Day 38: All in As One

When Jesus looks at Singapore, how many churches does He see? The answer is one.

There are hundreds of local churches of many different languages, parachurch agencies, Bible schools, marketplace ministries, prayer movements… but only one Body of Christ.

We are diverse, and yet one in Christ.

Imagine what He feels when His people cannot get along; cannot work together and collaborate. How does Jesus feel about the reality that we are fractured,  siloed, not one?

Why does this matter? Because our Lord’s mission is at stake.

In John 17:20-23, Jesus prayed not only for His disciples:

“I pray for those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. The glory that you have given me I have given to them, 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.”

Jesus prayed that we may be one. Firstly, that our oneness will reflect the oneness between the Father and the Son.

Jesus would speak the Father’s words, and He would do only what the Father does. They were distinct Persons, and yet so closely tied in mind and in spirit and in purpose. Jesus was All In for the Father. They are one.

Jesus prayed that we would share in that oneness, having the same passions and desires of our King and Father and having the mind of Christ.

Why? So that the world may know and believe that the Father has sent the Son.

Jesus prayed that we would share in that oneness, having the same passions and desires of our King and Father and having the mind of Christ.

There is a second kind of oneness that Jesus prayed for: The oneness that we have with God must be reflected in the oneness that we share with one another.

Our oneness should mirror how the Father and the Son are one. We should love one another, just as the Father loves the Son.

And this is how the world will know that we are His disciples.

It is only as we are close to the Father, receiving His love, that we can extend that love to one another in the Church.

That’s what Jesus prayed for us!

Why? So that the world may know and believe that the Father has sent the Son.

We are now in the decade of missions – a vision launched by Joseph Chean in 2023, for churches in Singapore to be involved in global missions over the next 10 years.

I pray that through this decade, we the Church will be All In for the mission of our Lord. And that means being one like never before.

We are diverse, and yet one in Christ.

I pray we will, as one, be fully devoted to Christ – ready to share in His passion, in His suffering, in His glory, and in His love.

I pray there will be such a unity of spirit and purpose among the people of God. Between churches and between churches and other organisations in the body of Christ. I pray that we will learn to put down our own flags and together declare and display the beauty of our Lord as one.

This is how we will accelerate the work of bringing the Good News of Jesus to the world. Especially to the places where there is no church and no Gospel.

The work of missions is so great that no one part of the Church can do it alone. We need to be All In for God’s global mission, together as one. This is how we will bless the nations.

Jesus prayed that we will be one. If He prayed that, I want to make that my prayer as well.

Won’t you do the same?

Let’s pray:

Father, make us one, that the world may know that you have sent Your Son. In Jesus’ name we ask this, Amen.