Lesson 3 - One

One of Jesus' last prayers before he is arrested in Gethsemane:

...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.  And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one: I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved me. 
(John 17:21-24)



While Paul is in prison, he writes to the church in Ephesus:

I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, with all lowliness and gentleness, with long-suffering, bearing with one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.  There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.
(Ephesians 4:1-6)


In 1 Corinthians 12, Paul compares this to being one body with many members, with Christ as the head.  Every member has a purpose but not every member is the same.

Something I have thought about for a while, is what does this mean?  What does it mean to be one in Christ?  Everywhere you look, there appears to be disunity in the Church.  In Nebaj for example, there are around 50 evangelical churches in a town of about 23,000 people.  What was once one body has now broken up into many denominations.  If I tell somebody that I am a Christian, the next common question is, which church?  Am I Protestant, Catholic, Baptist, Methodist,  Seventh Day Adventist, Lutheran, Presbyterian, Pentecostal, Charismatic, etc, etc.  What would it look like for all these different branches of Christianity to be truly one?

First, in my American way of thinking, I pictured an organization.  Christ is the head, 12 apostles are selected to be the lead committee, and all Christian denominations are incorporated into this.  As I thought about this, something about this idea felt wrong.  Organizations belong to this physical world while His Kingdom is spiritual.  To picture a physical organization as possibly representing one Church body is to greatly limit God.

It is possible to have many denominations and still have one spirit.  We can all contribute to ultimately the same purpose in our different ways.  But we have to do it with all lowliness and gentleness, with long-suffering, bearing with one another in love.  What makes us ununited is that people from all denominations possess this sort of self-righteousness, that they believe their way of practicing Christianity is the only or the best way.  Is it possible that there are many different ways to give glory to the same Christ?  If we believe Jesus is the Son of God, He saved us from our sins, and we have invited Him into our hearts, aren´t we brothers?

For now, His kindom is spiritual, and as such our unity is also in the spiritual sense.  I believe some Catholics are part of the body of Christ and some aren´t.  Some Protestants are part of the body, some aren´t.  Some Jehovah Witnesses are part of the body, some aren´t.  Some Luterhans are part of the body, some aren´t.  It doesn´t matter what physical church you belong to, but the spiritual church you belong to.  Either you are one of His or you aren´t.  I also think it´s possible that a person that has never seen a Bible can be part of the body and somebody that has memorized the entire Bible can not.  It isn´t a knowledge thing, it´s a heart thing.  He knows all our hearts and if we are His or not.

So what does being one look like?  I think it´s all having the same heart for God.  It´s having His same spirit. It´s bearing with one another in love.  It´s being at peace with all our brethren and not judging each other.  It´s working together in a lowly, gentle way.  It´s looking not at ourselves, but always toward Christ.   

What do you think?  Comments are welcome, this concept of being one is something I´ve been thinking about for awhile.

I am a little behind on the updating, but hopefully I will have time for a couple of posts tomorrow!