The Church has a purpose given to Her by Christ Jesus to make Him known to a dark world, but the effectiveness of the Church seems to be diminishing, as with the shortening autumn days. As the seasons change, I find myself asking, are we truly an Effective Church, or have we given in to the changes around us? Even though seasons change, our effectiveness as believers and the Church should not. The prophet Jeremiah said it this way. 

“Blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him. They will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.” — Jeremiah 17:7–8

We can indeed view these verses as a promise that we don’t have to worry in the midst of changing seasons, but these verses also speak to the growing effective nature of the Church that is planted firmly in Christ.

So what would The Effective Church look like today?

I think for many of us, our minds fill with images of services filled with healings and salvations. Churches with dynamic worship that ushers us into the presence of God and preaching that draws us to the cross. We see a church moving mightily under the power and direction of the Holy Spirit— the manifestation of God’s Kingdom here on earth.

Or, maybe your mind is more externally focused. You imagine a church that is working in the community, reaching people where they are. Working with their local schools and city government to make a change, to make a difference. 

Both of these scenarios are good and do describe an effective church. But I believe there is more to the effectiveness of fulfilling God’s purpose than these. I believe there is a deeper heart issue that churches across our nation must honestly face and deal with. 

Last month I wrote to you concerning A Solidly United Bride. God never intended us to walk alone, and yet the vast majority of churches do just this. 

In John chapter 17, we read what many consider to be the most powerful prayer in all of Scripture and is one of the final recorded prayers of Jesus before the cross.

I encourage you to set time aside to read this High Priestly Prayer in its entirety. Jesus’ prayer is broken into three parts where He he prays first for Himself, then His disciples, and finally for us, His Church. Our focus today is on the final third of His prayer, from which I will draw three points for us to look at. 

“I pray not only for these, but also for those who believe in me through their word. May they all be one, as you, Father, are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us, so that the world may believe you sent me.” — John 17:20–21 (CSB)

Jesus here prays for us, His Church, and He prays that we would be united as one. For comparison as to how this unity is to look, He prays that we would be united just as He and the Father are one. This is a powerful prayer for unity among believers. But the reason for unity is even greater. In Jesus’ own words, He prays, “so that the world may believe you sent me.”

1. The greatest proof of Christ is the unity of believers.

One of the final prayers Jesus offers up before the Father was that we, the Church, would be united as one so that the world would believe that He is the Son of the one true God and came to take away the sins of the world. This is huge and humbling. While signs and wonders and miracles are proof of the Good News of Jesus Christ, the single most effective proof is to be the unity of believers.

This can be hard to swallow in today’s world. It can be easier to focus on the power God offers, rather than the unity God desires, but this is what Jesus prayed. “May they all be one.” We will never agree on all things, and that’s okay. The oneness Jesus is praying for is that we would be united concerning His Kingship, His Kingdom, and His Purpose. We can read of examples in the New Testament where believers were divided and the Apostle Paul pleads with them to lay down their differences for the sake of the Gospel. 

“Avoid foolish debates, genealogies, quarrels, and disputes about the law, because they are unprofitable and worthless.” — Titus 3:9 (CSB)

Paul is telling Titus not to lose focus by arguing about details of the Jewish law. Instead, he is to center his ministry on the Good News of Jesus Christ, and so should we.

This oneness of the saints is to be an extension of our oneness with Christ. When we love Jesus with everything we are, it leaves no room for arbitrary rights that divide.

2. God’s love for us facilitates oneness with God and each other.

“I have given them the glory you have given me, so that they may be one as we are one. I am in them and you are in me, so that they may be made completely one, that the world may know you have sent me and have loved them as you have loved me.” — John 17:22–23 (CSB)

• The glory, the blessing bestowed upon all believers, is the absolute love from the Father that facilitates oneness with God and with each other.
• When you understand how much the Father loves the Son, you will understand how much the Father loves you.

3. Jesus prays for our protection against division.

Looking back at verse eleven, we read another “so that” statement from Jesus. 

“I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by your name that you have given me, so that they may be one as we are one.” — John 17:11 (CSB)

• Jesus prays for our protection so that we may be one.
• Our effectiveness is determined by our unity. That’s why Satan works so hard at causing division among Christians and within the Church. Being one in adherence to truth is critical to experiencing the presence and power of God.
• Every believer has been commissioned to proclaim God’s name, His glory, and His love to all people, which is to be reflected in the unity by which His people are called to live.

Jesus did not come to take—to pursue His own agenda or to seek to increase His own stature—but rather to give: to give eternal life to lost sinners and to give glory to the Father who sent Him on His life-giving mission. Let this be the life, prayer, and pursuit of our lives as well.

Blessings!

Michael Masek