Pieces or Potato Head?

Have you ever wondered what you would say, if you had only one thing to say to a person you cared deeply about? What if you were allowed five minutes with them? What would you say?

Jesus had a moment like this. Moments before He was betrayed, arrested, beaten and killed, He was on His knees on a mountain, praying. First, He prayed for Himself. Then, for His twelve disciples. Finally, for all believers. The Book of John records this final portion of His prayer, focus on all of those who call on His Name, for only seven verses. I want to focus on the front four verses of this prayer:

I pray not only for these,
but also for those who believe in Me
through their message.
May they all be one,
as You, Father, are in Me and I am in You.
May they also be one in Us,
so the world may believe You sent Me.
I have given them the glory You have given Me.
May they be one as We are one.
I am in them and You are in Me.
May they be made completely one,
so the world may know You have sent Meand have loved them as You have loved Me.
-John 17:20-23, HCSB

He prays only seven verses worth about us, right before His arrest, and what does He spend four of those verses praying for? Unity. He prays that we would "all be one," as "You, Father are in Me and I am in You." He prays that we "also be one with Us [God]," "One as We are one," and that we may "be made completely one." I'm not sure, but I think Jesus wants us to be one.

It is said that the body of Christ is the Church (all Christians). Here's the thing: a finger, toe and ear are not a body. If you see a Mr. Potato Head's arm and teeth on the ground, you do not think that these pieces are the body of the toy. Instead, you see them as pieces of one structure.

The same is the case for the Church. We may have many pieces, with different functions, flavors and styles, but we are just that: a bunch of pieces. Apart, we are only able to accomplish so much, just as my eyeball could only do so much without the rest of me.

Christ intends for Christians of all kinds to unite under the commonality that we all find in Christ as our Savior, Lord and Treasure, rather than squabbling over differences. The quicker we quit our infighting and start uniting, the quicker the point of our unity will be realized: "so that the world may believe You sent Me (v.21)." We are on mission, Church, and a group on mission must be unified.