Goal!

                 Unity, being “one” with Christ’s community of faith—that’s the theme of the Gospel reading this Sunday (John 17:20-26).  It is a very convoluted reading, with a lot of meat to it, but the thing I hear the loudest is that Jesus prays that we’ll “be one” as he and God are one.  What’s the basis of that unity?  Is it unity in doctrine and beliefs (“orthodoxy”), or practice (“orthopraxy”)…?  The simple answer is unity in “mission”—but that can mean a lot of different things to a lot of different people.  And it does!  Just look at how many different churches there are.  With proponents all saying their version is right!  Skeptics and critics will all say—with some justification—that the truth of the Gospel is hard to believe when we Christians aren’t “one.”  No wonder Jesus prays for our unity!

            But the metaphor that comes to mind for me is a sports team.  I’ve played soccer all my life, and when I was a teenager I was on very good, very competitive teams.  There’s something beautiful when a team is “one” on the field—like a giant dance with 11 people, with one goal, one mission, responding to another 11 people—that’s why they call it “the beautiful game.”  Teamwork makes all the difference.  Interestingly, soccer was the only thing I really had in common with my teammates.  I didn’t share much else in common with them—not my youthful Christian faith, not music, books, or academic/ school interests.  Even on my adult teams, that was still true to a certain extent.  But the MISSION!!  The FUN of the game—the camaraderie!  It was awesome because we all got along when it came to the game.  We worked together; there were no prima donnas. 

            I think of the church like that.  Everyone has a place (see I Corinthians 12), everyone has a part to play, and the mission is life-transforming.  And the basis that makes it all work?  I think that is God’s love for us, the love that Christ and God share that make them one, God loves us with that same love.  The basis of our unity has nothing to do with us—we don’t create it, we don’t manufacture it, we don’t conceptualize ideals that are bigger than us.  It ALL begins with God’s Love revealed in Jesus Christ and poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit.  And Jesus prayed, “Amen!”

Amen to that!

Pr. Christian