John 17:20-23 “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 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.”
When we think of the Lord’s Prayer we often think of Matthew chapter 6 where Jesus tells His disciples how to pray, but we forget John 17 where Jesus is having His last few days with His disciples before the betrayal, crucifixion, burial, resurrection and ascension to the Father’s right hand. This prayer that Jesus prays in John 17 is for the Body of Christ and it is a prayer for unity within the Body. United we stand, but divided we fall and not only do we fall, but we will not be able to complete the Last Great Command the Lord gave us to go into all the world and preach the Gospel.
When I started out 56 years ago in ministry I did not find the unity that the Lord is talking and praying about here in John 17, but over the years there has been a movement of reconciliation and coming together for the extension of the Kingdom of God. We find that we are not standing and dividing over the wrong things like we did in the past.
Writing to the Corinthian church Paul wrote that they were standing and dividing over the wrong things. There were three main issues that he focused on:
First, they were standing and dividing over what I would call today “denominations.” Paul mentions this when he says: “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. What I mean is this: One of you says, ‘I follow Paul;’ another, ‘I follow Apollos;’ another, ‘I follow Cephas;’ still another, ‘I follow Christ.’ Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Were you baptized into the name of Paul?” 1 Corinthians 1:10,12,13
Secondly, they were dividing over knowledge: “Now about food sacrificed to idols: We know that we all possess knowledge. But knowledge puffs up while love builds up.” (1 Corinthians 8:1) They had a tendency to look down on their less gifted brethren.
Thirdly, spiritual gifts: they were standing and dividing over spiritual gifts and the main one was the gift of speaking in tongues. (Ch.14)
In chapter 15 Paul tells us what we should be standing on: “Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand.” 1 Corinthians 15:1
What I find in the church I see now in the world. We have become divided. Here in America we do not have Americans, but African Americans, Latin Americans, Asian Americans, white Americans; we have labels for everyone – democrats, republicans, independents, libertarians and we have labels for the generations – baby boomers, generation X, millennials etc. and because of this we are pitted against one another and we find one generation clashing against another generation. This is not just a phenomenon here in the States, but it is also all over the world. In India it is a caste system and now in Europe with the integration of the masses of immigrants we find a break-down in European identity.
Seeing what is happening and praying and thinking over this and knowing that we do not fight against flesh and blood I see that a divisive spirit is pitting one another against each other, not just in families, but also in our communities and our countries.
This is the time that we, who God has called to build His House and not to tear it down (Satan and his cohorts are doing that), are to maintain the unity in the Body of Christ. When doing that we are able to bring sanity into a world that is moving quickly towards chaos.
I see great hope in the days ahead in that it will be the worst of times, but also the best of times to see a great harvest of souls, but it will only be when the Body of Christ realizes the importance of the prayer of Christ: “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.” John 17:21
We, in the Body of Christ, must realize that we all have our opinions, but that is not what we stand on. Paul told us what we stand on and what we divide over: the Gospel.
1 Corinthians 15:3-7 tells us what that Gospel is. “For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve. After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born.”
Let us (the Body of Christ) go forth to war (using the powerful weapons given to us-prayer, Word of God and shield of faith) against the real enemy and his cohorts.