity, and having a negative effect. You must say positive things. You must strive to help people as much as you can, to benefit them, to provide to them, to produce in them true faith in God; and you must allow people to be helped, and to gain much, from your experiences of God’s words and the way you solve problems, and to be able to understand the path of experiencing the work of God and entering the truth reality, allowing them to have life entry and making their life grow—which is all the effect of your words having principles, and being edifying to people” (The Word, Vol. 6. On the Pursuit of the Truth I. What It Means to Pursue the Truth (3)). From God’s words, I understood that the principles of interacting with people do not involve respecting the old and caring for the young and being well-mannered, as traditional culture taught us, nor do they relate to whether we speak in a soft, refined, and cultivated fashion. Rather, they involve looking at whether what we say is in line with the truth and whether or not it is edifying for the brothers and sisters. In God’s house, brothers and sisters are not separated according to status, nor are people arranged in order of seniority based on who is the oldest or who has believed in God the longest. Whether the brothers and sisters are old or young, everyone who believes in God and does their duties is of equal status. When people notice others’ problems, they can fellowship on the truth and help each other, also directly pointing out the problems when necessary and fellowshipping, giving pointers, and pruning based on God’s words. As long as one has right intentions and can benefit the brothers and sisters’ life entry instead of intentionally getting leverage on others and attacking them, then it’s even okay for them to speak in a sterner tone. People who pursue the truth will not develop prejudices toward me just because of how I speak and the tone I use, nor will they look down on me just because I am young. Rather, they will accept things from God, seek the truth, and try to understand their problems. There is no reason for me to have any worries or misgivings. The sister who pointed out Wen Tao’s problems was also quite young, and when she identified a problem, she was able to purely open up and speak about it, helping Wen Tao to understand himself. Wen Tao did not feel offended just because that sister was young, but rather accepted what she said with an open mind and also sought the truth, reflected on and tried to know himself, and experienced true gains. As for me, I continuously lived by traditional culture such as respecting the old and caring for the young. When I noticed Wen Tao’s problems, I was slow to react and didn’t dare to point them out, just saying a few cursory, insincere words to disguise myself and wanting him to have a good impression of me. My acting in this way was not edifying for Wen Tao, and it brought no benefits to the church’s work whatsoever. I also came to understand that only practicing according to God’s words is in line with His intentions and beneficial to the church’s work and the brothers and sisters’ lives. After that, when I noticed brothers and sisters reveal corruptions or do things that violated the principles in their duties, I would point it out to them and fellowship on God’s words to help them regardless of whether they were older than me. Although some brothers and sisters were unable to recognize their problems and accept my help at first, in time, by eating and drinking God’s words and seeking and reflecting, they were able to accept my suggestions and also learn some lessons from them.

There was also a period of time when I saw that the leader appeared to be quite busy every day but was really just doing things by the book and passing on instructions in her implementation of the work. She didn’t even think to resolve obvious problems in the church’s work, nor did she actually ask about the brothers’ and sisters’ states. If things went on like this, it’d be tough for the church’s work to achieve good results. I thought to myself, “I mentioned this problem to her indirectly before, but maybe she didn’t realize the severity of the issue. Perhaps I should mention it to her again.” But then, I thought of how this leader was the same age as my mother and was my elder, and how I’d been addressing her respectfully ever since I was young. If I accused her of not doing real work and behaving like a false leader, wouldn’t she think I was being disrespectful? Maybe it’d be better if I reported it to the upper-level leaders and had them fellowship with her instead. Upon having this idea, I thought of God’s words: “You must tell the truth, speak honestly, and benefit others. At the very least, your speech must edify people” (The Word, Vol. 6. On the Pursuit of the Truth I. What It Means to Pursue the Truth (3)). I suddenly realized that my view on this was wrong. I had clearly noticed that this leader had problems in her duty, and I ought to point them out to her to help her recognize her issues and promptly reverse course. Doing this would be beneficial to her and to the church’s work. However, I hesitated and didn’t dare to say it, still being controlled by traditional ideas such as respecting the old and caring for the young and living by Satan’s laws of survival. This sister was currently unaware of the problems she had, and she needed the brothers and sisters around her to point them out and help her with love. Since I’d noticed her problems, I ought to mention them to her. That was what fulfilling my responsibility looked like. After this, the next time I met with the leader, I found a passage of God’s words to fellowship on with her and pointed out that by only holding gatherings and not actually resolving problems, she was walking the path of a false leader. After reading God’s words, she acknowledged showing manifestations of being a false leader and reflected on how she considered the flesh and didn’t want to worry or pay a price, and she was willing to reverse course going forward. After this, she changed a bit, growing more detailed in her work and fellowshipping with and helping the brothers and sisters to resolve some problems. I thanked God in my heart!

Experiencing this, I saw that living according to Satan’s traditional culture might make us appear respectful and courteous on the surface and help us gain the respect of others, but in no way does it change our corrupt dispositions. Living by these things, one wears a mask and becomes increasingly hypocritical, acting insincerely toward people. Only by looking at people and things, conducting oneself, and acting according to God’s words and the truth principles can everything one does be beneficial for the church’s work and the lives of the brothers and sisters, and only then can one live out true human likeness.