ONE!

3.23.2006

Attended ONE last night. ONE is a multi-church worship celebration in the Cobb/Paulding area. The concept behind ONE is to bring together churches in the area for a combined time of worship/celebration/prayer for students, their schools, and their communities. Steve Fee did an awesome job of leading us in worship and connecting our hearts with the heart of God.

Some verses that were highlighted last night were John 17.20-23

20"My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, 21that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: 23I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. (NIV)

20I'm praying not only for them but also for those who will believe in me because of them and their witness about me. 21The goal is for all of them to become one heart and mind-- just as you, Father, are in me and I in you, so they might be one heart and mind with us. Then the world might believe that you, in fact, sent me. 22The same glory you gave me, I gave them, so they'll be as unified and together as we are-- 23I in them and you in me. Then they'll be mature in this oneness, and give the godless world evidence that you've sent me and loved them in the same way you've loved me. (The Message)

Hmmmmm....the concept of ONEness.

When you begin to talk about the concept of ONEness in so called Christian "circles", people tend to get a little uneasy. The "whatabouts" begin to start popping up in our conversations.

WHATABOUT this and WHATABOUT that?

Hmmmm, I wonder why that is?

A few words come to mind.....pride....arrogance.....fear.....trepidation.....apprehension...

Sounds like some of the same emotions Jesus invoked in those He came into contact with. Interesting...

I googled "christian denominations" and the first result led me to the "Christian denominations and sects" portion of the Yahoo directory. Guess how many it listed? Approximately 140.

How do you think the "Christian" world is doing in the area of ONEness? Yeah, me too.

I wonder what God thinks of the lack of ONEness. Yeah, me too.

What if.....
We focused more on those things that UNITE us than DIVIDE us?
We saw others through Christ's eyes?
We began to, as Ghandi would say, "Be the change we want to see in the world"?

What if we kept this in mind each morning as we started our day?

Hmmmm....what if?

semper reformanda ragamuffin
Michael