By Abby, USA

I served as a gospel deacon in the church. Besides spreading the gospel myself, I also supervised and followed up on the duty performance of gospel workers. As for those who were apt to be perfunctory in their duties, I would keep a close eye on them. For example, I carefully understood their potential gospel recipients’ situations and the ways they fellowshipped and testified. Sometimes when I found that they were not responsible in their duties, I would prune them and expose their problems. However, for some brothers and sisters who had been generally diligent in their duties, I would only ask briefly whether they encountered any difficulties. I never considered whether they might fail to fulfill their responsibilities or slack off. I even thought, “If I follow up on their work too closely, will they think I don’t trust them? If they develop negative opinions of me, it will be awkward to get along with them.” Therefore, I seldom followed up on or supervised their work in detail.

One day, I received a message from the sister collaborating with me. She reported that Sonia was not responsible as a gospel spreader, retreating at the sight of difficulties, and causing delays in the work. I was surprised at this message, wondering, “Could there be a mistake? Sonia is usually quite diligent in her duties. How was it possible for her to have these problems?” Although I promised to look into it, I did not believe that such things had really happened. So, I only briefly asked Sonia about her situation of preaching the gospel. She told me that recently she had encountered some difficulties in preaching the gospel. Some of her potential gospel recipients had many religious notions, while others did not respond to her messages. At that time, I thought, “Should I check her work to see whether there are any issues?” But then I thought, “Sonia usually has a good attitude toward her duties. If I check her work thoroughly, will she feel I don’t trust her and cast doubt on her? If so, it will be so awkward when we see each other every day! If she develops a negative opinion of me, it will be hard to collaborate with her in the future. Besides, Sonia used to be a gospel deacon, so, she should know how to work to achieve results. She won’t be irresponsible and retreat at difficulties. Since she mentioned some reasons, she must indeed be facing difficulties.” So, I didn’t inquire into it further. A few days later, the sister collaborating with me again reported that Sonia was not responsible in preaching the gospel, not putting effort into fellowshipping and testifying to the potential gospel recipients. This time, I felt that something was off. Since the sister collaborating with me had continuously reported Sonia’s problems, I could no longer ignore it. So, I immediately had a talk with Sonia, asking for detailed situations about each potential gospel recipient. This check indeed exposed some problems. Some of her potential gospel recipients had attended two or three gatherings, but she knew nothing about their situations, and she was unaware of their problems and notions. For some potential gospel recipients, she just sent them some brief greeting messages, with no further follow-up and fellowship. She even gave up quite a few suitable potential gospel recipients. Seeing these issues, I was shocked. Sonia’s behavior was completely different from what she had impressed me. In my impression, she was diligent and responsible in her duties, so I had great trust in her when I followed up on her work, thinking she wouldn’t have any problems. Even when I noticed some issues with her, I didn’t take them seriously. I began to question myself: Why did I trust her so much? Why didn’t I follow up and understand her work in detail as I did with others? I felt deeply reproached. Although I had now discovered her problems, after all, it was too late to remedy the losses that had already been caused.

In reflection, I read a passage of God’s words: “False leaders have a fatal flaw: They are quick to trust people based on their own imaginings. And this is caused by not understanding the truth, is it not? How does God’s word reveal the essence of corrupt humankind? Why should they trust in people when God doesn’t? False leaders are too arrogant and self-righteous, are they not? What they think is, ‘I couldn’t have misjudged this person, there shouldn’t be any problems with this person that I’ve judged to be suitable; they are definitely not someone who indulges in eating, drinking and entertainment, or who likes comfort and hates hard work. They are absolutely dependable and trustworthy. They will not change; if they did, that would mean I was wrong about them, wouldn’t it?’ What kind of logic is this? Are they some kind of expert? Do they have x-ray vision? Do they have that special skill? You could live with a person for one or two years, but would you be able to see who they really are without a suitable environment to lay their nature essence utterly bare? If they were not revealed by God, you could live side-by-side with them for three, or even five, years, and would still struggle to see just what kind of nature essence they have. And how much more is that true when you rarely see them, are rarely with them? False leaders blithely trust a person based on a fleeting impression or someone else’s positive appraisal of them, and dare to entrust the work of the church to such a person. In this, are they not being extremely blind? Are they not acting recklessly? And when they work like this, are the false leaders not being extremely irresponsible?” (The Word, Vol. 5. The Responsibilities of Leaders and Workers. The Responsibilities of Leaders and Workers (3)). God exposes that false leaders are irresponsible in their work, and that they are arrogant and self-righteous, thinking that they can judge people accurately and so they blindly trust people, which leads to losses in the work. I had also been irresponsible regarding Sonia. I’d thought that because she had previously served as a gospel deacon and had received fairly good evaluations for her past duties, she probably wouldn’t cause any problems. I had felt reassured and let her do things without supervision, so I had just gone through the motions whenever I checked her work. When flaws had arisen in the work and the sister collaborating with me had reported Sonia’s problems, I still didn’t believe it, thinking that Sonia wasn’t that kind of person. I would just ask how things were going as a formality, and blindly trusted Sonia based on some excuses she came up with. It wasn’t until the sister collaborating with me reminded me a second time that I belatedly followed up on Sonia’s work. But by then, the damage had already been done. God requires supervisors to supervise and follow up on work. However, I had just blindly trusted people, without doing actual work. I had been truly irresponsible! This realization filled me with remorse and guilt.

Later, I continued to seek guidance—why hadn’t I supervised Sonia’s work? During devotionals, I read a passage of God’s words: “The phrase ‘Neither doubt those you employ nor employ those you doubt’ is one that most people have heard before. Do you believe this phrase to be correct or incorrect? (Incorrect.) Since you believe it to be incorrect, why is it still able to influence you in real life? When these sorts of matters befall you, this view will emerge. It will disturb you to some extent, and once it disturbs you, your work will be compromised. So, if you believe it to be incorrect and have determined that it is incorrect, then why are you still influenced by it and why do you still use it to comfort yourself? (Because people do not understand the truth, they fall short of practicing according to God’s words, so they will take Satan’s philosophy for worldly dealings as their principle or criterion for practicing.) This is one of the reasons. Are there others? (Because this phrase is relatively in line with people’s fleshly interests, and they will naturally act according to this phrase when they don’t understand the truth.) People are not only like this when they don’t understand the truth; even when they do understand the truth, they might not be able to practice according to the truth. It is correct that this phrase is ‘relatively in line with people’s fleshly interests.’ People would rather follow a cunning trick or a satanic philosophy for worldly dealings to protect their own fleshly interests than practice the truth. Besides, they have a basis for doing this. What is this basis? It is that this phrase is broadly accepted by the masses as being right. When they do things in accordance with this phrase, their actions can be valid in front of all others and they can be free from criticism. Whether viewed from a moral or legal perspective, or from the perspective of traditional notions, it is a view and practice that holds water. Thus, when you are unwilling to practice the truth or when you do not understand it, you would rather offend God, violate the truth, and retreat to a place that doesn’t cross a moral bottom line. And what is this place? It is the bottom line that you ‘neither doubt those you employ nor employ those you doubt.’ Retreating to this place and acting in accordance with this phrase will give you peace of mind. Why does it give you peace of mind? It is because everyone else also thinks this way. Moreover, your heart also harbors the notion that the law cannot be enforced when everyone is an offender, and you think, ‘Everyone thinks this way. If I practice according to this phrase, it won’t matter if God condemns me, since I cannot see God or touch the Holy Spirit anyway. At least in the eyes of others, I’ll be seen as a person with human traits, someone with a bit of conscience.’ You choose to betray the truth for the sake of these ‘human traits,’ for the sake of having people look upon you without hostility in their eyes. Everyone will then think good of you, you won’t be criticized, and you’ll live a comfortable life and have peace of mind—what you seek is peace of mind. Is this peace of mind a manifestation of a person’s love for the truth? (No, it is not.) So, what kind of disposition is this? Does it harbor deceitfulness? Yes, there is deceitfulness in it” (The Word, Vol. 4. Exposing Antichrists. Excursus One: What the Truth Is). Viewing myself in light of God’s words, I realized that my failure to supervise Sonia’s work stemmed from my being governed by the satanic philosophy for worldly dealings of “Neither doubt those you employ nor employ those you doubt.” I had thought that employing someone meant they would be beyond doubt; otherwise, it would mean not trusting them. I had been worried that if I looked into Sonia’s work in detail, she might feel I didn’t trust her and develop a bias against me. So, I hadn’t followed up on her work and had failed to fulfill my responsibility, causing delays in the work. I had used the seemingly legitimate justification of “Neither doubt those you employ nor employ those you doubt” as an excuse not to supervise and check the work, just to avoid offending someone so that I could protect my reputation and status. What I had revealed was my selfish and deceitful satanic disposition. Although I believed in and followed God, ate and drank His words and did my duty, I hadn’t regarded the words of God as principles for my comportment and actions, and when things had befallen me, I had still relied on satanic philosophies to handle them, neglecting to supervise or inspect the work and failing to fulfill my responsibilities in my duty. I had resisted and betrayed God. This realization scared me, and I also recognized that living by satanic philosophies could only harm me.

Later, I read another passage of God’s words: “Do you believe the view ‘Neither doubt those you employ nor employ those you doubt’ is correct? Is this phrase the truth? Why would he use this phrase in the work of God’s house and in doing his duty? What is the problem here? ‘Neither doubt those you employ nor employ those you doubt’ are clearly the words of the nonbelievers, words that come from Satan—so why does he treat them as the truth? Why can’t he tell if these words are right or wrong? These are patently the words of man, the words of corrupt humankind, they are simply not the truth, they are utterly at odds with the words of God, and should not serve as the criterion for people’s actions, comportment, and worship of God. So how should this phrase be approached? If you are truly capable of discernment, what kind of truth principle should you use in its place to serve as your principle of practice? It should be to ‘perform your duty with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ To act with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind is to be constrained by no one; it is to be of a single heart and mind, and no more. This is your responsibility and your duty, and you should perform it well, as doing this is perfectly natural and justified. Whatever problems you encounter, you should act according to the principles. Handle them however you ought to; if pruning is called for, so be it, and if dismissal is called for, so be it. In short, act based on God’s words and on the truth. Isn’t this the principle? Is this not the exact opposite of the phrase ‘Neither doubt those you employ nor employ those you doubt’? What does it mean to neither doubt those you employ nor employ those you doubt? It means that if you have employed a person, you should not doubt them, you should let go of the reins, not supervise them, and let them do as they please; and if you doubt them, then you should not employ them. Is this not what it means? This is terribly wrong. Humankind has been deeply corrupted by Satan. Every person has a satanic disposition, and is capable of betraying God and resisting God. You could say that no one is reliable. Even if a person swears to the end of the earth, it is of no use because people are constrained by their corrupt dispositions and cannot control themselves. They must accept God’s judgment and chastisement before they can resolve the problem of their corrupt disposition, and thoroughly resolve the problem of them resisting and betraying God—resolve the root of people’s sins. All those who have not gone through God’s judgment and purification and achieved salvation are not reliable. They are not worthy of trust. Therefore, when you use someone, you must supervise and direct them. Also, you must prune them and frequently fellowship on the truth, and only in this way will you be able to see clearly whether they can continue to be used. If there are some people who can accept the truth, accept pruning, are able to perform their duty loyally, and who have continual progress in their life, then only these people are truly usable” (The Word, Vol. 4. Exposing Antichrists. Excursus One: What the Truth Is). God’s words point out a path of practice to people. Regardless of whether it would harm my personal reputation or interests, doing my duty according to God’s requirements is the principle I should uphold. As a supervisor, supervising and following up on work is my job. No matter who they are, as long as they fall within the area I am responsible for, I must supervise and follow up on them. If I see them being perfunctory, irresponsible, or violating principles, I should help them, correct them, and prune them. If they still don’t make amends, they need to be reassigned or dismissed. I shouldn’t let go of the reins and blindly trust people, as these are manifestations of being irresponsible and foolish. We have been deeply corrupted by Satan and often live according to our corrupt dispositions, being perfunctory in our duties and resorting to trickery in order to slack off. Before our corrupt dispositions are cleansed, no one can be relied upon. Therefore, people need leaders and workers to supervise them. This is also in order to urge people to better do their duties. Although Sonia used to be a gospel deacon and was usually diligent and responsible in her duty, after being dismissed, she had been living in the state of delimiting herself as having poor caliber. She had become somewhat negative and passive in her new duty, leading to much work not being completed in good time. Without her work being followed up on or supervised, I hadn’t been able to discover or address the problem of her state in time.

I read another passage of God’s words and gained some paths to follow in doing actual work. God says: “No matter what important work a leader or worker does, and what the nature of this work is, their number one priority is to understand and grasp how work is going on. They must be there in person to follow up on things and ask questions, getting their information first-hand. They must not simply rely on hearsay or listen to other people’s reports. Instead, they must observe with their own eyes the situation of the personnel and how work is progressing, and understand what difficulties there are, whether any areas are at odds with requirements of the Above, whether there are violations of principles, whether there exist any disturbances or disruptions, whether there is a lack of necessary equipment or related instructional materials regarding professional work—they must stay on top of all of this. No matter how many reports they listen to, or how much they glean from hearsay, neither of these beats paying a personal visit; it is more accurate and reliable for them to see things with their own eyes. Once they are familiar with all aspects of the situation, they will have a good idea of what’s going on” (The Word, Vol. 5. The Responsibilities of Leaders and Workers. The Responsibilities of Leaders and Workers (4)). From God’s words, I understood that when doing work, we cannot blindly trust people or let go of the reins after assigning tasks. We must personally supervise and check people’s work. Moreover, it’s not enough to check just once; we need to look into it over a period of time. We should be clear in our minds about the progress and specific situation of the brothers and sisters’ work. Only this way can we promptly identify their issues and fellowship to turn things aright. Otherwise, they might cause losses in the work. Realizing this, I prayed to God, expressing my willingness to repent, to do my duty according to God’s requirements, and to do my job well. During the following days, when I followed up on the work, I consciously looked into how the brothers’ and sisters’ work was going, and regardless of their background, or their experience in preaching the gospel, I supervised and followed up on them in the same way.

Later, I needed to follow up on Sister Lydia’s work. She had collaborated with me before, and initially, I thought, “She knows how to do things. Maybe she doesn’t need my supervision.” But when this thought arose, I realized it was wrong. I couldn’t do my duty based on the satanic philosophy of “Never doubt those you employ” anymore. So I made a conscious effort to look into how Lydia’s work was going. One time, I noticed a decline in the results of her work. Initially I gave her a reminder, but there was no significant improvement afterward. So I got directly involved in the work she was responsible for. I talked to the brothers and sisters, seeking to understand the actual situation of the work, and I actually ended up discovering some issues. After I pointed them out to Lydia, the effectiveness of her duty improved somewhat. Lydia also said that such supervision and inspection of her work were beneficial, as she had indeed been procrastinating in her duty recently. She also said that this supervision served to remind and urge her along. Practicing this way, I also felt more at ease. These realizations and transformations I have experienced are all the result of the guidance of God’s words. I am so grateful to God!