“that all of them may be one . . .”

These words of Jesus come from what’s known as his “high priestly prayer” in John 17 where he prays before his crucifixion not only for his disciples, but for those who would believe in him through their message. That would include we who claim his name these two millennia later. Many Christians, especially Catholics, but Protestants as well, lament that there is so much division in the Church, so many differing conceptions of the meaning and doctrines of the Christian faith. Skeptics are especially fond of claiming that all the disagreement is evidence that Christianity is a bunch of hooey. But I’ve always questioned this lament of Christians, and criticism of its enemies, even more so as I get older.

The assumption behind the longing for “oneness” is that being one means we all agree on the many doctrines of the faith. Catholics, in fact, predicted that once Protestants rejected the authority of the Roman church, then denominations and versions of Christianity would multiply like rabbits on steroids. They were, and are, right. But is this multiplying of denominations necessarily a bad thing? More importantly, does it mean the Church Protestant has rejected Jesus’ prayer that we be one? I would argue not at all because if we look at the context of Jesus’ prayer it is apparent he doesn’t mean that those he’s praying for would agree on everything:

¹¹ I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name, the name you gave me, so that they may be one as we are one. ¹² While I was with them, I protected them and kept them safe by that name you gave me. 

What makes us one is the power of the name God the Father gave to God the Son, for that is what causes the Father and Son themselves to be one. What is this name? Jesus was specifically given his name because it means Yahweh saves. What makes us one is that we trust in God our Savior, that it is He who saves us from sin and death, not that we all agree on this doctrine or that. While theologians have discussed and debated, sometimes violently, various doctrines and views of the faith, trusting in God our Savior is a very simple, childlike realization that we need saving, and that we can’t save ourselves. The thief on the cross next to Jesus couldn’t have even said that much, but he is with Jesus in paradise this very moment.

So if all who trust Jesus for salvation from sin and death, regardless of theological details, are supposed to be one, what exactly does that look like? I would argue it looks like love. If Jesus commands us to love our enemies, how much more ought we to love our brothers and sisters in Christ! Even if their view of baptism in our mind is wrong, or the Lord’s supper, or the nature of the atonement, or any number of doctrines Christians have disagreed about over the centuries. It is no coincidence that when asked which is the greatest commandment in the Law:

³⁷ Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ ³⁸ This is the first and greatest commandment. ³⁹ And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ ⁴⁰ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”’

This is something to contemplate for an entire lifetime. But what is love? What does love look like in relationship? With God and others? The great love chapter in the Bible is in Paul’s 13th chapter in his first letter to the Corinthians. If you want to know what love looks like, this is a good start:

⁴ Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. ⁵ It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. ⁶ Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. ⁷ It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

⁸ Love never fails. 

Without this, Paul tells us, we gain nothing. What love is, though, is not easy! As I’ve learned throughout my life, and taught my children when they complain about difficult people they encounter, is that God has put these people in our lives to teach us how to love them. But they are so annoying! Well, we’re all annoying at times, and we’re grateful when others keep no record of our wrongs, aren’t we? Imagine a church where followers of Jesus while disagreeing on many things, exercise this kind of love for one another. Powerful. Why else would a cross, and mercy and grace, be at the center of our religion, if not to teach us the essence of love. That is the answer to Jesus’ prayer.