The prayer before the cross
On the night before He was crucified, Jesus prayed for those who already followed Him and for all who would come to believe. His prayer reached across generations and traditions: “that they may all be one” (John 17:20–21). He connected this unity to the world’s belief in His mission. Christian unity, then, should not be a side issue. It’s a crucial and urgent call to the witness of the Church.
Jesus had already given His disciples a command that would shape the way they lived together: “love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another” (John 13:34, ESV). He did not say that love would be the badge of one party, one tradition, or one group of Christians against another. He said, “By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:35, ESV).
That new commandment should make every Christian pause. If people look at the way we speak about one another and see contempt, suspicion, mockery, or delight in another Christian’s failure or tradition, what are they learning about Jesus? We may defend doctrines with great passion and still fail to show the love by which Christ said His disciples would be recognized. His words call us to examine not only what we believe about Christ’s commandment to love our brothers and sisters in Christ above all people, but are we taking this prayer to the Father seriously?
Christians understand the prayer in different ways
Catholics, Orthodox Christians, and Protestants all confess that Jesus prayed for the unity of His followers. They agree that the unity He desires is more than a polite truce, and that Christian division wounds the Church’s witness. They do not, however, define the Church’s unity or the path toward its full expression in exactly the same way.
Catholic teaching understands the Church’s unity as visible and spiritual, expressed through shared faith, sacraments, and communion with the bishops and the Bishop of Rome. It recognizes that baptized Christians outside full communion are genuinely joined to Christ, and Catholic ecumenical work seeks fuller, visible communion.
Orthodox Christians also understand the Church as one, visible, apostolic, sacramental, and grounded in the Holy Trinity. Orthodox teaching generally holds that the Orthodox Church preserves the fullness of apostolic faith and sacramental life. Unity is therefore a restoration of full communion in the truth of the ancient Church, not a merger that sets aside doctrinal differences.
Protestant traditions are diverse. Many emphasize that all who belong to Christ are united across denominational lines, and that this spiritual unity should be visible through love, witness, and cooperation. Some seek visible ecclesial unity; others are wary of institutional union if it requires setting aside convictions they believe Scripture teaches.
These descriptions cannot capture every true believer or church within each tradition. Each contains Christians sincerely seeking faithfulness to Christ. We should learn what others actually teach before criticizing them, while acknowledging real disagreements. Love does not ask us to pretend our differences are unimportant; it asks us to meet each other without contempt, pride, or presuming bad faith.
Unity is not an excuse to stop seeking truth
The prayer of Jesus does not invite us to trade truth for surface harmony. In the same prayer, Jesus says to the Father, “your word is truth” (John 17:17, ESV). The pursuit of unity must remain a pursuit of the truth Christ entrusted to His people. Yet truth is never permission to despise or ridicule the person who disagrees with us. We are called to speak truth as people who themselves need mercy, correction, and the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit.
James describes wisdom from above as “peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits” (James 3:17, ESV). That is a searching standard for theological conversation. Can we state another person’s belief in words they would recognize? Are we willing to let Scripture correct our pride and inherited prejudices? Whoever asks for truth must be willing to be changed by it.
Paul urges believers to walk “with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” (Ephesians 4:2–3, ESV). He does not tell the Church to invent unity through human effort. He calls us to maintain the unity God has given in Christ. Humility, gentleness, and patience mark people who know they stand by grace.
We must distinguish disagreement from hostility. Some teachings cannot simply be blended together; we should study them carefully and ask hard questions. But disagreement is not a verdict on another person’s love for God, and those outside our community are not automatically enemies of the Gospel. The Lord sees the heart. We are called to bear witness faithfully and love our brothers and sisters before us.
Love is the test we cannot evade
The Apostle John makes the matter uncomfortably clear: “If anyone says, ‘I love God,’ and hates his brother, he is a liar” (1 John 4:20, ESV). He continues: “whoever loves God must also love his brother” (1 John 4:21, ESV). John leaves no room for devotion to God while nursing hatred toward His children.
This love is not sentimental. It does not mean approving everything or refusing to correct harm. Christian love tells the truth, protects the vulnerable, seeks repentance, forgives, and hopes for restoration. Paul writes, “Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude” (1 Corinthians 13:4–5, ESV). Do those words describe our posts, church conversations, debates, and stories about Christians from another tradition?
When we meet another Christian, do we first see a sibling for whom Christ died, or someone from a group we distrust? Jesus did not command us to love only those who agree with us. He said, “love one another: just as I have loved you.” His love was costly, truthful, patient, and self-giving.
A call to fast and pray
If we believe Jesus meant what He prayed, then we should bring the divisions of His Church before God with seriousness. I believe this is a time to fast and pray—not to pressure God into endorsing our position, and not to ask Him to defeat other Christians, but to ask Him to purify us. We can ask the Spirit to reveal where fear, pride, resentment, or the desire to win has hardened our hearts.
Jesus taught His disciples to fast without performing their devotion for public approval (Matthew 6:16–18). Fasting does not earn God’s favor or force an outcome. It is a humble act of seeking, setting aside something ordinary to attend to God. We can fast individually or with our church, according to our health, and join it to Scripture, prayer, repentance, and reconciliation.
We might pray: Father, glorify Your name in Your Church. Show us where we have wounded one another. Give us courage to confess our sins, wisdom to seek truth, patience to listen, and love that does not flatter or condemn. Bless the Christians whose convictions differ from ours. Guard us from falsehood and from pride. Teach us to recognize the work of Your Spirit, and lead all who confess Jesus toward the fullness of Your truth and the unity for which He prayed.
Then take the next faithful step: apologize, ask an honest question, read another tradition’s own account, stop repeating a caricature, or pray by name for someone we have treated as an adversary. Prayer for unity should change how we act.
Let the world see the love of Christ
Jesus prayed that His followers would be one so “that the world may believe that you have sent me” (John 17:21, ESV). Our unity witnesses to the Father’s love and the truth of the Son. When Christians who disagree treat one another with reverence, honesty, patience, and mercy, the world sees something it cannot manufacture.
We may not resolve every disagreement about church authority, sacraments, or Scripture in our lifetime. But none releases us from Christ’s command to love. We can hold convictions without contempt, pursue communion without pretending, and seek truth without humiliating those who differ. We can repent when our words make the Gospel appear loveless.
May the Holy Spirit move us beyond an “us versus them” spirit and toward the highest Truth, making us courageous enough to be corrected and tender enough to honor one another. Let us fast and pray for Catholics, Orthodox, Protestants, and all who call upon Jesus, asking that the Father be glorified and the world see Christ’s love among us.
May we become a people known by the love He commanded. This is my prayer.
Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), Copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.