Faith Expressed In Love

If you walk into my house and glance at my bookshelves you'd probably guess that I love History.  In fact, I was a history major in college and about half way through my academic career I got fed up with trying to sell my books back to the bookstore at the end of the semester and getting a fraction of what I had originally spent in return.  So I began keeping all of the books I was interested in, or that looked impressive on the shelf..., rather than returning them.  As a result I developed quite a library.

I still love reading and learning about history and I've often thought about where I would go if I had the opportunity to meet someone from the past.  But I can't help but feel disconnected from those same historical figures.  They couldn't have imagined what it would have been like for me living in mid-Michigan today.  Incidentally, we only know certain information about their accomplishments or demographics, but little of who they were as people.

In light of this, its incredible for me to think that Jesus Christ prayed specifically for me, living today in Mount Pleasant, MI, in an account in the book of John 17.  As Jesus was in his final stage of his ministry on earth, he took the time to pray to the Father about his disciples and the growing church.  His greatest prayer for those who would believe in His name through the message of the gospel was for unity among believers.

If Jesus took the time to pray this specific desire for all those who would come to faith in the future, it must be a pretty big deal.  But how often does the church get unity wrong?  Unfortunately too often.  If it was important enough for Jesus to call out, it should probably be at the front of our minds.

In the same way that Jesus is inexplicably one with the Father through the mystery of the Trinity, He desires for us to be unified with each other.  Under the common goal of bringing glory to God's name and sharing the love of Christ, we should be unified regardless of difference of theology, worship style, or politics.

At StudentLife, the student ministry I work with, we put a high emphasis on community and try to live out this call in the context of small groups.  Small groups seem an uncommon practice in the world today.  But, there is something inside each of us to be a part of a community that cares for each other and grows together.  I think the more we get in the habit of doing life together, the more we'll understand the significance of Jesus' call for us to be unified.