John 17:1-11
Introduction
In the beginning… was the militia, and then the navy, and then the air force. Canadian Army, Royal Canadian Navy, and the Royal Canadian Air Force. Three separate organizations, although cooperating together for the defence of Canada. In1968, all three were merged into the Canadian Armed Forces. As we go through modernization today, imagine what that was like. Consider that before unification, there were medical branches for the army, navy, and air force. Members of all three wore the same CF Green uniform and wore the same style of ranks.
How did that work out? Both good and bad. There was a lot that was unpopular. One was the discarding of the unique traditions that helped create an esprit de corps. Over the decades, many of the changes made at unification have been rolled back. This has been a good thing as each element celebrates their traditions and individual identities. But the best parts of unification remain. We are the Canadian Armed Forces and we work together, train together, and have often fought together. What we have seen in the back and forth of the relationships between the elements is the tension between unity and uniformity.
Now why do I share this other than my own personal interest? I share this because the Christian church shares this tension between uniformity and unity. It is estimated that there are 20-45,000 Christian denominations worldwide. Some of those are very small but even when you look at the major Christian traditions, it is difficult to deny that there is a divided church. I have had skeptics challenge me by saying that if God is real, why is the church so divided? I have my own thoughts on this but it is worth holding that challenge for a moment, Even if there is a certain amount of natural division, it is also true that there is some very unhealthy division as well. We need to wrestle with that. But before we get too far into that, it is fair to ask if there is even a point of seeking unity. If we value truth over everything else, should we not separate us from those we consider to be in the wrong. Think about issues of predestination and freewill, mode of baptism, church governance, spiritual gifts, women in ministry, end times, apostolic succession, and so on. How do we respond when we have strong convictions and someone has come to a different conclusion? Should we consider those different from us as heretics to be shunned? To respond to that, let us turn to the words of Jesus.
The Other Lord’s Prayer
What do you think when you hear the phrase “The Lord’s Prayer”? Probably the “Our Father who art in heaven” prayer. But that label is deceiving as Jesus prays many prayers. John 17 is one of them. This prayer takes place near the end of his life. He chooses his words carefully as he does not have much more time before the cross. The first part of the prayer is Jesus consecrating himself to the work that the Father has sent him, that is the crucifixion. In many ways, Jesus is both the offering priest and the sacred lamb in this offering of sacrifice. Jesus then turns to pray for his disciples. Jesus prays specifically for the protection of his disciples. Protection from what? Protection from Roman persecution? Protection from sinful groups that might influence their behaviours? Protection from heretics that might try and corrupt their theology? What do they need protection from? Jesus concludes by saying that if his prayer was answered, it would be for the Christians to be one as Jesus and the Father are one.
There are two things that we can take from this. First is the unity between the Father and the Son (along with the Holy Spirit) in the Trinity. There is one God but there is distinction of roles among the persons of the Trinity. We may not fully understand the Trinity, but we can see that in the relationship between the Father and the Son, there is unity and diversity. The second thing that we can take from this is that our natural tendency to move away from unity. There is a part of us that when it comes to the health of the relationship and benefit to self, will choose benefit to self. We separate from those who are different so that we can join with those who are like us, until we see the new differences, which requires a new separation. We see in 1 Corinthians 1 that the Christians were getting behind various leaders, including Paul, so that they could position themselves for conflict with those who are different. Sounds rather familiar.
I want you to notice that Jesus did not pray that all Christians would agree on everything. Jesus prayed that we would be one as the Father and Son are one. This is unity, but the unity is better with diversity rather than uniformity. The early church struggled with this. The Book of Acts is full of stories of the church being widened by God and Christians struggling to remain in unity with people they disagreed with.
The Modern World
The world and the church have not changed much. There are thousands of different denominations. Which is the right one? I have changed traditions over the years, from Anglican to Pentecostal to Baptist. As I look back on my journey, I cannot say this has been about finding the “one true denomination” but rather seeking a community where I fit in. Each of those three traditions were different and I value what each one brought to my Christian faith.
Along with those denominational experiences, I also had interdenominational experiences, being a part of groups or events that brought churches of different denominations together.
This includes my experience as a military chaplain. I get to work with chaplains of many different denominations and traditions. And one of the best examples of this is the place we are in right now, the Protestant chapel. This is not the Baptist or Presbyterian or Anglican chapel, it is the protestant chapel. Protestantism is one of the most diverse groups that still consider there to be an important unity. Do we have disagreements here on certain theological or biblical interpretations? Absolutely! But we see the centrality of Jesus to be so important that we can lay aside our other differences. This is unity without a forced uniformity.
There might be a part of you that wonders if Christianity is true, why are there so many denominations. It bothered me once but not any more. Why does God allow us to have so many differences? I cannot speak for God but I can wonder. The Bible tells us that the central value of Christianity is love. We are told that people will recognize us as Jesus’ disciples by our love for one another. For one another. Not just general love, although we should love all people.
There is something beautiful that takes place when Christians who disagree with one another are able to find their unity in Christ. This is a powerful witness to the world, a witness much greater than if we were all exactly alike and had full agreement.
The Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 12 pictures the church as a human body. The human body only works because it has different parts that do different things. Uniformity would mean death. Disunity would mean the inability to do anything. Only unity with diversity allows our bodies to perform as they are designed. So it is with the church. There is diversity of traditions, churches, and individual Christians, and yet—when things are working properly—unity of purpose in our common faith in Jesus.
Conclusion
I want to bring you back to the prayer of Jesus. What was the prayer of Jesus? That his disciples would be one as the Father and Son are one. Think about that prayer carefully. Jesus is praying for us to be united. How does that happen? Does God force us to get along? Does God take over our will? It looks to me that we have a lot of responsibility in this area. The consequences of this are mind boggling. While in general we hope that Jesus will answer our prayers, in this particular case it is us that have the power to answer Jesus’ prayer. Jesus prays that we will be one. Will we be one?
I believe that those in the military who are Christians have unique insight into this. We have different elements and different trades within those elements. It is only be all of us working together in our diversity that we can accomplish our mission.
As Christians, we belong to different denominations, have attended different churches within those denominations, and bring different ministry gifts to each church. Only by working together in all of our diversity that we can work together.
