Serving the Lord is also a matter of the heart, a matter of desire. When we speak concerning the heart, the desire to serve the Lord, we must first speak of the Lord’s love. One who is genuinely saved has tasted the Lord’s love. Even an indifferent Christian, a backsliding believer, has been touched by the Lord’s love. According to the Chinese Union Version, in 2 Corinthians 5:14-15 the apostle Paul says that as we consider how the Lord died for all, His love will motivate us and cause us to no longer live to ourselves but to Him. This story of love can never be quenched in a Christian, and it always stirs our heart, our desire, so that we cannot help but serve God.
Moreover, in Romans 12:1 the apostle Paul says, “I exhort you...through the compassions of God to present your bodies a living sacrifice...to God, which is your reasonable service.” To serve God in this way is reasonable; it is logical and rational, because we are people saved by grace and loved by God. Who does not have a desire to repay God for the grace he has received? Who can withhold his response to being loved by God? Since we have received the Lord’s grace and love, we spontaneously have a response of love in our heart and are willing to present ourselves to the Lord to serve Him.
For this reason, our serving the Lord is also a matter of our heart. Every believer has felt the Lord’s love within him and has been motivated by this love. Therefore, there is a spontaneous response in us to want to serve God and live for Him. There is no reluctance to serve in this life, and there should not be any reluctance in us.
The Lord never forces or compels us to do anything. He asks us to serve Him by stirring our heart with His gentle love so that we would serve Him willingly. When the Lord appeared to Peter at the Sea of Tiberias and asked Peter to serve Him, He asked him three times, “Do you love Me?” (John 21:15-17). It was by this love that the Lord attracted and motivated Peter to rise up and serve Him by shepherding His sheep. The Lord did not come to force Peter to serve Him; rather, He motivated and attracted Peter inwardly with love. His love was the factor that made it impossible for Peter not to serve Him.
Therefore, serving the Lord involves our status, a requirement of life, and the desire of our heart. These three points show that it is perfectly right and reasonable for us to serve the Lord. As far as our status and position are concerned, we are priests. Our occupation should be to serve God. If we do not serve God, we have the wrong occupation. This is similar to a doctor who does not see patients but instead sweeps the streets. His occupation has completely changed. As far as the divine life within us is concerned, there is a characteristic of service. The more we live by this life, the more we will serve. This is a wonderful matter. Furthermore, as the Lord’s love motivates us, we have a heart for Him and we desire to serve Him. Hence, it is logical and reasonable from every aspect for us to serve the Lord.
There is also the practice of service. We now have the status, the standing, to serve, the life to serve, and the desire to serve because of the Lord’s love. But how do we actually serve?
In whatever we do, we need a proper ground, a proper setting. For example, a school is the proper setting for a teacher, a courtroom is the proper setting for a lawyer, a hospital is the proper setting for a doctor, and a workplace is the proper setting for an engineer. Similarly, to serve God, we must be in the church. The church is the proper setting for us to serve God. Without the church and without being in the church, our service would have no setting and would be aimless. For example, without the church where can we take someone whom we have led to salvation? We cannot tell him to simply pray and read the Bible at home. This is inadequate. How can we shepherd a person and lead him to serve the Lord after he is saved? The church alone is the answer to this question. The church is the proper setting to render the proper service. Hence, our service must be in the church. If we desire to serve the Lord, we must resolve the matter of the church and be in the church.
It is pitiful, however, that the church as the setting for service has been damaged by Satan. The situation of the church today is confusing, making it difficult for those who have risen up to love and serve God to know where they should serve and where they should bring the fruit of their service. It seems that there is no place for them to give themselves to. This is today’s pitiful condition. This is the reason we spoke concerning knowing the church in the previous lessons. According to what was spoken in those lessons, we must identify the proper church and be in such a church to serve God. If there is not a proper church in the place where we are, we must be faithful so that through us the Lord can raise up a church in that place that is according to His heart’s desire and on the proper ground. In this way there is the ground for us to serve, and a situation is opened up for all God’s children to have a place where they can give themselves to serve.
In order to serve God, we also need to be in the Body. In fact, to be in the church is to be in the Body because the church is the Body of Christ. However, there is a slight difference. With respect to serving in the church, the emphasis is on the setting for service, but with respect to serving in the Body, the emphasis is on the coordination in service. If we have the setting, we will not be aimless, and if we have the coordination, we will not be individualistic. If we do not serve in the church, we are a person without a proper setting, serving aimlessly, and if we do not serve in the Body, we are a person who is without coordination, serving individualistically.
It is a suffering and even an abnormal and terrifying thing for a member of a body, be it a hand, a foot, an ear, or an eye, to be individualistic and detached from the body. If a detached hand were placed in front of us, we would be terrified. When we shake hands with others, however, we think that the hand we are holding is lovely. But if a detached hand was put in front of us, we would definitely be scared. When a hand is attached to the body, it is lovely, but when this hand is detached from the body, it is terrifying. Certain believers today are hands that are detached from the Body of Christ. Such ones are truly terrifying! The loveliest members can become the most terrifying ones if they are detached from the Body.
A member that is outside of the Body is not only terrifying but also useless. Any member that is detached has lost its function. Hence, if we desire to be useful persons and manifest our function in the church, we must be joined to the Body and coordinate with all the brothers and sisters. We must see that we are merely one of many members in the Body. Any function we may have depends upon the other members. Hence, no one can boast.
There is a story concerning the eyes boasting to the feet, saying, “If it were not for me, how could you see?” The feet on the ground refused to give in and said, “Do not boast. If it were not for my standing up, you would have already fallen down.” Therefore, the eyes cannot boast to the feet, and neither can the feet boast to the eyes. Both must learn to be humble. Even though every member has something to boast of, the members actually have nothing to boast of, because they are all mutually dependent.
Twenty years ago in northern China I had some experiences regarding coordination. We were having intensive gospel activities during the Chinese New Year. Although it was not on a large scale, we truly had authority, power, and God’s presence. I was responsible to speak in the meetings. Because of the heavy burden and solemnity of the occasion, my entire being was poured out for the speaking. After speaking twice a day, I was completely exhausted, not even having the strength to speak once I went home. Other than taking three meals, I could do nothing other than lie down. I did not even have the strength to pray. Although I could not pray myself, I did not feel any lack. My spirit felt that there was much prayer. I knew that many brothers and sisters were praying, and I stood on their prayers, applied their prayers, and relied on their prayers. I deeply felt that there was a prayer group upholding me with their prayers when I stood up to speak.
Anyone who attended those gospel meetings would admit that the gospel messages were not conveyed merely with words but with power and authority. The Holy Spirit was truly working, and there were many signs and wonders. Often people repented because their hidden sins were made manifest through the messages. This kind of power and authority came from the coordination of the Body. Although the burden of delivering the messages was heavy, the entire Body was in coordination, supplying and supporting the speaking one; hence, the speaking was altogether living and able to pierce into men’s deepest part like a sword. Through those gospel activities I truly experienced the need and impact of the coordination of the Body. In serving the Lord, we need the proper setting, and we need to learn to coordinate. The setting is the church, and the coordination is in the Body. As soon as we coordinate with the members of the Body, our beauty and function will be manifested.