In John 17 Jesus exclaims no less than five times that He desires for His church to be united as one. He is praying to the Father and in verses 22-23 Jesus proclaims, "The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one. 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." These are remarkable words. Jesus prays that we can experience the same holy fellowship with each other that He enjoys with the Father. He then explains that this unity would show the world that the Father loves people as much as He loves the Son. Can you imagine that love? Do you realize that our Father God loves us as much as He loves Jesus.
War is an atrocious thing. Some have even said that war is good for absolutely nothing. Sure there are just wars. Certainly we must fight against tyranny and terrorism. Our exceptional nation has been formed and reformed through war. No war has ever had an effect on our nation like our own Civil war. Many factors play into why the South lost the Civil war but one important factor in why they lost the war was division amid the Confederacy. It has been noted that both Governor Joseph E. Brown of Georgia and Governor Zebulon Vance of
North Carolina appeared to be more concerned with their own power than
the Confederacy. They withheld arms and men from the army so they could
strengthen their own State Militias.
I was born and raised in the south and I love many of our traditions, but before I go on in this, I must say that I believe God finds slavery and racism abominable. I do not write from the position of a pro-Confederate. I believe God, in His unique sovereignty and providence, led us through that terrible time to make us the great nation that we are today. What I am stating, however, is that the war may have ended differently if the south was united in its efforts to fight the north.
The same is true in the church. We must realize that we have a common enemy. We are not at odds with each other. Throughout the centuries from the very beginning of the church there have been divisions. Such divisions have led to denominationalism, the Reformation, and even worship-wars. People have been divided over the color of carpet in the sanctuary to what kind of music should be played in the worship service. We must come to terms with the fact that when we are in-fighting, our adversary is gaining ground. As long as there are people in the church, there will be disagreements and differences in opinion. It is the task of the body of Christ to work through these differences in order to benefit the Kingdom. Each individual in the Family of God has been given unique talents and perspectives that when combined with the talents and perspectives of the rest of the body, create a beautiful mosaic of unity in Christ.
In Ephesians, Paul writes, "For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places." We must go into battle! We have to fight valiantly and bravely! We most certainly have a war on our hands...but it is not with each other. We have a common enemy and his name is Satan.
