When I was a young boy I remember hearing this song that the Youngbloods made famous, maybe you do as well. “Come on people now, smile on your brother. Everybody get together, try to love one another right now.”
That song, and dozens of others like it, has expressed the age-old, heartfelt yearning for peace and unity for the brotherhood of man. That desire predates my lifetime, and yours as well.
People have disagreed with one another all throughout history. Much of our marking of history revolves around who was fighting whom over whatever. David began Psalm 133 by exclaiming, “How good and pleasant it is when God’s people live together in unity.” His desire for unity is evidence that even then, not everyone was getting along with one another.
Today, our world and our nation, in particular, is stained by some of the greatest expressions of disunity that I have seen in my life, and they threaten to tear us apart. And so the theme of unity has been on my mind. And it draws me to God’s Word where Jesus described the unity that He has given to all those who follow Him.
Jesus prayed in John 17, “My prayer is not for them (apostles) 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 – so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.” (John 17:20-23)
Jesus knew that people who were different in many ways and who came together through faith in Him would stand out in a world that has been marked by disunity from the beginning. Jesus didn’t ask us to somehow create this unity among ourselves; He knew that was impossible. He was talking about the unity He would give to us; the common denominator of disparate lives coming together in one name and purpose as Jesus followers. I follow Jesus, you follow Jesus, guess what? We’re following together!
Paul wrote to the Church describing this effect as body-life. “Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ.” (1 Corinthians 12:12) All of us, various parts, doing things differently, in separate settings yet all functioning as one in Jesus.
Has “The Church” always done a good job at this? No. Our human failings have caused hurt and division way too often. But our failures need not be the final chapter. And they cannot thwart the unity Christ has given to us. We may stain it but we can’t destroy it. I pray that Jesus followers will recognize the unity we have in Jesus and come together and show the world how to love one another once more.
Each week this column will feature the thoughts of one of the clergymen and women in our area, from varied backgrounds, representing different denominations, and I have no doubt expressing ideas we don’t all agree on. But that is exactly how the Church is supposed to function. We are all different, but are united in the common belief that Jesus is the Son of God and the only Savior of the world. While we disagree about all sorts of other things, we stand united in Jesus. And that has been God’s plan from the very beginning, “to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ.” (Ephesians 1:10)
If there are other clergy interested in participating by writing an article, please contact me at pastordave@lakeviewowego.com.
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