How to Comprehensively Evaluate People’s Caliber

We’ve now finished discussing the last of the eleven abilities for evaluating a person’s caliber, innovative ability. After fellowshipping on these eleven abilities, are you somewhat clearer about your own caliber? (Yes.) Are you able to evaluate it, then? Can you accurately evaluate what your own caliber truly is? There is a standard of measurement when it comes to determining whether your own caliber is good, average, poor, or nonexistent—you cannot look at only one aspect; it must be evaluated comprehensively. Then, which aspects should be looked at to evaluate what a person’s caliber is? Judging from the manifestations of the eleven abilities we fellowshipped, for a person to be evaluated as having good caliber, at the very least, they must possess several relatively important abilities. Consider for a moment: Which of the eleven abilities are the main ones that can demonstrate a person has good caliber? Can you gauge this? The order should move from the last ability to the first: A person with good caliber must at least possess innovative ability; next is the ability to evaluate and appreciate things, decision-making ability, and the ability to respond to things; then comes the ability to identify things, the ability to make judgments, and cognitive ability; finally, there is the ability to accept things, comprehension ability, the ability to understand things, and learning ability. The order is like this. Why is the order reversed? The order we initially arranged was from low to high, but to evaluate whether a person has good caliber, it is arranged from high to low. A person with good caliber must at least possess innovative ability. This is reached on the foundation of already possessing decision-making ability, the ability to evaluate and appreciate things, and the ability to identify things. If you are able to be cognizant of, identify, and judge things, and you also possess the ability to understand things, and then you can innovate, that makes you a person with good caliber. Such people are those with leadership ability, capable of entering the decision-making level; they are talented at being leaders, and can preside over a certain area of work. These are people with good caliber. People with average caliber are those whose abilities in all aspects, from innovative ability to learning ability, are all average. Their efficiency and results in doing things are both average. These are people with average caliber. What is a primary manifestation of people with average caliber? It is that their comprehension and understanding of principles lack depth and are not very accurate. When implementing and practicing, there are always loopholes and deviations. They are always missing things, forgetting this and that, and cannot take everything into account comprehensively. For example, they are chosen to be church leaders but are unable to take charge of all aspects of the work comprehensively. When they are responsible for gospel work, they focus only on the gospel work and cannot attend to other work. They may get the gospel work going but have no time to ask questions about text-based work or film production work. Why is this? Because their caliber is thoroughly average and they can only handle one aspect of work; they can barely manage to be competent for one area of work, but once they are asked to also attend to other work, they complain bitterly and become overwhelmed, unable to do any work well. In their work, there always has to be someone supervising, reminding, inspecting, and vetting what they do. There always has to be someone beside them to support them, to fellowship the truth, to repeatedly emphasize the principles of the work and the various deviations and loopholes that are likely to occur. There always has to be someone reminding them. Why is it that they always need someone to remind and give directions to them? It is not because their work experience is inadequate, but because their caliber is average. They cannot anticipate situations and problems that are likely to arise, or what they can anticipate is very limited. Therefore, there always has to be someone beside them to guide, vet, and follow up, frequently needing to check in on them. When checking in, it turns out they either haven’t done this item of work or have forgotten that item of work; otherwise, they have neglected some aspect or do not know how to proceed, yet still don’t know whom to ask or how to seek, and are still waiting. In short, their ability to be competent for work is very average. This “average” has nothing to do with how much resolve they have, how strong they are, how much they like doing work, or how much they can endure hardship and pay a price—it has nothing to do with these. Rather, it refers solely to their work capability being average. People with good caliber, on the other hand, basically do not make major mistakes in their work. The principles, direction, and overarching framework they follow are basically accurate. Although they may often overlook some small details, these details do not affect the efficiency and results of the overall work. These are people with good caliber. Of course, no human is perfect. Even people with good caliber may have some minor loopholes in their work, sometimes momentarily overlooking something, or slightly neglecting one item of work because they have recently been busy with another. However, just in terms of their caliber, they can quickly turn the situation around and manage and control it, ensuring that the overall work is essentially error-free, and that the overall work is generally carried out in alignment with the truth principles, the work arrangements, or the provisions of the administrative decrees, proceeding in an orderly manner. Even when antichrists or evil people appear to cause disturbances within the scope of their work, because they possess the ability to respond to things, they will quickly handle the situation. They will handle and resolve the matter at the first opportunity, ensuring that the church work quickly gets back on the right track and that the environment for the brothers and sisters to do their duty is not affected. Even when unexpected situations arise, people with good caliber know how to handle them. Even if they have not handled such situations before, they will know how to seek the principles. Because they possess the ability to identify, judge, and be cognizant of things, they will quickly resolve the problems according to principles. They absolutely have the ability to resolve problems. Their abilities to identify things, respond to things, and make judgments enable them to quickly defuse and pacify unexpected situations, achieving the safeguarding of the normal and orderly progress of the church’s work and the safeguarding of the interests of God’s house, ensuring that such situations do not recur or remain unpacified for an extended period. At the same time, both the principles they handle things by and the final results they achieve serve to safeguard the interests of God’s house. High efficiency and good results are what people with good caliber can achieve in their work. However, when people with average caliber handle problems that occur in church work or daily life, they are somewhat overwhelmed and find it a bit difficult. Their handling of problems is often inefficient and very slow. For issues that should be resolved in one or two days, because they cannot see through them, they may have to wait, and they may have to ponder for three to five days. They cannot make decisive decisions to turn the situation around but are instead helpless, and can only let the situation continue to deteriorate. They can only handle some simple tasks, such as verifying facts, asking relevant people about the situation, or sorting out the problems and reporting them upward. Problems that others can resolve in two days may take them half a month. Although the problems are eventually resolved, the prolonged delay causes some losses to the church work. During this time, some people might be misled by antichrists, offerings might be lost, or certain items of work might suffer losses because the problems were not resolved promptly. Although subsequent compensation or recompense is provided, and the people who should be handled are eventually handled, the results and efficiency are very average. It is like firefighting: People with good caliber have a knack for putting out fires, achieving good results and preventing financial losses. However, people with average caliber, due to improper methods, lack of emergency measures, acting slowly, and an inability to make decisive decisions and grasp the key points to resolve the problem, end up causing greater losses. Some people say, “I am willing to provide compensation for the losses I caused.” If it is merely economic loss, compensation can resolve the problem. But if faced with the great red dragon’s arrests and you fail to handle it properly, causing losses to the church’s work, can you compensate for that? Can you afford to compensate for the cost of delayed work and lost time? When unexpected events occur, because the abilities to respond to things, make judgments, identify things, and even decision-making ability of people with average caliber are all average, they thus handle problems slowly and with extremely low efficiency, and their emergency measures are ineffective, which ultimately results in unsatisfactory work results and some losses. Even though the problems are eventually resolved, because prolonged delays occur and efficiency is reduced, this constitutes a loss. Therefore, these people are characterized as having average caliber. Some people say, “That’s not fair. They also put in effort, worked hard, and resolved the problems. How can You still say their caliber is average?” Evaluating such matters cannot be based on emotions or sentiments. Speaking objectively and fairly, and in terms of the level that a person’s caliber can achieve, your caliber is average. Why is it average? Because there are people with higher caliber than you; in situations where their humanity is roughly the same as yours, people with good caliber handle problems with better efficiency and results than you, and the losses are smaller than yours. Therefore, your caliber can only be classified as average. Do you understand? (Yes.) The reason such people are characterized as having average caliber is that there are people with good caliber who achieve better efficiency and results in their actions than they do. Therefore, their caliber is average. This explanation is fair and reasonable. Some people say, “They have sincerity, and they put their hearts into this task; they endured a lot of hardship and paid no small price.” What is the use of saying that? Does that mean they have good caliber? Regardless of what their humanity, emotions, or wishes are like, just in terms of their caliber, these are manifestations of having average caliber.

What are the manifestations of people with poor caliber? Looking at it from the perspective of the various abilities, people with poor caliber relatively possess some learning ability and ability to understand things. When they learn certain knowledge, theories, professional skills, or academic subjects, they can remember them solidly and accurately, noting key points in their notebooks. Because they have received education, their ability to understand things is not too poor; it can reach an average level. However, they do not possess the abilities that come after comprehension ability, such as the ability to accept things and the ability to identify things. That is, their abilities remain limited to learning and understanding theories, knowledge, technical skills, or professions at the textual level. When it comes to viewing people, handling matters, resolving problems, and implementing work arrangements in real life, they fall short. Their abilities remain limited to learning ability and the ability to understand things; they can achieve comprehension ability, but they fall short when it comes to the ability to accept things. People who possess the ability to accept things can know which real-life things these principles, theories, and fundamentals correspond to, as well as which are practical and applicable, which are not practical, and which are suitable for themselves and which are not. People with poor caliber, however, cannot see through these things. For example, there are various health knowledge and fitness training materials available online. People with poor caliber can also learn how to exercise and take care of themselves from these resources. They possess learning ability, the ability to understand things, and comprehension ability, and they also know to find what they like. However, when it comes to which of these things are practical, effective, and truly needed by people, people with poor caliber cannot identify this. They fall short when it comes to the ability to accept things. Today, it says online that spinach stewed with tofu is highly nutritious, so they eat it every day. But after eating it for a while, they have no idea what the effects are like or whether it has the effect claimed online. Later, it says online that spinach and tofu are incompatible, and after hearing this, they never make spinach stewed with tofu again. As for whether spinach and tofu are truly highly nutritious or incompatible, they do not know and will not ask; they only know to follow blindly. Information is highly developed nowadays; various pieces of news are extremely complex. They cannot identify what is right and wrong or what is correct and incorrect. They read and listen to everything, believing that anything they have not heard before, anything novel or seemingly profound, must be good. For example, it says online that eating chocolate is good for the heart, so they eat chocolate every day. As a result, they develop internal heat, get mouth sores, have red eyes, and experience tinnitus. In fact, what was said was that eating chocolate in moderation is good for the heart, but they did not remember the words “in moderation.” They are incapable of grasping the key point and end up harming themselves. A few days later, it now says online: “Eating chocolate is bad for the heart, and eating too much can also cause weight gain.” People who can identify would know that eating too much is bad for the body, but eating in moderation is fine. However, they cannot identify this; after hearing this, they stop eating chocolate altogether. They swing from one extreme to another, either leaning too far left or too far right, yet they think they are on the cutting edge: “Look, whatever the internet says is good, I eat; whatever it says is bad, I don’t eat. I’m someone who keeps up with the trends of the times.” In actuality, they are people with no ability to identify things, muddled individuals who blindly follow the crowd. There are all kinds of information online, and most claims are inaccurate. Of course, there is also a small amount of information and claims that are correct. You need to be able to identify them. As for what information to accept, you must measure it according to your needs, whether it is beneficial to you, and whether the information is positive. People with poor caliber lack the ability to identify such things. They fall short of all the abilities from the level of the ability to accept things onward. They remain limited to learning and understanding things on the textual, theoretical, and knowledge levels, possessing some comprehension ability. However, as for further identifying the correctness of various claims and whether they are valuable and meaningful, people with poor caliber lack the ability to judge and identify this. And then there’s the ability to respond to things, which people with poor caliber likewise do not possess. When it comes to various problems that crop up in real life or on the path of survival, they cannot handle them based on the truth principles they know or have grasped. No matter how many words and doctrines they can speak, these are empty and impractical. For problems occurring around them or on the path of survival, they rely on their own petty tricks to deal with them; they just try to avoid suffering losses, and that’s it, while failing to reach the level of experiencing, apprehending, or verifying the principles they have grasped. Furthermore, those with poor caliber also do not have cognitive ability. That is, when any problem arises, they cannot draw any conclusions or recognize the essence of the matter itself, the root cause behind it, or the consequences it may lead to in the future. People with poor caliber do not know how to think about these things at all, much less apply the truth or the principles and laws of various things they have grasped to face and handle such problems. Because their caliber is poor, their thinking is therefore simplistic and superficial, and their perspective on matters has deviations. Additionally, what’s even more problematic is that they do not know from what perspective they can correctly view things. Therefore, they cannot see through the essence of anything, nor can they judge the correctness or right and wrong of anything. Without judgment, they cannot identify; of course, then, they also have no ability to respond to things, let alone decision-making ability. Some people say, “People with poor caliber also know what to eat and wear every day, and can manage their daily lives.” That’s not what it means to have caliber. Having caliber refers to being able to handle various essential problems encountered in life and on the path of survival according to the truth principles one understands. The various problems encountered in life include evaluating a person, handling a matter, and so on. The problems encountered on the path of survival include facing major issues of right and wrong, the environments set up for you by God, God’s sovereignty, matters involving prospects and destination and how to choose the road ahead, and so on—all these belong to problems related to survival. If someone has no ability to handle problems that occur in life or on the path of survival, this means they lack decision-making ability. Such people are mentally blank, so talking about the ability to evaluate and appreciate things in regard to them is somewhat unwarranted. Of course, the last ability, innovative ability, is even further beyond the reach of people with poor caliber. It’s like discussing whether the lion or the tiger is the king of beasts. At the very least, both are qualified candidates because lions and tigers each possess the air and the abilities of a ruler among beasts. They each have their own strength, and when matched against one another, they may be evenly matched, which qualifies them to compete for the title of king of beasts. If you compare wildebeests, elk, or yaks to lions and tigers to decide who is the king of beasts, people will laugh at you. Why will they laugh at you? (Because these animals are not comparable.) They are not on the same level, not in the same weight class; they are not comparable. Similarly, people with poor caliber don’t have any thoughts, and they have no ability to appraise and appreciate any person, event, or thing on a mental level. Therefore, it is not even worth talking about whether such people possess the ability to evaluate and appreciate things. The ability to evaluate and appreciate things is relatively advanced and applies to people with good caliber. Innovative ability, then, even more so applies to people with good caliber. Innovative ability is judged by a person’s ability to practically handle anything in real life. People with poor caliber not only lack thoughts and steps in anything they do, but they also don’t have any ability to get things done, so they cannot be said to have any innovative ability. So what abilities do people without caliber have? Most people without caliber share a common characteristic: They have no strengths. In terms of expressive ability, they have none; in terms of any technical or professional strengths, they also have none; even in performing the simplest task, such as cleaning, they have no quick and concise solutions, no steps, and no order. From performing a simple job, you can see just what the characteristics of people without caliber are. The most obvious characteristic of people without caliber is that they lack ability in every aspect. Simply put, they cannot even manage their own human lives or the most basic necessities—these are all in complete disarray and devoid of any principles. The most accurate description of people without caliber is that they cannot accomplish anything and live solely to satisfy their basic daily needs—nothing more. The various manifestations of people with different levels of caliber, along with the characteristics of the caliber and abilities they possess, have all been explained clearly. If you have understood, you will be able to learn how to discern and treat people of different calibers.