Then God said, let us make man in our image, after our likeness.” Genesis 1:26
Since God, being triune in form from the beginning of our inception we should come to the realization that we were created in unity; The Father, son and Holy Spirit together creating this world and then creating us together…unified. We find what we have in common, what unifies in within the trinity. With Genesis 1:26 in mind, how can we being created in his likeness…the likeness of the triune God not be called to live in unity? It doesn’t make sense. In fact not living out of unity is denying part of our part of our divine design. When we forget that unity was intended to be a part of our divine design it is then that we allow ourselves to escape the reality of unity, and its repercussions on our life. It is then that isolation from one another and our communities becomes a viable option, thus causing a great chasm. Looking back on the creation story as well as the bible in its entirety, it can be stated the one can never truly experience unity apart from community. These two things should never be separated.
“And I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are one.” John 17:11
Joni Erickson Tadi once said that “Believers are never told to become one; we’re already are one, and are expected to act like it. After reading the high priestly prayer I’d have to agree with Joni. We are never told to become one; however Jesus does prayer that we may become 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 17:23. What Jesus means when he says become really mortifies this idea that somehow unity is not achievable this side of heaven. It voids the notion that we have no obligation or any duty to strive for a unified body of believers here on earth. When Jesus prayers that we may be one as they are one He exemplifies that kind of unity that should be norm for those that profess to be genuine believers…and yet in our everyday lives we find that this isn’t the case. Why? We’ve forgotten who are and lost perspective. In the biblical narrative, the people of God are always urged to look forward, imagining their future not simply as a way of ameliorating the pain of their present circumstances, but to help them understand what kind of people they were called to be in the present. Not shallow in their thinking, or bogged down by troublesome circumstances, but always meditating on the things to come.
Ashely, you give me hope and remind me not to give up! I mean that because it seems this African American author I am emailing back and forth is proving to be tougher than I thought. He truly is not a trusting soul and I know my work is cut out for me. But I so appreciated your comment that if Jesus is praying for unity then it means it is attainable. So true, so good for me to remember. I will keep on trying and hopefully one day he will allow me to meet with him? I know that God would have us know each other as sister and brother in the same family of God. One day maybe, as God graciously moves, his soul will live forever with us. Maybe one day, you will get to meet him too. I would like that. Bless you!
Ashley, good thoughts. C.S. Lewis, though slightly in disagreement with your position, presents us, humanity, as being radically separated from one another, he refers to this as the Great Divorce. He goes on to propose that because of this true unity is something that we must strive toward. We may have been created to be in unity, but we were not created in unity, rather broken and apart. The Jewish tradition the Adam’s words “I am hiding,” have been referred to as the “Ayeka” and implies the Adam’s response as an ontological proclamation, a matter of the soul, now separated from the creator. He was not only hiding but also hidden and apart. Separated from God, from creation and from his beloved Eve. This is why the early church pressed toward reconciliation, and meant it in different ways, we are put back together. My studies on this topic led me to a jewish thought that Messiah, would re-weave the tapestry of creation; the symbolism of the torn veil in the temple, also includes that though it was torn in the temple, it is re-woven in the hearts of every believer, for them, it comes together, unified and not apart. I love your idea that if Jesus is praying for unity, then it is attainable; I hope so, with God, with others and in myself, I am tired of being hidden.
John
Both Gunton (in The Promise of Trinitarian Theology) and Volf (in the Metzger-edited Trinitarian Soundings in Systematic Theology) also make the excellent point that two love best when they love a third together. Whether this is among the one God eternally existing in three persons, among the original progenitors in their love for God and for their children, or for those of us in the Church as we choose to love one another, and to band together in actively loving others, the benefits of the hard work you describe cannot be overestimated. Whether in community service ministry, the work of theology in community (where unity is the precursor, not the result), or in any other means of tangibly experiencing and demonstrably expressing that image and likeness in us, together, it raises the question for me: “If believers are truly unified, then are those who refuse to be unified truly believers?” Beyond the pithy phrasing, I do find the question very troubling.