Weekly Reflection
January 18th to 24th
Week of Prayer for Christian Unity
Readings: 1 Corinthians 1:13-17, John 17:20-23
13 Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Were you baptised in the name of Paul? 14 I thank God that I did not baptise any of you except Crispus and Gaius, 15 so no one can say that you were baptised in my name. 16 (Yes, I also baptised the household of Stephanas; beyond that, I don’t remember if I baptised anyone else.) 17 For Christ did not send me to baptise, but to preach the gospel—not with wisdom and eloquence, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.
20 “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, 21 that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22 I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one— 23 I in them and you in me.”
I could not find options in today’s Lectionary which fitted well with my thoughts here, so I have chosen readings which to me are the core of Christian Unity.
The issue of Unity is vital to the effectiveness of our Message and our Mission in Matthew 28:19-20, given to us by our Lord Jesus immediately before His Ascension. The mistake many have made over the centuries is to confuse Unity with Uniformity. I was brought up in the Anglican tradition, based firmly on the Word of God and with my thoughts and deeds mostly led (I hope and pray) by the Holy Spirit; nonetheless I am very comfortable working and worshipping with Christians of most other persuasions, provided that those two basic tenets hold good (and that there no insurmountable doctrinal issues) – that they are Bible-based and Spirit-led; indeed I spent almost exactly half of my life attached to non-Anglican churches, before God called us back into the Church of England a few years ago; I therefore have a little experience of this mix.
The enemy loves division and will try his hardest to divert us from the fundamental path of unity at every turn, so it is our task as faithful Christian believers to resist him and follow Jesus’ command to love our neighbour. James 4:7 tells us to “Resist the devil and he will flee from you”.[1]
I find it hard to be told by a Christian from a different tradition that theirs is the only true way (and you may be surprised at how many denominations and groups claim this), which I believe to be both ill-informed and arrogant. It is far more important in love to find things which unite us than those which divide us, again given the basic tenets; over the centuries the Church has seen disharmony bred and encouraged by Satan and this had led to many religious wars. As brothers and sisters on the same mission, let us bear in mind the command of Jesus to love one another, and as the old song reminds us:
Bind us together, Lord,
Bind us together,
Bind us together in love.
Amen.
[1] For more thoughts on spiritual warfare and tne disruption constantly attempted by the devil, see my e-book on “The Holy Spirit in your life” Chapter 8; you can find it here.
Peter Sebborn
Christian.Footsoldier@gmail.com