I played high school football. There were many things I enjoyed and learned by being on a team. One of those pleasures was having the unified backing of my teammates. During a game if you got hit hard or the other team began giving you a hard time, my teammates would come to the rescue. Our unified voice told others we did not stand alone.
The Apostle Paul and Jesus both prayed that as followers of Jesus, we would have one voice and stand together so that the world would know Jesus and the love the Father has for his creation (John 17:20-21, 23; Romans 15:5-7).
Tragically, we have felt many times the enemy is the group of other believers down the street. When in fact, our common enemy is Satan who only wants to kill, steal, and destroy. But if we ever finally lay down that thing we have been carrying all these years (hatred, agenda, unforgiveness) we’d discover that we can do infinitely more for God’s Kingdom together. So, we pray for unity and one voice for Jesus.
We pray for unity because we desperately need each other. Paul tells us in Romans 12:4-5 that like the human body is made up of many parts, so the body of Christ is also made of many parts. We can’t live without our body organs just like we can’t function without the diversity a church brings to the story of Jesus. We belong to one another. Think about the church universal. No matter the skin color, language or name over the door, we all worship the Name above all names, Jesus!
We pray of unity because the world will see God’s love for them. The word Paul uses in Romans 15:7, “accept”, is a word in the original Greek with beautiful imagery. The visual Paul gives us is this: we hug, pull each other in then walk hand-in-hand through life together. Jesus himself told us in John 13:34-35 that the way we love each other is the way the world will know we are his disciples. Jesus didn’t say, “with the right doctrine” or “with the right name on the building”…No! He said, “Your love for each other will point the world to me.”
We pray for unity because we can do infinitely more together than we can do apart. Because of our desire to be known as Jesus followers, together we positively affect churches in two foreign countries. We put Bibles in public classrooms in Eastern European countries. We partner with local para-church organizations to help homeless families get off the street and young couples make better decisions about their unborn baby. We partner with a local Bible translation group who puts the Word of God into the hands of people who have never read the story of Jesus in their local language. I really can’t do that on my own. I need you and you need me.
Acts 2 and 4 remind us of what one voice can do. Followers of Jesus came together to eat, worship, pray, and live. They supported each other and loved each other. Every need was met if you belonged to Jesus.
The truth is, the world is tired of hearing about Jesus…they want to see Jesus. How will they know? By the way we love each other. So, what do you need to change in order to be the follower Jesus prayed for? What thing are you hanging on to that is prohibiting you to be the person Jesus prayed for?
My hope is you will desire to live into Jesus’ prayer and love those who also believe. It’s our turn to roll up our sleeves and show the world the loving Savior you and I have. Blessings on the journey.