Unity in the Body

“I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me" (John 17:20-21).

Have you ever considered that when Jesus was in His final moments on the earth, giving His disciples the last lesson that He had for them, that He ends this lesson with a prayer that we, as a body of believers, would be one just like He and the Father are one? He didn't pray for comfort, He didn't pray for protection, He didn't even pray that they would all be perfect and that they would be able to follow the law through grace, He prayed for unity. When Jesus was with His disciples for the last time before His death, when He looked out over them and prayed for them, His prayer was that they would be one, and that one-ness would prove to the world that the Father had sent Him.

Throughout the Gospels, as we read the words of Jesus, kind of a startling pattern begins to emerge. Most of what Jesus talks about is the kingdom of God, which is startling because of the fact that personally I've only heard maybe two total teachings on this topic and I have been involved with church and ministry my entire life. The kingdom of God is the major focus of His ministry, and it forms the majority of what He preached on while He was here (Matt 6:33, 12:28, 21:43; Mark 1:14, 4:11, 9:1; Luke 4:43, 8:1, 11:20; John 3:3; as a sample). So this begs the question, why is it that when He entered into that final moment of ministering and praying for His disciples before His death, why did He end with praying for all of His disciples and those who would come to believe in Him through their word to become unified? The only answer I can come to is that this is a part of what it means to be in the kingdom of God.

There are many questions that I want to ask in regards to this: why isn't the kingdom of God preached on, what else does the kingdom of God refer to, what does it mean when Jesus says the kingdom of God is at hand? These are all valid questions, but they are not what I am looking at here. I am at the moment concerned with this question of unity. What does unity look like in the kingdom of God? If we want to enter into the kingdom of God now as Jesus invites us to do (Mark 1:15), how does unity play a role? The answer is profound in it's simplicity, as Jesus states it in the quoted passage above: "that they may also be one in Us." This is the key to the whole question of unity, because without it we will never succeed. To be unified, we must be unified in purpose, and the only One could unify the purposes of that many people is God Himself. As with so many of the things of God, the only thing that will make unity work is unification with Him and His Spirit. We don't have the capacity for the one-ness that our Lord is describing here apart from surrender to the Holy Spirit in all areas of our lives. If there is not that complete surrender, then there remains within us our own purposes, purposes that are centered on our own lives and plans and glory instead of the all-encompassing, all-satisfying Creator of the universe.

Now, before confusion enters into the equation, as Satan always makes sure it does, I want to mention a few things that I'm NOT saying unity means. Unity does not mean that all Christians are supposed to be a part of the same church (i.e. unity does not mean there should only be one denomination or campus ministry group). This is not necessarily a bad idea, and I believe wholeheartedly that when Christ returns all Christians will fall under one banner headed by Jesus Himself. However, unification of doctrine is not tantamount to unification of the Bride of Christ. I think that along with this, mentioning that we as Christians don't all need to be going after the same causes and activities goes without saying. As Paul says in 1 Cor 12, "the body is not one member, but many (vs 14)." I'm sure this has been said before, but every member of the body has a different responsibility, and just because the responsibilities are different doesn't mean any are useless or lesser, and it certainly doesn't mean that for your own physical body parts to be unified that all parts must take on the function of one ("if the whole body were an eye..." vs 17). Paul finally comes to the crux of this point by asking the question (vs 19) "And if they were all one member, where would the body be?" Without the different parts, different tasks, and different responsibilities, there would be no body. This is why the prerequisite for unity is not doctrinal correctness, but obedience. When we all come to a point of complete obedience to the Spirit of God acting in our lives, unity becomes a moot point. Once we stop comparing what we're doing with what someone else is doing, and instead focus on what God is doing and how He has asked us to be a part of it, unity will simply be the normal state of Christian and human behavior. So when I refer to unity, I am not talking about being doctrinally correct, about being a member of the right church, or about doing things the same way as someone else, I am referring to all of God's people being in obedience to His will and living as a member of the community God has called us into: the kingdom of God.

So where do we start? Do we ignore everyone else and try to "get ourselves right with God" before even attempting this unity thing? I can't imagine this is what Jesus had in mind. Our personal relationship with God is crucial for us to be able to enter into the same unity with each other as it exists between the Father and His Son; this is an absolute fact. However, as we grow in our relationship with God we will be able to grow in our relationships with other people. One of the greatest things we can do together is worship. In Psalm 34:3, David invites us to "magnify the Lord" with him and "exalt His name together." In addition, Paul instructs us in Romans 12:10 to show our unity by being "kindly affectionate with one another with brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another." Serving one another and worshiping together is how our attitudes will change from self-serving idolaters to the pure and spotless bride of Christ.

So how will you respond. Will you forsake your plans and purposes for the perfect will of the Father whose thoughts towards you are "thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope (Jer 29:11)"? Will you commit yourself to fulfilling the prayer of the One who has sanctified your soul? A doctrine that stands for artificial peace instead of true unity is not Christian and can no longer be tolerated by those who claim the name of Christ. Jesus tells us that when we come to Him to place our lives before Him on the alter of obedience, we cannot be obedient unless we first reconcile with our brethren (Matt 5:23-24). Jesus also says in the Sermon on the Mount that "if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses (Matt 6:15)." God is not looking for a church and a bride who has the appearance of peace, but He is looking for a body of believers who are willing to go through the nitty-gritty problems of life and conflict so that they may be able to come out on the other side the pure, spotless, and perfect bride of Christ. As with anything worth having, there is a cost: yourself. Are you willing to count the cost and enter into the fullness of God? Are you willing to set your heart on the throne of the Almighty and allow Him to shape you and to form you and your relationships into the unity that He so desperately desires? I challenge you to engage God on this issue and wrestle through it for yourself, that you may know ultimately what God has in store and that you would not run from the correction that may come but that you would embrace it and persevere through it as God uses it to prepare you for the great and mighty things that He has planned for your life. Don't let this moment slip away, but allow the transformation to bring you that "good, acceptable and perfect will of God (Rom 12:2)." And in all things remember that it is God who gives you the strength, God who gives you the desire, and God who deserves all the glory.

I'll end with this passage from Jeremiah, as it struck me this morning with a conviction to release all that I think I have to God: Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom. Let not the mighty man glory in his might. Nor let the rich man glory in his riches. But let him who glories glory in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord, exercising lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness in the earth. For in these I delight, says the Lord (9:23-24)." Let us glory in the Lord, and set our heart on what He has set His upon.