Will 2023 be the Year of the Embrace?
Pr. Phil Morris
John 17: 20-23
20 “I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, 21 that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22 The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, 23 I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me.
Christ, about to die, took the time to pray for me, to pray for you, and to pray for us.
He could have prayed for anything. He could have said, I pray for them that their theology is perfect, that they walk sinless and blameless lives, or that we have more faith than ever before. But no, he prays for us, and he prays for this one thing: unity. Its almost as if he looked ahead through the centuries and saw the church fragment itself over and over until all that remains is these body parts who at best, agree to disagree, walking in steadfast tolerance of one another, and at worst we’ve killed each other, spent millions on smear campaigns against each other, and created rules and theology around “us” not becoming “them” instead around truth in Christ.
Agree to disagree seems to be the mantra of the protestant denominations. We protestants started protesting and never stopped. We have agreed to disagree ourselves out of any remembrance of psalms 133 where we read “behold how good and how pleasing when brothers dwell together in unity!”. I fear that we bought into the lie that we can never be unified again, at least not this side of heaven, and that tolerance is the thing we can shoot for, and only if we must. What we have misunderstood is that tolerance is hatred’s popular cousin.
When we look at tolerance at its core, we are basically saying, I do not want you here with me, but I will allow you to be in my presence, up to a point. It’s the “only if I have to” instead of “I can’t believe I get to!”.
Do we really think that that is what Jesus wanted for us? How do we read “that they may be one even as we are one” and settle for “I’ll allow you to be in my presence but only to point.” I couldn’t imagine God the father looking to Christ, or Christ looking to Holy Spirit and having that heart posture. That’s not even touching on the causational promise that we are given just lines below in that prayer,
“that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me.”
If the thing in between the world knowing Christ is our lack of unity, this should be a sobering wake-up call to the cost of our hatred, our tolerance, or our indifference to each other.
I realize there is a much larger discussion that needs to happen on this subject that goes beyond my blog post. But as we look forward to 2023, let us simply ask God to show us whom we have tolerated in our lives, or even maybe hated. It might be a person, a denomination, or a church in your local community that you’ve held at arm’s length or maybe just ignored altogether. Repent, and ask the Lord to open doors and provide situations in which you can learn to embrace your brothers and sisters in Christ.
I’ll leave you with this passage to meditate on as you celebrate New Year’s with your friends and family this year.
Ephesians 4
“I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, 2 with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, 3 eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. 4 There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call— 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.”
Blessings,
Pr. Phil