In the Nicene Creed we profess to believe in ONE holy catholic and apostolic church. One church.
In appearance, anyway, it seems that we abandoned the idea of ‘one’ church long ago in favor of myriad divisions and denominations.
Yet, in principal, we do believe in one church. There is one church of Christ. But how do we manifest that really?
In reflecting upon how the members of the Trinity glorify one another, John Frame in his book The Doctrine of God ponders Jesus’ prayer in John 17 that his people might be ‘one as we are one’. As he puzzles over how that can be, he makes a simple and yet profound point that is worth reflection as we consider how we look at and talk about other Christians.
“One way toward a oneness that reflects the Trinity is for us to glorify one another as do the persons of the Trinity. That means loving one another, serving one another, praising one another, honoring one another. If we really sought to glorify one another, we would seek, even across denominational and traditional lines, to make one another look good, to enhance one another’s reputations, rather than to make ourselves look good at everyone else’s expense.”
Is that a reasonable application of Jesus’ prayer?
Frame says that he develops this point here and here. I have not read his expansions, but this quote seems challenging in itself.
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MagistraCarminae
Hmm- good food for thought. I have bookmarked the links for future reading. But since we are made in the image of the Triune God, this seems an appropriate, if challenging, application. Generally I think we tend to under-apply the implications of the trinity, since it is such a baffling concept to us.