Panera and the unity of believers

I led a brief devotion time last night at our session meeting on Jesus' prayer for believers in John 17. I figured that we ought to look at how HE prayed for believers in order to better understand how WE as elders pray for those under our care. Some of Jesus' prayer requests include the sanctification of believers, that they would be filled with His joy, they would see His glory, that they would be protected from temptation yet still be active in the world, and that they would be unified. The unity among believers, Jesus states, shows that the Father sent Him into the world.

The unity among believers displays the gospel to the world. The lack of unity obviously clouds this picture.

So we pondered briefly what unity would look like. If we pray, how should we expect to see that answered? Some of us thought churches might do outreach and mercy ministry together, pooling their resources. I thought perhaps unity would look like a common cross denominational vision (as opposed to simply a combined meeting or activity, though I'm not opposed to that per se) to love our neighbors, bless them and the community, and share the gospel.

One elder mentioned that some semblance of a unity does exist, and we need to more proactive in recognizing it, and delighting in it. I got to experience that this morning at Panera. Panera, pronounced improperly by some as "Panera's," seems to serve as a discipleship "hub." Every time I meet someone there, I can see people praying, blessing their food, reading their bibles, and meeting with one another for encouragement, bible study, accountability, etc..

Today there were a few young men meeting together, and I eavesdropped (after I saw their bibles) enough to hear conversation which had to do with Christ.

Now if there is an outreach opportunity, I'm all for that. But usually when it's Christians meeting, I let them be. Today, after I walked out of Panera, I felt convicted to go back in. So I went back, bluntly interrupted them, and met these two young gents. A youth pastor and college student. Conversation was short, but encouraging. I'll probably see them there in a few weeks. At the very least it was an opportunity to see each other as brothers from different mothers, but with a common Heavenly Father. And an opportunity to embrace the unity, despite denominational differences.