“We are one in the Spirit, we are one in the Lord
We are one in the Spirit, we are one in the Lord
And we pray that our unity will one day be restored
And they’ll know we are Christians by our love, by our love
Yeah they’ll know we are Christians by our love”
Skip and Margaret Wilson. That’s who I think of when I think of this song. Actually, just “Skip and Margaret”.
This young married college couple lived in Wheaton, Illinois during the period of time when I was in high school. Once a week they opened their home to young people.
It was ecumenical, before I knew what the word meant. A mix of faith traditions and of worship expressions. It was vibrant and authentic. I remember feeling safe and comfortable. I remember hearing from people who loved Jesus and wanted to make sure that others knew who Christ was, and is.
Certainly, some of the details and memories about Skip and Margaret’s Bible Studies have yellowing edges, but what has never faded is the reality that I encountered Jesus at this home in a way that I hadn’t anywhere else.
And it was there. In a cramped living room, with other curious teenagers that I remember hearing “They’ll know we are Christians” for the first time.
Peter Scholtes, a Catholic priest from the South Side of Chicago wrote the song in 1966 for his youth choir. But it didn’t stay contained for long. Not geographically or denominationally. The simplicity, repeatability, and Biblical credibility of the song propelled it, even into a small living room in Wheaton, Illinois.
In recent days, I’ve revisited these lyrics. “We are one in the Spirit, we are one in the Lord”.
One.
One. In answer to the prayer of Jesus, oneness is the answer to isolation. It’s what I found at Skip and Margaret’s.
Unity without diluting the truth. Oneness without losing individual dignity and worth.
So the prevailing question is, are we?
Are we, the followers of Jesus, His disciples, one in the Spirit? We will never be one without the Spirit, but with it, we can be.
Every other agenda secondary. Every other disagreement quieted. Every other platform lowered.
One.
There
is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs
to your call—one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who
is over all and through all and in all. (Ephesians 4:4-6, ESV)
Oneness made possible.
Oneness that preaches.
Oneness that the Spirit both facilitates and demands.
It’s time to start singing again. Anything less casts a dark shadow across the
message of Jesus.
They will know we are
Christians by our love…
Do they?
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