The Power of Unity

Have you ever prayed a prayer you know was the will of God that has not yet come to pass? This passage records a prayer Jesus prayed to the Father that has not yet been answered completely:

I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; 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 17:20-23 NKJV).

We know that Jesus only prays the will of God. And we also know He gets His prayers answered. Yet this prayer is still a work in progress. It requires the cooperation of disciples of Jesus – like you and me – all over the world, making unity among ourselves a priority.

The challenge to accomplishing unity is that many in Christ’s body do not see the importance of it or value it like Jesus does. Many Christians and spiritual leaders I know value being right in their doctrine above unity in His body. They use their doctrinal emphasis to separate themselves from others in the body instead of uniting. I agree there are some doctrinesthat are non-negotiable and essential for our fellowship with one another. These include:

• Faith in the blood of Christ and His sacrifice on the cross alone for salvation
• The virgin birth
• The resurrection of Jesus and His promised bodily return to the earth

These and a few other essential doctrines are non-negotiable when it comes to identifying people who are part of His body, the church. Beyond these essential doctrines of our faith, we should not allow our differences about other doctrines to divide us. For example, if what you believe about spiritual gifts, healing being in the atonement, and eschatology (the doctrine of end time events) are different than my beliefs about these things, that should not divide us.

I can fellowship with you if you believe Jesus is returning after the tribulation period or even if you do not believe there will be a tribulation period at all. I personally believe there will be a catching away of the church, but I refuse to allow what I believe about “when” Jesus is coming to divide me from part of His body. Now if you don’t believe that He is coming again, then you are just deceived and believing wrongly about an essential doctrine of the faith that would keep me from close fellowship with you.

Too many times we allow our differences on other doctrines that are not essential to our faith and fellowship to divide us. Our pride about these things have actually moved us to a place of unbelief in regard to Jesus’ prayer in John 17. Jesus prayed that we would become one like He and the Father are one. When this happens, the world’s capacity to believe God sent His Son for them will increase. That is amazing!

You mean if I will celebrate my brothers and sisters of different folds, denominations, and doctrinal views the world will take note and more easily believe on Jesus? That’s right. That’s what Jesus said and prayed here. Think about it.