Unity

S: John 17

²⁰ Not for these only do I pray, but for those also who will believe in me through their word, ²¹ that they may all be one; even as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be one in us; that the world may believe that you sent me. ²² The glory which you have given me, I have given to them; that they may be one, even as we are one; ²³ I in them, and you in me, that they may be perfected into one; that the world may know that you sent me and loved them, even as you loved me.

O: Jesus wanted us to be one as he and the father are one. Yet we’re so disunited. A lot of it has to do with dualistic thinking — a mindset that divides the world into opposites, such as good vs. evil, us vs. them, or sacred vs. profane. This kind of thinking, argues Father Richard Rohr, author of Breathing Underwater, is limited and can lead to exclusion, conflict, and a lack of spiritual depth.

Father Richard Rohr doesn’t deny the existence of concepts like good and evil, or the reality of opposites. His critique of dualistic thinking is not about rejecting these categories entirely but about challenging how we often use them in limiting and divisive ways. He distinguishes between dualistic thinking—which categorizes everything into binary opposites—and non-dual awareness, which acknowledges the existence of opposites but holds them in a more integrated, less judgmental manner.

Rohr writes in Breathing Underwater, 

No one catches the wild ass by running after him, yet only those who run after the wild ass ever catch him. If both Pope Leo X and Martin Luther had meditated on that line, we might have avoided the acrimony of the initial Protestant Reformation. The pope emphasized that we had to run and “work for our salvation in fear and trembling” (Philippians 2:12), while Luther held the more radical Gospel position of free grace and no one really needs to run at all. God’s love is a totally free gift, as Paul taught (Romans 9:11–12, 11:6, and throughout). Both Luther and the pope were right and also both misunderstood and marginalized one another, which later Catholic–Lutheran dialogues now admit. We did not have much non-dual consciousness in those days, but we largely operated with what A.A. rightly calls “all or nothing” thinking, and which I call dualistic thinking.

Early in my Christian walk, I fell under the influence of Christians who taught a very exclusivist gospel  — you must use the King James Version, the Catholics are going to hell, etc. Even after I got under more sound Biblical leadership, I still was skeptical of Catholics and Orthodox, and thought that Calvinists also were suspect. 

But when I was doing my Ph.D. at the University of Illinois, I joined the Graduate InterVarsity Christian Fellowship, and found myself in a fellowship with Baptists and Catholics, Arminians and Calvinists, Lutherans, Orthodox, and many others. These were denominations that back in the 17th century were at war with each other and persecuted each other, yet now, they were united to reach the campus for Christ. Sure, they still had their theological disagreements, and after the fellowship meetings might adjourn to a coffee shop and argue theology, but the arguments were in a brotherly manner, seeking to understand each other’s points of view and undergirded by the recognition of our common faith.

That unity and fellowship was a taste of heaven. I think most of us will be surprised when we get to heaven some of the people we see there who believe differently from us. The Kingdom of God is bigger than we usually envision.

A: “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” John 13:34-35. Sometimes it’s so hard, because of sin, or just because someone rubs us the wrong way. Yet, that’s what Jesus calls us to do.

P: Father, fill me with your love, and teach me to love others as you have loved me. When I am tempted to respond in kind when I’m offended, please help me to see them as you see them, and to respond with your love. In Jesus’ name, amen.