By Steven, USA

I’d been quite busy doing my duty, and I hadn’t encountered any pruning and disciplining for quite a long time. Every day, aside from my regular spiritual devotionals, eating and drinking God’s words, and listening to hymns, I had just been doing my duty. At the end of the day, I hadn’t learned any lessons, and neither did I know how to learn lessons. I passed each day like this, in a muddle, and felt empty inside. After some time, I felt that my life hadn’t grown at all, and hadn’t entered the truth in any aspect; everything remained at the level of words and doctrines only, and I was very troubled about this. One day, I read God’s words: “On what basis is the hope of salvation established? It is established on the basis of your ability to strive toward the truth, ponder on the truth, and put effort into the truth when each matter occurs. Only on this basis can you understand the truth and practice the truth so that you attain salvation. However, if you are always a bystander when matters occur—not giving any assessments or characterizations, and not expressing any personal opinions—and you have no views on anything, or, even if you do have views, you do not express them, and you do not know whether they are right or wrong, but just keep them under lock and key in your mind and think about them, then you will end up still not having obtained the truth. Think about it, this is like sitting at a great feast while suffering from a great famine. Are you not pitiful? In God’s work, if you have believed for ten years but have been a bystander for all of that time, or you have believed for 20 or 30 years and been a bystander for all of that time, then in the end, when it’s time to determine your outcome, the score God assigns to your record will be two points, and so you will be a two-bit fool, and your chance to obtain the truth and your hope of being saved will have been completely ruined by yourself. In the very end, you will be labeled as a two-bit fool, and it will serve you right, won’t it? (Yes.) What’s the secret to not being a two-bit fool? (The secret is to not be a bystander.) Don’t be a bystander. You believe in God, so then you must experience God’s work in order to gain the truth. Some may ask, ‘So, You want me to involve myself in everything? But people say, “Do not comment on what is not your concern.”’ Asking you to involve yourself means asking you to seek the truth and learn lessons from the things you encounter. For example, when you encounter a certain type of person, you must gain discernment through their manifestations and the things they do. If they violate the truth, you must discern what it is they did that violates the truth. If others say that a person is an evil person, you must discern what it is they said and did and what manifestations of evildoing they have for them to be characterized as an evil person. If others say that this person doesn’t defend the interests of God’s house and helps outsiders at its expense, then you should find out what it is this person has been doing. But after finding out, it’s not enough just to know these things. You also have to ponder: ‘Could I do such things? If no one reminded me, I might do the same things too, and would I not then have the same outcome as that person? Isn’t this dangerous? Fortunately, God laid out this environment to give me a heads-up, which is the greatest protection for me!’ After pondering on it, you realize one thing: You cannot follow the path which that type of person is following, you cannot be that type of person, you must admonish yourself. No matter what things you encounter, you must learn lessons from them. If there are things you don’t fully understand and that you feel in your heart are odd, you should ask questions about them and find out about them, and ascertain the true state of affairs by seeking the truth. This is not curiosity; it is being earnest. Being earnest doesn’t mean going through the motions or following the herd—it is an attitude of taking responsibility, it means getting clear on problems and then seeking the truth to resolve them, and thus having a path of practice, the ability to practice accurately, and a feeling of being at peace and at ease when faced with the same kind of situation again. You are being earnest based on the principle of trying to understand the facts and the true state of affairs and from them gain the truth and learn how to view people and things, rather than following other people and going with the flow in all matters. Only by being earnest in your actions can you come to practice the truth and handle things based on the principles. Those who aren’t earnest are liable to follow other people and go with the flow, and in this way they are likely to violate the truth principles” (The Word, Vol. 6. On the Pursuit of the Truth II. How to Pursue the Truth (2)). God’s words pointed out to people the path for pursuing the truth, which is to learn lessons from the people, events, and things that we encounter daily. Whether it’s something we see, hear, or experience personally, we should seek the truth in it. Especially when we see someone disturbing and disrupting the church’s work, we cannot just listen out of curiosity and leave it at that. Instead, we should actively understand the specific behavior of that person, seek the truth to gain discernment, and learn lessons from it, pondering on how we can avoid making the same mistakes ourselves and not disturb and disrupt the church’s work. Only in this way can we understand the truth and learn lessons. I thought about how God expresses so many truths and arranges various people, events, things, and environments for us to train at entering the truth reality. For example, the appearance of evil people, false leaders, and antichrists in the church serves to train us in viewing people and events according to God’s words. But I hadn’t been earnest about the people, events, and things around me. Whatever had happened, I just listened and then let it pass. Every day, I had always attended to matters superficially, and my life hadn’t grown. If I continued like this, my life would suffer a great loss. Pondering on this, I felt more brightened inside, and I wanted from then on to start practicing the truth according to God’s words.

Unexpectedly, on the same day, I saw that Sister Winnie suddenly left all the work groups. I thought to myself, was she dismissed? Thinking about what God fellowshipped, I realized that God wanted us to be curious about the things happening around us in daily life, get involved, seek the truth, and learn lessons from them, instead of just being bystanders. So, I asked some brothers and sisters about the reason for her dismissal. I learned that she was arrogant and liked to lecture others. Ever since she took on the role as the supervisor, whenever she saw that the effectiveness of the brothers’ and sisters’ duties was declining, she would lecture them without distinguishing right from wrong. Some brothers and sisters were afraid whenever she wanted to follow up on their work, and they complained about her a lot. When the brothers and sisters offered suggestions, she wouldn’t accept and would harshly scold them instead. Everyone felt constrained by her and reported her behavior one after another. Moreover, her duty bore no fruit, so the church dismissed her according to the principles. I was surprised to hear about her performance. I didn’t expect her to be so arrogant that she could lecture people arbitrarily, constrain them, and directly affect the gospel work of the church. Her being dismissed was God’s righteousness. Also, it was done to protect the work of the church and the interests of the brothers and sisters. Next, I reflected on myself. Did I have the same problem of lecturing others as Winnie did? I recalled the experience from two years ago. At that time, I was practicing doing my duty as a leader. When the brothers and sisters had difficulties or were in bad states, they would come to me for fellowship, and I would share my experiences according to their states. This helped the brothers and sisters to some extent. Sister Rita who collaborated with me often asked me for advice when she encountered problems she couldn’t understand. I started to feel that I had some truth realities and that my ability to view people and things was better than others. For a period of time, Susanne and Tiffany did not cooperate harmoniously. Susanne frequently reported problems Tiffany had, and Tiffany often said something bad about Susanne as well. I thought both of them had issues and were not seeking the truth or reflecting on themselves. Once, Susanne again reported that Tiffany was not following the principles in her duty. Without understanding the actual situation, I assumed that Susanne was just being nitpicky again, and I lectured her harshly, “Why don’t you reflect on yourself? You always focus on others, hold onto their mistakes and do not let go. You two are constantly blaming each other. Aren’t those just verbal spats? This is disrupting and disturbing the church life!” Later, I found out that Susanne’s complaint was valid, but after my “pruning,” she was too afraid to report any of Tiffany’s violations of the principles. Eventually, Tiffany acted against the principles and caused significant losses to the work of the church. Seeing that my unprincipled pruning only brought harm to others and caused disturbances, I realized that Winnie’s being dismissed was also a warning and reminder for me. I knew that my corrupt disposition in this aspect was also severe, so I prayed in my heart, asking God to guide me to understand the truth and know myself better, so that I wouldn’t cause any more harm to the brothers and sisters.

One day, I noticed that Sister Lorna hadn’t created many designs, and I thought to myself that her efficiency in designing had been low for some time. I had given her some good methods and ways before, but her efficiency still hadn’t improved much. I felt that she was just doing her duty without any burden, not striving to improve. As I thought of this, I began to feel a surge of anger and wanted to confront her about her issues. However, just as I was about to criticize her, I remembered that Winnie liked to reprimand people casually, causing them to feel constrained while doing their duties. I thought to myself, “What if Lorna is not being negligent in her duty but has other difficulties? Wouldn’t she be constrained if I blamed her without understanding what was going on? I should ask about her duty first.” It was then that I found out Lorna really wanted to do her duty well, but due to her lower caliber and lack of grasping of the principles, she often got stuck on some details. She hadn’t been able to apply the methods I had taught her flexibly, and it led to her low efficiency. I then provided her with some actual guidance based on her difficulties. Later, her efficiency improved to a certain level. Afterward, I thought to myself, “Fortunately, I didn’t start by scolding Lorna, or I would have hurt her.” So, I sought the truth and reflected on the issues within myself.

During my spiritual devotional, I read God’s words: “Can you make people understand the truth and enter into reality if you only preach words and doctrines to lecture and prune them? If what you fellowship about is not practical, if it is nothing but words and doctrines, then no matter how much you prune and lecture them, it will be to no avail. Do you think people being afraid of you, and doing what you tell them to, and not daring to object, is the same as them understanding the truth and being submissive? This is a major mistake; life entry is not so simple. Some leaders are like a new manager trying to make a strong impression, they try to impose their new-found authority on God’s chosen ones so that everyone submits to them, thinking that this will make their job easier. If you lack the truth reality, then before long your true stature will be revealed, your true colors will be exposed, and you could well be eliminated. In some administrative work, a little pruning and discipline is acceptable. But if you are incapable of fellowshipping the truth, in the end, you will still be unable to solve problems, and it will affect the results of the work. If, no matter what issues appear in the church, you keep lecturing people and casting blame—if all you ever do is acting in a bad-tempered manner—then this is your corrupt disposition revealing itself, and you have shown the ugly face of your corruption. If you always stand on a pedestal and lecture people like this, then as time goes on, people will be unable to receive the provision of life from you, they will not gain anything practical, and instead will detest you and be disgusted by you. In addition, there will be some people who, having been influenced by you due to a lack of discernment, will likewise lecture others and prune them. They will likewise get angry and lose their tempers. Not only will you be unable to solve people’s problems—you will also be fostering their corrupt dispositions. And is that not leading them onto the path toward perdition? Is that not an act of evil? A leader should lead primarily by fellowshipping about the truth and providing life. If you always stand on a pedestal and lecture others, will they be able to understand the truth? If you work in this way for a while, when people come to see you clearly for what you are, they are going to desert you. Can you bring people before God by working in this way? You certainly cannot; all you can do is foul up the work of the church and cause all God’s chosen people to loathe you and desert you” (The Word, Vol. 3. The Discourses of Christ of the Last Days. Part Three). From God’s words, I understood that in doing our work, we cannot simply prune and lecture people indiscriminately; we must consider the actual background and the real situation. If the matter involves disrupting and disturbing the church’s work or harming the interests of God’s house, then the person can be pruned or dismissed and reassigned. However, if a brother or sister does not understand the truth principles, leading to some deviations and problems in doing their duties, or their corrupt disposition leads to the results of them doing their duties being poor, then we must fellowship the truth more and provide instruction and help, allowing them to see their issues and have a path of practice. If we always get angry and lecture people regardless of the situation or background, not only will this fail to solve their actual problems and difficulties, but it will also constrain them and negatively affect the work. For example, when I saw that Lorna’s efficiency in doing her duty hadn’t improved and that she hadn’t made much progress for a while, I’d assumed she wasn’t putting her heart into it, and I had inwardly revealed hotheadedness and wanted to teach her a lesson. But in fact, she too wanted to do her duty well; it was just that she had a lower level of caliber and didn’t fully grasp the principles, which led to her low efficiency in doing it. What she needed was more help from me. If I pruned and lectured people without considering the background, or each person’s caliber and stature, not only would I fail to help them, but I might constrain them, causing them to become negative and depressed and unable to do their duty properly. Wouldn’t this be disruptive? Over time, the brothers and sisters would likely discern me and reject me. This reminded me of Winnie. Whenever she saw the brothers and sisters were doing things that weren’t in line with her wishes or made slight mistakes in their work, she would assert her status and lecture them, causing them to feel constrained, so the brothers and sisters were afraid whenever they heard that she was coming to check on their work. Because of her arbitrary pruning, she seriously disrupted and disturbed the gospel work, leading to widespread complaints and numerous reports against her. Eventually, she was dismissed by the church based on principle. This showed that not acting according to the truth and lecturing people according to one’s own will could lead to very serious consequences.

I pondered again: Why did I have a tendency to lecture others indiscriminately? What was the root cause behind this? So, I looked for related words of God and came across this passage: “Arrogance is the root of man’s corrupt disposition. The more arrogant people are, the more unreasonable they are, and the more unreasonable they are, the more liable they are to resist God. How serious is this problem? Not only do people with an arrogant disposition consider everyone else beneath them, but, worst of all, they are even condescending toward God, and they have no God-fearing hearts. Even though people might appear to believe in God and follow Him, they do not treat Him as God at all. They always feel that they possess the truth and think the world of themselves. This is the essence and root of the arrogant disposition, and it comes from Satan. Therefore, the problem of arrogance must be resolved. Feeling that one is better than others—that is a trivial matter. The critical issue is that one’s arrogant disposition prevents one from submitting to God, His sovereignty, and His arrangements; such a person always feels inclined to compete with God for power and control others. This sort of person does not have a God-fearing heart in the slightest, to say nothing of loving God or submitting to Him. People who are arrogant and conceited, especially those who are so arrogant as to have lost their reason, cannot submit to God in their belief in Him, and even exalt and bear testimony for themselves. Such people resist God the most and have absolutely no God-fearing hearts. If people wish to get to where they have God-fearing hearts, then they must first resolve their arrogant disposition. The more thoroughly you resolve your arrogant disposition, the more you will have a God-fearing heart, and only then can you submit to Him and obtain the truth and know Him. Only those who gain the truth are genuinely human” (The Word, Vol. 3. The Discourses of Christ of the Last Days. Part Three). After reading God’s words, I realized that my tendency to lecture people indiscriminately stemmed from my arrogant and conceited disposition. This arrogance and conceit meant that I failed to rationally dissect the nature of situations I encountered, didn’t really understand the background of issues, and viewed people and events based on my own experiences and imaginings, overly trusting my own judgment, indiscriminately passing verdicts on people and lecturing them. Reflecting on when doing the duty as a leader, I saw that because I was able to fellowship the truth and solve some problems, and the sisters I collaborated with often came to me to seek and discuss issues they couldn’t see through, I began to feel that my ability to view people and things was better than others. Thus, I took this as capital and started getting arrogant. For example, when Susanne had reported that there were issues with Tiffany’s performance of her duty, under normal circumstances, I should have first understood and verified the situation and then fellowshipped to address it according to the actual circumstances. However, I had judged the situation subjectively. Seeing that the two of them usually didn’t cooperate harmoniously and didn’t know how to reflect on themselves when matters arose, I had concluded that Susanne’s report about Tiffany must have been prompted by hotheadedness, and that she was just nitpicking, and I had reprimanded Susanne without remotely trying to determine who was in the right and who was in the wrong. As a result, Susanne became constrained, and when she later noticed that Tiffany was violating the principles in doing her duty, she hadn’t dared to report it, leading to losses for the church’s interests. Similarly, with Lorna’s issue, I had also dissected it based on my experience, thinking that since I had already guided her and she hadn’t made progress, it must be that she wasn’t putting her heart into her duty. My arrogant disposition had almost led me to scold her, which would have caused her to be constrained and anguished. This made me realize that my arrogant disposition was too severe. I was treating people based on my own imaginings, taking my standards of measurement as the truth principles—my arrogance was truly unreasonable! Whenever I next encounter issues in the future, I must approach them with a God-fearing heart, first coming before God to seek more, and thoroughly understanding the issues of the brothers and sisters. I cannot blindly jump to conclusions or indiscriminately reprimand people based on my arrogant disposition, as this has a tendency not only to harm the brothers and sisters, but also to disrupt and disturb the church’s work and offend God’s disposition. After that, I then sought the truth to resolve this aspect of my corrupt disposition.

In my seeking, I read God’s words: “God’s chosen people should, at the very least, possess conscience and reason, and interact, associate, and work together with others according to the principles and standards that God requires of people. This is the best approach. This is able to satisfy God. So, what are the truth principles required by God? That people be understanding of others when they are weak and negative, being considerate of their pain and difficulties, and then inquire about these things, offer help and support, and read them God’s words to help them solve their problems, enabling them to understand God’s intentions and stop being weak, and bringing them before God. Isn’t this way of practicing in line with the principles? Practicing in this way is in line with the truth principles. Naturally, relationships of this kind are even more so in line with the truth principles. When people are deliberately causing disturbances and disruptions, or deliberately doing their duty in a perfunctory way, if you see this and are able to point these things out to them, reprimand them, and help them according to the principles, then this is in line with the truth principles. If you turn a blind eye, or condone their behavior and cover for them, and even go so far as to say nice things to praise and applaud them, these ways of interacting with people, dealing with issues, and handling problems, are clearly at odds with the truth principles, and have no basis in the words of God. So, these ways of interacting with people and dealing with issues are clearly improper, and this really is not easy to discover if they are not dissected and discerned according to God’s words” (The Word, Vol. 5. The Responsibilities of Leaders and Workers. The Responsibilities of Leaders and Workers (14)). “How does God treat each and every person? Some people are of immature stature; or are young; or have believed in God for only a short time; or are not bad by nature essence, not malicious, but are just a bit ignorant or lacking in caliber. Or they are subject to too many constraints, and are yet to understand the truth, yet to have life entry, so it is difficult for them to keep from doing foolish things or committing ignorant acts. But God does not fixate on people’s passing foolishness; He looks only at their hearts. If they are resolved to pursue the truth, they are then correct, and when this is their objective, then God is observing them, waiting for them, and giving them time and opportunities that allow them to enter. It is not the case that God will write them off over a single transgression. That is something people often do; God never treats people like that. If God does not treat people in that way, then why do people treat others in that way? Does this not show their corrupt disposition? This is precisely their corrupt disposition. You have to look at how God treats ignorant and foolish people, how He treats those with immature stature, how He treats the normal revelations of humanity’s corrupt disposition, and how He treats those who are malicious. God treats different people in different ways, and He also has various ways of managing different people’s myriad conditions. You must understand these truths. Once you have understood these truths, you will then know how to experience matters and treat people according to principles” (The Word, Vol. 3. The Discourses of Christ of the Last Days. To Gain the Truth, One Must Learn From the People, Events, and Things Nearby). After reading God’s words, I came to realize that each person’s caliber and stature are different, and the backgrounds and environments they are in at different times also vary. So are their states and difficulties. Although they all have issues and deviations in doing duties, the nature of these problems is different. For some, who are just starting to practice doing a duty, they may struggle due to unfamiliarity with the professional skills, and in such cases, we should offer help and fellowship with love, guiding them to understand God’s intentions, so they can have the path to practice in doing their duties. For others, if they understand the truth but fail to put it into practice, consistently being perfunctory and disrupting and disturbing the church’s work, then they need pruning. If the nature is severe, it may be necessary to reassign or dismiss them according to the principles. In God’s house, there are principles for treating people; it depends on their backgrounds and cannot be generalized. However, when I treated the brothers and sisters, I often lacked principles, arbitrarily passing verdicts on and reprimanding them out of arrogant disposition, which was utterly unreasonable! Reflecting on Sister Susanne, although she became biased against Tiffany, I should have first verified whether her report about Tiffany violating principles in her duty was true or not. If I had handled the situation merely as nitpicking without understanding it, not only would this fail to help Susanne, but it would also bring her harm and constraint. Similarly, although Sister Lorna’s efficiency in doing her duty was low, I needed to understand whether this was due to her lack of caliber or because she was being perfunctory and indifferent in doing her duty. I must first gain a clear understanding and then handle it according to principles. Simply judging based on appearances and jumping to conclusions not only fails to help others but may also cause them to become even more negative and passive. Now that I understand some principles for treating people, I need to practice treating the brothers and sisters according to God’s words in the future.

Recently, although I haven’t encountered any pruning, reflecting on Winnie’s failure has made me realize my own tendency to reprimand others indiscriminately. I’ve realized that this is caused by being dominated by my arrogant disposition, and also learned the principles for treating brothers and sisters, having some gains. Now, I see that seeking the truth and learning lessons from daily situations are truly essential. I’ve come to realize that if we want to understand the truth and grow in life, we don’t necessarily have to wait for major pruning, trials, or refinements to gain something. The key is to start with the people, events, and things around us. Whether it’s what we see, hear, or personally experience, we should engage in them with a heart that seeks the truth. Then, we should seek the relevant words of God and learn to view people and things, comport ourselves, and act according to the truth. This way, our life can keep on growing.