THE ELEMENT OF OUR ONENESS
This oneness is made real and practical by means of the anointing that is upon Christ the Head and that spreads upon the Body. As long as we remain in the Body, we share the ointment. In this ointment we are one. Hence, the anointing of the compound, all-inclusive, life-giving Spirit is the element of our oneness. This means that to be one as members of the church is to be under the Spirit’s anointing. If we are not under this anointing, we cannot be one with anyone, not even with ourselves.
Oneness does not depend upon our natural ability to get along with others. Some believers may even be proud of having the kind of disposition that makes it easy for them to be one with other people. However, this kind of oneness is not the precious oneness revealed in the Bible. Actually, it is a very distasteful and uncomely sort of oneness. A person who boasts of this kind of oneness actually is not able to be one with others over a long period of time. On the contrary, he may eventually cause a great deal of disturbance. Genuine oneness consists in the anointing of the compound, all-inclusive Spirit as the ultimate consummation of the Triune God. Only under such an anointing do we have a genuine, unchanging oneness. Thousands of us can testify of the oneness we enjoy under the anointing of the compound Spirit. Our oneness has its source in the mysterious mingling of the processed Triune God with the believers. As we pointed out in the foregoing chapter, the more we are coated with the compound ointment, the more we are one. Praise the Lord that the all-inclusive Spirit is continually "painting" us!
DWELLING ON ONE OF THE "PEAKS"
The person aspect of the church is practical, but the place aspect is even more practical. Regarding the church as the universal person, we may not have any problems. However, concerning the church as the local mountains of Zion, we may have problems, for we may not be happy with the church in our locality, and we may desire to move elsewhere. But if we move to another city, we soon find the same problems in that place. The reason is that we ourselves are the same and that we are the cause of the problem. Some have assured me that they would never leave the church life. Nevertheless, discontent where they are, they like to have their choice of a "mountain." I can testify that as far as I am concerned, every "mountain" is the same. No matter where I am, I still praise the Lord and experience His work of transformation.
Those who move from place to place may love the universal church, but they have problems with the local church. They may declare that they have seen the Body of Christ and that they love the Lord’s recovery. However, no matter in what locality they reside, they always have some difficulty with that "peak" of Zion. They may imagine that a church in a particular locality is outstanding. But as soon as they move there, they are disappointed, finding it no better than the "mountain" from which they have just moved. There is no need for us to move from "mountain" to "mountain." We should simply dwell on one of the peaks of Zion and enjoy there the descending dew of Hermon.
(The Genuine Ground of Oneness, Chapter 7, by Witness Lee)
