Praying for the Church

Some have called John 17 the High Priestly Prayer of Jesus. Here Jesus prays for us. He intercedes for you and me. Much could be said about every verse. There are many high points in this prayer. For example 17:3 gives us the definition of eternal life. "This is eternal life..." What? "...that they (me and you) may know You, the only true God and Jesus Christ whom You have sent." Eternal life is not just heaven, though that is the location where we'll dwell forever in Christ. But eternal life is being in a RELATIONSHIP with God and His only Son Jesus Christ. And we could say so much more here.
Jesus continues to pray for us. He prays that we would be set apart from the world but to remain in the world. The church is supposed to be insulated from the world but not isolated from the world. As it has been said, "It's OK for the boat to be in the water, but it's not OK for the water to be in the boat." We must be in the world to win the world, but we must never become like the world, thinking that we will win them. Some churches take this to another extreme and end up dry docking the boat. They never engage the world with the Gospel for fear of contamination. Again, we're to be insulated, but not isolated. That's true for every Christian.
Another point that Jesus touches on is unity. In v.21 He prays for believers to be one, just as Jesus and the Father are one. Why? Read the rest of the verse: "...[so] that the world may believe that You sent Me." We are to be united for the cause of evangelism. In fact, unity is one of two of our greatest evangelistic tools. (Love is the other one-see John 13:34-35). Again, the church has been guilty of much neglect and abuse here. Some neglect unity and are divided. Others take it to the extreme in the opposite direction and make unity to mean uniformity. Uniformity says we must march to the same beat, sing the same songs, wear the same uniforms on Sunday, pray the same prayers, read the same translation etc. No! That's not unity. That's uniformity. Unity includes diversity. Why do you think the Holy Spirit gifts the church with diverse gifts? Each one is unique and each church is unique in its own way. Your church will reach people my church will never reach. And my church will reach people your church will never reach. But if we're all united around the Gospel of Jesus Christ....that's what Jesus was praying for. Reread this great chapter, and let Holy Spirit speak to your heart.