Only God Can Do This

The subject today is church unity.
Most people point to John 17 when speaking of church unity, and so will I.

Point one. This prayer of Jesus is addressed to God, not the church. There is nothing in this chapter that any man should try to do. Jesus asked His Father for grace on the church of all ages, and we believe the Father granted that grace.

Point two. Specifically, the prayers for unity offered in John 17 were given to God. Unity of the type that Jesus prayed for MUST be created by God. When man attempts it, it starts looking like the old "Holy" Roman Empire, with its political correctness, its lack of toleration for dissension, its hierarchy, its made-to-order meetings, its uniforms, and its armies standing by to enforce the rules in the flesh. This is not God's unity.

Point three. There's a clue given to us in verse 21 of John 17 as to what kind of unity Jesus prayed for. Jesus said that He wants us one "so that the world may believe You sent Me."

Now I ask you, when Christendom was assembled under one roof, threatening the world with total control, did the people of this world want to come to Jesus and examine His claims? Was repentance on their mind because the "Church" was "one"? I think not! In fact, the world hurried away from that to our shores and others' so as to be able to seek God on their own! And seek Him they did. That sort of seeking has been going on ever since.

Here is Christian unity: a Christian prisoner of the Nazis lives her life to such an extent that a brutal guard working for those same Nazis wants to come to Christ, and is even forgiven totally by that same prisoner who bore his abuses, and those two are united in Jesus' love, I say the world looks at that unity, and says "I want this Christ." (The true story of Corrie Ten Boom)

Men, get your hands off of John 17. Let God do the work of saving and thus unifying His people in His Spirit, and using THAT kind of unity to reach this world.

http://chosunhouse.com is a website I put together a few months back to get the word out to believers that they need to pray for North Korea. Just about every day I'm writing a blog featuring some news, a book, or a story of North Korea. There's a live news feed on the site, lists of resources, picture essays, and ways to respond to the overwhelming need in North Korea. Let's love Chosun together!

And who am I? A man found of God over 50 years ago, called to the ministry, serving the Lord as needed in my world. Married, member of a local church in the Chicago area, with full time work in public education. Who are you? Would love to fellowship with believers who respond on my site.