By Qianqian
A few days ago, because of the adjustment of job, I was arranged to cooperate with Lan, a middle-level manager of our company, to be responsible for the work of one department together. Hearing this news, I felt quite happy in my heart: Lan is older than me and has a good humanity; especially she has richer working experience. In comparison, I am just a new obscure person, and whether in the aspects of capacity or experience or horizon, and so on, I can’t hold a candle to her. With such a talented person by my side, I can learn some valuable things from her on the one hand, and on the other, my pressure can be reduced, which is not a bad thing. So, I was willing to be Lan’s assistant and I enjoyed working in the shelter of her. Seeing that Lan was very precise in every aspect, I thought: My poor capacity will bring me into contempt if I show it off, so I should listen to her more and execute her decision more. Sometimes, even if I had some different views and opinions from Lan, I also didn’t speak out; as long as there was nothing wrong on the whole, I would let it go, thinking that after all, “The older the wiser.” After cooperating like this for a long time, Lan and I had a lot of tacit agreements. We never disputed with each other and there never appeared any big problems in all aspects of work.
Some days later, our company required that all departments make a personnel adjustment, cutting down those who should be cut down and training those who could be cultivated, so that they can create more profits for the company. After I discussed with Lan, we started this work. Considering Lan had worked for a long time in this department and knew more about every person than me, I actively cooperated to do the remaining work and let her be in complete charge of the personnel adjustment. Though I had some different opinions about the decision on dealing with some few people, I still thought: After all, I only have worked for a short time here and have a short record of service, so I’d better listen to her advice. Only in this way can we have a tacit agreement. As a result, I chose to keep silent. Soon, we completed this important work tacitly and smoothly. But when immersed in the joy, we found that every work in the department progressed more slowly than before and that the achievements also showed a downward tendency. In addition, the staff were so slack that they either left early or asked for leave, which brought our company some loss. The personnel adjustment not only didn’t improve the company’s profits, but brought an adverse impact instead. This was what we never anticipated. Though we were worried, we didn’t know where we went wrong.
Before long, the upper-level managers of the company came for us to learn what was what. During our conversation, the managers pointed out some deviations in our work, and also emphatically pointed out that we didn’t carry out the personnel adjustment according to the company regulation, and that we had gravely violated the principle on the adjustment of some staff so that the work efficiency was effected. I seriously listened to mistakes pointed out by the leader and carefully recalled the process of how we dealt with these matters. I vaguely found that some problems exactly lay in where I had different opinions from Lan. But I buried my opinions in the bottom of my heart rather than spoke them out, and finally I did according to Lan’s advice. Especially when we adjusted an old worker, Lan’s opinion was to translate her to the section of rear service and let her do some work within her ability. After I heard that, I thought: The company stipulates that those who are irresponsible and have a bad humanity shall be reduced. Though this old worker has little space for development, she has worked faithfully in our company for many years and has a good humanity. If she is translated to the section of rear service, her talent will be wasted on a petty job. So it is not wrong that we can translate her to another department to act as an assistant. But when I was about to speak out my idea, I thought: After all, Lan is senior to me and knows well about these staff. What if I give a wrong idea? In addition, I often contact this old worker in ordinary days. If I speak for her, will Lan misunderstand that I sway by personal considerations in my work? If I put forward a different opinion and then offend her, will we be embarrassed in our later contact? I thought over and over, but finally I bit back the words on my lips. Thinking back to the process of how I did these things, I knew: Facing the loss we brought to our company, I would hardly be able to escape censure. At last, I and Lan were criticized by the managers.
After being criticized, I had a heavy heart. Especially thinking of when I had different opinions from Lan, why did I always not speak out? If I had spoken out and discussed with her about how to do it more correctly, would this situation have happened and brought so much influence on work? Back home, I came before God and prayed: “God, the loss in our work wasn’t consciously made by us. Being criticized, I felt quite distressed. I know everything that comes upon me contains Your will, but what lessons should I learn from this thing? Please guide me.”
Then, I saw God’s word says: “There are other pairs who don’t have any disagreements. Of the two, one person takes the lead in everything; in all matters, they have the last word. And the other person says, ‘They’re competent. Next time something comes up, ask them to do it. If it goes badly, they’ll be the one who takes the blame, and they’ll also be the one subjected to dealing and pruning. That’s what happens when you stick your head above the parapet. So I’ll keep my head down. As it happens, I’m of poor caliber, and I don’t like stress, so OK—I’ll leave this up to them. … I’m staying out of it!’ They always try to be nice, they follow after others—and what happens in the end? How well do they perform their duty? They’ve lived within this throughout, they’ve never ventured outside. What is this living by?(Interpersonal philosophy.) And they think something else, as well: ‘If I steal their thunder, will they be angry with me? Will this upset our working together in the future, will it affect our relationship? If so, it will be hard for us to get along.’ And so, they do not abide by principle. Isn’t this an interpersonal philosophy? Day after day, this interpersonal philosophy harms them and places them in bondage. Is it tiring to live like this? (It is.) It’s not—what’s tiring about it? If it were tiring, would they live like this? Living like this saves them trouble. They don’t have to shoulder any responsibility; whatever they’re asked to do, they follow; they don’t have to stick their neck out, or think about any problems. When anything happens, they don’t have to be the first to think about it, someone else will handle it. As such, they don’t get tired. … This is what an interpersonal philosophy is. If they don’t live by the truth, and don’t abide by principle, then they’re not cooperating with others but just following after them. Why do I say they’re not cooperating with others? Because they don’t fulfill their responsibility in anything they do. They don’t do it with all their heart, and might not even act with all their strength and mind. And so, what are they living by? They are living by an interpersonal philosophy…. It concerns … corrupt dispositions—it’s not a problem of how you do things.”
God’s word straightforwardly revealed the things in the depth of my heart. In my attitude and standpoint toward work, I always held the excuse that my co-worker was better than me in all aspects, so I was unwilling to take things seriously or stick out my head. Whatever I did, I just wanted to follow after others; especially when we met something that needed me to share responsibility, I would let my co-worker have the final say on the ground of tacit agreement. Outwardly, I was easy-going and could get along well with others, and I didn’t struggle to show off. In substance, I was afraid of suffering and handling responsibility; I was also afraid that if I expressed more opinions, it would cause my co-worker’s aversion to me, break up our cooperating relationship, and bring me disadvantages. This so-called tacit agreement wasn’t the normal way I should associate with others; it was a cunning interpersonal philosophy, was a manner of escaping responsibility, and even more was the production dominated by satanic corrupt disposition. However, I still felt I was quite good, thinking that I could have no outward disagreement and sing the same tune with others. So I regarded this as the standard of a tacit agreement between my co-worker and me. I had forgotten I am a believer in God and should live by God’s word to glorify God, so I lost my principle of being a person and lost God’s blessing in work, which affected the profits of our company.
Later on, I also saw God’s words say: “Keep going: Who else is there apart from people who are terrified of offending anyone, crafty people, and cunning people? What are those who speak the words of man when they meet a person, and the words of demons when they meet demons? Slippery. … You often follow the majority, it’s a case of ‘The law cannot be enforced when everyone is an offender’—yes? What problem is this? What disposition is this? Is this crafty? This is craftiness. You never want to offend anyone or fall behind. ‘If everyone else is saying it, I’ll say it; if no one is saying it, I’ll keep my mouth shut. What if I happen to say the wrong thing?’ You always give yourself a way out—you’re very calculating! This is what Satan left in man, it is what Satan instilled in people.” God’s word let me know something more: Though having different opinions, I didn’t express them but followed others to do things. This kind of disposition is craftiness. In order to maintain my relationship with the colleague, I didn’t want to put forward suggestions that were different from hers. Because I had heard the adults said “Speak good words in harmony with others’ feelings and reason, as being frank annoys others” since I was a child, I was afraid that once the words I spoke out hurt my colleague’s face, what if we couldn’t get along well? So, for the sake of the long-term interests and our “harmonious” cooperation, when we encountered some problems, if the colleague asked me for my advice, then I would speak out, and instead, if the colleague didn’t ask actively, I would give up my opinions to maintain our peaceful and friendly relationship. In that case, everyone could be happy. For this reason, there appeared such a serious mistake in this adjustment work. Through this matter, I saw the saying “Speak good words in harmony with others’ feelings and reason, as being frank annoys others” was instilled in people by Satan. It is not a positive thing. It made me constantly cheat and play tricks in the process of associating with others for the sake of momentary profit. Consequently, I was irresponsible for everything, focused on maintaining my own interests, and became very selfish, never considering whether the profits of our company would be affected. I was exactly the yes-person and crafty person spoken of in God’s word. The yes-people are not the true good people, but are ones with black hearts. They have no conscience and are selfish and despicable. They are directly opposed to those with the true human likeness required by God. Then how should I not be the yes-person but be a person with true humanity?
I saw God’s words say: “You ought to know that God likes an honest man. God has the substance of faithfulness, and so His word can always be trusted. Furthermore, His actions are faultless and unquestionable. This is why God likes those who are absolutely honest with Him.” “To be honest, you must first lay your heart bare, so that everyone can see it, and all that you are thinking, and can see your true face; you must not pretend or package yourself. Only then will people trust you and consider you honest. This is the most fundamental practice of being honest, and it is a precondition.” God has the faithful substance and He hates crafty people. The real human likeness God requires is that of the honest person: An honest person has a pure and upright heart, makes his words fit the reality; he doesn’t have that much demonic means; he doesn’t pretend or cheat for the sake of his own interest, even less does he do things that go against his conscience or harm others. Only such a person is worthy of trusting and associating with. At this time, I knew that pursuing to be an honest person just was my start of being a real person. So, I secretly determined: In the following days when I cooperate with my colleague, if I have different opinions, I will speak out my real thoughts. I will bravely take the responsibility; I will never fake being a good person, never be a yes-person or a crafty person, and never maintain my face as well as my relationship with my colleague; I will try my best to be just and fair, rely on God to change myself, and let my own speeches and actions be able to glorify God. Then, I came before God, prayed to God, and asked Him to give me faith so that I could practice according to the truth of God’s words.
One day, our work was not very busy. I took the advantage to open myself to Lan; I told her how I maintained myself, feared to give offense, and didn’t express opinions when I cooperated with her in the past. I admitted that I had unavoidable duties for the loss in our work. After hearing my words, Lan said very calmly: “Experience doesn’t mean right. Though I’m a little senior to you, not all my opinions about questions are exactly accurate. If you have some different opinions in our work, you just speak out; I can’t consider everything, so we need to be one heart and one mind and offer our own portion. Only thus can we better cooperate in our work and bring our company more profits.” Hearing Lan spoke like this, I got much released in my heart, and also saw that practicing according to God’s word was simple and not tiring. If I hid the words in my heart and didn’t speak them out, I wouldn’t know how she thought in her heart. And we wouldn’t have a normal relationship with each other or have the true tacit agreement in our work. I would live by Satan’s principles and by my corrupt disposition forever, and disguise myself to be a yes-person. After experiencing this thing, I really tasted that only by practicing God’s word can we be real people and live in the light.
A few days later, when we worked together, Lan raised a plan for the next stage of our department’s work, and I naturally followed her word and agreed about it. But several days later, when we were going to do the design, I felt something went wrong. I wanted to speak it out, but I was afraid: Would Lan say I am troublesome and say how I can go back on what I said? Would she think I am intentionally going against her? But at the thought of the determination I made before God, I felt uneasy if I didn’t speak out. Just when on the horns of a dilemma, I thought of God’s word: “It’s not so that people don’t get along with each other, but it’s that people must first have a certain attitude for a change in disposition. After having that attitude, they must be able to seek out a proper path of practice, and then not be afraid of how their face or their feelings might suffer.” “Those who believe in God should do things with a cautious and prudent heart, and all they do should be in accordance with God’s requirements and be able to satisfy the heart of God. They should not be headstrong, doing whatever they please; that does not befit saintly propriety.” The timely leading of God’s word allowed me to understand God’s kind intention: God uses these people, matters, and things to change my corrupt disposition, teach me the principle of being a person, and give me one more chance of being a person according to God’s word. God enlightened me and let me know that my attitude and opinion inside were not right: I still want to live by satanic corrupt disposition and maintain the relationship between my colleague and me again. Won’t I still be the puppet and plaything of Satan? No, I can’t live by the philosophy of Satan; I should pursue to be a person who pleases God, put aside my face to be an honest person, and open myself and speak out my opinions. No matter what I say is right or wrong, I should speak it out first; if there is something wrong, we can discuss it together. When I thought of this, I summoned strength to speak out my opinions. After I finished my words, Lan didn’t show any unhappiness. She thought about it calmly and then said there were indeed some problems in the previous plan, so she agreed on my opinions. She also said it was thanks to my timely advice, and that otherwise the interests of our company would be harmed once we practiced like that. Seeing such a result, I tasted the sweetness of doing things and conducting myself according to God’s word. After that, when we discussed about our work, if I had different opinions from Lan, I would speak out; sometimes, when Lan had a different opinion from me, she would say to me. We two no longer packaged and wrapped ourselves. I felt the relationship between us became closer and closer. I came to taste what the true tacit agreement is. Glory be to God!
