Unity?!?

[From 8/29/11]

"Holy Father, protect them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one, as we are one." 

(John 17:11b)

UNITY.  it's a word that doesn't appear much in contemporary society, does it?  Oh, maybe in the locker rooms and pre-game prep talks of athletes across the country, but anywhere else?  Not in politics.  Not in this multicultural world.  And, unfortunately, not in religious circles.  Too often we Christians are known more for what we're against than what we're for.  We speak out against other faiths.  We even speak out against ourselves - just look at all the denominations & church splits that have occurred over the ages!  Heck, look at our local churches.  We even distance ourselves from each other there... the one place where we should be united!

Maybe Jesus knew this was a human tendency.  That's why, in John's gospel account of his last days with the disciples, Jesus prayed for their unity.  May they "be one, as we are one," he asked God.  He could have stopped after "may they be one."  But Jesus went one step further... "as we are one."  That's crazy!  Jesus is God.  They are one-in-the-same!  God's presence in "two forms."  Can we, the Church, actually be the same with each other?  We'd have to end jealousies... stop competing (as pastors, congregations, Christians)... do cooperative ministry (no more "mine vs. yours")... seek first God's kingdom, not our own.

Hey, it could happen, right?  In Jesus' name...