February 6, 2009- As I said several weeks back, I have been reading through the Gospel of John. I've read these portions of scripture many times, but there is so much in it, I'll always have take-aways. On reading chapter 17 I thought alot of the church of the Lord Jesus Christ in comparison to our country. Now don't go thinking that I am going to do the typical blogging thing and slam both our country and the church. I hate it when people do that! The thing I saw was this in verse 11. "... so that they may be one as we are one. This country looks to the statement E Pluribus Unum. That's what we are, both as a country, and as a church(at least it's that way in our church). You have young liberal college students, wearing jeans and T-shirts, sitting alongside republican bankers in suits. Youth trying to tune out the sermon while texting or listening to their ipod while the elderly couple next to them turns up their hearing aids to better grasp what's going on. Some gather as quickly as fish to food and then break apart afterward to return to their jobs and homes. Others want close community and always love to have people around. So much diversity, everybody is different. That seems crazy. Where's the unity in that? As the doubts rise in me suddenly I hear that small, still voice, "You have not chosen me, I have chosen you"(John 15:16). If anything is to be believed about the motley collection of people who follow Him, it is that we were called by Him. If you want to find unity in diversity, just look into the faces of the different people who worship alongside you. It is there you will see the face of Jesus.
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