That They May Be One, As We Are One

What does it mean to “be one”? The following verses from the Gospel of John are the conclusion of Jesus’ prayer for the disciples. After this prayer Jesus is arrested and the disciples’ world changes dramatically.

“I ask not only on behalf of these but also on behalf of those who believe in me through their word, that they may all be one. As you, Father, 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. The glory that you have given me I have given them, so that they may be one, as we are one. I in them and you in me, that they may become completely one, so that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. Father, I desire that those also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory, which you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world.

“Righteous Father, the world does not know you, but I know you, and these know that you have sent me. I made your name known to them, and I will make it known, so that the love with which you have loved me may be in them and I in them.” John 17:20-26 NRSVUE

All through Jesus’ final teaching and prayer, words and ideas are repeated. If it’s repeated, it must be important. What words do you see repeated in these verses?

“Love” mentioned 5 times. “One” mentioned 4 times. “Are in/am in/be in/ be with/ in them/in me/ in us” 8+ times.

There is a spiraling pattern to Jesus’ words throughout his final teaching and prayer in John’s gospel. Jesus doesn’t leave the disciples with a list of bullet points or a road map to follow. He leaves them with a lacework or a tapestry of ideas and images. The desire of this prayer is connection, oneness, unity between Jesus, the Father, and all disciples.

Jesus’ prayer includes us, “also on behalf of those who believe in me through their word”. Our world is so fragmented, so divided that we may long for this elusive unity.

We should ask, what should this unity, this oneness look like in our present world? Sometimes we confuse unity with uniformity. We might think that we should worship, or pray, or sing in the same way. We might assume we should have a uniform “Christian worldview”. We might believe we should be theologically aligned in almost everything.¹ Perhaps we think this means everyone should be a Christian and even a particular kind of Christian. How can we be “one” if we are not alike?

Is that what Jesus meant? After all Jesus did say, “enter through the narrow gate..”² There is one way to be his follower?

I don’t think oneness, or unity means uniformity. Even a cursory look at the world around us confirms the diversity of life. Think about birds for a minute. Do we really need all the different kinds of birds? Do we need all the different kinds of ducks? How about songbirds? We probably only really need three or four kinds of birds. How many types of flowers and trees are needed? Do we need wheat and oats and barley and all the various kinds of grains? Do we need opera and jazz? Oil paintings and watercolors? What is the bare minimum of “things” needed for the world to function? How much uniformity and how much diversity do we need? God has created a world with more diversity rather than less. With variety rather than uniformity. The world works in unity because of its diversity and variety.

Sometimes the idea of unity is used to silence discussion, debate, or differences of opinion. People are told to not speak out because they might disrupt the unity of the church or society. True unity is not fragile. True unity should be strong enough to give space and consideration for differences of opinion.

We need to think seriously about uniformity and diversity given the current attacks on “diversity” in our nation. What is being advocated for? Who decides what is “too much” and who decides what is normative? If injustice is perpetuated in the name of unity, is that really the unity Jesus is praying for?

Thinking theologically about unity and diversity matters because it, consciously or unconsciously affects how we think about unity and diversity in our larger culture.

Let’s return to thinking theologically about unity, oneness.

In this prayer and in his teaching, Jesus doesn’t command the disciples to seek unity or oneness. He does pray for oneness. He prays that the disciples will be united with God. Today we would use the language of the Trinity to help us understand Jesus’ prayer³. Jesus prayer is that the disciples, all disciples are united with the Triune God⁴. Just as the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are one and live and work in harmony, Jesus prays that all disciples will be part of this unity. Jesus prays that we will live and work in harmony with each other and with God.

This unity, the oneness, this participation in the life of God is not something the disciples do. It’s not something we cause to happen. Unity is given by God. Jesus is praying for our inclusion in the unity of God.

The apostle Paul also wrote that unity in the church as a result of disciples growing in faith.⁵ We don’t cause unity to happen. Unity is received from God as a result of growing in faithfulness.

The way to grow in faithfulness is to follow Jesus’ commandment to love. Faithfulness means we love our neighbors and our enemies. There is no one we are not called to love. No one is excluded from God’s love and no one should be excluded from our love. There are difficult questions we need to wrestle with. What does faithful love look like in the real world? How expansive or how restrictive is our love to be? Can we or should we, in love, critique the actions of others? How accepting or tolerant does love require us to be? The details matter. How we act in love matters. Neither Jesus nor Paul says this is easy to do. Loving like Jesus loves, loving like God loves is difficult. It requires our continued attention and persistent intention.

It’s not a simple linear progression. We don’t glide serenely from point A to point B. We struggle to love well. Sometimes we fail. Often our progress is slow. But we persist and as we grow in love, we grow in faith. As we grow in faith and love, justice grows. As we grow in faith, love and justice, unity emerges, the good gift of God.

1. I say “almost” because typically even the most strict interpretation of uniformity allows some distension over “non essentials”. However, difficulties arise when defining essential and non essential. ↩︎
2. Matthew 7:13, 14, Luke 13:24 the narrow door. ↩︎
3. While people in the first century used the language of Father, Son and Holy Spirit, thinking about them as the Trinity is theological language that developed later. ↩︎
4. I am using the traditional language of Father, Son and Spirit here, because that’s the language Jesus uses in this passage. There is much that can be ( and has been) said about this gendered language. But very briefly, this is language about close, familial relationships, not the language of hierarchy and patriarchy. ↩︎
5. Ephesians 4. ↩︎