The Ministry of Reconciliation

by Joshua Bland

"Therefore if any man is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come. Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ, and gave us the ministry of reconciliation, namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation."

2 Corinthians 5:17-19

We have all been hurt by somebody. Perhaps it was intentional, perhaps not. Regardless, throughout the course of our lives, we get hurt and we are changed by that hurt. We may not always recognize the last part of this, but it is true. Sometimes this hurt leads to drastic changes in our character or behavior; at other times, all it does is cause what relationship existed to erode away bit by bit.

When I was younger, I was occasionally picked on. Even as I sit here writing now, I can remember their faces. I remember the names, the taunts, and the laughter. I remember how much it hurt. I remember trying to solve it by taunting back, by pushing them the way I was being pushed. It never worked. I also remember the first day of high school, several years later, when some guys tried to start it up again. We were standing in the lunch line as our freshman year began and I heard them in line behind me. I remember turning around, laughing with them, and asking how their summer had been. I did not know then the importance of that single moment, but it was the catalyst that God would use over the next few years to lead to mutual respect through reconciliation.

The Bible has much to say on this topic. Murray J. Harris defines reconciliation as "not some polite ignoring or reduction of hostility but rather its total and objective removal" (353). As Paul writes to the Corinthian church, he describes how divine reconciliation works: though we had committed the offense, God, through Christ, reconciled us to Himself. God then calls us to the ministry of reconciliation. We are made, as Paul describes in 2 Corinthians 5:20, "ambassadors for Christ, as though God were entreating through us; we beg on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God."

We, as disciples of Jesus Christ, are called to reconcile others to God. We are His agents of reconciliation, seeking to help all mankind return to a right relationship with our Creator. We represent Him.

In the fourteen years since the story I told you earlier, I have both hurt others and been hurt by them. Though we are Christ's representatives, there are still things in our lives that we need to work on, and these works can only be accomplished by His power. Reconciliation, as Harris notes, "is a continuing process as well as an accomplished fact" (354). Paul writes in other passages of the ongoing struggle between our flesh and the Spirit. Daily we must allow our spirits and minds to be reconciled and renewed in Christ Jesus.

Something interesting happens in the midst of this. If I am being reconciled to God and you are being reconciled to God, we are inherently being reconciled to each other. Whatever our differences, we are being made one in the body of Christ. This does not mean that we are perfect or that we are not going to have our differences, but by the example of Christ we are reconciled also to each other. Our relationships with one another are redefined and we can begin to challenge each other positively towards growth in Christ.

Just as God, despite our offenses, sought to reconcile us to Himself, we should strive for reconciliation with those who have offended us and with those we have offended.

Bibliography

Harris, Murray J. "2 Corinthians." The Expositor's Bible Commentary. Ed. Frank E. Gaebelein. By Arthur A. Rupprecht. Grand Rapids: Zondervan Pub. House, 1981. Print.

New American Standard Bible. La Habra, CA: Lockman Foundation, 1977. Kindle.