What is the importance of Christian unity?

And for what did He pray? "That they all may be one; as Thou, Father, art in Me, and I in Thee, that they also may be in Us: that the world may believe that Thou didst send Me" (21). Oneness in real fellowship of communion was His desire, and the burden of His petition. The Father is in the Son, and the Son is in the Father; hence full communion there must be between Them. The thoughts, the wishes, of the Father are the thoughts and wishes of the Son. No divergence of view, no conflict of opinion, can possibly exist between Them. A oneness, then, of communion between all believers, for that He prayed. And remembering that the company to be gathered out by apostolic ministry would embrace men of all ranks, and people of very varied nationalities, the need of the Saviour's prayer is at once made apparent. And the resulting consequence was one concerning the world: "That the world may believe that Thou didst send Me.'' Those formerly Jews, or Gentiles, or Barbarians, or Scythians, or bond or free, all united in one fellowship, owning and serving the same Lord — what short of Divine power could effect this? And if Divine power could accomplish it, what a testimony it would be to the Divine mission of the Son! That effect on the world He desired; and surely in early days, as long as all believers continued in the Apostles' doctrine and fellowship (Acts 2:42), there was that testimony. But how soon was the beautiful picture blotted! How sadly has it become marred!

If this be so, it is clear that the present divided condition of the Church is not according to the mind of the Spirit. It may be well, however, to look at some other scriptures bearing on this subject. In John 17 we find that, whether our Lord was praying for the disciples then with Him, or whether He enlarges the sphere to the whole of those who should believe on Him through their word, in both cases the first petition that He presents concerning them is — for their oneness. In verse 21 He prays, "That they all," that is all believers, "may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me." Here, then, the special object for which the Lord desires this oneness is that it may be a testimony to the world. No invisible unity can be this. The world can receive no evidence but that presented to it, and unless the oneness of believers is a thing discernible by the world, the testimony here spoken of is not given. The Church indeed was not formed when these words were uttered, but they were uttered in full view of the fact that the Church was soon to be formed; and the formation of the Church could not dissolve, but rather cement and define the oneness here spoken of.

It may be objected, however, that Jesus speaks only of the apostles; also that this oneness was not to be outward and visible, but only in spirit, as seen by God. Let us look, then, at another text. "Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on Me through their word; that they all may be one, as Thou, Father, art in Me, and I in Thee, that they also may be one in Us; that the world may believe that Thou hast sent Me. And the glory which Thou gavest Me, I have given them, that they may be one even as We are one. I in them, and Thou in Me, that they may be made perfect in one" (John 17:20-23). Here Jesus prays for all them "which shall believe on Me through their word." Surely each believer will eagerly claim his part in this. But if all believers are included, the Lord's request for them all is that they may be made one even as He Himself was one with the Father. And so far was this oneness from being invisible to the world, that it was to be the evidence to the world of the Father's having sent the Son. If God meant it to be a testimony to the world, He must have meant it to be something which the world could see. If, therefore, the oneness of believers is not visible to the world, the Church has failed in its testimony. There may be abundant individual testimony that the Father has sent the Son; but the testimony here named, the testimony which was to be borne by the manifest oneness of believers, cannot come from a divided Church.

Nor is this all. This oneness, which, as we have seen, was to be manifested as a testimony to the world, is linked by the Lord with the glory which He had received from the Father, and given to believers. "The glory which Thou gavest Me, I have given them, that they may be one even as We are one." Thus the special glory bestowed upon believers, nay, the very glory given to Christ Himself, is bound up, as to outward manifestation, with the visible unity of His disciples. How grieving to His spirit then, how dishonouring to His name, the present divided state of those to whom this wondrous charge was committed!

The first of these fresh desires is that believers "all may be one." Throughout the ages believers have been called from different nations, with diverse tongues; but, however divided in nationality, in social position, in worldly means, or in intellectual attainments, the Lord prays that they may be "one in us." This is a unity in their common interest in Christ and in communion with the Father and the Son. The expression of a unity amongst those who otherwise were sharply divided would be an arresting witness to the world of the power of the Name of JESUS. In Pentecostal days there was for a brief time an answer to the Lord's request. The world saw with amazement that "the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and of one soul." From a people, thus united in their common interest in Christ there went out a witness to the world marked by "great power" and "great grace" (Acts 2:32-33).

There is no witness so powerful to the world as moral oneness with the Father in the hearts and minds of His children. In a day of doubt and distrust, these are the evidences of christianity to be coveted. Unity of desire, fellowship with the Father and the Son, and the practical results of this secret power, are the all-convicting testimony to the world that the Father sent His Son into it. “Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on Me through their word; that they all may be one; as Thou, Father, art in Me, and I in Thee, that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that Thou hast sent Me.” ( John 17:20-21.)

Christ asks that we may be one, so that the world may believe; John 17:21. That which Christ asks for, is a visible unity, a unity which witnesses to the nature, the love, and the holiness of Christ, and even to His power; and that, in order that the world which knows not Christ, neither can see Him, may learn, by the effects which it sees, what is the real source of grace which is hidden from it and beyond its reach.

Another point demands our attention. It was not only by the active diffusion of the gospel, that Christianity was designed to be a living manifestation of God's goodness: its actual effect on Christians themselves, was intended to answer the same end. To teach others what they themselves practically denied was the sin of the natural branches; (see Rom. 2;) and it could never be God's purpose that Christians, who were graffed in when they were broken off, should doctrinally make Him known, while denying Him by their works. Accordingly, our Lord Himself, and the apostles, lay the utmost stress on the living, practical manifestation by Christians of that grace by which they have been saved, and in which they stand. "Ye are the light of the world. A city set on an hill cannot be hid. … Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven." "Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples." "Only let your conversation be as becomes the gospel of Christ." "That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world, holding forth the word of life." It were easy to proceed quoting passages like these, and equally so to put it to the consciences of my readers, whether we (that is, professing Christians at large) have thus glorified God, and shone as lights in the world. There could be, alas! but one verdict as to this. But let the question be narrowed, and brought even to a readier issue than this, It has pleased our blessed Lord to make known to us in the most explicit way, how we might have led the world to believe that the Father had sent Him. He had previously said to the disciples, "By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another." But in the passage I refer to, it is the Father Himself who is addressed by our Lord. Nor is it merely for the apostles, or the disciples then living, that He prays. He has been praying for them; but this is what He goes on to say — "Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word: that they all may be one: is thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me." (John 17:20-21.) Am I assuming too much as to the meaning of these words, in taking for granted, that the unity among His followers, for which the Saviour asks, is a visible unity? How else could it act upon the world, and induce them to believe that the Father has sent His Son? Now such a unity did, in the earliest days of Christianity, exist. "And all that believed were together." (Acts 2:44.) "And the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and of one soul." (Acts 4:32.) There was then, for a little space, the manifestation, practically, as well as in doctrine, of that goodness of God which Christianity was to make known. Has Christendom, in this respect, continued in God's goodness? I speak not now of the church of Rome. She pretends to unity — visible unity. What the character and value of her unity is, we may by and bye inquire. But in the great revival of gospel light at the Reformation, a mercy for which we can never sufficiently bless God, was there any recovery of the Church's original position and character in respect to visible unity? Alas! my brethren, however humbling the acknowledgement, it is impossible for any of us to refuse it, that wherever that light has most clearly shone, division upon division has taken place. I say not that these divisions are the result of the light which dawned afresh at the Reformation.

What a sad aspect the whole church at this present time bears to the eye of Him who prayed "that they all may be one, as Thou, Father, art in me and I in Thee, that they also might be one in us; that the world may believe that Thou hast sent me." How responsible the whole church is for the unbelief of the world! What a proof of sovereign grace to know that though the visible unity is a lost thing here. yet will the church be manifested in glory to the world as one, and then the world will know what now perhaps they would believe had the church been diligent to present this trait to them. At all events the world would have had this additional testimony: it was the Lord's mind that they should have it. "By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples. if ye have love one for another."

But there is a responsibility upon us to maintain this in a practical way. Paul had this in mind when he exhorted the Ephesians to "endeavour to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace" (Eph. 4:3). If we behave in a way that destroys unity amongst Christians, then we are not carrying this out. Also if we introduce things that are not a result of the death of the Lord Jesus and the acceptance of His work and blood in the presence of God, then we shall not know the blessing of the Holy Spirit being present. Likewise, if we try to add to the fellowship anything that is not based upon the death of His Son on the cross, then we will spoil the fellowship. We can so easily do this by introducing things that appeal to us naturally, that are not spiritual things but carnal. They did this at Corinth and Paul had to write two letters to them correcting their wrong behaviour. This unity is a very powerful testimony to the world. The Lord Jesus said, "that the world may believe" (John 17:21). How successful the devil has been in dividing Christians! He knows full well that division and difference amongst Christians weakens their testimony.

This is a unity of practical life, oneness of heart and mind, such as subsists between the Father and the Son: a unity which the world is to be able to as to be led by it to faith. It is not, of course, that the world as a whole will believe, but men of the world have been at all times wrought upon by it. It is not the Church that is meant, — in John we have not this; although, no doubt, every breach of Church unity has begun as a breach in the practical life. The life has its character from the truth entered into; and "one in Us" shows it to be a life of fellowship with the Father and the Son. How glorious such a witness! What a testimony to Him who can work it in such as we are!