All those who try to manipulate do so in order to evade and avoid difficulties. But the more you try to evade and avoid, the harder it is for you to deal with the problems. If you cannot confront them, it is better to leave them alone and allow them to surface by themselves. There is no need for you to deal with them. If you keep yourself genuine, many times difficulties will go away by themselves. I especially like the man Moses in the book of Numbers. He never manipulated anything among the Israelites. You have to admit that he had a great mind, and he was a man full of wisdom, insight, knowledge, and capability. In spite of this, you see him as a very simple person among the Israelites. He was a genuine person, and he had an honest heart. Some say that a simple person is a foolish one. We admit that this is true, but please remember this kind of foolishness is not bad foolishness, but good foolishness. You must learn to have a heart that is honest.

Some elders are obviously unhappy with a certain person. Yet they would not say so face to face, but would speak behind the person's back. This is not being honest. If you cannot say something before his face, you should not say it behind his back. If you cannot say it in the light, neither should you say it in the dark. Elders must learn to be honest to this extent. It is not wrong if you cannot say something face to face, for the environment or condition may not permit it. Furthermore, we must learn to live before God, because sometimes even God would not allow us to say it. But it is absolutely not right for you not to say something before a certain person's face, yet say it before others, or to paint a white picture in front of one person, yet paint a black one in front of another. All the elders who are a profit to the church are truthful ones. If I can speak something and I have the inner guidance to say it, I should say it. But if I cannot speak something and do not have the inner guidance to say it either, I should not say it. All that I say should be the same regardless to whom I say it—whether to man, to God, or even to Satan. This is an elder. This type of honest person never fears confrontation. He speaks the same word to those who oppose him as to those who agree with him. He never fears confronting two opposing parties.

Brothers, do not think this lesson is easy to learn. I believe all of you desire to serve the Lord, and none of you are dishonest. But this refers to honesty in the general sense. The honesty we speak of today means more; it means to be without any skirting of issues or manipulating. I must learn only to be restrained by God and to live before Him. When it is yes, I say yes; when it is no, I say no. When it is permissible, I do it; when it is not permissible, I will not do it. Furthermore, whatever I do in public, I do the same in private. This is the honesty of which we speak. Only this kind of a heart can render the church real profit. The administration of the church is not a matter of speculation; you cannot play politics and think that as long as you are successful, nothing else matters. This will not work; it will never withstand the test of time. If you are a two-faced person, others may not know it at the time, yet given time, all will know. Time is the proof of all things. In order for the church to profit, an elder must learn to be a person with an honest heart.