To Jesus, unity is one of the most important things for the church to emulate. Of all the things he could pray for the night before he died, he prayed for unity . . .
“My prayer is not for them (the disciples) 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. 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. Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world. Righteous Father, though the world does not know you, I know you, and they know that you have sent me. I have made you known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them.”
I think the church sucks at this. If we really understood how important this is to Jesus, then we would make a better effort to persue it. I am looking at my own heart as I say this too. I suck at unity. My default is always to exploit difference to make myself feel better or seem better or more right.
Recently Harvey Carey, a local pastor from Detroit, spoke to our high school students about this. It was amazing. you have to check it out by clicking here.
The kicker here is what Jesus says is the result of our sin as it relates to disunity. Jesus says that unity will prove to the world that he is real. So, the result of our failure is that people will
turn away from Jesus.
WOW!!!
I am tired of this crap. As I think about this, I realize that I have been in too many “healthy” discusions about our differences, meant to sharpen one another, become more about building ourselves up so that we seem better that others.
I am sorry to my fellow blogging firends that I have done this with. I am sorry that my sin has turned people away form Jesus.
God forgive us . . . forgive me.
derrak
1 comment
Comments feed for this article
June 3, 2006 at 2:08 am
Andy
Derrak,
I think that there’s been quite a few occasions when I’ve been guilty of obnoixious disunity in the interest of my own personal advancement — even if only in my own eyes. I too am sorry for this, and apologize when you’ve been affected by it.
I think that 2 Timothy is instructive on this matter, especially as it balances the need for clarity and truth and sound doctrine with love and quarrel-free persuasion in our discussions.
2 Timothy 2:22-26 22 So flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart. 23 Have nothing to do with foolish, ignorant controversies; you know that they breed quarrels. 24 And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, 25 correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth, 26 and they may escape from the snare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will.
—
I have to say that, if you read the whole context of 2 Tim, you’ll see that truth matters — doctrine matters — but also that doctrine is embodied in real people who are made in the image of God. And there’s a godly and an ungodly way of speaking with an image-bearer.
Unity always has to be built around something, and in the context of the church, that “something” is always going to be the faith once delivered to the saints. False unity is obviously no unity. Yet your post is well-recieved by me as a reminder that our discussions should be full of saltiness and with an aim — as Paul insists — to arrive at unity together through the HS’s help.