Deep Creek Anglican Church Blog

Chapter Four: The Jesus Prayer for our Unity

Chapter Five: Our Greatest Apologetic

Chapter Six: Christ the Center

John Armstrong in these next three chapters of your church is too small starts to explore what is meant by ‘unity.’  And his attention turns to the longest recorded prayer of Jesus: John 17:20-23.

As John states, Jesus is praying for the entire church.  And He is praying for something more than the “invisible unity” of the church (which is already true).  Jesus is praying for relational unity – a unity that is rooted in Christians relationships with one another.  As we share in the divine life of the Trinity; as we live daily with our lives centred on Jesus in the power of the Holy Spirit, then “the church will be a visible example of the relational and spiritual unity of the triune God.”

Our author then explores the role of love.  Jesus’ prayer for unity is “really a prayer about God’s love in action” (John 17:23; 1 Pt 4:19-21; 1 John 4:19-21).  Francis Schaeffer believed that the truest identifying mark of Christians was love.  The challenge for all followers of the Lord Jesus is to accept those who are accepted by God and belong to Him.

So how can we work together in Christ’s mission?  John briefly explores models of unanimity, uniformity and union (one visible, united church) and concludes that none of these understandings of unity “truly fit the context of the New Testament.”  The early church was focussed on evangelism in which they cooperated.  What is the means for our cooperation?  Keeping Christ centre.

Our unity is in Christ alone – not in visible structures or particular practices of individual churches.  Our author presents a helpful image: think of the world wide church as a large circle with Christ at the centre.  As we move inward we grow closer to one another.  Excellent!

For John Armstrong, he is seeking to practically live this out by:

• being willing to work with all Christians, including those he does not know well;
• engaging in relational and cooperational unity with Protestant, Catholic and Orthodox churches.

Chapter Two: My Journey to Catholicity Begins

Chapter Three: Searching for the Elusive Truth

John Armstrong in your church is too small describes his journey towards a big view of the church and his passion for unity.

John was brought up in a “very conservative home and church” in the American South.  He was positively impacted by fellowship with other Christians during his university years; during his twenty years in pastoral ministry grew concerned by the suspicions between Catholics and Protestants and the long list of “internal evangelical debates.”  In the mid 1990s, during corporate worship while saying the Apostles’ Creed, John recalls being led by the Holy Spirit to the prayer of Jesus in John 17:20-23.  In response, he took two practical steps:

• he went back to the primary sources of the three different historic Christian churches – Catholic, Protestant to discover the core truths shared by all Christians
• he deliberately set out to meet with Christians “who were different from me.”

John was positively impacted by visiting with a group of Catholic monks but was battling inner fears about the course he was on and increasingly came under criticism by those believing he was falling into “doctrinal error.”  His refocussed ministry, now called ACT3, sponsored a church renewal conference with representatives from across the church.  He grew to love the Catholic community (which he had once feared) and benefited from new friendships with Orthodox brothers and sisters.

In the apostolic and post-apostolic church, there was deep commitment among the leaders to preserve the church as one family with Christ at the centre, notwithstanding doctrinal differences.  But down through the centuries, divisions grew large.  John laments that today the “spirit of devisiveness” has spread like a pandemic from America.  This sectarianism and subsequently small view of the church harms the mission of Christ – that’s John’s big point.