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 to the glory that You gave Me, that they may be one as We are one: I in them and You in Me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that You sent Me and have loved them even as You have loved Me."
John 17:20-23
The cry of Jesus's heart to God, His deepest desire for believers, was for Christians to be unified as one just as He and His Father are one. Jesus knew this would be an ongoing battle for those who believe in Him- the church. He knew a war was waged. Satan knew, now more than ever, that ultimately he had lost in the very moment Jesus rose from the deathly grave and Jesus knew he wasn't going down without a fight. He would be using any and every tactic to malign the good news from being spread and God's kingdom being advanced.
My boys and I studied the Renaissance period and the Church Reformation during this time period this past school year. When I study the history of the church I am awestruck how so many thousands of generations have been deceived by the "father of Lies". It was so bad that Christians were killing other Christians in the most unthinkable ways due to their differences of interpreting God's Word. Even to this day we have not learned from our ancestor's mistakes. There is constant strife and division between denominations and sects, beliefs and convictions.
Or perhaps taking a look at the individual. I haven't lived a long life; a mere 34 years, but already in that tiny period of time, I know over a dozen Christ followers who have left a church over differences in belief or personal preference of what they want church to be like for them, or a hurt that they just can't move beyond. I have watched people trade their emotion for TRUTH and the rift and division that it causes within the church Body (I have even fallen into this trap of lies in my youth); the moral that it damages and each party's hurt and pain while remaining in it, harboring those emotions and feelings, or coming out of it only slows His efforts. This is exactly the agenda that Satan is pushing forward and his intent in his work of webbed lies.
This was not Jesus's desire. The fact that Jesus mentions the concept of being unified three consecutive times in His prayer to God was a way, in that culture and language, to place a great emphasis on that particular point. Jesus emphasized His desire and a powerful point. Paul also wrote:
"I appeal to you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another so that there may be no divisions among you and that you may be perfectly united in mind and thought." 1 Corinthians 1:10
May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you a spirit of unity among yourselves as you follow Christ Jesus, so that with one heart and mouth you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God.
Romans 15:5-7
As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. Ephesians 4:1-4
This was not Jesus's desire. The fact that Jesus mentions the concept of being unified three consecutive times in His prayer to God was a way, in that culture and language, to place a great emphasis on that particular point. Jesus emphasized His desire and a powerful point. Paul also wrote:
"I appeal to you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another so that there may be no divisions among you and that you may be perfectly united in mind and thought." 1 Corinthians 1:10
Paul is not talking about coming to an agreement about the interpretations of the scripture, nor in our ideas of what a church service should look like or how the church or any one person in the church body should be meeting a person's emotional and intellectual needs or feelings (that's God's job) or even the political standpoints of believers. Paul is charging all Christians everywhere to be unified in the one thing that stands above it all, the mission of spreading the message that God sent Jesus and the incredible love story that that is to us all; especially an unchurched person (John 17:20-23). As far as our differences, "we are to throw off EVERYTHING that hinders us and the snare that so easily entangles us" (Hebrews 12:1) and we must, we MUST, be unified in advancing the gospel in our community! For our "battle is not against flesh and blood (against other people)" (Ephesians 6:12). It's not! Whatever grievances (Col. 3:13) you have with the church, with another believer who has hurt and wronged you at any level, let it go! Let it go for the bigger war that is waged against us. Let it go for this world that is fleeting and the billions of souls that are perishing. Our fight should not be against the church- each other, our fight should be to have "complete unity to let the world know that [God] sent [Jesus] and have loves them...." We cannot let this be discredited to less than what it is! It. is. everything!
In the story of the Tower of Babel, scripture says, that "the whole world had one language and a common speech." They all came together under that one common thread: language, and accomplished a magnificent feat! In fact God Himself said of it, "If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them." These people were unified and God said NOTHING they plan to do will be impossible! God destroyed it because man was building something for their own personal glory. Can you imagine the flood of lost souls that would be saved if we, as Christians, were unified with one mission and vision in mind, throwing off everything else that hinders that, and then, the best part, God would fuel it because He would be SO for it since it would be all for HIS glory and not man's!
Jesus, the Gospel, God's perfect picture of His great love for us. This is the wellspring of life. Jesus, who set his own feelings and the ways He was wronged, aside for the sake of saving us all. -We are called to do the same.
However, I consider my life worth nothing to me; my only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me-the task of testifying to the good news of God's grace.
Acts 20:24
May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you a spirit of unity among yourselves as you follow Christ Jesus, so that with one heart and mouth you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God.
Romans 15:5-7
As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. Ephesians 4:1-4
