"That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in
thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that
Thou hast sent me." John 17:21
Twice in His great high priestly prayer, our Lord prayed that His people might be one (verses 21 and 22, 23).
This prayer for unity has been seized as Scriptural support for the
ecumenical movement - a great organizational union of all professing
Christian churches. Unfortunately this ecumenical unity is achieved
through abandoning or reinterpreting fundamental Christian doctrines.
As Malcolm Muggeridge wrote, "By one of our time's larger ironies,
ecumenicalism is triumphant just when there is nothing to be ecumenical
about; the various religious bodies are likely to fin d it easy to join
together only because, believing little, they correspondingly differ
about little."
Is this the kind of unity that the Lord Jesus was
praying for in John 17? We think not. He said that the unity He had in
mind would result in the world's believing that God had sent Him. It is
extremely doubtful that any external federation would have this effect.
The Lord defined the unity He had in mind when He
said, "... as thou Father art in me, and I in thee, that they also may
be one in us." He also said, "... even as we are one, I in them, and
thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one." What unity does the
Father and Son share which we can also have a part in? Not the fact of
their common deity; we can never share in that. I would suggest that
the Lord Jesus was referring to a unity based on common moral likeness.
He was praying that believers might be one in exhibiting the character
of God and of Christ to the world. This would mean lives of
righteousness, holiness, grace, love, purity, longsuffering,
self-control, meekness, joy and generosity. Ronald Sider suggests in
Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger that the unity for which Christ
prayed was manifested when the early Christians shared freely with one
another whenever there was need. They had a true spirit of koinonia or
community. "Jesus' prayer that the loving unity of His followers would
be so striking that it would convince the world that He had come from
the rather has been answered - at least once! It happened in the
Jerusalem church. The unusual quality of their life together gave power
to the apostolic preaching" (see Acts 2:45-47; 4:32-35).
Such unity today would have a profound impression
on the world. As Christians presented a united testimony in radiating
the life of the Lord Jesus, unbelievers would be convicted of their own
sinfulness and would thirst for the living water. Today's tragedy is
that many Christians are scarcely distinguishable from their worldly
neighbors. Under such circumstances, there is little inducement for
unbelievers to be converted.