Protect them Father...

Jesus prays in John 17 for his disciples. “Protect them,” is his plea to the Father. Protect them from what? From persecution? No. He knows trouble will come from without. The world will hate his followers. That’s a given. The world hated him!

Instead of praying for physical safety, Jesus prays for spiritual shelter. “My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one.” (v. 15) “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.” (v. 11)

The implication is clear here isn’t it? The evil one is going to attack the church. His attacks are going to be aimed at disrupting unity.

Are you with me? The enemy of your soul and mine is out to destroy the peace of every congregation, the spirit of harmony that exists in every church. The devil would like nothing more than for you and your fellow believers to start bickering over trivial things. Satan would love to see you and your sisters grabbing and grasping for control of do-nothing committees. Groups that do nothing because they’re always at each other’s throats. Groups that cannot do anything for the kingdom of God because they’re focused on their own little fiefdoms. Lucifer would laugh out loud if you and I started squabbling over the proper songs for worship. Some churches fight about music you know?

"Choruses!"
"Hymns!"
"Choruses!"
"Hymns!"

Can you imagine? I suppose this is a slightly more important issue than, say, which way the toilet paper should roll, but…It grieves God’s heart when his children argue over such matters.

Unity in the church matters. It matters for this simple reason: unity demonstrates God’s power and brings glory to him. When God is honored in the church through loving fellowship, people are convinced that Jesus has something to offer. Peace and unity despite differing opinions is simply amazing to a watching world.

“I pray…for those who will believe in me through their message,” Jesus prayed, “that 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. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: I 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.” (v. 20-23)

Unity is vital to the spread of God’s kingdom. No unity. No new believers.

“The church is full of hypocrites! They say one thing and do another. They bicker over stupid stuff. Why would I want to join?”

In Galatians 5:15 Paul warns, “If you keep on biting and devouring each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other.” (NIV)

You’ve been warned. I’ve been warned.

“If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.” (Romans 12:18, NIV)

To receive my once or twice weekly message via email and join the "webmessage" discussion group, send a blank email to webmessage-subscribe@associate.com. Past messages (there are well over 100) are available at www.associate.com/groups/webmessage.