20 “I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, 21 that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22 The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, 23 I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me. 24 Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world. 25 O righteous Father, even though the world does not know you, I know you, and these know that you have sent me. 26 I made known to them your name, and I will continue to make it known, that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.”
John 17:20-26
Jesus could have prayed for anything here. Literally the next chapter begins, “When he finished praying, he went into the garden.” This is it. Public ministry–over. Parting words to his crew–delivered. And here, at this crucial moment in John’s gospel, Jesus is praying for the future of his church. His request is that with his glory and love we would be unified.
Christ himself holds us all together. He does this with the glory and love he has imparted to us.
Is Christ divided? Paul asks the Corinthians. There’s a sort of correspondence between the body of Christ in heaven and the body of Christ on earth. Christ is not divided. Christ is not fragmented. Christ is one; he is whole; he is unified.
Why do some of you boast in Apollos or Paul or Cephas? Did they die for you?!
Christian unity, for Paul, is grounded in the person and work of Jesus Christ–who gives us his glory and love.
Why do all this theological work? Because we are a theological people. We have something deeper than a culture or cause to bring us together. We are one in Christ. It’s his idea, it’s his desire, and it’s his work in us.
Ok. Why does it matter that Christ is what unites all Christians around the world and across time?
Check it out.
20 “I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, 21 that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me.
John 17:20-21
I pray that they will be one so that the world may believe you have sent me.
The witness of the church is tied to the unity of the church.
Jesus has so designed the church to function that when the world looks at us, they may believe that he has been sent by the Father. Jesus has already taught earlier in John that the world will know you are his disciples by the way that you love one another.
How are we doing there?
The way individual Christians relate to one another should center on the glory and love of Christ that we share.
The way gatherings of Christians, churches, relate to one another should center on the glory and love of Christ that we share.
Now, you may be wondering, why do we still have so many churches, and denominations, and branches of Christendom? Like, why can’t we just all agree that it’s all about Jesus and work together?
Maybe in the Lord’s providence there will be a miraculous coming together in the next thousand years. But if past is prologue, we’ll likely see continued fissures and fractures in the Church universal.
To be blunt, there are just chasms of disagreement. They exist for a variety of reasons. Christians around the world have been shaped by different experiences, different cultures, and godly, well-meaning people who have a high view of the Bible can come to different conclusions about how we understand all sorts of doctrines. Let’s consider just a couple. Baptism, for example, should we baptize children? Babies? After a confession of faith? How long after a confession of faith?
The Lord’s Supper: who should take it? How should they take it? How often should they take it?
Baptism and the Lord’s Supper: should we call these sacraments, ordinances? What else?
Consider church governance: how should a church be led? A team of pastors, one pastor? Who can be a pastor? What role does the congregation play? How about a bishop? A presbytery? A board of elders?
Why highlight just a few of these disagreements? Because I don’t know that unity and uniformity are the same thing. Right now, the Bible teaches, we see through a glass dimly. None of us are perfect. All of us sin. None of our interpretations are infallible or inerrant.
Maybe you’ve never heard a pastor say this, but I could be wrong about some stuff. But don’t get me wrong, you could be wrong about some stuff, too.
A uniform church can’t handle disagreements. One misstep, you’re out. A unified church, however, can love through disagreements. We can love through schisms and splits.
At the end of this story, we will all be one and perfectly reflect the glory and love of God. Oh, it’ll be glorious!
But here in the middle, we aren’t there yet. We can, however, begin to live into that reality.
We can approach our brothers and sisters with charity and grace, expecting they will do the same for us.
Churches are not competing with anyone but the devil. Our goal is not to get some of the 10,000 people in our valley who want to go to church in our building. Our goal is to equip the people of God to go and reach the 150,000 who want nothing to do with the gospel.
We aren’t interested in showing how different we are from other churches, we’re interested in showing how different we are from the world.
I don’t want you to just love this church, I want us to love the church. Because Jesus does.
I pray that we would get a glimpse of Jesus’ heart for his church.
I think that manifests itself in a commitment to a local church–to someone, somewhere. I pray that you see Jesus wants unity in our church–a unity that’s not based on politics, that’s not based on income level, that’s not based on shared interests, but a unity that’s based on Jesus.
I think that manifests itself in a commitment to loving other churches. We’re not competitors.
This is a reminder that God has his eyes on the nations–that our love would overflow into the world. And that many would believe the gospel.