First Corinthians 7:29-31 says, “But this I say, brothers, the time is shortened. Henceforth both those who have wives should be as though they had none, and those who weep as though they did not weep, and those who rejoice as though they did not rejoice, and those who buy as though they did not possess, and those who use the world as though they did not abuse it; for the fashion of this world is passing away.” Paul’s word was very peculiar. In view of the greatness and glory of the indwelling Lord, all outward things had dwindled in significance. If we are filled with Christ, we will transcend all outward things. To a Christian, having a wife is as though having none, and those who do not have a wife need not ask for one. Weeping or not weeping does not matter. Those who rejoice do not have to worry if they are acting out of place. Those who possess are like those who do not, and those who use the world are like those who do not. God’s servants have to be flexible in all outward things. A Christian is one who transcends all outward things.
In Luke 10:38-42 Mary was quiet, while Martha labored. Both were right in their services. The Lord rebuked Martha, not because she was laboring, but because she was too busy; she even implored the Lord to send her sister to help her. She was too busy. It is right to labor, but one must be able to become calm as well. A worker of God should learn both to be quiet as well as to labor. It is not that easy to live a flexible life.
In all the lessons we learn related to our flesh, flexibility is probably the most difficult of them all. Some people have a hard time eating simple food; others have a harder time eating good food. These things are problems for them because they have made the kingdom of God a matter of eating and drinking. Paul said that the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit (Rom. 14:17). We have to learn to be a broad person, one who can accommodate everything. Madam Guyon once said that a man who is in perfect union with God is a teacher to the elderly and a friend to children. In 2 Corinthians 6:4-10 Paul went on a long discourse to show how flexible he was as a servant of the Lord: “As having nothing and yet possessing all things” (v. 10). This is the standard of God’s worker. Only those whose self has been thoroughly dealt with are able to live such a flexible life. It is difficult for some Christians to live a flexible life because they still live by their self. The self has its own concepts and ideas, and it always considers itself to be right. It will not submit to the sovereignty of the Holy Spirit. These Christians are lopsided. We should allow God to deal with our self. As soon as the self is gone, we can become flexible.
Hence, we must go through fundamental, thorough, and strict dealings before we can run a straight race before us. Only then will we be able to embrace the proper spiritual “contradictions” within us. God’s servants should always bear in mind that God’s way is never a single-track line, but a two-track line. Muslims are for the enjoyment of life. Buddhists are for suffering. But a standard Christian is not biased toward any side. He lives according to God’s sovereign arrangements, transcending the outward man. Paul’s outward man was alive, yet his inward man was hidden in God and was forever unshaken. Our true person is the one that lives in God; the outward man is merely a performance. It is a glorious thing for the inner man and the outward man to be separated from each other. The inner man should be hidden in God, while the outward man should be thoroughly broken. This is the basic qualification for working for God. Anyone who is bound in just one mode has not passed through the basic dealings.
Whenever a worker of the Lord goes to a place, he has to live the same way that the people in that place do. His clothing and food have to be the same as the people’s. If the gospel is confined by things like eating, drinking, and clothing, our faith will not be much different from that of the worldly religions; we will not convey the right flavor that is in our faith. Our Lord did not bring anything with Him when He came to the earth. He ate and drank. He was genuinely a man. The servant cannot be greater than the master. Our inner man has to be strengthened, while our outward man should not insist on anything. It should be happy to go along with anyone. For this reason, our outward man must be dealt with. The Christian life is neither a matter of eating nor of not eating. It is neither hedonism nor asceticism. The Christian life is flexible. What is within us is far greater and more glorious, and we should not be affected by the outward mode of living in any way.