“And we have the prophetic word more fully confirmed, to which you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts, knowing this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone’s own interpretation. For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.” (2 Peter 1:19–21, ESV)

If the words found in the Bible, are the Word of God, and if God is light, then those words are certainly a light into this world. If there be any darkness in our hearts, let the Word of God be that light that shines in and extinguishes that darkness.

Tim Keller encourages us with the following:

“Second Peter 1:19 says, “And we have the word of the prophets [the Scriptures] … and you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a light shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.” What is Peter saying? He is saying the same thing Paul is saying. Hear this. The world is a dark place, full of unrighteousness and viciousness, the sort of thing that just broke H.G. Wells’ heart, full of distortion and confusion. Nothing is conspicuous; everything is a disaster.

“The Word of God, the revelation, the truth of God, is the only light. The truth of God comes in and says there is hope. There is a God. He created us. He didn’t create us for this kind of condition. We chose to go our own way, so we’ve made a mess of life, but Jesus Christ, the light, has come. If you receive him, that light comes into your life. Eventually the light will come back and take over, and all darkness will be banished forever. You’re supposed to take hold of that hope (the light of God’s truth) and pay attention to it in a world that’s very dark until the morning star rises in your hearts, till the day dawns.” [1]

The light that the Christian shines is not only the light produced from a loving heart, but it is also a light produced through sharing of God’s Word. This is why it is important for the Christian to share God’s Word with others. God’s Word is that infinitely big light that can extinguish darkness in the lives of others. And the best example of this is through the light of the Gospel where the darkness of sin is forgiven. It is through the pages of Scripture that we learn of Jesus who made it possible for our darkness to be forgiven and forgotten through his loving death on the cross.

1. Timothy J. Keller, The Timothy Keller Sermon Archive (New York City: Redeemer Presbyterian Church, 2013).

Jesus emphasized the importance of hearing through his ministry. In the parable of the sower, Jesus shows us that the way in which you listen, can make a dramatic difference in your life.

Having Ears to Hear

In the parable of the sower, Jesus states what would seem unnecessary, “he who has ears to hear, let him hear” (Luke 8:8). Obviously, Jesus is not talking about simply hearing and understanding the meaning of the words. Everyone who understands the language and hears Jesus speak would certainly understand what Jesus said. But Jesus is talking about a type of hearing that includes the mental attitude. Read the parable and see if you can detect the different types of hearing:

““A sower went out to sow his seed. And as he sowed, some fell along the path and was trampled underfoot, and the birds of the air devoured it. And some fell on the rock, and as it grew up, it withered away, because it had no moisture. And some fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up with it and choked it. And some fell into good soil and grew and yielded a hundredfold.” As he said these things, he called out, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.” ” (Luke 8:5–8)

At first glance, this parable seems to have nothing to do with hearing and more to do with sowing seed. But in the following verses Jesus makes it clear that he’s talking about hearing:

“Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God. The ones along the path are those who have heard; then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved. And the ones on the rock are those who, when they hear the word, receive it with joy. But these have no root; they believe for a while, and in time of testing fall away. And as for what fell among the thorns, they are those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by the cares and riches and pleasures of life, and their fruit does not mature. As for that in the good soil, they are those who, hearing the word, hold it fast in an honest and good heart, and bear fruit with patience. ” (Luke 8:11–15, ESV)

Poor Hearing

Poor hearing doesn’t start with old age; it can happen to those with young and perfect ears. Perhaps you can pick out and listen to a conversation from across the room. Perhaps you have ears that are have acquired a fine taste in music, able to appreciate the complexities of a symphony orchestra. But can you hear the words of Jesus in such a way that it stays within your heart and bears fruit over the long-haul? If the answer is “no”, then you have poor hearing.

Let’s first set the context before examining the causes of poor hearing. Imagine that you are sitting in a church service, and there is a preacher, who is faithfully explaining the gospel; God came in the flesh, lived the perfect life, and died on the cross for the forgiveness of the sins of those who believe. The sermon explains the prophecy that predicted Jesus would come, and the miracles and resurrection that authenticates the truth claims about Jesus. You are sitting in one of the seats, listening to this message. Let’s look at what might cause poor hearing in these situations. Keep in mind, the scenarios I describe are not meant to be an exhaustive and completely accurate description of every type of listener, but it is meant to describe scenarios that I think are abundant and real.

The Casual Listener

The casual listener is described in the parable as “ones along the path”, “those who have heard” but “then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved”. What is interesting is that they appear to be listening with an amount of intensity that it actually makes it to the “heart”. The heart of a man is the place that steers the mind. It’s the deepest center of our being, it is the place where things are treasured and valued. And imagine that you have taken the message from the sermon and found a place in your heart to store these words.

Perhaps you recognized Jesus as a man who displayed a tremendous amount of love for his fellow man by sacrificing time and energy to help the poor. Perhaps you appreciate the integrity of Jesus as a man who didn’t seek positions of wealth and power. Perhaps you recognize that you have made mistakes and desire the forgiveness of God for entrance into heaven.

But then you think, what if this is not true? What about people of other religions? There’s lots of good people in this world that don’t believe in Jesus. You think “Buddha or Ghandi are also good teachers, what’s wrong with following them?”

This may sound harsh and narrow minded, but Jesus provides the prognosis for your situation. Satan has snatched the word of God from your heart!

The self-centered Listener

This person heard the sermon and received it with joy. They even believe it for a little while. Imagine that you have heard the sermon and you are excited about love, warmth, and acceptance. Your life had previously been spiritually dry and perhaps even emotionally depressing. The preacher’s gospel message seemed to promise good things through this person Jesus Christ. Your life would be transformed and you felt that you would begin to experience blessings like never before. You imagined that the dark days are over and there’s nothing but shiny happy lucky days ahead.

Well, some times passes and things don’t seem to go as planned. Perhaps you loose your job or work seem like daily torture. Your marital relationship is difficult and challenging. You live in the same old house, with those same annoying neighbors and those in-laws that you never liked. Perhaps something very tragic happens, such as the loss of a loved one. You begin to feel as if the blessings are not coming. You begin to re-evaluate the Christian religion and consider it a bag-of-lies.

Jesus says that the word had “no root” in your heart. It was suspended in a cloud of joy but when the joy disappeared you no longer believed in God’s words or promises. Your faith was based on a self-centered view of the Christian life as a means to provide you all the things you wanted or thought you deserved. You considered that God owed you blessings and that he must either hate you, or has forgotten about you to let you go through such trials. You never truly understood the gospel or the meaning of Jesus words. Your faith could not persevere through the trials. And your faith could not save you from your sins because your faith was a making of your own mind, and was not the faith of God.

The Busy Listener

This person heard the word and headed towards fruitfulness, but became distracted by the cares and riches of the world and so they never finished what they started.

Imagine that you heard the sermon, recognized the noble value of Jesus message. You see that Jesus teaches things that you want your children to learn. You want this good godly character for you and your family. You admired Jesus’s drive and passion. He worked hard long days and achieved his goals. He submitted himself to the authority of God and was able to performs miracles, raise people from the dead and provide forgiveness for generations of Christians.

You started out a plan of action to jump-start your Christian life. You came on Sunday, you read your Bible everyday, you even tried some study groups. But all these efforts didn’t seem to be producing the results you wanted.

Perhaps you feel frustrated on those days where your day job seems to be piling up the work and there unfinished work around the house. In addition, you have hobbies and past-time events that you feel are an essential part of your life. You have goals of your own that include a beautiful home, with modern upgrades and luxury cars. You feel that you must work more than full-time to achieve your life-goals.

As a result, you don’t have time for church life. You have come to realize that the Christian life seems counterproductive and at-odds with your life. You like the idea of Jesus as your Savior and a God who saves you from your sin, but you simply don’t have time.

Jesus says that your fruit did not mature. Sure, you may be fruitful and productive in the world, but Jesus doesn’t even recognize that fruit when you left the spiritual fruit to rot.

Good Hearing

The person with good hearing hears the word properly holds it fast in an honest and good heart and bears fruit with patience (Luke 8:15). Imagine that you came to hear the sermon anticipating that you would hear the very words of God explained. You recognized that although it was a man preaching from the pulpit, that he was a messenger of God, speaking words God wanted you to hear.

Something was stirring in your heart as you listened to this message. The gospel message seemed like the most valuable thing you have every heard. You recognized your utter sinfulness and your desperate need for forgiveness. You recognized that before this wonderful, holy God, you certainly deserved wrath. Joy sweeps over your heart as you recognize the grace and forgiveness available to you through the sacrificial death of Jesus on the cross.

Sure, doubts enter your mind from time to time. You wonder at times how this can be true. There are tough verses in the Bible that confuse you at times. But you press on, knowing that God will complete the good work He started. You have faith that everything will eventually work out for your good.

Through trials and the difficulties of life, you continue to stay the course and run the race. Sure, you sometimes find yourself off the Christian walk, but you are open to rebuke and correction from your fellow Christians who love you and care for you. You spend time among your brothers and sisters in Christ so that these valuable relationship work to encourage you. In fact, you are mutually encouraging one another and helping the weaker in the faith become stronger.

Without realizing it, you have become fruitful and you have worked out your faith through several seasons of life and produced fruit that may not be readily apparent to you, but from God’s point of view, the fruitfulness includes both fruit born in your godly character and in the lives of others.

From Bad to Good

So you might ask, “how does a person go from bad hearing to good hearing”. As it turns out, we all start off with bad hearing (Rom 3:10-11) . But the beginning of good hearing starts with repentance. John the Baptist had prepared the way for Jesus by calling people to a baptism of repentance in the wilderness (Matt 3:2). Repentance, recognition that we are utterly sinful before a Holy God and turning from sin and to God includes a radical change in your mind, and in your disposition concerning yourself and God. If you find this difficult, then cry out to God in prayer, for it is a gift of God to be granted repentance and faith (2 Tim 2:25). But true repentance leads to an understanding and knowledge of the truth and in light of this parable, an understanding of God’s word that is held fast in the heart, bearing fruit with patience. May God grant you true repentance. Amen.

Evangelical Christians have long been associated with telling people about Jesus Christ. The term born-again brings up images of a devout, exited for Jesus, Christian who can’t stop trying to convert others to Christianity. Our culture is, in general, open to many forms of spiritual expression and exploration, but somehow the Good News of Jesus Christ is not the best news around. Is the Gospel of Jesus Christ just not cool enough, modern enough, or hip enough? Do we need to hype-it-up with mystique like the Eastern religions? Should we wrap up the Christianity’s central message in modern garb to present it as attractive? Can we make the Gospel attractive?

There are several modern attempts to make the Christianity more attractive and appealing to the masses. This article will show some of these attempts and also look at the reason these are not adequate when compared to what is found in the Bible.

Gospels in Modern Garb

There are several modern attempts to make the gospel more attractive and appealing to the masses. The common characteristic of all these gospels is to reduce the pessimistic characteristics and emphasize the positive. It is certainly good to be hopeful and optimistic, but we should never comprise the truth or misrepresent the truth in order to make Christianity more appealing.

The Therapeutic Gospel. In this flavor of good news, God is presented as our divine therapist, primarily interested in healing our psychological and emotional issues. God is that good angel on our shoulder that tells us things that help us feel good and lift our self-esteem. Our greatest problem is that we have yet to realize how blessed and important we are to God. If we would just realize how much God loves us and how He has such a good plan for our lives, we would be relieved of our difficulties and our life would be on a path of joy and happiness.

The problem with this gospel is that it places man at the center of God’s plans. The last time man was at the center of the universe was when people thought the earth was flat. Should we really repeat such silly thoughts about God. Perhaps God made the sun the center of the universe, and people unknowingly chose the word sun, so that we would one day realize that we are not at the center of God’s universe, but God’s Son is at the center. I believe in the power of God to accomplish even the most unexpected things.

The Bible does tell us that we are made perfect by the love of God, but it is not the love of God communicated by cuddly quotes to stroke our consciences. It is the love of God demonstrated by Jesus Christ’s death on the cross (Rom 5:8; 2 Cor 5:14). We are made perfect by this love, in which Christ died the death that we deserved for our sins. We cannot overcome our imperfections by healing our emotions, because our most damaging imperfections are not psychological, our most damaging imperfections are moral. While our psychological imperfections are offending our conscience, our moral imperfections are offending the God of the universe. Which is more grievous, offending our conscience, or offending the King of the universe? Which carries eternal significance?

The other problem with this is that we often do not know what is best for our psychological well-being. If it was up to us, we would suffer no sorrows or pain, yet God often plans to do great things through suffering. Consider the suffering that Joseph went through in Egypt both physically and emotionally. His brothers meant to cause pain and suffering on Joseph, yet God preserved an entire people from the devastating effects of a famine (Gen 5:20). We all experience emotional and psychological suffering that tests our faith in God. The New Testament tells us that God tests our faith to produce steadfastness which ultimately leads towards our being “perfect and complete, lacking in nothing” (Jas 1:2-4).

The Prosperity Gospel. This is where we find God depicted as the divine butler, who we calls on to assist us in our time of need. This is the popular view among many of the youth in our day. We also see the prosperity gospel on television from preachers who appeal for money with promises of divine blessing for those who sacrifice larger sums of money. Those who give more have more faith in future blessings from God and those who give less have less faith in future blessings. Those who don’t give generously will not experience a prosperous future.

This is similar to the therapeutic Gospel in that it seeks material blessings while the therapeutic Gospel seeks emotional and psychological blessings. The prosperity Gospel shares the same problems as the therapeutic gospel.

We can find testimonies of God’s dealings with people in the Bible that show that God is not primarily interested in increasing our wealth. Consider Job and his loss of family, property and health. Consider the Israelites in the wilderness and their loss food, shelter, and land. Consider Jesus and his life of poverty and suffering on the Cross. Consider the apostles and the martyrs throughout history who have died defending the faith. These are all examples of men with great faith who did not have prosperity in the typical sense, yet they had great spiritual wealth.

Jesus challenged the rich man to sell all his possessions (Matt 19:21) because a life of material blessings can be an obstacle and snare (Matt 19:23; Jas 1:10-11; 1 Tim 6:9-10). We should not be consumed with thoughts of prosperity and a life of comfort and luxury. We should rather be more concerned with laying up “treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal (Matt 6:19-20).

The Social Gospel. The social gospel involves social action such as alleviating poverty, curing diseases and bring freedom and justice to the oppressed. It is very good for Christians to be involved in such things, but the social gospel puts forth Christianity as essentially concerned with these things. It is true that Jesus and the apostles had an incredible healing ministry. And we see various versus exhorting us to care for the helpless (Isa 58:6;  Jas 1:27), but we must remember that though we may help someone physically, we must also care for their soul . All our efforts to provide physical healing reap only temporary results because all things on this earth will pass away (Eccl 3:20; Matt 24:35), however, our efforts to provide spiritual healing leads to eternal life for those who believe (John 3:16; John 4:14). Physical pain we experience as a result of disease or old age is an echo of the spiritual pain inflicted in our soul due to sin. We have all offended a Holy God and our gravest illness is the depravity of the soul (Rom 3:9; 5:12). There is only one person who can cure the illness of sin (John 14:6) and Jesus exemplified this reality and priority when he first forgave a paralytic of his sins and then healed him of his disease (Luke 5:21-25).

Social action to bring healing of diseases and justice to the oppressed is certainly a vital component of the Christian life, but it should never take precedence, or displace spiritual healing.

The Real Gospel

So among these false gospels, what is the real gospel? The real Gospel starts with a recognition that we are at the mercy of a Holy and Perfect God (Rom 3:9-10). Our behavior is tainted by our sinful thoughts and actions. None of us can stand before God and say that we deserve entrance into heaven based on our good behavior (Rom 3:20). Our sinful actions stain our record deserve eternal punishment unless they are forgiven by God. We cannot do anything to earn God’s forgiveness but based on our sin, we certainly deserve God’s justice, which would be eternal punishment (Rom 11:6).

But God, being merciful, provided a way for forgiveness of sins. God sent Jesus Christ (Eph 2:4-5; 1 Pet 1:3), the third person of the trinity, God incarnate, to live the perfect sinless life. He died on the cross, as the sacrificial lamb of God, atoning for sins, dying in our place, providing forgiveness of sin for those who believe (1 Pet 2:22-24).

And Gospel ends with a person who has been born-again (John 3:3), transformed by the Holy Spirit (2 Cor 3:18), receiving newness of life (Rom 6:4), being adopted into the family of God (Rom 8:15), sharing this good news with others, making disciples (Matt 28:19), becoming more like Christ (Rom 8:29), showing fruits of the Spirit (John 15:8; 15:16), and persevering to the end with faith (Matt 10:22, 24:13) and one day being perfected in heaven (Rom 8:30), living eternally in the presence of God and all the saints (1 Thess 4:17).

A Call to Discern

The Scriptures exhort us to discern between those who are teaching the pure Gospel and those who are not. The apostle Paul wrote about the tendency of the Corinthian church to follow after false gospels (2 Cor 11:3-4) and Paul also exhorted the Galatians not to believe false gospels even if an angel came and gave it to them (Gal 1:8-9).

There are many today who are disenchanted with Christianity because of the various divisions and the numerous denominations that seem to all think they are right. So there is a general distaste for those who make judgments and suppose that they know the answer and all others are wrong. But this is not the position that I am taking for although there are many denominations and organizations that have corrupted the gospel message, there are also many that are holding fast to the Gospel. The first step towards recovering the one True Gospel is to discern when a false gospel is being taught and yearn for the True Gospel (1 Pet 2:2).

Perhaps you are just a member in a local church that is compromising the Gospel. Voice your concern to the leadership with love and gentleness (Gal 6:1; 2 Tim 2:24-25; 1 Pet 3:15) and if you are able, correct them (Gal 2:14). If not, then you may need to consider searching for a church that faithfully preaches the Gospel and does not compromise the truth. It is a dangerous place for a person to remain under false teaching (2 Pet 2:1-2) and so it can be best advised to get to a safer place. Feel free to contact me if you need help in searching for a Church.

I found many of these discussion to be very edifying and helpful. Even though these guys have reformed backgrounds, the show is not overtly reformed in the sense that they are bent on pushing Calvinism or reformed doctrine. Their primary concern is the strengthening and edification of the people of God. They are concerned with promoting discernment of the ideas and teachings floating around us and helping Christians to stay on track as followers of Jesus Christ.

White Horse Inn also works to publish the Modern Reformation magazine. I have subscribed to this magazine and it is among the best magazines for Christians to read. The articles are relevant and applicable to Christians today. The articles are well written accessible to a wide audience.

White Horse Inn and Modern Reformation are my top picks for must-have information to be digested by Christians. Check it out!

Charles H. Spurgeon, Sermon #1235, Spurgeon’s Sermons: Volume 21, electronic ed., Logos Library System; Spurgeon’s Sermons (Albany, OR: Ages Software, 1998).

“I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, 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 17:20–23, ESV)

People come to church for a variety of reasons. Some people wish to bring some sort of spirituality to an otherwise secular and wordly lifestyle. Others desire to be fed with spiritual truths and experience a closeness to God. Some seek religious experiences and the excitement of worship in a charismatic setting. Some people desire a private religion in the comfort of their own home, keeping their relationship with God a personal and private matter. Others simply come because they think it’s the right thing to do, even though they do no believe a word of what they hear.

Fortunately, we can turn to the Scriptures to find out what Jesus would want of his believers who gather. In this section of Scripture, Jesus makes known his primary concern and desire that we be in perfect unity.

Background

Let’s look at John 17, Jesus High Priestly Prayer. I will read the entire prayer, but we are going to focus on verses 20-23 today. Keep in mind, that prior to this prayer, Jesus was preparing his disciples to face the reality that Jesus was no longer going to be with them. These are, in a sense, Jesus final petitions before God.

Read all of John 17. We’ll Focus on John 17:20-26.

Jesus starts with prayers conerning himself (John 17:1–5); then prayers concerning the disciples or apostles (John 17:6–19):; then with prayers concerning future believers (v20–23); and in v24–26 Jesus returns to the disciples. There are many ways in which the prayers to the disciples or apostles also apply to all believers, but we will focus on the final group—future believer—in verses 20-23.

Future Believers

It’s valuable to note the means by which Jesus expected people to become believers.

“By Their Word”. In verse 20 Jesus describes believers as “those who will believe in me through their word”. Jesus expects that people will come to belief in him through “their word”. When Jesus says, “their word” we can take that to mean several things:

The spoken word of the apostles. The apostles where going out and preaching the Gospel, and it was their spoken word that would explain, defend, and proclaim what Jesus death and resurrection, what it means, and call people to respond.

The written word of the New Testament. The written word in our Bibles functions in the same way as the apostles written word: explaining, defending, proclaiming Jesus death and resurrection and calling people to respond in faith.

The spoken word of all disciples. Today, as we go out and make disciples, we are making believers through our word as we explain what Jesus did on the cross, it’s meaning and calling people to respond in faith.

Qualities of Oneness or Unity.

Let’s turn to look at some of the qualities of the unity that we should have as the body of Christ.

Jesus in Us

Jesus used some very mystical sounding language that speaks of the Father in Jesus and Jesus in us. Jesus talks in this manner more than once.

In verse 21 Jesus says “that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you”. Here, Jesus explains his desire for our oneness to be like the oneness that exists between the Father and the Son. 

In verse 23 he prays for “I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one”. Jesus explains that the Father will be in Jesus, and Jesus in us, so that we may be perfectly one. Our oneness depends on Jesus being in us.

We can take up an entire sermon exploring the various Scriptures that speak of Christ in us, but I will leave that for another time, or perhaps you can explore it for yourself.

Exists in God

Anoher quality of this unity is that it exists in the Trinity. In verse 21 Jesus starts out describing this unity as a unity that existed between Jesus and the Father. “that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you”. This is the triune unity that has existed since eternity! It is steadfast, unchangeable, glorious, lovely, loving, harmonious, unsurpassed and perfect. Jesus wants this unity to exist in us!

Perfect

It may seem as if Jesus overlooked the sinful fallen nature of his followers when he asks for us to be in perfect unity. How can this be? How can we, people who continually fall short into sin; people who display acts of selfishness; people who at times live hypocritically to the very things we profess to desire; how can Jesus expect us to obtain perfect unity?

I will go over this later when we talk about application, but for now, let’s just recognize the challenge and the glorious call that God has put on our lives to be in perfect unity. God does not desire for us to be a church of bickering brats; He doesn’t want a partial unity that displays itself only on Sunday or during group meetings. He doesn’t want a unity on the surface, as we exchange polite conversation in public and reveal secrets in the dark. He wants us to be in perfect unity that permeates every fiber of our being.

Purpose of Unity

Now let us look at the purpose of this unity. We can tend to think of spiritual exercises and disciplines as solely for the purpose of improving our own spiritual character. There is truth to that, but the end of our quest for spiritual growth is not to be compared to the popular pursuit of spirituality that we see today. The focus of spirituality we see today is largely for the improvement of the self; in contrast, the focus of Jesus’s prayer is for the glorification of God through Jesus Christ.

Authenticates Christ

In the end of verse 21 Jesus says that the purpose of our unity is “so that the world may believe that you have sent me”. The unity that we share as a community is an evidence that Jesus was indeed sent by God. Community is broken and ineffective if it doesn’t have a unity that displays itself as evidence for the truthfullness of Jesus.

Authenticates Community

At the end of verse 23, Jesus adds, “that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me.” Our unity authenticates the reality that the same love God has for Christ, He has for us.

Means of Unity

So what are the ways in which Jesus accomplishes this unity in us? In a practical sense, there are many ways that we can accomplish unity. However, in this text; in Jesus final request for unity, Jesus describes unity as being accomplished primarily through ongoing interaction with revelation from God.

In verses 25-26 we read, “O righteous Father, even though the world does not know you, I know you, and these know that you have sent me. I made known to them your name, and I will continue to make it known, that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.”

We do not have the same privilege of the real physical presence of Christ as our teacher, and we do not have the same privieledge as the apostles, who received the inerrant Word of God through the divine work of the Holy Spirit. We do have the promised helper, the Holy Spirit, and the written word of God in the Scriptures.

The primary means of achieving this unity, is through continual contact with revelation from God. The studying of God’s Word in the Scriptures is our all-sufficient source of God’s truth. And with the help of the Holy Spirit, as we learn these truths, we can teach and encourage each other with these truths in our daily activities. In this way, we have continually interaction with revelation from God. Our lives can become saturated with God so that the same love that God has for Jesus, will be in us.

Application

Challenges

What are some of the challenges we face in creating unity?

Unity is are challenged by individualism. Modern culture has made individualism a virtue. A little child rejects the help of their parents, demanding to do it on their own. Or perhaps the child rejects the parents guidance, preferring to do it under his or her own judgements. People don’t see this as sin, but recognize it as a strength. Certainly it is good to learn skills, work and be productive in society. But it is a deception to think that our ability to accomplish things on our own is a godly character. Jesus never accomplished anything apart from the will of the Father. Individualism is in opposition to godly unity.

Unity is challenged by consumerism. The consumer mindset considers everything in life as a product, with features, and benefits that can be added to ones life. We rate products, read or listen to each others review, and determine the value of these products for our lives. The consumer stands in judgement over the product.

We cannot use this consumeristic paradigm of thinking with the church. The church is the “ekklesia” or the elect people of God. If you are truly a child of God, it is God who chose you and the other people in this church. He has now called us to unity.

Some church leaders have made the mistake of basing their ministry models to cater to consumerism. The Willow Creek model is one such example, where the leaders went into the community and ask the general public, unbelievers and believers alike, what kind of church the people want. This model starts off on the wrong foot by making the church a product that can be rated and reviewed according to the consumeristic mindset.

Willow Creek tried this for three decades starting in 1975. They recently did research on their effectiveness and published the results in Reveal and discovered that it wasn’t working. The Christians in their congregation that would describe themselves as Christ-centered or “close-to-Christ” were spiritually stalled and disattisfied with the role of the church in their spiritual growth and 63 percent of these were contemplating leaving the church. This certainly is not good for the long-term unity of the church and since 2008 Willow Creek has shifted their focus of Sunday services to mature believers seeking to grow in their faith.

Unity is challenged by choices. Coupled with the consumeristic mindset, choices are destructive to unity in the church. We are accustomed to having many choices. We can drive to the church of our choice. If we begin to dislike the church product, we can choose another brand of church on the other side of town.

We certainly need to make wise choices, but we should be aware that sometimes the best choices are orchestrated and chosen by God. Think of Jonah, running away from his calling to the people of Ninevah. Sometimes God calls people to do things that they would otherwise never choose.

Unity is challenged by lack of committment. The thought of committing to a church means reducing our choices; and reducing our choices is like reducing our freedom. We live in a country that extols freedom as a virtue; but the unity that Jesus speaks of requires commitment to the body of Christ. This type of commitment cannot be accomplished by hopping churches. We cannot create a unity with people who are not committed.

Resist the desire to freely go wherever you please. Commit to the unity of God’s people.

Unity is challenged by sin. Aside from the sinful nature from the previously mentioned challenges. Even though we may conquer all these challenges, we still have our sins that destroy unity. Gossip and slander destroy unity as people destroy the character of one-another. The sin of partiality, preferring one type of person over another, draws imaginary lines, breaking the unity of the body of Christ.

We must be diligent to recognize our sin, repent of it, be forgiven, and reconcilled to our brothers and sisters in Christ so that we can have this unity.

Wanting of Unity

Wanting of unity is an old way of saying “lack of unity”. It is the state of falling short of having unity; of being in need of unity: wanting of unity. Consider unity to be the standard, and if you fall short of the standard, you are in want of unity.

Consider it Sin. We should consider our wanting of unity, as sin.

Do not be indifferent to unity. We should not gloss over problems in unity as if they are minor and of no significant consequence. We should be prepared to giving or receive a loving rebuke for the sake of unity. We should be dilligent to seek resolution to problems in unity. We should be sensitive to be aware of our own hearts and repent when we see that we are the cause of disunity. We should be quick to forgive our brothers when they do things that break unity.

Some people have a craving of seperation. Some people want to be by themselves. We label people as introverts and consider it to be part of their character to be by themselves. There is, of course, truth to these qualities, but an overt desire to be left-alone to live life separated from the body of Christ, is nothing short of rebellion and sin against God.

We should, rather, desire to have lives that are more integrated into the body of Christ. Perhaps the extrovert is active in a more vocal, and social manner, but even the introvert can have a introverted life, fully integrated into the life of the Church.

No privatization of faith. The laws of the land provide people the right to privacy, and many people sign-on to the sentiment that their faith is a private matter, not open to public opinion. You’ve probably heard people say that their faith is between them and God.

This is totally foreign to the God of the Bible. In the Old Testament we see that God has chosen a “people” and in the New Testament he has again called a people to live in unity for the purpose of declaring the good news of the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the nations. We have the very opposite of a privatized faith; we have an internationally declared faith!

Necessary Community

We must recognize that community is simply necessary for unity. We cannot create unity as individuals. We must gather in order to have the opportunity for unity.

Scripture for Unity in the Truth of God

As we gather, we should make God’s word the primary means of our unity in the truths that God has revealed. Do not rely on your own opinions, or the opinions of psychiatrists, socialogists, scientists, politicians, or other popular figures for your source of truth. Of course, all of these can be sources of insight and truth into the world and the people around us.

However, we must be careful to apply discernment and discover where they differ with the truths that God has revealed in Scripture. There are many intelligent men of this world that have come up with ideas that are appealing at first glance, but foolish according to the Word of God. Be dilligent to measure the finite wisdom of the world against the infinite wisdom of God’s Word.

Submission to leadership for Unity

In the business world, we all recognize that good leadership is often the difference between success and failure. God has provided the church leadership as a means of promoting unity.

In a previous church I attended, they were following the consumeristic model of church and I could not submit myself to their leadership. So I sought to find a church that I can submit to their leadership. If we do not follow the direction of our leadership, we cannot be unified. The leadership of the church provides unity in ministry and the activities of the church and it is essential to the unity of the church that the members of the church follow their leadership.

Unity for Evangelism

Evanglism is often considered a one-on-one activity, where one person explains the gospel, teaches and defends the truth-claims of Christianity, and invites the person to church.

Evanglism is also dependent on our unity. In verse 21 Jesus said that the unity is “so that the world may believe that you have sent me. ” And again in verse 23 Jesus says the unity is “so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me.”

There certainly are people who are gifted in evangelism, but Jesus intends for the community to be a powerful confirmation of the gospel which is preached and defended by the evanglist.

The evangelist or the layperson shares and defends the gospel, invites people to community, they experience the unity, and experience the confirmation through our unity.

Rewards for Unity

In closing, all our struggles for unity are not without rewards. Although we shouldn’t be selfish in our pursuit of unity, it is encouraging and motivating to know that there are rewards to unity.

There will be deeper friendships. Everyone wants friends who truly care about them. Our quest for unity means that we will truly care for our brother’s and sister’s in Christ. The self-sacrificial love the Jesus had for us is the same love that he wants us to have for one-another. This is immensely rewarding.

There will be spiritual growth. Our interest in unity will result in an interest in investing in each other’s lives. That means that we will experience spiritual growth as we find opportunities to develop godly character in each other.

There will likely be church growth. Other people will recognize that there is something special and unique going on when we seek unity.

There will be authentic witness. Hypocrisy will be at record lows in places where unity is at its greatest. If we are truly in unity with one another, no-one can accuse us of being hypocrits.

God will be glorified. The Westminster confession defines the chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy him forever. When we have perfect unity, God will be glorified and we will certainly enjoy Him through our unity.

WHEREAS, The Bible teaches the spiritual discipline of family worship for the glory of God, the strengthening of the church, and the spiritual nourishment of the family (Deuteronomy 6:1-18; Psalm 78:1-8; Ephesians 4-6); and

WHEREAS, Scripture pictures the Christian home as a place in which parents are instructed to teach and disciple their children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord (Deuteronomy 6:1-18; Ephesians 6:1-4); and

WHEREAS, Family worship has been a cherished Southern Baptist principle reflected in church covenants which have called believers “to maintain family and secret devotions” and “to religiously educate” their children; and

WHEREAS, In recent years, family worship has been emphasized in The Baptist Faith and Message, which states that “Parents are to teach their children spiritual and moral values and to lead them, through consistent lifestyle example and loving discipline, to make choices based on biblical truth”; and

WHEREAS, Southern Baptists have launched major initiatives which have brought to the forefront the need for families to pray, read from the Bible, memorize scripture, and give praise to the Lord within their homes; and
WHEREAS, In 2009, the president of the Southern Baptist Convention included family worship as a key catalyst for a Great Commission resurgence calling on Southern Baptists “to build gospel-saturated homes that see children as a gift from God and as our first and primary mission field”; and

WHEREAS, Family worship is integral to laying a foundation for multi-generational faithfulness to the gospel (Psalm 145:4) and a necessary complement for the strengthening of the local church to fulfill its commission (Matthew 28:18-20); and

WHEREAS, Family worship serves as an important preparation for the corporate worship of the local church on the Lord’s Day (Ephesians 4:11-16; Hebrews 10:25); and

WHEREAS, In recent generations, the act of family worship has been neglected, evidenced by the breakdown of the family in our time; and

WHEREAS, The embracing of the spiritual discipline of family worship in the Christian home has the capacity to nurture stronger families, a stronger church, and a stronger nation; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED, That the messengers to the Southern Baptist Convention meeting in Orlando, Florida, June 15-16, 2010, encourage churches and families to rekindle the spiritual discipline of family worship; and be it further

RESOLVED, That we define family worship as the regular meeting together of a family for a time of prayer and Bible reading, which may include other activities such as scripture memorization, singing spiritual songs and hymns, and discussing biblical truth and Christian mission; and be it further

RESOLVED, That we encourage families to cultivate not only structured times of worship together, but also ongoing intentional and informal conversations about the things of the Lord; and be it further

RESOLVED, That as we call families and churches to embrace family worship, we urge fathers particularly to fulfill their divinely mandated responsibility to lead their families toward spiritual maturity (Ephesians 5:22-6:4; Colossians 3:19-21); and be it further

RESOLVED, That we encourage all parents to consider times of family worship to be an opportunity to introduce their children to the gospel, to train their children to seek the salvation of their friends and neighbors, and to pray for the nations; and be it further

RESOLVED, That we encourage churches and families to make use of the many resources produced to aid in family worship; and be it finally

RESOLVED, That we urge the churches of the Southern Baptist Convention and their pastors to promote family worship and encourage the families of their congregations to place the highest priority on embracing this foundational spiritual discipline for the well-being of families, the spread of the gospel, the making of disciples, and the glory of God.

These resolution where posted at http://www.sbts.edu/family/blog/sbc-resolution-on-family-worship The S.outhern Baptist Theological Seminaries, “Family Ministry Today” site is a good place to check on developments for equipping families.

Together for the Gospel (T4G): Videos on Vimeo

As a parent of two children, I’m always interested to see the routine of fellow parents. Here’s one that showed up on the Resurgence blog: Justin Hyde, How I Pastor My Family. It has some resemblance to what we do at our house, but after reading it, I realized that I still have some things to work on. This article is particularly relevant to fathers; but I recommend every mother and father to read this and reflect on how you can improve your time with your children.