God's Pipeliine

And glory has come to me through them. John 17:10( emphasis mine)

Jesus said some people brought Him glory. Who were they and what did they do? In context, Jesus was with His disciples. He’d prayed for them and now they were confused. They learned He planned to leave them behind for a short time and couldn’t grasp the thought of life without Him.

At that point in time, I wouldn't have considered the disciples as those who brought Jesus glory. It’s true when on assignment they preached and worked miracles. They also fought about who would be greatest and accused Jesus of disregarding their safety during a storm at sea. Who takes a nap when one can be in the throes of a good panic attack? They often misunderstood or flat out didn’t get the lessons Jesus taught. Constantly exposed to supernatural solutions, their feet were firmly rooted in logical answers to problems that arose. At times they were a mess AND Jesus said they brought Him glory.

I equate Jesus as the glory giver not the receiver, but He has a different viewpoint. He doesn't look for perfect people to fill that role so there’s hope for you and me!

Under the Old Covenant, the disciples didn’t have Holy Spirit indwelling them. Despite that limitation, they brought glory to the Lord. Holy Spirit's arrival at Pentecost gave us the same power they had, but before He came, how did they pull this off?

“For I gave them the words you gave me and they accepted them. They knew with certainty that I came from you, and they believed that you sent me.” John 17:8 (emphasis mine)

One thing the disciples got right, they believed what they heard. They made plenty of mistakes and at times failed miserably. However, they grabbed onto Jesus’ words, held on for dear life and refused to let go. No matter what, they wouldn’t quit. Their dogged determination to remain steadfast brought glory to their Lord.

We grossly underestimate the impact that the unity of the disciples around the Lordship of Jesus had on them, their world and Jesus Himself. Our Lord said in John 17:26 that unity is what will capture the attention of the world. For all their personality differences and agendas, the disciples agreed on the key issue – Jesus was Lord.

They did this and so can we. Being united doesn’t mean we become clones and all fall in line. Jesus never attempted to make the disciples a cookie cutter group of followers. He taught them to work together and still preserved their individuality. The central theme, Jesus is Lord, was and still is all that matters. Much of what divides the Church as a whole is theological fluff. It’s time to join ranks with our brothers and sisters based on the Lordship of Jesus and put our differences and preferences aside. Our unity will speak volumes and will be much louder than our individual voices in capturing the world’s attention. It’s what they're waiting for.