Where'd This Come From?

I learned from a Jewish rabbi back in 1999 that my name means "song." I was sitting at his kitchen table, working on his insurance claim, and his wife asked me if I was Jewish. I said no, but I do love the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. She reminded me that Jesus was Jewish, and I smiled, and said, "Yes, the greatest One who ever lived."

But I digress.

Fast forward several years and in the midst of this burning desire in my heart to see the church, the Body of Christ on Earth, walking out her destiny of loving, reconciled, forgiving, "oneness," I was moved to look up my name in a Hebrew dictionary. And I found it...Rhinnah...(great spelling eh?) and it means "ringing cry of joy to Yahweh, shout of joy" and "cry of peace." In Greek, it means "peace."

Hmmmmmm....time to get all prophetic? Yeah, not.

My mom named me after reading the book Carpetbaggers. Nothing prophetic there!

So what is my point? Where did this ache, longing, desire to see the church "united," "one" and exhibiting God's love to the point that the "world will know that You sent me," come from? Even when I lived and moved and had my being in the world, having put God on a shelf for many many years, I instinctively knew in my heart that believers battling one another was wrong. In my job, I'd receive assignments where I had to investigate claims and law suits between believers, and without having ever read scriptures that clearly talk about God's grief over such behavior, it bugged me; I walked away from those cases thinking "everyone is right, Christians are just a bunch of hypocrites" and I would (falsely) justify my choice to live a prodigal life.

I lived a prodigal life for many years, and He drew me back to Himself in 1998. In 1999 the church that I was attending offered a spiritual 12 step healing program designed for people who had come out of abuse, and brokenness (isn't that all of us?), and I went thru the program, then began to teach it myself. One of the foundational stones in the program was "confession, forgiveness and reconciliation," and the seeds were planted.

I'm a sucker for reconciliation stories. Reconciliation scenes at the end of movies, like "The Colour Purple" and "Joy Luck Club" smear my mascara big time. Reconciliation is what God is all about, and every time I hear someone tell me about someone they are on the outs with, while I'm listening with empathy, I'm thinking, "Oh, Lord, show them the power of your reconciling forgiveness, absolution and love." I just want everyone to get along and be reconciled. Seriously! Can you imagine what an example to the world it would be if the entire Body of Christ on earth learned how to walk out "oneness" borne of confession, forgiveness, and reconciliation, and learned how to resolve their individual, and corporate conflicts the way Jesus taught us!? Just like Jesus prayed, "then the world will know that you sent me"!!

I've heard it said that Jesus will not come back until the gospel is preached to every tribe, tongue and nation; and I don't doubt that this is true. And, Jesus said, "Father, I pray for these also, that they may be one...so that the world will believe that you have sent me."

Oneness is something Jesus specifically prayed for, and seems to me, that makes it a pretty big priority, don't you think?