Second, we must be transformed in the soul by the renewing of our mind, the leading part of the soul (v. 2). Our body has to be offered, released, and set free from so many occupations, and our soul, our being, has to be transformed. We should not bring in old, natural concepts. The more we bring in natural concepts, the more we will be killed in function. In order to function in a proper, adequate way, we have to be transformed by the renewing of our mind. We need to have our mind renewed to have a new concept and new understanding.
Third, we have to be burning in our spirit (v. 11). Our body has to be offered, our soul has to be transformed, and our spirit has to be burning by contacting the Lord. We need to contact the Lord in the spirit continually. Then we will be on fire; we will be burning in spirit.
If we are short in any of the above matters related to the body, soul, and spirit, then we cannot function adequately. Someone may say that he has given up his business and is serving the Lord with his full time; thus, his body is released. That may be good, but what about transformation? What about the renewing of the mind? Someone may claim that he has studied in a seminary and graduated from a prestigious school. That is too old. That annuls his function. He has to be renewed in the mind. Someone else may say that he is a medical doctor or professor and that he knows many things. Do not say this; this will just kill you. Forget about those things. Our mind must be renewed. Someone else may say, “I am an experienced business man with a lot of knowledge of how to do things, manage, and organize.” Forget about that too. That has to be put on the cross. A bank or a business corporation needs that, but the Body does not need it. You have to be renewed.
Someone else may say, “Praise the Lord, I have given up philosophy, a doctoral degree, my position as bank manager, and even the seminary.” This is good. It means his mind is renewed. However, what about his spirit? Is his spirit on fire? This requires a continual contact with the Lord. Day by day and hour by hour we must be on fire in the spirit. If our body is offered, our soul is being transformed, and our spirit is also burning, then we will be able to function.
Our capacity for grace depends on these three things—we offer our body to the Lord, we are willing to be transformed, and we are burned by the Lord day by day. In this way we will have more capacity for grace, and Christ will come in and fill us. Then according to this capacity of grace, the Lord will give us a certain function as a gift, and we ourselves will become a gift given to the Body. We must first be in Romans 12, and then we can be in Ephesians 4. When our body is offered, our being, our soul, is transformed, and our spirit is on fire, we have the capacity for the Lord to come in as our grace. We will be filled with grace, and out of this grace and based upon this grace, a certain function will be given to us as a gift. Spontaneously we will receive a gift, and then as members we will be gifts to the Body. In this way the Body will be rich, and it will be built up.
Suppose that all the brothers and sisters are occupied. The young brothers and sisters are occupied by their studies and their degree: first their B.A., then their M.A., then one Ph.D., and then another. The mothers are occupied by their children, the housewives are occupied by their homes, and the brothers are occupied by their business. Can we have the Body in this way? In one place a brother told me, apparently with a good spirit, “Today is a day of science, so anything that we do, we have to do it scientifically. In any kind of business or operation, there is a scientific way to carry it out. In the church life we must apply this principle. We should not expect every brother or sister to minister and function. Some have to study, some have to take care of their children, some have to take care of their homes, and some have to take care of their business. They simply do not have the time to function in the church. Therefore, it is right to train someone to be an expert. Then the church can pay him to function.” This thought is something of the natural concept. The church is not a social body. The church is the Body of Christ, and we all are members of this Body. Can a member of the Body say, “I have too many things to take care of, so I am willing to pay the shoulder to take care of my function”? If one member can say this, then all the members can say it also. Then what kind of body would that be? That would not be a body at all.
We all have to realize that we are here on this earth not for study, for our home, or for our business. We are priests on this earth to serve the Lord. We are living here for the service, for the testimony of the Lord, just as the priests did. Of course, we need something for our existence. We need food, clothing, housing, marriage, and children for our existence; there is no doubt about this. However, we should not sacrifice the service for our existence. Our existence is for the service. If we cannot release ourselves, how can we serve?
The proper principle is that we have to be balanced. If you are a student who must study very hard, if possible, you should reduce your studies a little in order to set your body free with respect to your time. You may have to take more time to finish your education in order to save some time for your body to be released. In addition, if you can live not in a luxurious way but in a proper way by making a certain amount of money each month, that is good enough. Do not work more to make more money. That is to sell yourself to the slavery of money. To have a proper, healthy, good life up to a certain standard is good enough. Do not raise your standard of living. If you raise your standard, you will sell yourself to the slavery of a high standard of living. This is the subtlety of the enemy. We should always keep our living simple without damaging our physical life. As long as we live in a healthy way, that is good enough. Then we can save our time and energy for the service, and we will have the capacity for grace. No doubt, we should not neglect our children. We have to raise our children and care for them, but we should not care too much. We should keep a balance. We are not here on this earth for our children. We are here for the service. Our housing, our food, our clothing, our marriage, our family, and our children are all for our existence, and our existence is for the service.
Why can Christians today not function? It is because their bodies are occupied and preoccupied. A millionaire can give ten thousand dollars a year to the church to fund a building, but he may not be able to function. The Lord does not want these things. Ten thousand, one hundred thousand, and millions of dollars mean nothing to Him. The Lord wants us. According to Romans 12:1, He wants us to offer our body as a living sacrifice. What matters to the Lord is not money but the living person, our body. We have to release our body from so many occupations.
We look to the Lord’s mercy. When we speak of the Lord’s recovery, we include this matter. There must be a group of Christians in the United States who truly live for the Lord. We must live in a proper way, not in a poor way as beggars, and we may even live richly, but nothing occupies us (1 Tim. 6:6-10). We are existing here for the divine service. There is no doubt that we should encourage our young people to study and graduate from school with a proper education. We also must encourage our sisters to take care of their homes and to raise children in a proper way. However, we have to keep a balance and keep the principle. We are here not for our studies, not for the family, not for raising children, not to care for homes, and not for doing business. We are here for the service. In order that we may live, that we may exist, we need these things, but only up to a proper standard. Nothing should preoccupy us.