By Ife J. Ibitayo
In Jesus’ final prayer for His disciples, the son of God says, “I have given them the glory that You gave Me, that they may be one as We are one—I in them and You in Me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that You sent Me and have loved them even as You have loved Me” (John 17:22-23 NIV). The world is meant to believe Jesus is God’s Son through the unity of His church.
Yet we live in a time where the church is more divided than ever. Recent events have sent a deep fissure into the bedrock of the American church. The tremors have revealed its shaky foundation and raised some critical questions: What is the church? And why is it still important?
What is the Church?
The church consists of all those on earth who believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. But it’s also far more than this. It’s the vehicle that spreads the good news of Jesus Christ to the nations (Matthew 28:19-20). It is a charitable organization that extends God’s mission of healing the broken and helping the disenfranchised (James 1:27). And it is also the visible manifestation of Jesus Christ living and acting in the world today (Ephesians 1:22-23).
Something I’ve discovered through rereading the gospels is how much the Son and the Father love one another. The Father’s first public words to Jesus Christ were “‘This is My beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased’” (Matthew 3:17 ESV). Every other time the Father speaks in the gospels, He affirms His beloved Son (Luke 9:35; John 12:28). The Father and the Son never bickered. They were never irritated with one another. They never gave up on each other. They perfectly manifested the love the church is supposed to (1 Corinthians 13:4-7).
Why is the Church Still Important?
At the start of His ministry, Jesus quoted His God-given mission from the Old Testament: “The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed Me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent Me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners” (Isaiah 61:1 NIV). And this mission is supposed to be carried on by His church today. The world is filled with more poor, broken people now than we’ve seen in a very long time. They need good news, freedom, and light. But how are we supposed to share good news with others when we’re constantly bad-talking each other? How are we supposed to bind up the brokenhearted when we’re tearing down our brothers?
Conclusion
One hundred fifty years ago, Abraham Lincoln said, “A house divided against itself cannot stand”. Seven years later he stood amongst the smoking ashes of a nation that learned that lesson the hard way. If the American church is to survive, we must be unified.
“I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another in what you say and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly united in mind and thought.”
(1 Corinthians 1:10 NIV)