CONCERT OF PRAYER                                                                                       

Pray Week 952

“Not Open for Debate”

“I…ask…that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us…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)

‘United we stand, and divided we fall’. This saying holds true not only with respect to nations, but also for any context where two or more are joined together for a common purpose. Unity is something we all strive for and desire. However, should unity be attained at any price? Jesus prays that we may be brought into complete unity yet He also stated that He did not come to bring peace. “Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. (Matthew 10:34) The unity that Jesus prays for is that we be one as Jesus and the Father are one. He is not praying that we achieve unity through compromise by changing and diluting the absolute Truth of His Word. His Word is not open for debate.

There are two ways to achieve unity. One way is through consensus. Consensus requires compromise and compromise supplants foundational truths and values, replacing them with new societal norms and beliefs. Compromise reduces to the lowest common denominator in order to find agreeable commonality.

The other way to achieve unity is through affinity. Affinity requires an uncompromised shared value and belief system. Through His Word God outlined His absolutes for us. He details the values and beliefs that we are to accept. He shows us the one and only way to salvation and eternal life with Him. It is not open for debate.

Our human nature is rebellious. We do not want to turn the other cheek. We do not want to love our enemies. We want more pleasure, more money, and more power. We do not want to trust completely and depend totally upon God. We want to be self-reliant. We reject God’s plan for sex, marriage and our sexuality. We want eternal life and salvation on our own terms. Entire church denominations have formed and others have divided over these issues. This is where Jesus brought His sword and not peace.

We have a saying, ‘My way or the highway’. God would say to us, ‘My way is the highway’. In fact God says His way is the only way. It is not open for debate.

Beware of the temptation to compromise on God’s Word in order to keep peace and establish unity. Flee from churches that dilute and compromise God’s Word in order to fit a more preferential doctrine that tickles the ears. For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths. (2 Timothy 4:3-4)

May you stand on the solid bedrock of the Living Word of God – Jesus Christ. May His Word of truth be firmly established in your heart and mind. May you be united in the body of Christ, one with them and the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit in the uncompromised Truth of His Word.