THE WILL TO LOVE - Vital Christianity

8“Division has done more to hide Christ from the view of men than all theinfidelity that has ever been spoken.”–George Macdonald“The final apologetic for Christianity is love.” 1–Francis ShaefferHow will the world ever be reached with the gospel of Jesus Christ? Many of us live inunresponsive countries and communities. Can God’s message of salvation get through to thesepeople? If so, how?Jesus tells us how:“My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in Methrough their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as You are inMe and I am in You. May they also be in Us so that the world may believethat You have sent Me. I have given them the glory that You gave me, thatthey may be one as We are one: I in them and You in Me. May they bebrought to complete unity to let the world know that You sent Me and haveloved them even as You have loved Me” (Jn 17:20-23).How will the world believe that God the Father sent Jesus here to earth and that He lovesthem (the world) even as He has loved His one and only Son?UNITYThe answer is: unity: unity among all Christians of all denominational, cultural, racialbackgrounds.The context, the soil, for evangelism is unity. Only when God’s children are united willtheir message have nay validity to the unbelieving world. Considering all the divisions that haveplagued Christianity, all the divisions that have plagued His body—the Church, it is a wonderthat God has been able to use the Church to extend His kingdom. Division had kept the Churchof Jesus Christ from really marching forward.ORGANIZATIONAL UNITYBut what kind of unity is Jesus speaking about here? It certainly is not organizationalunity. All we have to do is to study church history to find out that this is not the answer. Therewas little organizational unity the early years of the Christian church and yet there was vitalityand growth. Yet during the Middle Ages when the church was literally one united ecclesiasticalbody with the pope as its head, we find that it had lost much, and often, all, of its vitality andfervor.