Section 2
oneness that many Christians are talking about today is just a piling up. Sometimes, however, it is not even a piling up; it is a matter of one per son who is far away from another saying, "We are one." Brother Watchman Nee describes this kind of oneness as shaking hands over the fence. But the oneness today often is not even a shak ing hands over the fence, but a begging of peo ple who are far away from one another. One on the east coast may plead with one on the west coast to be one with him saying, "Dear brother, I am one with you." The one on the west coast may reply, "Yes, I am one with you," yet in his heart he says, "If we don't keep a safe distance between us, we shall offend one another."
If this is real oneness, where is the Body? The situation today is that the shoulder is afraid of the neck, wanting to keep a safe distance away from it. The eye is also afraid of the nose, saying, "Brother nose, you are too strong. I dare not stay with you. I want to be polite to you and nice to you, but I must keep a safe distance from you." Most Christian workers are not willing to be one with others. Such a situation is not oneness. The genuine oneness is the building up. Look at the oneness of your physical body: that oneness is a matter of being built up. We all must see that