"That all of them may be one"

I hear so much talk about unity, lamentations about how disunited the Church is today, calls for greater unity among Christians of all sects, reunification of the Catholics and Protestants, and so forth, till I am inclined to ignore all of it. But I cannot ignore what my Lord has prayed, "that all of them may be one." [Jn 17:21a]

I feel the same ecumenism that they feel. I want unity of believers. But not at the cost of truth, not at the expense of His great mission, "that the world may believe that you have sent me." [17:21b] Genuinely missional churches aren't inward-focused, but seeking outward, to the lost. To work for unity, as a means of reaching the lost (by glorifying God) is correct. But letting the means replace the end is incorrect. What Jesus clearly teaches in the upper room is that the glory of God is the ultimate goal. Countless times he speaks about his glory and the Father's glory, and how he has made the Father known to us, and desires that all may come to know the Father. [13:35; 14:7,31; 16:14; 17:3,25,26] We strayed from God when we sought the knowledge of good and evil. But Jesus restores to us the knowledge of God, revealing himself, as in Eden, that we may be restored to God in glory, true freedom, eternal life. No mere worldly knowledge can save us. But this knowledge, if we believe it and obey it, can save us. This is what the Lord came to reveal, not merely an organizational reunion of believers. Our diversity is itself glory, that we are not materially united, yet working in unison for his glory.

Of course, that isn't the reality. We do fight and disagree, especially ministers and other church leaders. But it is not primarily because we lack unity with one another. It is primarily because we lack unity with the Lord, and then because we lack devotion to his cause. Instead of the deep desire for unity, we desire glory for ourselves. I am convinced that this is the deepest desire of the human soul. I am speaking of myself, though, and don't claim to know the deepest desire of anyone else. What my soul constantly hankers for is glory. I want to be somebody, a power-broker, sitting in the best seat, with everyone clamoring to talk to me and hear my opinions. I want to have servants who will do all the menial things for me, so I can devote myself to reading and writing and preaching and teaching the high things of God. I want to be given gifts, and have others do my gift shopping for me. Etc.

This is idolatry of The Self. I feel it constantly, and wish I could somehow crucify this desire. And though I confess such wretchedness, I am not blind. For I can see that it is the same desire which drives so many of the well-meaning Christians all around me. Maybe I am the only ignoble sinner among them all. I can accept that. But they also confess they are sinners. And their speech gives them away, for often they keep on prattling about themselves and their work and their ideas. And the books! A veritable deluge of books is swelling every day, books that have already been written 10 times before (usually by much deeper writers), with no end in sight. What are all these books, each of them so inferior to The Book, yet held in such awe by all those who read them, if they are not little idols of the one who wrote them?

Richard Baxter, a great Puritan writer, said of ministers: “But consider plainly that the great and lamentable sin of ministers of the Gospel is that they are not fully devoted to God. They do not give themselves up wholly to the blessed work they have undertaken to do. Is it not true that flesh-pleasing and self-seeking interests - distinct from that of Christ - make us neglect our duty and lead us to walk unfaithfully in the great trust that God has given us? Is it not true that we serve God too cheaply? Do we not do so in the most applauded way? Do we not withdraw ourselves from that which would cost us the most suffering? Does not all this show that we seek earthly rather than heavenly things? And that we mind the things which are below? While we preach for the realities which are above, do we not idolize the world? So what remains to be said, brethren, but to cry that we are all guilty of too many of the aforementioned sins. Do we not need to humble ourselves in lamentation for our miscarriages before the Lord?” [Richard Baxter, The Reformed Pastor]

What is "the blessed work" to which so many are not devoted? It is the Lord's own commands, which Matthew records as "Go and make disciples" and Mark as "Go and preach the gospel". These are the works the Lord himself did, and they are to be our main work. Yet we are so busy with our books and manifestoes and labor for unity that even those in the mission fields are criticized for not working more with each other, though they are suffering greatly to obey the mission they were sent for, and these criticism come from those who are sitting in ivory towers.

The Lord's desire wasn't unity for its own sake, but for the glory of God. Minister, is your desire for this? Is your heart devoted to His glory? If not, you will find endless complaints and meet people who get under your skin at every turn. Remember, disunity was God's punishment at Babel for those who were seeking human glory, who wanted their name to be great. Those who truly seek God's glory don't see disunity as a threat, but as yet another opportunity for Christ and his people to glorify Him and Him alone.

E pluribus unum. This was our nation's first motto. It means "Out of many, one". We cannot BE one except by the spiritual union we have in Christ. If we are one by any other pact or device, it is man's attempt to unify, not that union Christ prayed for. Even America, as men turn away from God, will perish, probably sooner than later, just as did Babel. And the Church, is it immune? Spiritually God has prayed for us to be one. But the institutions we call churches, inasmuch as they depart from serving the Word, and focus instead on unity of the human sort, will likewise be scattered, as Israel was thrust into Babylon.

And so, I resolve to struggle to be devoted to the mission and to glorifying the Lord Jesus and his holy Name, rather than the unity of our church, churches or nation, or any political or social cause. These I may advocate for, but I will not lose my focus for idealogical things too great for me. It is enough to preach, teach and make disciples. This was Jesus' foremost work and his great commission for us. Others may choose lesser work for themselves, but I cannot.