7/20/25 “The Greatest Prayer - Part 3”

“The Greatest Prayer – Part 3”

John 17:20-26

Take a look at the screen with me.

I’m going to show you a series of logos from various companies, organizations, or even countries….and let’s see how many of them are familiar to you…..ok?

1)     United Airlines

2)     United Way

3)     Unity Point Health Care

4)     United Nations

5)     United Kingdom

6)     United States of America

Is Anyone noticing a theme here?

Yeah. They all have the word ‘United’ or ‘Unity’ in their names, right?

It seems as though it’s almost universally accepted - across all countries and cultures - that ‘Unity’ is a good thing.

We inherently like the idea of people coming together over a specific ideology…or for a specific purpose…or to tackle a particular task.

…and – on the other hand - we naturally recoil at words like disunity…or disharmony…or discord…

I mean, who would want to book a flight with a company called “DIS-Unity Airlines”….

….or see a Doctor at “Polarized Point Health Care”?

But as much as we like the idea of unity…we humans have a history that generally reveals anything but unity.

Since the days of Genesis, recorded history speaks much more of disunity and war….than it does of unity and peace.

When left to our own devices, humanity seems to naturally follow a trajectory of disunity…discord…disagreement…and division.

In fact, the scientifically proven law of entropy (Also called the 2nd law of thermodynamics) states that everything in the universe is gradually declining into more and more disorder…and disunity.

Human beings tend to follow this trend as well….Just look at how our phones have created an individualistic society where disunity – rather than unity – has become the norm….

According to “The Listen Project” website, even though 87% of Americans say they desire a greater level of unity in this country, 80% of Americans also believe that people associated with any political party other than their own “pose a threat to America and cannot be trusted”

…45% of Americans even refer to members of other political parties as “Evil”….

Obviously…we as a nation are far from being a ‘United’ collection of states…

…and the rest of the world really isn’t any better.

But what about the Church...you may ask.

If any institution on earth is a bastion of peace, love, and unity…it must be the Church that serves Jesus Christ, right?

I mean…Jesus himself prays for the unity of all believers in our passage of scripture for today.

Wouldn’t this alone mean we will consistently find a unified atmosphere of peace and harmony amongst all bible-believing Christians?

I sure wish that were the case.

But – sadly – it rarely is.

One area of disunity involves the propensity to sometimes bring outside cultural factors into the church….

Many Christians – especially young Christians - have become fed up with what they see as the  ‘Politicalization’ of Christianity….

….especially here in America where we sometimes believe our political identity to be just as important – or even more important - than our spiritual identity in Christ.

…this over-emphasis on politics within the church has led to a substantial degree of disunity and division within the church.

A couple of weeks ago, I asked my Bible class at church camp – made up of mostly High-School aged students - what they saw as the biggest idol in the church today…

….a very large percentage of them said “Politics”….or certain “politicians”

….this speaks to the mindset of many young people growing up in the church today…

…folks…they are sick and tired of us older people in the church constantly arguing – or complaining – about….politics.

…many of them would rather talk about spiritual issues that directly effect their lives….and – quite honestly – I applaud them for that…

We need to remember that our nationality or political affiliation is NOT important when it comes to salvation….

….Eternal life will be granted only through faith in the shed-blood of Jesus Christ….

…. He  - and He alone – must be what shapes our identity.

Now…We may see our faith manifest itself in voting a particular way at the ballot box…but that’s simply an outflow of one’s previously-established identity in Christ….

In other words, our political identity is just a by-product of our infinitely-more important Spiritual identity in Christ…

Well…There certainly are factors other than politics that lead to disunity in the church:

1)     One would be an unhealthy emphasis on non-spiritual matters….when a church becomes more like a social club – or a business – rather than a place focused on spiritual growth….it will undoubtedly yield disunity and biblical apathy.

2)     Another would be an elevated emphasis on tradition – this can certainly result in an atmosphere of disharmony…..

….when people reject a positive change of some kind….something that will more effectively advance the Kingdom of God or help to further a person’s walk with the Lord….all in the name of tradition….this will ultimately result in disharmony & disunity.

3)     A third factor leading to disunity would be when personal preferences are elevated to the status of doctrine…this will assuredly cause division and strife within a church….

….we sometimes laugh when we hear about churches that split – or dissolve – over disagreements concerning things like the color of the carpeting….

….or the placement of certain items in the sanctuary….

….or what time Worship service begins and ends.…

……….but folks this stuff really happens!....

…..In reality, this is the furthest thing from humorous….because it reveals the level to which Satan can infiltrate the hearts and minds of self-described Christians!

The Devil LOVES disunity within the Church!

…..when grace and love toward others becomes replaced by selfishness, greed, and pride…. That is when a church ceases to become effective for Christ…. That is when Satan has victory.

……Also… what kind of message does it send to non-believers in a  community when a local congregation argues – or even closes over insignificant things like flooring – or windows – or lighting….

…..We need to always be reminding ourselves:

Why do we belong to a church?.....Why did you come here this morning?

Are we here to admire the building? The flowers? The pulpit? The Preacher? (I sure hope not!) The memorial plaques?…the musical instruments?...the pretty orange carpeting?....

….Or…

….Are we solely here to admire and worship the King of kings and Lord of Lords….The Savior, Jesus Christ!

Folks. He – and He alone – is deserving of ALL our attention when we gather for worship in this place.

…That’s why we pray to Him…

….That’s why we study His Word…

….That’s why our songs glorify Him

…Focusing on anything other than God while in a worship setting constitutes a lack of reverence and respect toward our savior.

4)     One last area of disunity in the church can arise from doctrinal issues.

Over the past 50 years - Just in my lifetime -  we’ve seen many of the major protestant denominations – ecclesiastical institutions that once stood firmly on the inerrant, infallible word of God - crumble under the pressures of postmodern philosophies and cultural assimilation…

To some – God’s Word has become a collection of suggestions – rather than the Timeless, eternal truth of God Himself.

….No longer can we assume that everyone who claims to follow Jesus really understands or holds fast to the things God has plainly set forth – and commanded - in his Word.

Sadly….many people who identify as Christians no longer adhere to some of the primary, essential doctrines of the Christian faith.

…This does indeed make it very difficult to find unity with individuals who deny some of the central components of the faith.

That being said…however….we must be careful not to close ourselves off to fellowshipping with other Christians who do hold to the essential, primary doctrines of Christianity.

So…What are these primary doctrines of the faith…you might ask?

They include things like:… the divinity of Jesus….the Gospel…salvation by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone….the bodily resurrection of Christ….the need to be born-again to inherit salvation…the Trinity…the authority of scripture….

I would also include: The biblical definition of marriage (one man and one woman)…and The sanctity of the ‘Imago De’ – that man is made in the image of God – and therefore all human life is sacred.

These should all be non-negotiables.

If you are a genuine Christ-follower….you will genuinely believe these things to be true…..because they are clearly taught as such in the Bible.

But – on the other hand - there are many…what we call…. ‘secondary’ doctrines – doctrines that lend themselves to legitimate debate within Christianity that – unfortunately - cause a great deal of unnecessary division and disunity.

One of these secondary doctrinal issues is that of Baptism.

Here at LaValle Advent Christian Church, we believe scripture teaches that a believer’s baptism by immersion is the proper biblical form of administering the ordinance of baptism….

….does this mean that my Lutheran friend – Someone who also believes in all of the primary doctrines of the faith – but aligns himself with infant baptism  - Does that mean he’s a heretic who should be avoided at all cost?....of course not.

….But don’t we all-too-often tend to become tribal and isolationist over secondary doctrines such as this?

Another example of secondary doctrines that have historically caused division in the church involve the area of eschatology – or ‘End Times’ events…

….Many Christians who hold to the essentials of the faith also differ in their view of how to exactly interpret end-times prophecies and timetables…

….Our Tuesday night Bible Study group is currently going through Revelation…and we can all tell you…some parts of that book are not easy to understand…

….I have pastor friends who shepherd solid, bible-based churches who believe that the rapture will occur at a different time during the tribulation than I do….or that the Millennial period described in Revelation isn’t to be taken as a literal period of time….

But when it comes to the primary essentials of the faith, they are rock-solid…

…am I going to allow these secondary differences to cause disunity and discord between us?....absolutely not.

…This would be allowing Satan to build walls of disunity where no such walls are needed…

….Other secondary doctrines that have led to division in the church include:

….Certain spiritual gifts – specifically the sign gifts of tongues, prophecy, and healing…(Some believe these 3 gifts ceased along with the Apostles; others believe they haven’t)

….Or Calvinism vs Arminianism

….Or style of worship – liturgical vs informal

….Or musical preference – hymns vs praise & worship music

….Or the extent of a woman’s role in church leadership

,,,,these are all important issues, for sure, and we need to be able to articulate our beliefs in each of these areas - – but they are not issues that will ultimately impact one’s salvation if the essentials of the faith are adhered to….

…. therefore we need to have grace toward other believers who also hold to the essential doctrines, but who may differ from us regarding one or more of these secondary teachings.

 ….When churches decide to become isolated to the point of breaking fellowship with other bible-believing brethren, they do a disservice to the church’s witness to the rest of society….

…and…they act in direct opposition to the words from Jesus’ prayer to the Father in today’s passage of scripture.

In this final portion of what I like to call the “Real Lord’s Prayer”, Jesus is praying for all future believers….including us!

….and the central theme of this portion of the prayer is….Unity.

In verse 21 (John 17:21) Jesus prays that all future believers “may be one”

He continues in verse 22 (John 17:22) saying “That they may be one as we are one.”

Finally, in verse 23, Jesus says “….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.”

….The most pressing issue on the mind of Jesus before he goes to the cross – before His life ends - is for there to be unity within His church.

I know that some of you are dealing with the pain of disunity between family members…and there are few things in life worse than seeing two people you love not talk to each other….sometimes for years….or even the rest of their lives.

Jesus is not wanting this to happen within His church.

He is pleading with the Father on our behalf that there would be unity amongst His followers regarding the central tenets of the faith…

…and that varying ideas regarding secondary issues wouldn’t keep genuine believers isolated from each other – or worse yet - at war with each other.

Does anyone recognize the name “Pat Tillman”?

Tillman was a professional football player for the Arizona Cardinals in the early 2000’s who – at the age of 25 – enlisted in the US Army.

In 2004, his unit was sent to Afghanistan where Tillman lost his life in combat…

,,,but the heartbreaking things is, he was shot by one of his fellow soldiers…

….he was actually killed by friendly fire.

When we “Go to War”, so to speak, with other Bible-believing Christians over secondary doctrines of the faith….its like we are taking aim at people in our own foxhole.

….Its like we are shooting people who are wearing the same uniform as us.

…And it’s giving the adversary a tool to use in convincing the unbelieving world that the Church is just full of infighting, backbiting, and hostility…

…This is exactly what Jesus is praying against here in the final words of this High-priestly prayer of the ages.

The best way to maintain a sense of unity with other Bible-believing Christians is to allow the Holy Spirit to direct our thoughts and actions when it comes to communicating with people of different denominational traditions.

In Ephesians chapter 4, the apostle Paul lays out a beautiful description of how the Holy Spirit helps believers remain united with each other…

Here’s what he says, beginning in verse 2 (Ephesians 4:2-6) “Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit – just as you were called to one hope when you were called – one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.”

What a beautiful picture of Spirit-led unity!

Notice Paul begins in verse 2 by reminding us all to be full of humility, gentleness, patience, and love.

If all bible-believing Christians chose to interact with each other in this way…oh, the unity it would demonstrate to the world!

…Oh, how it would attract our unbelieving friends and family members if they could only see the unifying love of the Holy Spirit working in our midst.

….What power that would wield in the world.

In verse 3 (Ephesians 4:3) Paul tells fellow believers to “Keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace…”

This actually goes against our human nature…doesn’t it.

….we naturally want to go to war with others….it’s in our sin-stained DNA to want to overpower and overtake each other.

Have you ever noticed that when you get a bunch of bible-believing Christians from various churches – or even from within the same church - together in one room to talk about faith issues, it’s the secondary topics of disagreement that usually end up being discussed….?

Why do we do this?....

Why don’t we relish talking about the important areas of theological and doctrinal agreement?

….Why do we love to linger on topics of potential division…?

Paul is telling us here in Ephesians that we have a choice to make when it comes to maintaining unity within the church….

Verse 3 begins with the words “Make Every Effort….”

…This implies a choice …it reminds us that we have free will to determine the level of unity that is to be found amongst bible-believing Christians…

This is what Jesus is praying for in our passage for today…

He is praying that all of his future followers would freely choose to treat each other with love…and humility…and patience…and respect.

….despite differences in areas outside of essential doctrine, or personality, or societal position.

Before we wrap up today, it’s important to understand that there is a huge difference between unity….and uniformity.

The definition of uniformity is “Having a lack of variation or diversity; sameness in appearance, structure, and practice.”

The beauty of the global Church is that there is plenty of diversity and variation….within the bounds of being united under the essential doctrines of the faith.

If you travel to Africa and attend a Sunday morning worship service, it will not look like most worship services back here in America….but if it is a Bible-believing church…there will still be unity in the Spirit.

If you travel to the Philippines, you can experience Bible-based unity amidst a cultural worship setting that is different than what you are used to.

I’m sure that when Joshua gets back from his mission trip, he’ll be able to tell us of some differences between how Christians worship Jesus in Guatemala, as opposed to our style of worship here in LaValle.

Jesus is not praying for uniformity….a sameness in all aspects of the church.

But He is praying for unity….that through our love for other Bible-believing Christians, we may show the world the legitimacy and authenticity of the faith…

…and what a powerful message that can be to those who are desperately searching for the truth!

Let’s Pray.