On the last night of his earthly life, Jesus prays for his disciples, and for all who will come to believe through their testimony (which includes you and me), that they would be one, just as Jesus and his father are one. His vision is that the relationship of Christians to one another would mirror his own relationship to his Father: that the Church would be molded and influenced by the Triune life, unique persons, one in purpose.
I may be reaching the point where my congregation is tired of hearing this, but if we want to be "disciples" of Jesus, we need to model our lives after his. Jesus' life was one of balance in relationships: "Up," with his Father, "In", with his disciples, and "Out", with the world. If one of those three were out of whack, all three would suffer. His unity with his Father wasn't placed on a pedestal above his love for his friends, nor his constant efforts to connect with those who did not yet know him. His prayer for each of us was the same: that we would be unified with each other and with the Father, in order to truly love the world like he does.
Of course, nobody does this perfectly. We'll have different specialties, and different weaknesses. We'll have seasons where we are working harder on one than the others. But this triangle laid out in Scripture is a helpful tool to look at our own lives and the lives of our churches.
Jesus, make us more like you. Connect us to one another, to you, and to the world. Show us the opportunities you place before us every day. Amen.
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