“That they may all be one; even as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us, so that the world may believe that You sent Me.”
John 17:21, LSB
How often do we hear people talking about faith as being personal? I don’t disagree that we are meant to know Jesus on a personal level through reading the Word and in prayer, but Jesus prayed for more as is shared in this verse and the surrounding. Jesus desired for us to have a very communal and open faith. A faith that was never meant to be solitary and personal, but a faith that was being shared openly everywhere. This doesn’t mean that we are to be confrontational in our faith, but to not be silent about it either. Everyone who knows us should truly know what we believe and, if they have questions, feel comfortable to come to us with those questions. Evangelism doesn’t need to be going around and knocking on doors, leaving pamphlets, and inviting people to join us in worship. Evangelism is simply an openly lived faith that is proclaimed in our actions and our words regularly. There is no such thing as a personal Christian faith, but, as Christians, we are called to be united in our faith in community with other believers always. In this, we can find peace.
Let us pray. I thank you, my heavenly Father, through Jesus Christ, your dear Son, that you have kept me this night from all harm and danger, and I ask you to protect me this day also from sin and every evil, that in all I do today, I may please you. For into your hands, I commend myself, my body and soul, and all that is mine. Let your holy angel watch over me, that the wicked foe have no power over me. Amen.