Out of Many, One: An Exhortation for Unity from John 17

In today’s postmodern, post secular, post Christendom world, there is a growing movement among the faithful adherents to our world’s religions to fragment off from one another based on doctrinal, traditional, liturgical, and a wide variety of other reasons and create individual communities that represent unique and organic expressions of their religious faith. This fragmentation has affected no community more than the Church of Jesus Christ as she continues to divide and diversify in her expressions around the world. While it is vitally important to uphold the unique expressions of faith and doctrinal variations among global Christians, the division that has been caused by our desire to homogenize parishes and entire theological communities and denominations based on our preferences, down to the minutia, has severely stunted the mission and power of the Church of Jesus Christ in our world and enforced an image of Christianity upon our global society that we are a fundamentally undecided and divided people. This image not only detracts from the Churches in the world but it causes our world to turn away from the Gospel because they see us as a confused and uncertain people. This division has been recognized throughout Christian history as a great sin with grave consequences, and has sparked a global ecumenical movement rooted in the core belief that our of our ample differences as various denominations and sects, we are called to function as one united Church with one mission and vision for our world. This movement and reenvisioning of the Church has found its rooting almost solely in the words of Jesus Christ as recorded in the Gospel of John, Chapter 17.

To Know Christ Is To Participate In Eternal Life.

After Jesus said these things, he looked toward heaven and prayed, “Father, the time has come. Give glory to your Son so that the Son can give glory to you. ² You gave the Son power over all people so that the Son could give eternal life to all those you gave him. ³ And this is eternal life: that people know you, the only true God, and that they know Jesus Christ, the One you sent. ⁴ Having finished the work you gave me to do, I brought you glory on earth. ⁵ And now, Father, give me glory with you; give me the glory I had with you before the world was made.

Despite our many differences, every Christian church and denomination is united in the singular mission to know Christ and to make him known. Every Christian who knows Jesus Christ is a participant in the Kingdom of God and a full beneficiary of the abundant and eternal life that Christ desires for the world. It is a grave error for the Church to forsake fellowship with any Christians who know Christ and are participants in eternal life based on doctrinal, liturgical, or social differences. While it is important to contend for the faith that has been handed to us, based on our convictions before God through our understanding of Scripture, we cannot use diversity of opinion on minor doctrines (which includes all doctrines that are not addressed in the Creeds) to be a reason for division and schism. Instead, in order to glorify Christ most abundantly, we must embrace each difference within the Church as a sure sign of the Spirit moving and the Church faithfully journeying towards Christ and participate in discussions and debates for the sake of better understanding and solidifying our own view. By allowing divisions to occur in the body of Christ and by judging other Christians as “non-participants in Christ” we are not only hindering the mission of Christ’s Church but detracting from his glory which shines through the stained glass of our diversity.

Christ Loves His Church and Desires That We Stand Safely In His Care.

⁶ “I showed what you are like to those you gave me from the world. They belonged to you, and you gave them to me, and they have obeyed your teaching. ⁷ Now they know that everything you gave me comes from you. ⁸ I gave them the teachings you gave me, and they accepted them. They knew that I truly came from you, and they believed that you sent me. ⁹ I am praying for them. I am not praying for people in the world but for those you gave me, because they are yours. ¹⁰ All I have is yours, and all you have is mine. And my glory is shown through them. ¹¹ I am coming to you; I will not stay in the world any longer. But they are still in the world. Holy Father, keep them safe by the power of your name, the name you gave me, so that they will be one, just as you and I are one. ¹² While I was with them, I kept them safe by the power of your name, the name you gave me. I protected them, and only one of them, the one worthy of destruction, was lost so that the Scripture would come true.

The Church is the apple of God’s eye and the vehicle that God has chosen to use to glorify him and bring about the redemption of the cosmos. Christ’s life and teachings were given to the Church in order that they might know who God is and what God is like and model their lives after his path. When the Church united lives in the way of Jesus, we shine forth his glory to the world in the most powerful ways. When the Church of Christ is united to do acts of justice and evangelism, as Christ himself taught us, we become a witness to the world of the living Savior who loves and desires to be reconciled to them. Even as Christ ascended and is now seated at the right hand of the Father in glory, he has sent to us his Spirit to guide, protect, and unite us in common vision and mission. The Spirit empowers the Church universal to be the hands and feet of Jesus Christ on the earth as it is in heaven and to be the heralds of the eternal Gospel which has the power of save the lost souls of humankind.

Christ Desires His Church to Have Joy As They Serve In A Dark World

¹³ “I am coming to you now. But I pray these things while I am still in the world so that these followers can have all of my joy in them. ¹⁴ I have given them your teaching. And the world has hated them, because they don’t belong to the world, just as I don’t belong to the world. ¹⁵ I am not asking you to take them out of the world but to keep them safe from the Evil One. ¹⁶ They don’t belong to the world, just as I don’t belong to the world. ¹⁷ Make them ready for your service through your truth; your teaching is truth. ¹⁸ I have sent them into the world, just as you sent me into the world. ¹⁹ For their sake, I am making myself ready to serve so that they can be ready for their service of the truth.

The Church is called to be in unity with one another so that they might have joy.  We as God’s people are living in a world that is opposed to God and hates those who live in the way of Jesus. When we are united, we can withstand the harshest opposition and proclaim the teachings of Christ boldly, leaning on one another for support. If the Church is divided, she will fall under the weight of persecution and opposition. As the Church engages in the battle against the forces of Satan that seek to bring injustice and oppression to our world, we stand protected by God and endowed with the power of His Spirit. Through that power we are sent out into the world in service of the truth. But for that power to be fully manifest, we must be united and stand together as the manifestation and incarnation of God’s Kingdom on earth as it is in heaven. Only when the Church stands as one can we been an effective witness to our world and effectively stand in opposition to the forces of evil.

Christ Desires His People to Be Intimately United As a Witness to God’s Love

²⁰ “I pray for these followers, but I am also praying for all those who will believe in me because of their teaching. ²¹ Father, I pray that they can be one. As you are in me and I am in you, I pray that they can also be one in us. Then the world will believe that you sent me. ²² I have given these people the glory that you gave me so that they can be one, just as you and I are one. ²³ I will be in them and you will be in me so that they will be completely one. Then the world will know that you sent me and that you loved them just as much as you loved me.

The Church, in union with God, is called to be the visible representation on the invisible God who is united in perfect love and unity, Father, Son, and Spirit. Therefore, the Church, in order to image God well in the world, must be committed to unity among its diversity. When the Church is able to overcome its differences and unite, we will shine forth the glorious light of Christ, manifesting God in our world. When we work together, the power of the Church is immense. We are able to overcome the darkest of injustices and proclaim beautifully the message of the Gospel. But that witness is only possible when we are one. When we are united around the person of Jesus and in the cause of his love, we faithfully show forth God’s love to creation. As we stand divided, we cannot witness to the Love of God effectively, for we do not manifest the unity that such Love necessarily manifests. It is vital that the Church works towards absolute unity among all of our differing factions in order that the world may see and know the love of Jesus Christ our Lord.

Christ Desires to Be With and In All of His People.

²⁴ “Father, I want these people that you gave me to be with me where I am. I want them to see my glory, which you gave me because you loved me before the world was made. ²⁵ Father, you are the One who is good. The world does not know you, but I know you, and these people know you sent me. ²⁶ I showed them what you are like, and I will show them again. Then they will have the same love that you have for me, and I will live in them.”

All of us, with all of the diversity that exists within our expressions of faith are united by the Holy Spirit of God living within us. The same Spirit that is in our denomination is the Spirit at work in all Christians worldwide, including those with whom we may fundamentally disagree with. However, Christ has called all of us together to be His people, the ones whom he loves and desires to manifest love to the entire world.  Ultimately, Christ desires that we all spend eternity with and in him in the New Heaven and New Earth. All of us, with our differing theological, traditional, and liturgical perspectives, will stand as one Bride united with our one Bride-Groom eternally. But until that day, the Church, in all of her waywardness, is called to unite around and in Christ and together strive to live like Him. In doing so, we image God to a world that is estranged from him and we will incarnate the eternal love that is shared between the persons of our Trinitarian Godhead.

Overall, it is abundantly clear from the prayer and petition of our Lord as written in the Gospel of John that in order for the light and love of the Gospel to shine forth to our world in any transformative manner, the Church must be continually striving for unity. Our God is fundamentally an example of unity, three persons who are perfectly united and yet diverse in functions and roles. In the same way, the Church is diverse in practice, theology, and tradition but shares with one another one common faith, hope, and Lord. Through his sacrifice on the cross, Christ has put to death all of our distinctions and differences and made us into one new humanity through the power of his Spirit. Therefore, we must move forward in the coming ages as a united body who, though different in many ways, shares one common heartbeat for our world.

Until we can cease our endless infighting and displaying to our world the Christ is divided, we will continually fail to witness in the fullness of the power of the Spirit of God. But when we can stand united at the cross of Christ as one family, one body, one bride, our witness to the power of Jesus will be undeniable to on looking world. This unity and witness will not develop overnight and begins on the grassroots level, one parish reaching out to another, on Christian fellowshipping with another. Each individual disciple of Christ has a fundamental call to engage in ecumenical reconciliation in their own lives and communities, thereby manifesting the power of the Spirit of God through one subversive act of unity at a time. When every Christian takes seriously our call to unity on an individual level, then the Church globally will be enabled to move forward and begin the process of healing our self-inflicted wounds and divisions.

I believe that this is the constant prayer and desire of our common Lord, who is the head on the single Church that we all belong to through our faith in him. It is my prayer that this passion for unity and mission would continue to grow in the hearts of God’s people so that we may become, once again, the beacon of truth and life that Christ has called and empowered us to be. May it be so. Amen.