I pray … for those who will believe in me through their message,

that all of them may be one, Father,

just as you are in me and I am in you.

Jesus' prayer for unity among his followers, as recorded in John 17, reveals both his anticipation of the fragile nature of oneness and the antidote for our tendency to splinter. Surely, in his foreknowledge, the prayer included his present-day disciples at odds with one another in the life of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). Therein lies our hope.

Jesus was painfully aware of the human nature of his followers and the divisions that nature would cause. The disciples, even after months of listening to his voice and eating at his table, argued forcefully and vainly about who would be the greatest in his kingdom. That argument expressly severed their fellowship (Mark 10:41, Luke 9:46). Some of the later divisions, as recorded in the Book of Acts, arose from theological misunderstandings by persons of good will; most arose from petty jealousies and personal agendas. Some things do not change.

Jesus was aware that his nature also would be the very source of division on earth. His oneness with the Father validated the true interpretation of Scripture and separated the "righteous" from "sinners." Paradoxically, those who claimed to be righteous by asserting that Moses was their spiritual father were rejected on the basis of their own unbelief. At the same time, sinners, convicted by their own depravity, found righteousness in union with the One who had true authority to offer forgiveness and grace. They received the gift of union, which subsequently became the basis of their unity. They discovered that as long as union with Christ is intact, unity with the Father and his children is a given in the Spirit. Thankfully, some things do not change.

Jesus does not pray for unity at the expense of homogenizing our spiritual gifts, but rather as a result of being united in the same internal desire to do the will of the Father. That results in a spiritual union, which, in turn, creates the basis of functional and observable unity. Union with him and in him is his own gift by the Spirit to believers. Unity is the fruit of the Spirit that results when we have the same mind in us that was in Christ Jesus: the complete surrender of everything about ourselves--our lives, our fortunes, our future--to the will of the Father. When that union is intact, unity is a given.

Jesus' prayer is effective. There are thousands of believers, including many within the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), who have the same mind. And others can still change their mind. That, by definition, is what repentance means. A change in mind from unbelief to belief will result in a change of behavior and will create the desire for unity. And, it will result in understanding that unity does not come by coercion and force, but by sacrifice. It is not the result of legislation, judicial action, or even discipline, as good and necessary as those matters can be. It comes by way of the cross.

With hope and with prayer, then, some things in our denomination will change.