Stewards of Unity

 When Jesus prays in John 17:20-26 that “they all may be one” we can often become discouraged over the fragmented nature of the church. We are perhaps hyper-conscious of the fragments; a schism over here, a church fight over there, the presence of many denominations and the looming threat of further divisions among those denominations. But the prayer of Jesus in John 17 is not a command to us so much as an example of Christ’s trust in God.

I find it powerful to think about how God is answering Christ’s prayer today. So my approach runs like this: Notice where people seem to get together to do something good. Wonder about how God is involved in this emerging unity. For the most part, where there is unity, there is God helping people get together and be a blessing to the world. Because the unity is initiated by God we don’t have to assume that we are responsible for making it happen. We are simply stewards of what God has stirred up.

Certainly, faithful people must discern whether God is involved in one endeavor or another. But when we notice that God has offered an answer to Christ’s prayer “that all may be one” by presenting the opportunity to work together, then our task is to gratefully cooperate with the cooperation.

Comments

[anom.]

Stewards of Unity: As we move along together /yet separate, in God's river of Grace, we "all become one", just as a drop of water into water becomes one. It seems unfortunate that the most affect one drop seems to have is after it has let go... making a splash and ripples. In the Church, the coming and leaving of God's people is too often reflected as ineffective stewardship of Unity. I'd rather see it as another way God has to speak to us as "one together" corporately and to each of us individually. Move along together /yet separate, in God's river of Grace, we "all become one"... Speak to us, Lord.