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them, they will perceive that you have become faith-fellows of the kingdom of heaven, and they will follow after the Spirit of Truth which they see in your lives, to the finding of eternal salvation." (2044)
For the eventual transformation of the world (which surely must be the purpose behind the gift of the Urantia Papers), it is not the first mile of compulsion, duty, or convention that will achieve success, but the second milers who give their free and loving service, living and loving as Jesus lived and loved.
How should we start? Well, if we cannot unify the Christian churches which, after all, are so close in their most basic ideals to the reality of Jesus' revelation of God, then how could we possibly expect to attain success with Islam, Hinduism, the derivatives of Buddhism, etc.?
The revelators very obviously wish to see the uniting of Christianity, "'A house divided against itself cannot stand.' The non-Christian world will hardly capitulate to a sect-divided Christendom. The living Jesus is the only hope of a possible unification of Christianity. The true church--the Jesus brotherhood--is invisible, spiritual, and is characterized by unity, not necessarily by uniformity. Uniformity is the earmark of the physical world of mechanistic nature. Spiritual unity is the fruit of faith union with the living Jesus. The visible church should refuse longer to handicap the progress of the invisible and spiritual brotherhood of the kingdom of God. And this brotherhood is destined to become a living organism in contrast to an institutionalized social organization. It may well utilize such social organizations, but it must not be supplanted by them." (2085)
Who and what is this "Jesus brotherhood" referred to above? What else could it be other than a brotherhood of those whose mission to the world consists in the life that they live, by the gospel, amongst men?
So was there something obviously wrong about the original Brotherhood that later became the Fellowship? Was it somehow becoming institutionalized? If so, can it rise from the ashes to fulfil that destiny of becoming a living organism that will lead Christianity back to the one whose name it bears? Or will something else take its place? These are questions begging for answers.
What are we told about the principles that might unify a Jesus Brotherhood?
Some appear to be:
Belief in the Fatherhood of the God of love, compassion, and mercy whose spirit indwells all men and women to bring them unto himself.
Belief in the individuality of our personal relationship with the Father-spirit within.
Belief in Jesus as our Lord and Master, the one who revealed the nature of the Father for our salvation.
Whole-hearted acceptance by each individual of their family relationships and obligations as children of God. Each mortal being of whatever race, religion, or status is our brother or sister, deserving and needful of our love regardless of their past--good or bad.
Recognition that God is no respector of persons. All are equal in the sight of God. To be like God, which is to live as Jesus lived, our love must be extended to all.
Recognition that the appearance of the fruits of the spirit in the daily living of the Jesus brotherhood displaces disputation, intellectual argument, and condemnation as the means of advancing the cause of the kingdom.
Being filled with the desire to love and serve God and consequently, to be totally committed to the unselfish love and service of God's children, our brothers and sisters.
Love is a much abused word in our language. As defined in the Papers, love is the desire to do good to others (648), to seek for others their highest cosmic good. (1950) Thus defined, it is not so difficult to love the apparently unlovable.
What are the consequences of God's universal love for mankind? Firstly that nobody, whether king or queen, pope or priest, rich or poor, male or female, Christian, Muslim, Hindu, or what ever, learned or illiterate, nobody at all is special or favored. God loves us all. God does his utmost not to lose a single soul among us.
One of the greatest hindrances to unity in God's family is the "chosen ones" syndrome. Seeing ourselves or our group as special, as being set apart by God, represents a drastic hindrance to unity for adherents of either the fourth and fifth epochal revelations.
For the recipients of the fourth epochal revelation, the concept of being "saved by the blood of the lamb" set them apart from the rest of humanity as elite, special, and exclusive.
For adherents of the fifth epochal revelation, the very fact of owning a Urantia book appeared to become a substitute icon for individuals to set themselves apart as the new chosen ones, hence special and elite.
We must learn that nobody is special. God's love envelops all. But some may choose, of their own free will, to undertake a special task. However it is the task that is special and not the person.
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