Just as you, Father, are in me and I in you, So they might be one heart and mind with us. Then the world might believe that you, in fact, sent me. John 17:23 (The Message)

LifeChurch.tv one of the most plugged in churches in USAmerica, has challenged the Church by asking it leaders an important question. What if you had only ONE-prayer to pray on behalf of the Church--ONE-prayer for the Body-of-Christ what would it be? Honestly, the Church could use allot of prayer, after all the church is made up of fallible, sinful, self-serving people (of which I one...and before you get too uppity...you probably are as well). The point is that we (the Church) need help. If I had ONE-prayer to pray for the Church--what would it be? More people? More purity? More power? More provision? Are there any more "P" words that we can pray for the Church?

Ok, this is an important question so no more alliteration. I don't want to get this wrong...I can't blow this one. There's no do-over so let me think. If I were a charismatic I might pray for more fullness of the Spirit in the Body-of-Christ...if I were a part of the reformed movement I might be into more and more grace...as a good Roman Catholic I might pray for a visit from a one of the great saints of the Church...as a good Nazarene I'd probably ask that the Church would experience and testify to the crisis and process of being set a part for God's service--fully surrender to His love. I could go on with more movement prayers because after all there are 9,000 different denominations in just the protestant tradition alone. Add in the Catholic church of the east and west and all the rest of the sects, denominations and groups and we would have to pray 33,000 different prayers.

The church movement list is amazing there is: the Roman Catholic, Anglican, Eastern Orthodox, Lutheran, Presbyterian, Congregational, Anabaptist, Methodist, Holiness, Baptist, Brethren, Apostolic, Pentecostal and Charismatic church. These are just the major movements. Each movement could have as many as 1,000 different synods, or sections. I get overwhelmed just thinking about the thousands of prayers that are going up for the Church that turns on its head the motto of the United States--E Pluribus Unum--"Out of Many, One." The Church's motto could be summed up as: "Out of ONE, Many"--E Unum Pluribus which sounds good except that the MANY is all about church splits.

We live in the age of reformation gone wrong. Sure the Church needed to reform and Luther's 95 theses (that's a lot of theses). As the Church became the chosen religion of the day it began to take on extra-biblical baggage. Things like works-righteous, the doctrine of purgatory (the condition, process, or place of purification or temporary punishment in which the souls of those who die in a state of grace are made ready for heaven.) the belief in indulgences and the selling of church positions made for a corrupting influence in the Church. We needed Luther's five Sola's:

Sola Scriptura (by Scripture alone--the standard)
Sola Fide (by faith alone--justification)
Sola Gratia (by grace alone--salvation)
Solus Christus (Christ alone--His work saves us)
Soli Deo Gloria (glory to God alone)

What we didn't need, and where the Reformation went wrong was the split. I understand that the Protestant movement came about because the Church in Rome would not reform. Instead it decided to make the Luther's of the world an offer they couldn't refuse--recant or die (now that's an offer). So the reformation became a protest movement that eventually ended in a Church split and the rest is history. The Church has been splitting ad nauseam ever since. Sure the first split was hard, it always is but after a while it just got a whole lot easier to split instead of mend our doctrinal differences and disagreements. And so, today, 500-years later, the Church is more about pluribus then unum. When I was growing up in the 70's (fyi: I was a kid) we used the term split...I've got to split man...its meaning was close to today's phrase--I'm out of here. The church seems to have brought back the term. If you don't like the new music at church just split...the Bible being used is not the KJV just split...the sermons are getting too close to home split...the congregation is getting too liberal or conservative for you just split...don't like the new pastor split.

Some say, there's nothing wrong with splitting. Better to split then just leave the faith altogether they say. I respectfully disagree. Splitting is easy, staying and reforming is hard. Splitting would not seem so bad if Jesus hadn't said that one of the Church's identifying marks is unity. As Jesus got ready to go back to heaven he said that people would know who we are the Body not by our many numbers or our piety, but by our ONEness--our unity. I don't think Martin Luther had Church-split thesis in his 95 theses and neither does God. So as God the Son was heading back to heaven he said be ONE. So, here finally, is my ONE-prayer for the Church of Jesus Christ--the Body:

I PRAY THAT WE BE ONE! Paul the Apostle of Jesus got it right when he wrote to the Ephesians--"You were all called to travel on the same road and in the same direction, so stay together, both outwardly and inwardly. You have one Master, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who rules over all, works through all, and is present in all. Everything you are and think and do is permeated with Oneness"

How's that for ONE-prayer? -james hey-ii