The Importance of Reconcilliation

2 Corinthians 5:18-19 

¹⁸ All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; ¹⁹ that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.

Its Beauty 

When I think of reconciliation, I think of a relationship status that has changed for the better. Something happened that bridged a once strained, even toxic relationship, between two parties. Something happened where they can now forgive each other, work thru old wounds, and even strengthen their relationship so that it can be stronger than before. 

There is something beautiful about reconciliation. There is a newfound respect, appreciation, and recognition that we must be more intentional to love one another well. One of the most intriguing aspects of reconciliation occurs in the Bible where we are told that God reconciled Himself to the world. 

Now unlike human relationships, God had no fault in our relational tension since He Himself is without sin. Yet we discover that the chasm between us and Him was eternal because there was nothing we could bring to the table to salvage, even the remotest and tiniest fragments of that broken relationship. 

It is in that context where God shows love at the deepest, widest, and highest level imaginable. The Bible teaches, "For our sake, He (God) made him (Jesus) to BE sin who knew NO sin." You see, the only one who could reconcile our relationship to God was God Himself, who came to earth in the form of a man! This man, Jesus, became the other reconciling party. We are reconciled to God not because we are good people who do good things; but rather because he who was without sin became sin for us as a substitute. 


Our Response 

As verse 18 states above, we (those of us who are Christians) have ALL been given the ministry of reconciliation. In other words, just as Christ reconciled us to God, not counting our trespasses against us, so we must seek to demonstrate such reconciliation as a ministry in our lives. 

Many thoughts spring to mind when it comes to this ideal of reconciliation. Some agree in theory. Others preach tritely that it is a requirement. Still others like to argue that their situation somehow does not apply. 

Let's be honest here, the task can be monumentally difficult. Some have been abused. Others have been stripped of their self-worth. Still for the majority, it is mostly a sense of pride. 

I am not here to make people feel guilty that have been abused emotionally, psychologically, physically, or spiritually. I truly grieve for people who have been victimized by others in our broken world. 

However, if we insist on planting our feet firmly in the soil of non reconciliation, I am afraid we are neglecting one of the most profound features of the Christian faith. One of the highest virtues demonstrated by God in Christ. 

We have been reconciled to God because Jesus did not count our trespasses against us. We are reconciled because of grace, which we know as unmerited (unearned) favor. In reality, Jesus had every right to plant his feet firmly in the soil and proclaim "I will never be reconciled to you." 

Yet instead he chose a different path in the final moments of his life to model how deeply committed he was to the ministry of reconciliation. "Forgive them Father, for they do not know what they are doing (or truly comprehend because of sin)" is a paramount example of the power of reconciliation.  

You see, the very nature of Jesus could not do anything else. His DNA was all about the importance of reconciliation. In fact, the shocking thing would have been for Jesus to have done just the opposite. 

Imagine him shaking his fist, gallantly refusing to be reconciled to the world, or taking vengeance on his killers by climbing down from the cross Rambo style. This image of course, is absurd because we know that Jesus lived by a much higher standard, a heavenly one. 

Likewise, a Christian who metaphorically shakes his or her fist, stubbornly proclaims they will never seek reconciliation, or seeks to ignore or take vengeance, should also come across to us as shocking, given the magnitude of grace that has been bestowed on him or her as a Christian. 

In the end, we cannot truly embrace what Jesus did on the cross if we are not willing to model his selfless attributes in our own lives as believers. We cannot really proclaim God is good if we refuse to demonstrate his goodness back in the lives of our fellow man. No, the very nature of our faith must reveal that we have been changed from the inside of our old ways and the vengeance values of our cultures. 

We must  strive not to count the trespasses of others against us but recognize their behavior is the product of a broken world. We must be willing to look beyond the offense and toward Jesus' example where he utters in despair, "Forgive them Father." 

May we be committed to understanding and implementing the importance of the ministry God has given us, that being one of reconciliation.