In John 17 Jesus
prays for himself, then for his disciples, and then for all believers. His prayers are powerful and set the example for
how we should pray for ourselves and others.
Jesus prayed that
believers may be one, united in their faith in Christ, just as Jesus and the
Father are one. He emphasizes unity four
times, so it must be important. He prays
for
·
Unity in witness bearing. This
could mean evangelizing the lost, but more importantly I think of consistently
modeling God’s Word in the world. (John 17:21)
·
Unity in the glory of Christ. Sharing the honor, rewards, and blessings that come from
being a child of God and co-heir with Christ. (John 17:22)
·
Complete unity.
How? Through Christ in us. Why? So
that the world will know Him through us.
(John 17:23)
It is through our
complete unity in faith and reflection of Christ as believers that the world encounters
Him, learns His plan for salvation, and experiences His unconditional love. The
world will know Christ when his people stand united in their faith.
How?
The Lord keeps leading me back to sanctification. While
salvation occurs the moment someone accepts Christ as Savior, sanctification is a process that
continues throughout the rest of a believer’s life as he or she grows in Christlike character, attitudes, behavior,
etc. Sanctification comes through
knowing, hearing and obeying God’s Word.
Based on recent
news, it seems the world is “going to
hell in a hand basket,” and the US, true to form, seems to be going faster
and more efficiently than everyone else.
The Lord prayed
that His people would be sanctified by
the truth of His Word. Yet we (I’m
talking about believers here, myself included) seem to make so many compromises with what God’s Word says. Where things are written in black and white, we rationalize varied interpretations and
applications. We change God’s Word to fit our desires and circumstances. We try to turn Christ into someone we can live with when the whole
point is that God’s people should be
different, set apart, unyielding, and uncompromising when it comes to His truths.
Think about all
the hot topics in our recent election
campaign – gay marriage, abortion, fiscal responsibility. Think of the undercurrents that were also being evaluated – character, honesty,
integrity, morality. God’s Word is black and white in these
areas. Yet we as Christians often waver
back and forth, and like my puppy, track mud through the house until everything
is a dingy grey.
We tolerate sin calling it “not judging.” We accept
sin calling it “forgiveness.” We commit sin calling it “the way God made
us” or “OK because of God’s unconditional love and grace.” We compromise,
even re-write, God’s word wearing our “tolerance”, “progressiveness”, “liberalism”,
“open-mindedness” and so-called “maturity” as a badge of honor.
Except that this not sanctification or spiritual
maturity, it’s the complete opposite. We separate ourselves from God when His heart
is to unite us with him and with each other.
We kick God out of our lives and
then wonder where He is when we need
Him.
As the saying
goes, if the shoe fits wear it; if it doesn’t, don’t. But I have to believe we all have areas where compromise is distancing us
from God, impeding His will, and muddying our witness. Or maybe this is just for me…
So pray for yourself, for me, and for all
believers – that we may be one as Christ and the Father are one, that our lives
reflect Christ in such a way as to draw others to Him, and that we continue to
grow in God’s Word as our guiding and absolute truth – no compromises.
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