Grace

Jesus's final prayer, in John 17 was a call for unity among Christians: "that they may be one as we are one— 23 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."  He knew that this would be a sign to the world that no other religion could bring. And where are we now?

The Center for the Study of Global Christianity at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary estimated 34,000 denominations in 2000, rising to an estimated 43,000 in 2012. These numbers have exploded from 1,600 in the year 1900. 

We are not headed in the right direction.  Jesus desired that unity would be the mark of his church. I used to look at the proliferation of denominations as continuously splitting branches reaching out the the end of the tree.  The tree, then with all it's multiplicity then makes up the church as a whole. I think this only works if the various denominations express to the world the same basic tenants of the faith, (and I mean the most basic and central) that Christ is Lord and he died for our sins, that we are sinful beings made pure by his sacrifice and are then heirs to the kingdom of God.  And I think, most importantly, that we express the same features of grace to all people in the world. We must not quarrel over the non-essentials and must at all costs, express the grace that He has for us to others.

Without grace, the entire enterprise falls apart, as it has many times throughout history.  Today we have the opportunity to show grace in the polarizing climate of the West, in the suffering poverty of Africa, South America, and Eastern Europe. We have the opportunity to express grace to the fledgling Christian communities of India and China as they become economic powerhouses into this century.  We have a chance to make a difference and change the world.  But that change starts with us. Who do you know around you that you need grace for?  Is it an abortion rights activist who doesn't agree with your conservative viewpoints?  An athiest? A coworker? A member of your own family?  Grace begins at home and changes souls one at a time until it runs like a river under the current of the world and changes it from within. May we all have grace.

Lord give me your grace to express to the people around me each day.