Jesus Made "One" Anything But "The Loneliest Number"

What Did Jesus Do?

“Holy Father, keep them in your name…
that they may be ONE, even as we are one.”
John 17:11

One of the bitterest disappointments I experienced moving from Milton, PA to Marion, NC nine years ago (And there have been some very bitter disappointments!) was seeing how broken and divided the Body of Christ is in McDowell County. With 160+ congregations in little ol’ McDowell, I thought I was relocating to the heart of the so-called “Bible Belt.” It turns out the “belt” is unbuckled! Where the congregations in Milton (Which is demographically very similar to Marion) came together in Jesus’ name regularly to minister to the wider community, in McDowell County the many congregations are much more interested in doing their own thing, their own way, on their own for Jesus. In other words, being part of the Body of Christ in McDowell County is disturbingly lonely, if you catch my drift. The thing is, Jesus made “one" anything but “the loneliest number.”

You see, Jesus, the Son, didn’t come to do his thing, he came to do the Father’s because, though they are two persons, the Father and the Son are one in their attributes, character, power, purpose, and substance. And it was the Son’s deepest desire, even as it was the Father’s, that all those whom he received from the Father should also be one. Many believers, yes, but one in and with the Lord. Many congregations, yes, but one Church under Christ’s lordship, not doing their thing, but his.

I still don’t understand the stubborn resistance to coming together in the name of the Son, to do his thing to the glory of the Father. I don’t imagine I ever will understand it. And I believe it will always be painful to witness and experience. Painful, and lonely.

I want you to know that I don’t care if “Presbyterian” is part of what your congregation calls itself or not. Doesn’t matter to me if “Methodist” is part of the name. Or Baptist, Lutheran, or Pentecostal. If “Catholic” is part of your identity it’s fine with me. If we agree that Jesus is our Lord and Savior, that he is the Son of God the Father, and that he sends the Holy Spirit to every believer, and in the Spirit makes us all one in his one true Church, then we should seek opportunities to worship and to minister together as one in Jesus’ name, which means in his authority and power. When come together as one in Jesus it’s anything but lonely!

S.D.G.

Jim
www.jimwilkenministries.org
Marion, NC
PS 37.4