Romans 12:11 speaks concerning the Body life. This verse says, “In diligence not slothful; fervent in spirit; serving the Lord” (ASV). In this short verse four matters are mentioned—being diligent, not being slothful, being fervent in spirit, and serving the Lord. Apparently these matters are not involved with our character, but actually they are altogether related to our character.
A slothful person will surely have an improper character. I have never met a person who had a strict character and yet was lazy. If you are a lazy person with a slothful character, you cannot be diligent. It is impossible for a lazy person to be diligent because being diligent requires too much effort. According to a lazy person, the best thing to do is to not do anything and to not care about anything.
A person who is diligent will spontaneously be fervent in spirit. In other words, a fervent spirit follows diligence. If you are a slothful person, you will not be fervent in spirit. Instead, you will be extremely cold in spirit. It is quite difficult to start a fire in a refrigerator, but it is very easy to start a fire where there are gas vapors or gasoline. Hence, starting a fire is not only a matter of the fire itself, but it is also a matter of what is used to start it. If you are fervent in spirit, you will be like gas vapors or gasoline and will be easily kindled by even a little contact.
D. L. Moody was a powerful gospel preacher. He once said that he had never seen a lazy person get saved. This is true. I have been preaching the word for many years, and I also have not seen a lazy person get saved. This shows that a lazy person is one who is loose in character, who does not care about anything, and who is indifferent toward everything. He is lazy to such an extent that he does not even want to get saved. I have seen two kinds of young people. One kind is diligent, and the other kind is slothful. The diligent ones are concerned about everything wherever they are. Even when they are staying in other people’s homes, they are concerned about whether or not the doors and windows are locked and the lights are turned off. The slothful ones, however, are so lazy that they would not care even if the house were burning down. In a gospel meeting if there are many gospel friends who are diligent, this is an indication that many will get saved. Regrettably, if there are many in the meeting who are lazy, then you should not expect them to give you a quick response, because they will be too lazy to respond.
Today the most important matter regarding our service to the Lord is that we must be fervent and burning in spirit. Whether or not our spirit can be burning depends very much on our character. We should not expect a loose person to be burning within. It is difficult even to start a fire in such a one. According to my observation, those who are genuinely spiritual tend to have quick dispositions. It is difficult for a slow person to become spiritual. Brother Watchman Nee was greatly helped by Miss M. E. Barber, who was much older than he. I never met her, but many who had met her told me that she was a very quick person. Of course, a person who has a quick disposition and does things in a rush also tends to make many mistakes. A wooden chair or a statue of Mary will never make any mistakes because it never moves. Therefore, it is also worthless to be slow. It is difficult for the Holy Spirit to touch a slow person because such a person is indifferent. Everything you say is about the same to him, making it difficult to touch him.
If you have ever lived in the brothers’ and sisters’ houses, then you have probably discovered that those with a quick temperament are usually the first ones to be touched when listening to a message in the meeting, while those who are slow are seldom touched. Sometimes when you weep for the slow ones, instead of being touched, they ask why you are weeping. Perhaps you have been moved to such an extent that you are in the third heavens, and your whole being has been set on fire by the inner fire, yet they remain puzzled. The reason they are like this is that they are loose and poor in their character. According to what I know, those who do well in school are those who are strong in character. The first ones to believe in the Lord and the most fervent ones in the pursuit of spirituality are those who are strong in character. It is very easy for the Holy Spirit to work on those who are strong in character. When we preach the gospel to students, what we fear the most is meeting people who are like jellyfish, because people like this are poor in character. They drag their feet and are indecisive about everything.
The subject of Romans 12 is the living and service in the Body of Christ. In the service in the Body, those who are the most difficult to coordinate with are those who are weak in character. Hence, Paul’s speaking in verse 11 is focused on character. If a person is poor in character, there is no way for him to coordinate with others because his spirit cannot be set on fire. If you observe those who pursue the Lord together and then check your own experience, you will find that it is not easy for those who are loose in character to be touched in their spirit. They are not touched when they read the Bible, nor are they touched when they listen to a message. When listening to a testimony, they think that there is nothing remarkable about it. To those who have a poor character, everything is about the same. Even when there is a great sense of urgency, they remain unmoved.
In the early years of my experience of preaching the gospel, what I feared the most was meeting people who were lazy. Moreover, whenever I went out to labor, I was very afraid of having co-workers who were loose in their character. In mainland China we were always in a hurry to catch the train. Because of this, whenever I went out to labor with a co-worker who was loose in character, I always needed an extra supply of the Lord’s grace and patience. I had to do everything for these ones, because regardless of how much I tried to hurry them, they would still be very slow and unhurried. Thus, many matters were delayed.
I truly appreciate you young brothers and sisters who are giving up your future and consecrating all that you have to the Lord in your youth. However, what concerns me the most is the matter of your character. The Chinese environment in particular is a major hindrance to the building up of a proper character. For over fifty years I have been fighting the battle in the Lord’s recovery, and part of the battle has been related to our character. I admit that I have not gotten through in this matter. A Chinese proverb says that changing one’s nature is harder than changing mountains and rivers. This is not an exaggeration. It is truly difficult to change one’s character. You are here to be trained so that you may be formed into an army to go to the villages for the spread of the gospel. Whether you succeed or fail in this matter will depend on your character training today.