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01.27.09

8 Annoying Biblical Directives - #1 Unity

Today I begin a series of essays that I hope will highlight current cultural failings of the Church. You will note that I spelled church with a capital, because I mean all true followers of Christ. I don’t want to spend a large amount of time defining followers of Christ because it isn’t exactly my position to judge. (yet another annoying Biblical directive) You will note that I could have inserted the word command in the place of directive, but apparently I just didn’t have the guts. Directive sounds nicer. I also could have replaced the word annoying with difficult. I may not have guts, but I valiantly defend my chutzpah. Please note that these essays and topics will have a limited shelf life and a specific cultural frame of reference. (So if you are considering printing this off, saving it for 30 years, and then showing it to a Mongolian friend, it may not work.)

“By this all men will know you are my disciples, if you love one another.” John 13:35

Wrapped inside this single verse is a monumental challenge, a serious indictment, and, I pray, immense power to change the course of human events. Let’s take a brief moment to consider when Jesus spoke these words. Nearing the end of the last supper, our Lord was aware that the time He had was short, and these words were spoken as a father would speak to a child that he is leaving. Let’s expand the scripture a couple verses.

“My children, I will be with you only a little longer. You will look for me, and just as I told the Jews, so I tell you now: Where I am going, you cannot come. A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” John 13:33-35

Now let’s consider the subject at hand: unity. How do we find ourselves in a world with so many Christian denominations? One could respond with an interminable, historical play by play of how each denomination had formed and the underlying disagreements (founded and unfounded) which provoked the splintering of Christianity. This would truly be a considerable waste of breath. You must know that I do not consider myself an ecumenicalist. I believe that there are doctrines (a currently culturally offensive word) and truths (Oh! That one is much better. Even if it is harsher.) that cannot be sacrificed. However, a part of me admires what I hope to be the spirit of the ecumenical movement. I hope it is a spirit of reasonableness. Reasonableness being the lost art of agreeing to disagree on a subject very precious and close to the heart. Furthermore, having the ability to agree to disagree and still love the person as much as you love yourself! That is the world that I would like to be living in, and that is the world where I believe our Lord can work in lives, heal old wounds, and guide hearts and minds to become true followers of Christ.

I leave you with Jesus’ prayer for all believers from John 17.

“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. Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world. Righteous Father, though the world does not know you, I know you, and they know that you have sent me. I have made you known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them.”

Author: Joseph Wendel | Permalink | No Comments | Daily Entries

John 14:6

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8 Annoying Biblical Directives - #1 Unity

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