Unity
“My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one—I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.” John 17:20-23 (NIV)
Jesus prayed this prayer for His disciples, and early in the prayer, He extended it to you and to me. He wants all of us, His followers, to be one as He and the Father are one. Now, that’s unity. In John 5:19 Jesus says, “I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself. He does only what he sees the Father doing. Whatever the Father does, the Son also does” (NLT). That’s a behavior worth striving for, to do what God the Father does. If we strive for that, we can make great headway in spreading the Gospel everywhere. I don’t think that we will be completely successful in doing only what the Father does, but I do believe that we can do better than we have been doing—at least I can. Jesus asks God that the Son would be in us and that the Father would be in Him, so that we could be brought to “complete unity.” Then the world would know that Jesus was sent from the Father, who loves us as He loves Jesus. Thank you, Jesus, for praying that prayer over us.
I am going to assume that God answered that prayer, and that it’s up to us to show the unity of the Church to the world, so that the Great Commission can be completed fabulously. As that prayer is answered, infighting among churches will cease, and we can all agree that Jesus is Lord and Savior for all who are willing to accept Him. We can agree and preach that Jesus is the son of God and the ONLY way to eternal life in heaven. We can have various differences about how we run our churches and even how we run our worship services. Some of us can even sing hymns while others can sing praise and worship choruses. We might even get to appreciate each others’ music. Pastors might even feel comfortable to trade pulpits for a Sunday. Now, remember, we are doing this in the unity described by Jesus in John 17:20-23. It will be great for Christians to feel at home in any church claiming to be Christian.
I know that this may almost seem like a fantasy, but that is what Jesus prayed for, and the Father certainly hears the prayers of Jesus, and I believe that He answers them. If we can do as Jesus asks, and as long as the position of Jesus is the same in each church, we can appreciate the differences in the various churches and maybe we can even get to enjoy them, knowing that not all people need the same type of worship service.
To God be the glory. Great things He hath done!
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