Self-exaltation
A third cause of division is self-exaltation, which usually accompanies ambition. Some people, however, are ambitious but do not seem to exalt themselves. Others are ambitious and are consumed with the desire to have preeminence and to be exalted. Such self-exaltation is like a serpent; it causes division among the saints. Therefore, in order to keep the genuine oneness, we must learn not to exalt ourselves.
If you are an elder or a leading one, you should not boast about this. Do not claim that you are somebody. It is better to be nobody. Recently, I heard that a certain Christian group has a slogan that in their fellowship they make everybody somebody. The church, on the contrary, makes everybody nobody. If you want to be somebody, you should not come to the church, for this is not the place for you. Instead, you should go to that group that claims to make everybody somebody. In the Lord’s recovery everyone is brought low. But praise the Lord, we are willing to be nobody and to exalt Christ, who has the universal preeminence! Christ is the only Somebody. We like to be nobodies, because by being nobodies, we are truly one.
During the past months I have told the elders at least a few times that I like to be despised, attacked, criticized, and defamed. I do not want to publish any books with the intention of making myself famous. I do not even care now to print any more refutals of the false accusations made against us. Some have encouraged me to publish a book refuting that slanderous book called The God-Men. But when I brought this matter to the Lord, the Lord said, “Don’t do anything. Let them oppose you. You should simply live a crucified life. The victory is not with outward fame; it is with the crucified life. Let others defame you, criticize you, and oppose you. It is enough that I am with you and that you live a crucified life.” Here in the crucified life self-exaltation is defeated. Hallelujah, in God’s economy the preeminence belongs to Christ alone! It pleases the Father to give Him the first place in all things (Col. 1:18).
I thank the Lord that the vast majority of the saints are willing to be nobodies so that we can have the genuine oneness. During the past fifty years we have encountered opposition and rebellion. However, most of the saints in the Lord’s recovery have been faithful. Only a small percentage have caused trouble. But even the trouble caused by them has been a help to us. How we thank the Lord for the sanctifying truth that defeats worldliness, ambition, and self-exaltation!
Opinions and Concepts
The fourth factor of division is opinion and concept. Opinion is like a scorpion. We should not hold to our own opinion but simply pursue the Lord’s goal: the recovery of Christ as life and as everything for the building up of the church. Those who have been with me throughout the years can testify that I do not insist on anything except Christ as life and as everything to us for the church. We should all be for this, not for our opinions and concepts regarding other things.
The four factors of division—worldliness, ambition, self-exaltation, and opinion—can be dealt with only by the sanctifying truth. Do you think that if you contact the Lord every morning, touch the living Word, and have the divine reality infused into your being, you will still be divisive? I do not believe it. As we contact the Lord in this way, the factors of division are overcome. What I am sharing here is not a mere teaching; it is my own experience.
When the factors of division in us are put to death by the sanctifying truth, we are brought into the genuine oneness, for sanctification keeps us in the Triune God. Only by being in the Triune God do we have the genuine oneness. Christians today are divided by worldliness, ambition, self-exaltation, and opinions and concepts. It is impossible for worldly Christians, ambitious Christians, self-exalting Christians, or opinionated Christians to be one. The Lord’s recovery, on the contrary, is based upon the genuine oneness, which we can have only by being sanctified through the word of truth. This is clearly revealed in the Gospel of John. When worldliness, ambition, self-exaltation, and opinion are dealt with by the sanctifying word of truth, we are kept in the Triune God and we have genuine oneness.
MAINTAINING THE GENUINE ONENESS
The fact that the Lord cares for the genuine oneness among His people is seen by the rather negative record in Matthew 18:15-17. According to these verses, if a brother sins, we are to reprove him. But if he does not hear us, we should take one or two witnesses. If he still refuses to hear, we should bring the matter to the church. Then if he is not willing to hear the church, he should be regarded as a Gentile and a tax collector. To be considered by the church a Gentile and a tax collector means to be outside the fellowship of the church. Those who are rebellious or disobedient to the church are to be viewed by the church as outside the fellowship. This is necessary to maintain the genuine oneness among God’s people.