God’s interest is to transform human beings into a corpus delicti—a living proof—of achieving perfection like Christ, which makes it difficult for a spiritual leader to manipulate their ministry activities for personal gain. The first and foremost task is to strive to become a real-life example (a role model). After that, they must continuously teach the truth so that the mindset of the congregation can be transformed. Only when the truth of God’s Word or the pure Gospel changes a person’s way of thinking can their entire lifestyle be transformed according to God’s will. But if the mindset remains unchanged, then their lifestyle will never align with the standard of Jesus Christ.
Jesus said to Peter, “Very truly I tell you, when you were younger you dressed yourself and went where you wanted; but when you are old you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go” (John 21:18). Dressing yourself represents a life of freedom to pursue your interests. But stretching out your hands and being led where you do not want to go speaks of a life bound by God’s will—living to fulfill His will even at the cost of your life. Peter continued to serve the Lord faithfully until the end of his life, even when faced with a horrific death sentence.
In the past, we did not understand how someone could have no desires of their own. But the more we come to know the truth, the more our desires are pruned so that what grows within us is only the desire to do God’s will. This pruning process is to destroy the wishes of the flesh, the desires of the eyes, and the pride of life (1 John 2:15-17).
Pruning begins with the desires of the flesh—things related to food, drink, and sex. Then come the desires of the eyes—material needs like houses, cars, jewelry, and everything modern people consider necessities. These desires of the eyes are tied to consumerism and the typical lifestyle expected in today’s society. The last and most difficult is the pride of life, which includes self-worth, the pursuit of human praise, and the need for acceptance from others.
For a time, God allowed His disciples to follow Him with the wrong motives or a faulty foundation of faith, and this was tolerated because they had lived for so long with the incorrect worldview of the Jews, whose thinking was worldly. At one point, Jesus revealed that such thinking was actually from Satan (Matthew 16:16-23). How can we realize something is not from God? It requires understanding built through learning and the guidance of the Holy Spirit, which is serious work, not just a mystical revelation without hard effort.
Only after understanding the truth could the disciples follow Jesus with the right motivation. Right motivation cannot be obtained through mystical or supernatural revelation alone, but through a process of learning that opens a person’s understanding of the pure truth. Through this learning process, with the proper heart posture, someone can be delivered from ignorance and come to understand the truth entirely. This state is marked by the willingness to let go of personal desires and have no interests except to sacrifice for God.
This reflects our lives today. God still “permits” us to follow Him with the wrong motivations. It is hoped that over time, we will diligently learn from the Holy Spirit so we can grow and have our eyes opened to understand true Christianity and be transformed. This transformation will lead us to the death of self and allow the life of the Son of God to take over our lives. The principle is the same as with Jesus, whose food was to do the will of the Father and finish His work, which means birthing the life of Jesus within us. Only at this level can a person truly be said to live for God, to serve Him, or to live as His witness. A person like this is of the class known as “Corpus delicti”.
Sadly, many Christians never grow and are never raised as true followers of Christ. They may be fanatical about their church or pastor, but not fanatical about the person of Jesus. As a result, they never truly make Jesus their Lord. They call on the name of Jesus but do not submit themselves as His servants. They feel entitled to have interests concerning God, but they never consider God’s interests in their own lives.