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First and foremost, pass your tests of character.

In a world where systems can become deeply dysfunctional, to put it mildly, we must first learn to uphold our integrity, decency, and honor.

After all, we are children of God, created in the image of God (Genesis 1:27), and therefore endowed with grace and the fruit of the Spirit.  We are civilized individuals, are we not?

To engage in what is strictly forbidden—to commit blasphemy by claiming others as our own in desecration and violation of the temple of the Holy Spirit—is to forsake our birthright: serving people, humanity, and the world through stewardship (Genesis 1:26), and honoring the Lord with grace.

If we are to live in fellowship and fulfill our purpose as stewards, we must not destroy ourselves by indulging the forces of anger, fear, hatred, and greed.

Put simply, though it may be difficult to understand, anything outside holiness leads to death—living death, spiritual death, economic death, and death itself within unsustainable systems and ways of life.

The sense of power gained through conquering and destroying others is precisely that: a ruthless descent into the self-annihilation of one's own fruit of the Spirit and humanity, resulting in a living death—a self-imposed hell created for the sole purpose of harming others.

Power and control cannot achieve fellowship.  Without fellowship—the connection we share in communion with the Lord and the Holy Spirit—there is no church: "For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them." (Matthew 18:20).

For the church to exist, it must first ensure the purity of heart and fellowship necessary for communion with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Without the ability to connect with the Holy Spirit and the Lord, there can be no gathering of true believers and no church—only hypocrites and pretenders who feign salvation without receiving or heeding the Word of the Lord.

If our ultimate goal is to return home to heaven, we must first pass our tests of character and fulfill our responsibilities as stewards, rather than submit to dysfunctional systems characterized by anger, fear, hatred, and corruption.

If the church is to fulfill its purpose of guiding people toward salvation, it must remain steadfast in its practice of divine laws, fellowship, and purity of heart, so that connection with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit remains possible and is not obstructed by hypocrisy and sin.

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Therefore, first and foremost: pass your tests of character!

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