My mom had a fear of the “end of days, the end-times” as it was spoken of in apocalyptical writings and sermons and teachings in the church of my childhood. She cared so much for her family, and dreaded the idea that any of her dearly-loved offspring would possibly suffer or lack basic needs. Having lived through the Great Depression, she certainly had her share of anxieties that could potentially be repeated.
The 1960s were times of serious conflicts in racial terms, in political terms, and in events of violence and assassinations. All of these things served to heighten our fears and develop more theories of the “end-times” that seem, in some ways, playing out much the same way in these days as well.
As Jesus approached the end of his days on earth, he seemed to have a fear, a sense of an inevitable phenomenon that would play out in the “last days.” So he prayed about this fear.
As I read it, one thing Jesus seemed to fear as he neared the end of his time on earth is that the “world” would fail to understand how Christ and the Father are one; that the world would fail to understand how those who are baptized into Christ are one with Jesus as he is one with the Father.
And what did Jesus say is the key to accurately sharing the right message?
“I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me.” John 17:23
This fear would be realized, he implied, if his own followers would not realize and act on the reality of being “perfectly (completely) one” with each other. That’s where it becomes visible to the world that Jesus the Christ is actually one with the Eternal God of the Ages: when those who are called to follow him are perfectly (completely) one.
Otherwise, there is no tangible evidence on this earth, no demonstration of that unity of the Trinity. So was the prayer of Jesus in John 17.
Do we care? Do we understand that no matter how loudly we shout Christian truths, it all may be deeply dissatisfactory to the Christ we think we are proclaiming?
Do we care that the “world” may reject the deity of Jesus the Christ because we (the Church) do not accept and illustrate that we are one with Christ, and therefore one with each other?
The narcotic of power, the euphoria of winning a battle, the satisfaction of humiliating an enemy, the pride of a superior position on an issue–do we really want these to be a normal part of the message of Christians in North America?
We can easily dismiss our responsibility for what the world thinks of Jesus the Christ. In this prayer of Jesus, he clearly indicates that what the world believes about the Christ is directly shaped by the way his followers act.
If you wish to hear my video message on this topic, go to Perfectly One.