Creating Unity
Illustration
Stories
Patrick rubbed his forehead and scrolled back on his laptop screen. He tried to ignore the other students in the study lounge who were working on projects and papers for their classes. He took a deep breath and started reading again.
“You okay?”
“Huh?” Patrick looked up and noticed Tim from his Monday morning class sitting just down from him. “Yeah, sorry just reading and having a hard time making sense of it.”
“Well, I’m bored of what I’m doing.” Tim closed the text book in front of him. “Mind if I have a look?”
Patrick shrugged and nodded at the chair next to him and tilted his laptop so Tim could read the screen.
“Oh, John’s gospel. Yeah, that is a head scratcher.” Tim looked up. “Is this for a class?”
Patrick shook his head. “No, it’s for me. I try to look at the Bible readings for church in the coming week and this is the reading for Sunday.”
“Huh. Well, they picked a difficult one for sure.” Tim tapped his chin. “I find that John’s passages are like an onion - you peel a layer and there is another one there waiting for you.”
“You can say that again.” Patrick pointed at the screen. “I get that Jesus is praying for the disciples to be get along with each other and that he wants us to know God’s love for us in our lives.”
“Okay, I can see that too.” Tim read the passage once more. “I think though that Jesus is asking even more than that. He is praying for us to be united and working together. He also wants us to care for each other as well as loving each other with the love God shows and shares to us.”
“I can see what you mean but I’m still having trouble getting my head around it.” Patrick sat back in his chair. “I mean, what would us ‘being one’ look like? How do we have God’s love and Jesus in us? What does Jesus want us to become?”
“I wonder if it’s as simple as what we’re doing here. I mean we’re taking time to look at the Bible and helping each other find our way in following Jesus,” Tim said. “Although I expect it is probably more complicated than that, too.”
“Yeah ,that kind of fits what I expect when I read John.” Patrick smiled. “There is a meaning I can pull out of it and there is something more complicated for me to discover as well.”
“The joy of Bible study is finding more than we expect each time we read a passage.”
“Well, that certainly rings true as I’m looking at this passage.” Patrick thought for a moment. “Do you suppose the verses are also a call for us to not try to be Christians all by ourselves but to be part of a church and community so that we work, pray, and serve together?”
“I never thought of it that way.” Tim tilted his head to one side. “That makes a lot of sense to me though, not just as something that is true but as what Jesus is telling us here. I find that when I’m looking through the Bible by myself, I learn things but when I’m looking at a passage in church or with someone else in a study, I end up being surprised by what God is saying.”
“You’re preaching to the choir! I mean just the few minutes we’ve been talking has made me see these words differently.” Patrick looked at his classmate. “You know, I think that there are a couple of people in our classes who would be interested in getting together for prayer and Bible study on a weekly basis. Is that something you’d be interested in?”
“Yeah, I would. I go to the chapel on Sunday but it would also be great to sit down with people and read the Bible and make some new friends. Plus it would be wonderful to have some conversations like this and grow in my faith even as I’m spending time growing my mind in classes.”
“I’ll shoot you a text when I touch base with the others,” Patrick said. “And Tim?”
“Yeah?”
“I’ve got a class coming up soon but thanks for helping me with this passage. You’ve given me lots to think about.”
“No problem. I’m glad you invited me to sit down.” Tim smiled at him. “I’m looking forward to meeting some new friends and learning more about the Bible together.”
Patrick picked up his stuff and realized as he headed to class that he was excited about being part of a Bible study group on campus.
“You okay?”
“Huh?” Patrick looked up and noticed Tim from his Monday morning class sitting just down from him. “Yeah, sorry just reading and having a hard time making sense of it.”
“Well, I’m bored of what I’m doing.” Tim closed the text book in front of him. “Mind if I have a look?”
Patrick shrugged and nodded at the chair next to him and tilted his laptop so Tim could read the screen.
“Oh, John’s gospel. Yeah, that is a head scratcher.” Tim looked up. “Is this for a class?”
Patrick shook his head. “No, it’s for me. I try to look at the Bible readings for church in the coming week and this is the reading for Sunday.”
“Huh. Well, they picked a difficult one for sure.” Tim tapped his chin. “I find that John’s passages are like an onion - you peel a layer and there is another one there waiting for you.”
“You can say that again.” Patrick pointed at the screen. “I get that Jesus is praying for the disciples to be get along with each other and that he wants us to know God’s love for us in our lives.”
“Okay, I can see that too.” Tim read the passage once more. “I think though that Jesus is asking even more than that. He is praying for us to be united and working together. He also wants us to care for each other as well as loving each other with the love God shows and shares to us.”
“I can see what you mean but I’m still having trouble getting my head around it.” Patrick sat back in his chair. “I mean, what would us ‘being one’ look like? How do we have God’s love and Jesus in us? What does Jesus want us to become?”
“I wonder if it’s as simple as what we’re doing here. I mean we’re taking time to look at the Bible and helping each other find our way in following Jesus,” Tim said. “Although I expect it is probably more complicated than that, too.”
“Yeah ,that kind of fits what I expect when I read John.” Patrick smiled. “There is a meaning I can pull out of it and there is something more complicated for me to discover as well.”
“The joy of Bible study is finding more than we expect each time we read a passage.”
“Well, that certainly rings true as I’m looking at this passage.” Patrick thought for a moment. “Do you suppose the verses are also a call for us to not try to be Christians all by ourselves but to be part of a church and community so that we work, pray, and serve together?”
“I never thought of it that way.” Tim tilted his head to one side. “That makes a lot of sense to me though, not just as something that is true but as what Jesus is telling us here. I find that when I’m looking through the Bible by myself, I learn things but when I’m looking at a passage in church or with someone else in a study, I end up being surprised by what God is saying.”
“You’re preaching to the choir! I mean just the few minutes we’ve been talking has made me see these words differently.” Patrick looked at his classmate. “You know, I think that there are a couple of people in our classes who would be interested in getting together for prayer and Bible study on a weekly basis. Is that something you’d be interested in?”
“Yeah, I would. I go to the chapel on Sunday but it would also be great to sit down with people and read the Bible and make some new friends. Plus it would be wonderful to have some conversations like this and grow in my faith even as I’m spending time growing my mind in classes.”
“I’ll shoot you a text when I touch base with the others,” Patrick said. “And Tim?”
“Yeah?”
“I’ve got a class coming up soon but thanks for helping me with this passage. You’ve given me lots to think about.”
“No problem. I’m glad you invited me to sit down.” Tim smiled at him. “I’m looking forward to meeting some new friends and learning more about the Bible together.”
Patrick picked up his stuff and realized as he headed to class that he was excited about being part of a Bible study group on campus.
