In this chapter we will fellowship concerning service. A Christian needs to pay attention to both life and service. In Matthew 25 there are two parables. The first parable, concerning the ten virgins, stresses life (vv. 1-13), whereas the second parable, concerning the distribution of talents, stresses service (vv. 14-30). In the aspect of life, we are virgins, loving the Lord, fellowshipping with Him, living a chaste, pure life, taking our lamps, and going out of this dark age to meet Him as our Bridegroom. At the same time, in the aspect of service, we are slaves of the Lord, who must be faithful with what He entrusts to us.
Romans 12 is a chapter on service in the church. If we read this chapter carefully, we will see that Paul is very wise in his speaking in the Holy Spirit. He first speaks of presenting our body, then of being transformed by the renewing of the mind, and finally of being burning in spirit (vv. 1-2, 11). His speaking corresponds to the three parts of our being. Our body should be presented, our mind should be renewed, and our spirit should be burning. All three parts of our being are involved in the service.
Some are burning in spirit, but their mind has not been renewed. In such a situation, a burning spirit cannot produce a proper result by itself. Some are burning in spirit and have been transformed in their mind, but their body is not presented. As such, their talk about service has no impact. Some have presented their body; that is, they attend every meeting and participate in various aspects of service. They pray, read the Bible, and fellowship with the saints, and they also help with cleaning, ushering, and visiting. However, their mind is old and in need of renewing. This is terrible. When such a person is not present, everything is peaceful, but whenever he is present, he disturbs the peaceful situation and causes the church to suffer loss. Honestly speaking, there are too many opinions in our service today. Without a doubt, these opinions are related to a lack of renewing in our mind. When our mind is renewed and transformed, there is harmony and oneness in our service.
In the church in Los Angeles there are brothers and sisters from many different races. In such a church the minds of the saints must be renewed in order to avoid conflict. I am thankful that the situation in Los Angeles is marvelous and that the meetings are truly beautiful. This situation could not be achieved even through the United Nations, because the church is more than a “United Nations.” We do not need to be united; we are simply one. We are one in the spirit. Furthermore, we need to be transformed by being renewed in our mind with the mind of Christ.
If we have presented our body and are renewed in our mind, we still need to be burning in spirit. We can use a steam locomotive as an illustration. A train may be at a station and its passengers can be properly seated, but the train conductor needs to fire up the boiler in the locomotive in order for the train to move forward. After we have presented our body and have been renewed and transformed in our mind, we still need to be burning in spirit. When we are burning in spirit, our entire being will move. We need to consider the condition of each part of our being.
We first need to consider whether or not our body has been presented. Presenting our body is a matter related to time. If we are unwilling to give our time, our body cannot be presented. When we consecrate our body, we are really consecrating our time. We live in our body, and our body lives in time. When we present our body, we are giving our time. If we say that we have a heart to love the Lord but are busy every day of the week, our body will not be presented. If we are very busy but agree to set aside half an hour a week to serve the Lord, we are presenting our body for half an hour. We need to see that presenting our body requires the giving of time.
Today the whole church should serve as priests. This is very practical. It is so practical that Paul says we should present our body. In order to present our body, we must set aside our time. For example, the Lord’s word that we need to be fishers of men touches us all (Matt. 4:19). However, in order to fish for men we need time; we cannot merely shout and declare in the meetings that we are fishers of men. Every fisherman knows that fishing is very laborious and time-consuming.
Many of us have told the Lord that we would lead one person to salvation in the coming year. However, without spending time, we will never lead one person to salvation. Time is required to carry this out. This does not mean that all our time, twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, must be devoted to this. We still need to work, eat, do household chores, and many other mundane matters. Nevertheless, the consecration of our time must be specific. Every week we should set aside at least two hours for the gospel. This is a must in order for us to be effective in preaching the gospel. We should set aside two hours every week, and we should be strict on ourselves in order to keep this time. We must redeem the time, the opportunity, for the sake of the gospel. Some may wonder whether or not it is possible to give two hours each week. We should not be concerned about this; we only need to be strict with ourselves. Just consider how much time is wasted with idle talk. If we truly love the Lord, we will set aside a specific time each week for the gospel.
Additionally, we should spend two hours each week to care for the saints whose condition is weaker than ours. If we do this, we will spend two hours a week caring for unbelievers and two hours caring for the saints. This means that, in addition to the meetings, we should set aside four hours each week to serve the Lord. If we do this, many will be led to salvation, and many will be raised up.
Because we waste our time, the Bible speaks of redeeming the time (Eph. 5:16). In this verse the Greek word translated “time” implies “opportunity.” Opportunities are hard to come by, so we need to seize every favorable opportunity. This is to redeem the time. When Paul says that we should present our body, the first implication of his word is that we should set aside our time.
The second implication of presenting our body is that we need to be practical. The most practical part of our being is our body. Our spirit may be very living, but a living spirit cannot engage in practical things all by itself. Even the thoughts in our mind cannot produce practical things apart from the involvement of our body. Our body is needed in order to do practical things related to a burning spirit and a renewed mind. In the past some brothers who did not practically meet with us would say, “I am sorry that I cannot bear the responsibility with you in the meeting. I will stand with you in my spirit.” In the beginning I appreciated this kind of word. But eventually I realized that these words were not practical, so I said, “Brother, if you truly stand with me, come with me. If you do not come with me, your words mean little.” Presenting our body requires service that is practical. There are seven days in a week, and we should set aside four hours a week to preach the gospel and care for the saints.