Currying Favor With Those Who Have Power

There is another type of person: those who like to curry favor with those who have power. Are people who curry favor with those who have power good or bad? (They’re bad.) In what ways are they bad? This kind of person is deeply snobbish. When they see someone with status, they constantly make every effort to curry favor with them; they take the initiative to speak with them and open up to them, serve them food, wash their clothes, and clean for them. There’s nothing they aren’t willing to do. If you have no status, they pretend not to see you, and if you take the initiative to approach them, when they see you, their expression immediately turns sour. Are such people good? What aspect does this kind of problem fall under? (This kind of person is of low character and has poor humanity.) Their humanity is bad and their character is low. To what extent is their humanity bad? (They have no integrity or dignity.) Are people who actively curry favor with those who have power good people? (No.) Then what kind of people are they? What is the character like of people who like to curry favor with those who have power? They have two different faces when dealing with the same person. They are not afraid of being seen through by others and even freely let these sides of themselves show. Do these people have any sense of integrity or shame? (No.) Can these people who have no sense of integrity or shame be categorized as evil people? (Yes.) Why can they be categorized as evil people? They have two different faces in how they treat others. Let us analyze the root of these two different faces. These people particularly love status, and they love people who have standing and power. When they see people with status, they are all smiles, completely obedient; they fawn on and curry favor with them without any scruples, and shamelessly flatter them. Regardless of if their aim is to ingratiate themselves with those people, or if they have the ulterior motive of wanting to be valued and promoted, their attitude toward others is problematic and violates the truth principles. Why, then, do they have this kind of attitude toward people with status? (For the sake of their own interests.) This proves that they particularly love status. They themselves lack ability, or do not have the qualifications, the conditions, or the opportunities to attain status. However, by currying favor with and drawing close to those with status, they are able to satisfy their desire for status. Therefore, they can curry favor with and flatter others without any scruples or shame. Their character is quite low. They do not care what kind of person the one with status is, nor do they discern whether this person’s humanity is good or bad, or whether this person is evil. As long as this person has status or money, even if they are an evil person, they will still curry favor with them. Aren’t they completely without principles? (They are.) For them, whatever people with status say is correct and good, and whatever way in which they speak is acceptable. As long as someone has status, they are good to that person. They are completely lacking in principles and they are abnormally good toward that person. They truly have no sense of integrity or shame to speak of. They do not care about how others view or evaluate them. It doesn’t matter to them what others think of them. They think to themselves, “I just like people with status. I just want to be good to them. What’s wrong with having status? You who have no status aren’t worthy of my kindness!” People like this have no principles or dignity. They do not care how others see them, nor how God evaluates them. These are people of low character. In acting this way, their conscience feels nothing, and their reason has no standard for judgment. They have no minimum standards, and they are spineless in how they conduct themselves. When encountering someone with status, they immediately shrink and grovel and become like a slave, assuming the position of their submissive underling. Whoever has status becomes their master. Do such people have integrity or dignity? (No.) They are even capable of engaging in the most repulsive flattery toward people with status, and they dare to do so in front of any number of people. They do not care about others’ views or how others see them, and they only aim to satisfy their own desires. This is how they act toward people with status. But what happens when a person with status loses it? Then they switch faces. How do they treat this person then? (They immediately start ignoring them.) Their face immediately darkens, and their attitude becomes completely different: “You’ve lost your status, and you still want me to be good to you? Dream on!” If a person who has lost status asks them to pour a glass of water, they ignore them. If they ask them to lend a hand, they ignore them. If they want to have a heart-to-heart talk with them, they say, “Are you worthy? Do you have the qualifications to speak with me? Who do you think you are?” How vicious their disposition is! Is it a crime to not have status? Does someone change once they have been removed from their official position? Are they not still the same person? Why is it that they are now unworthy to speak with such people? Why can’t such people lend them a hand? Even if it were an animal in difficulty needing human help, out of a sense of conscience, people should still help, look after it gently, and care for it—how much more so for a human being, then? Yet they lack even this shred of human kindness. In addition to these manifestations, some people go even further. They think to themselves, “Before, I was good to you because you had status. Now that you’ve lost your status, you still expect me to respect you and allow you to save face, to avoid putting you in awkward positions during conversations, and to obey your orders like before? Fat chance! You should be grateful I’m not stepping on you!” Just what sort of creatures are they? When someone is in difficulty, not only do they ignore them, but they also step on them behind their back, looking for opportunities to bully and suppress them. What kind of people are they? (They’re evil people.) Their true face as evil people emerges in this way, doesn’t it? Toward people with status, they behave like submissive underlings, meticulously proper, greeting them with smiles. They are great at sycophantically agreeing with other people. If some official says that potatoes can be grown on the moon, they will chime in, “Potatoes grown on the moon are really delicious!” But when that official loses their status, their attitude completely changes. No matter what the former official says now, even if it is correct, they will not listen. Even if this former official has genuine understanding, they ignore it and refuse to accept it, only finding them disagreeable. In their hearts, they think, “You have no status, so nothing you say carries any weight. Even if what you say is correct, what’s the use of it? Even if you have the truth reality, I still don’t like you. I just enjoy stepping on people without status—if I don’t step on them, it’s a wasted opportunity!” What sort of creatures are they? If you have no status, they find you disagreeable. No matter how good you are to them, it is useless. No matter how you place them on equal footing with you and treat them according to principles, it cannot change their attitude toward you. Do such people have humanity? (No.) What is the manifestation of their lack of humanity? Isn’t it viciousness? (Yes.) The disposition of people who love to curry favor with those who have power is extremely vicious, and I find such people simply disgusting. In the eyes of such people, when you have status, your flaws and defects are all seen as merits and strong points. But when you have no status, your strong points and merits are all seen as flaws and defects. Nothing you say carries any weight, and they find everything about you disagreeable. They always want to bully you, to step on you, and to suppress you. They have a vicious disposition, don’t they? (Yes.) They bully those without status however they like. They feel that not bullying meek people is a sin. Even if you do not provoke them, they will actively find fault, bully you, and step on you, looking down on you with tremendous contempt. It is as if having no status is a sin, rendering you unworthy of living or being in their presence; as though you’ve brought trouble upon yourself and deserve misfortune if you have no status. What sort of creatures are they? Should such people be allowed to stay in the church? (No.) Can people who are especially fond of currying favor with those who have power be chosen as leaders? (No.) Why not? This is just how they behave toward people with status—if they themselves were to gain status, wouldn’t they become authoritarian, making themselves supreme? That would be disastrous! They would disregard the work arrangements of God’s house, the church’s administrative decrees, and the suggestions of the brothers and sisters, and even suppress those without status no matter what they said or did. The church would be ruined by them. People like this have an extremely strong desire for power, and once they get what they want, the consequences are unimaginable. People who curry favor with those who have power are particularly vicious and of especially low character. What are the main characteristics of their corrupt disposition? (Viciousness.) Wickedness, viciousness, and an aversion to the truth. What is especially wicked is how they use two entirely different faces for dealing with the same person, changing extremely quickly. Isn’t this wicked? (Yes.) Even if people without status do not provoke them, they will take the initiative to attack, bully, and trample on them. Isn’t this vicious? (Yes.) Regardless of whether the other person has status or not, they cannot act according to principles or treat them fairly. When you tell them, “In God’s house, the truth holds power, and people are treated fairly,” do they accept it? (No.) It just goes in one ear and out the other, and they think, “What fairness? People are simply either high or low, noble or lowly. Those with status are noble; those without status are worthless trash!” This is their logic and principle for viewing and treating people. They do not accept the truth principles and still speak their twisted reasoning. Aren’t they averse to the truth? (Yes.) They approach status and power using their own logic and principles for worldly dealings, and their own perspectives on worldly dealings, and use their own principles and methods for worldly dealings to handle these matters, in place of the requirements and principles of God’s house for how to treat people. Isn’t this not accepting the truth, openly opposing the truth? In their hearts, they think, “If you have status, then you are the boss in my heart.” God and the truth have no place in their hearts. What kind of disposition is this? Being so overbearing and so foolishly obstinate—isn’t this not accepting the truth? Isn’t this being averse to the truth? (Yes.) This is precisely such a disposition. In terms of their humanity alone, such people are of low character, are utterly disgusting, and not worth associating with. But in terms of their disposition, it is not merely a matter of whether they are worth associating with. These people have vicious, wicked dispositions, and they are not targets for salvation. They will all be punished and die; their deeds amount to a capital offense. These people blindly curry favor with those who have power and display the servile demeanor of lapdogs, which is disgusting. In the position of church leaders, such people are a danger. If you choose such people as church leaders, you will meet with calamity. Some district leaders, being foolish and unable to see through people, even designate this type of person as a candidate for church leader, resulting in the brothers and sisters in the church being deceived. People of this type, who are good at sucking up to others, and currying favor with those who have power, and who outwardly appear very zealous and obey the leaders’ every word, are easily selected as candidates. This is because some leaders and workers like those who suck up to them, and are obsequious, and they cannot see through to the consequences that this type of hypocritical person will bring to the church once they become a leader. Often, once such people are selected and gain status, their malicious side immediately comes out and they begin to disturb the church. The leaders who selected them regret it when they see that the people they chose are evil people, but they cannot remedy the consequences their actions have brought to the church. This is entirely the consequence of leaders and workers having corrupt dispositions and acting without principles. Those who revere status and power are not people who love the truth. They curry favor with anyone who has status, and they put on a fawning grin whenever they see leaders and workers. Some leaders cannot withstand this temptation; they become overjoyed when they see people with a fawning grin and want to promote them to show off their own capability. In fact, when those people fawn on them and give them a fawning grin, they have sinister motives, but these leaders think that those people are truly good. Once those people become leaders, they submit to no one, and they ignore the very leaders who promoted them. Only then do those leaders realize that these people are not good, and that they promoted wrong people. In such a situation, what should be done? Shouldn’t this situation be remedied? (Yes.) How should it be remedied? (These people should immediately be exposed and then dismissed.) These people cannot do real work; they are just muddleheaded people who only know how to curry favor with and suck up to those who have power. The leaders should dismiss them immediately, and regret that at the time they were blind in both eyes and heart and unable to discern people, choosing the wrong people. Now, there’s still time to immediately remedy the situation. Are you now able to see through such people who curry favor with those who have power? (Yes.) Such people are no good.

Having an Exceptional Memory

Next, let’s talk about manifestations involving innate conditions. Having an exceptional memory—what aspect does this manifestation come under? (Innate conditions.) Having an especially good memory, remembering things accurately, memorizing articles, passages of God’s words, hymns, or a work arrangement especially clearly and accurately—what aspect should this fall under? (Good caliber—an innate condition.) This is an innate condition. As for which specific aspect of innate conditions it belongs to, I think it should not fall under caliber. If it is merely having a good memory, being able to remember things, remembering a lot, remembering accurately, and remembering things firmly, this at most falls under the category of innate strengths, talents, and abilities. As for whether someone’s caliber is good or not, that depends on how their comprehension ability is. If someone has exceptionally good memory, being able to memorize a section of lyrics, a segment of knowledge and doctrine, or a professional skill especially well, especially quickly, and especially firmly, but what they memorize is merely some prescriptive and inflexible things, which do not involve the truth principles and which cannot be applied or implemented in real life or work—if they simply have good memory—then this is only a strength and ability within their innate conditions, it does not rise to the level of involving their caliber. As we discussed earlier, what is caliber? (Efficiency and effectiveness in doing things.) If you have good memory and also good caliber, what kind of manifestations and characteristics should you have? It is that, regarding the things you hear, on the basis of being able to remember accurately, you can also grasp the key points, find the principles, find a path of practice and a plan for implementation, and then are able to actually apply these in real life and work, doing things efficiently and effectively. It means that the words of God and the truth principles you have memorized do not stay at the theoretical level, but are implemented in the performance of your duty and become your truth reality, producing results in the work that people can see and improving the efficiency of the work. This is not only having a good memory but also having good caliber. It is not the case that having a good memory equates to having good caliber. Rather, having comprehension ability, being able to seek the truth and find the principles of practicing the truth when things come upon you, and implementing work without deviation and doing so accurately, quickly, and effectively—only this is having good caliber. Good caliber is not about understanding some doctrines and then being able to spout lots of them. Rather, it is about understanding and grasping some truth principles, and then being able to flexibly apply them in your work and duty, making them a part of your real life, and transforming them from theory into reality, which allows the truth principles to have an effect on and achieve results in people, bringing people benefits and advantages. This is what it means to have caliber. If you get stuck at the level of understanding words and doctrines and you cannot implement the work, and you cannot find the principles or the means—that is, if this aspect of the truth principle always remains just a theory for you, and you have no way, no method, and no path to turn it into reality—this is what it means to have no caliber or to have poor caliber. No matter how good your memory is, even if it surpasses that of ordinary people to the point of being almost an extraordinary ability, that does not mean you have good caliber. What does good caliber refer to? How is caliber evaluated? (It is judged by whether a person can understand the principles of work and implement those principles properly to achieve results.) It is judged by efficiency and effectiveness, right? (Yes.) Some people can remember work arrangements quickly and accurately, and they can also understand them theoretically. However, when it comes to implementation, if someone asks them, “How should this work be done? Do you have ideas, plans, or steps?” they reply, “No, I don’t know how to do it.” This is not having caliber. At most, this is merely a strength in one area. I remember that when we first fellowshipped on this topic, we discussed this issue. You may have forgotten, and this time you again categorized exceptional memory under caliber. Always misunderstanding a person’s strengths and talents, and always categorizing a certain strength or talent under good caliber, is a grievous error. If this issue is resolved and you understand what a strength is, what a talent or ability is, and what true caliber is, it will be beneficial for discerning people and for your own life growth. At the very least, it can help you rein in your arrogant disposition a bit, so you no longer mistakenly believe you have excellent caliber simply because you can sing or dance well. So can you still evaluate this matter this way now? (No.) Then, what do people who can sing actually need to possess to have good caliber? (They need to have comprehension ability, know what way of singing is in line with principles, and also have perceptiveness.) Perceptiveness is very crucial. You see, all these people know some music theory, but the effect of their singing varies. Some people can feel out and seek out a path for singing. They listen to various songs, different melodies, and different singing styles from various people, and listen out for what singing techniques are moving and enjoyable. They find a certain feeling from this process and then continue to explore and train based on that feeling. After some time, they feel that their singing has improved, and others are willing to listen to it. Gradually, they compare this with the theories and confirm that this path of practice is correct. They are able to discover the path of practice to change their way of singing and correct their previous incorrect singing methods. They can then further implement and apply the good, correct, positive elements they have worked out into their own singing. They can perceive what way of singing is correct and what way is incorrect, and what way of singing produces a good feeling and what way produces a bad feeling. This is having good caliber. If they only have theoretical knowledge but cannot integrate the theory into their actual singing, and their comprehension is distorted, then their caliber is not good. Look at some people who sing—when others point out that they are using a false voice, they can accept it and, after one or two years of training, correct it. Although they are not very proficient at singing yet, they are already singing with their authentic tone and voice. On the other hand, some people sing in a false voice, and this is clear to anyone who hears them, but they still think they are singing with their true voice, their authentic tone and voice, unable to discern the difference. This shows an absence of caliber and an absence of perceptiveness, an inability to perceive things. This is the difference between caliber and a strength. If you are talented at singing, that is your strength; it is an innate condition. However, whether you can sing well and perceive the essence, principles, and essentials in this field, this profession, is a matter of caliber. If you can perceive the essence, essentials, and principles, then you can become a singer, a master vocalist. If you enjoy singing, learn it quickly, and accurately master melody, rhythm, and pitch, this can only be called an innate strength and being good at this particular professional skill. However, due to your very average and limited caliber, you will always remain within the limits of just being good at it. You will be unable to reach the level of mastering the essentials and you will be unable to become a true singer and master vocalist. This is the limitation imposed by your caliber. People with good caliber have potential and room for development, while those with average or poor caliber have no potential or room for development. So, no matter what area your strengths are in, if your caliber is poor, you will inevitably be limited by your caliber. No matter how talented you are in a certain area, how much you like it, or how great your interest is, you will have no potential for development due to your poor caliber, because you cannot surpass your caliber. Do you understand? (Yes.) Now that I’ve said this, will you lose confidence in singing? I am simply speaking to the matter at hand, using one of your strengths as an example to fellowship about the distinction between caliber and strengths. However, God’s house does not require you to become true master vocalists, to sing with a certain high degree of precision, to develop a particular singing style, or to achieve great success in singing. These are not required. Just make good use of your existing caliber and strengths—that’s fine. As long as there is expression of true feelings and sincerity, that is sufficient. Now, don’t feel discouraged or give up just because I said some of you have poor caliber or very average caliber with little room for development. That is unnecessary. Will you feel discouraged? (No.) You must regard this matter correctly. If I did not use your situations as examples, you might not get it, might not have a thorough understanding, and whatever I said you would not take it to heart. To help you understand thoroughly, I had to give a few examples so everyone can have a better understanding. In this way, your understanding of the distinction between caliber and strengths will also become more accurate. Do you mind this way of fellowshipping? (No, we don’t mind.) It is good that you don’t mind. Regard this correctly. Practice as you should. Putting your heart into it, and practicing toward a good goal and direction will always be better than not making progress or being stuck in your old ways. Even though your caliber is limited or poor, you still need to make an effort to practice and strive to achieve the most that you can within the scope of your limited caliber. We must devote all our hearts and all our efforts, doing this duty and carrying out this work with an attitude of responsibility and loyalty. This is the principle of practice you should follow. You mustn’t become negative or give up just because your strength has no development potential and you will not be able to take the limelight in the future. That is not acceptable, and it is clearly not the truth principle you should follow in treating this matter. Do you understand? (Yes.)

Within each of these three areas—innate conditions, humanity, and corrupt dispositions—there are many specific details that need to be understood. Is it necessary for us to fellowship on these matters? (Yes.) For many aspects, people only have a superficial understanding and cannot explain them clearly. They may have some strengths and then think they are of noble character, believing themselves to be honorable and free from corrupt dispositions, with good humanity and high caliber. All of this stems from people’s inability to discern these various issues clearly. The more these kinds of issues involve details, the more there is to fellowship about; it cannot be covered in just one or two sessions, but requires multiple fellowships. Alright, we will stop the fellowship here for today. Goodbye!

October 14, 2023